Anaconda-devel November 2022

anaconda-devel@lists.fedoraproject.org

10 participants
9 discussions

New Anaconda Web UI preview image is public -- looking for feedback!
by Jiri Konecny 19 Dec '22

19 Dec '22

Hi everyone, We are excited to announce that Anaconda Web UI preview image mentioned by Fedora change[0] is now public for testing and providing feedback. You can find more information here: https://fedoramagazine.org/anaconda-web-ui-preview-image-now-public Feel free to download the ISO, test it and please provide us feedback as written in the article. Please note, we are now fixing size of the ISO (it has 7 GB because of the problem with a build of ISO), hopefully it should be resolved soon. Best Regards, Jirka on behalf of the Anaconda team [0]: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/Anaconda_Web_UI_preview_image

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Anaconda Web UI
by gius db 02 Dec '22

02 Dec '22

Hi. Without controversy, developers and maintainers have every right to do things their own way and refuse requests. I my case, the installer's first problem isn't the interface, it's the lack of functionality, functions that have been blocked, the inability to bypass limits. In my case, it lacks the ability to upgrade/install over an existing installation, install over already existing empty partitions, use gparted, etc. . My feeling when using the installer is that I am a prisoner of a closed system without having enough advantages. gdb

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anaconda web UI
by Thomas Sanden 29 Nov '22

29 Nov '22

Hi, I wrote the following as a comment in fedora magazine 6 days ago. Please, please, add a way to create partitions on my own with filesystems, i do prefer. What should I do, if my system has crashed an I have a separate home partition? With Fedora 37, it’s no problem to leave the partition layout and the home partition untouched. Now, i looked behind and found that the anaconda web UI is started by a kernel parameter. Delete the kernel parameter and the old version of anaconda appeares. If this is the way for future all is good. Anybody who needs a quick install of fedora may use the web UI, and the others can use the old version of anaconda. Last, no least, thank you very much for your work! Thomas Sanden P.S.: Don't look at my english

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Future of BIOS RAID support in the installer
by Vojtech Trefny 29 Nov '22

29 Nov '22

Hi, I am planning to change how we support BIOS RAID (sometimes also called Firmware or Fake RAID) in the installer in the future. I plan to go through the official Fedora change process for Fedora 38, but I'd like to get some feedback first. We are currently using dmraid to support these types of RAIDs in blivet[1] (storage library the Anaconda installer uses) and we would like to replace it with mdadm. The main reason is that dmraid is no longer actively maintained, but it will also mean one less dependency for the installer (we use mdadm for the software RAID support) and one less service running during boot (dmraid-activation.service). The potential issue here is that mdadm doesn't support all BIOS RAID types. mdadm supports only Common RAID Disk Data Format standard[2] (DDF) and Intel Matrix Storage Technology (IMSM) so by switching to mdadm we would remove support for some of the older formats that existed before DDF was standardized. I am not sure how many people are still using these older RAIDs and the main reason for sending this email is to find out. So if you are using a BIOS RAID on your system, can you check what kind? You can find out simply by checking the filesystem type on the underlying disk(s) reported by for example `lsblk -f`. Types supported by mdadm are "ddf_raid_member" and "isw_raid_member". Types supported only by dmraid are "adaptec_raid_member", "hpt***_raid_member", "jmicron_raid_member", "lsi_mega_raid_member", "nvidia_raid_member", "silicon_medley_raid_member" and "via_raid_member". So if you have one of the latter ones and you'd be impacted by this change, please let me know so we can reconsider this change. Note that this would affect only the installation process, I know some external and NAS drives use BIOS RAID and these won't be affected, dmraid is not being removed from the repositories (at least I am not aware of this right now, some distributions are already planning to remove dmraid completely). [1] https://github.com/storaged-project/blivet [2] https://www.snia.org/tech_activities/standards/curr_standards/ddf Regards Vojtech Trefny vtrefny(a)redhat.com

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isomd5sum > isoshasum
by Pappas, John W 28 Nov '22

28 Nov '22

Hello, I am wondering if there is a limitation on the size of hash that can be used to embed and validate. IE, why has this not moved to a more resilient hash? Thanks so much! John -- John Pappas DSO Engineer, C2BMC (RMS: Rotary and Mission Systems) Colorado Springs, CO (COS) (O) 719-277-5377 (M) 720-254-1442

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Re: Feedback on Webui Anaconda ISO
by Jiri Konecny 28 Nov '22

28 Nov '22

Hi Phil, thanks for the explanation. Honestly, I don't think that running the ISO on Cockpit should make any difference. These virtualization technologies (and Cockpit is using KVM AFAIK) should behave the same way. Thanks for the info, we will look on that. Adding Katerina from Cockpit team just in case she would have better insight than me. Best Regards, Jirka Dne 26. 11. 22 v 18:56 Phil Reese napsal(a): > Hi Jirka, > > I appreciate you took the time to reply! You probably have many > letters of feedback! > > To clarify, instead of using virsh and Virtual Machine Manager for > making and using KVMs in Fedora, I primarily use the Cockpit tool It > is described here: > https://fedoramagazine.org/reconfiguring-virtual-machines-with-cockpit/ > and whose web site is: https://cockpit-project.org/ > > Given that your project goal seems to be to make the install of Fedora > easier, it would make sense to also have it work well with another > tool whose purpose is to make Linux system admin and VM creation and > management easier for the newer Linux user to handle. > > When I mentioned VNC viewer I'm not referring to remote installations > but rather a tool on the host system using Cockpit, which shows the > console of a VM while it boots and/or installs the OS, via Anaconda. > See pict below for more context > > > > Thanks very much for your efforts to make Fedora a strong and easy to > use distribution. > > Phil > > > On 11/26/22 5:54 AM, Jiri Konecny wrote: >> >>> The second install using Cockpit was a bust. As has been with other >>> F36 ISO installs in Cockpit. The major issue is that the many >>> changed window sizes that the Anaconda process uses didn't work out >>> well with the VNC viewer. The initial Language suggestion screen >>> couldn't be used as the 'Next' box couldn't be clicked on, nor was >>> it obvious that TAB stepped through all the options available >>> (though I could be wrong, as I could only see the smallest top >>> sliver of the blue box.) >> >> Not sure what exactly you mean by "using Cockpit". Could you please >> explain this in bigger detail. Do you mean remote installations? >

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Feedback on Webui Anaconda ISO
by Phil Reese 26 Nov '22

26 Nov '22

Hi, I've tried out your ISO on two systems. One was a USB install while the other was using the Cockpit tool. The USB install went well but seems too dumbed down. No real option for disk configuration. On a 2560x1440 screen there were ACRES of white space and I literally had to turn my head to read from one end to the other of the line. While not ideal for your theme, it might make sense to box the install screen to a modest size and center it in black space. The install was successful and I was able to create an account in the little forced step through process (Note this 'Tour' was boxed in, surrounded by other window space and was much easier to read and interact with.) The second install using Cockpit was a bust. As has been with other F36 ISO installs in Cockpit. The major issue is that the many changed window sizes that the Anaconda process uses didn't work out well with the VNC viewer. The initial Language suggestion screen couldn't be used as the 'Next' box couldn't be clicked on, nor was it obvious that TAB stepped through all the options available (though I could be wrong, as I could only see the smallest top sliver of the blue box.) Nice look but it seems to give up too many configuration option that the current Anaconda offers and doesn't work well (or at all) with Cockpit. Phil Reese

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Translation
by Man Doel 26 Nov '22

26 Nov '22

Some parts of the installer remain in English after modifying language. The parts I've been affected are: * The 'next' button * The 'quit' button * The 'Choose a language' info box * Some parts of the descriptions while installing the system I've included screenshots of the places where I've noticed this problem happening.

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Feedback for the new Anaconda installer
by Marco Sgobino 22 Nov '22

22 Nov '22

Hello to all developers, testers and Fedora People, I tested on GNOME Boxes the new Anaconda installer user interface, from webui_latest_install ISO as in the Fedora Magazine article instructions. The installer interface is amazing: really polished, good-looking and functional. Even though the previous interface was simple enough, this one is even more welcoming, and I really enjoy the fact that now the installation process is completely linear, one page after the other, and there is no main page from which the user is expected to navigate to other sections. I also love how the installation progress is performed, which shows actual steps instead of a unique, long progress bar. The new installer is really great! Still, I have a few observations to make regarding the overall experience. Please, don't take the following as criticisms, since I am just a regular user which tried the new installer for the first time. 1. In the first page, Anaconda correctly identifies Italian as my language, at least in GNOME Boxes. However, when reselecting the same language again, the entire user interface completely reloads, leaving the screen completely blank for a fraction of time. I would simply expect the language to change without reloading the page, even with a small, noticeable, delay. 2. Moreover, in the same page I would also add the usual 'test the keyboard layout' box in which one can type its own accent characters, such as those required to write in Italian, and similar glyphs. 3. In the second page, I see no options to specify custom disks and partitions layout. In particular, I would like to see a page dedicated to custom layouts, that can of course be skipped if an automatic partitioning is specified, such as in the previous Anaconda. 4. Before installing, the previous Anaconda showed a list of the partitions and disks that were going to be erased and created during the installation. The new version only shows a warning that the selected disks will be erased: it would be great if a 'show more' button was available for advanced user to see what's going to happen. The overall process was still buttery smooth, with the exception of the 'reboot' phase that hanged with a '[terminated]' message for an unspecified amount of minutes.

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Anaconda-devel November 2022