do I need all these packages?

[Aleksandar Milivojevic]

Knute Johnson wrote:
> I've got FC3 running with no XWindows for a server machine.  I set it 
> up to play with the http, ftp and mail servers.  When I installed it 
> I tried to leave off everything that I didn't need but there appear 
> to be a lot of packages that got in that I don't want or can't use 
> because I don't have X.  The output from rpm -qa is below with some 
> of that packages marked with an *.  Those are the ones I don't think 
> I need or can't use.  I would appreciate any opinions on whether I 
> should keep them or if it is OK to rpm -e em.  If there are any other 
> packages that you think are not needed in a no X server please tell 
> me.

The "minimum" install of Fedora is bloated, and you will get bunch of 
garbage in it.  Cleaning it by hand after the fact is possible, but 
annoying.  Not really suitable for server installations.  It was 
discussed several times on this mailing list, and there is also a bug 
report for it:

    https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=139364

To get so-so mininal installation for building servers, you'll need to 
use kickstart installation.  Create kickstart configuration file.  You 
can find documentation for it at:

 
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-3-Manual/sysadmin-guide/

That one is for RHEL3, but is applicable for Fedora Core too.  You can 
use graphical configurator (I've never used it, but it exists), or 
simply create ks.cfg file in an editor (this is how I do it).

For template, you may use /root/anaconda-ks.cfg (that file contains 
options you used when installing that system).  You may want to tweak it 
a bit, and probably uncomment part with partition information.  If it is 
fresh install, and you want everything cleaned out, you may also 
instruct Anaconda to nuke existing partition tables from disks.  If you 
have all the required options inside, installer will not ask any 
questions, all will be done automatically.

On the above link for documentatkion, you'll also find page that 
describes all options you may place in ks.cfg.

For minimal install, make sure to define packages section as follows:

%packages --nobase
@ Core    # Not really needed, Core is always installed

# Packages not in core, but usefull to have:
+yum
+logwatch
+openssh-clients
+openssh-server
+sendmail
+sendmail-cf

The "--nobase" option is important.  It prevents installation of Base 
group of packages.  This group of packages got extremely bloated in 
Fedora and RHEL4, and some of the packages in Base will pull dozens of 
dependencies (including X11 and OpenGL libraries).

Save ks.cfg file to floppy, boot from CD, and on first boot prompt type:

    linux ks=floppy

Anaconda will read ks.cfg from floppy, and install the system based on 
the options you specified.

You'll end up with way more cleaner installation than if you were to 
install Core + Base (which is the minimum if you perform regular 
interactive installation).

-- 
Aleksandar Milivojevic <amilivojevic at pbl.ca>    Pollard Banknote Limited
Systems Administrator                           1499 Buffalo Place
Tel: (204) 474-2323 ext 276                     Winnipeg, MB  R3T 1L7