F16 changes

T.C. Hollingsworth tchollingsworth at gmail.com
Wed Jan 11 03:00:08 UTC 2012


On Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 7:32 PM, Michael Hennebry
<hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu> wrote:
> As my current installation is EOL,
> there are things I would like to know before trying to install F16.
> For me, installation has always been a struggle.
> I approach new requirements with increased fear and trepidation.
> I don't do upgrades.
> It seems to me that an upgrade must be more complicated than
> a straight install and I have enough trouble with that.
>
> F16 seems to want GPT for disk partitioning.
> What I have now works just fine.
> Is GPT mandatory?
> Assuming it is, under what conditions will a new partition be required?
> My preference is not to mess with existing partitions.
> I'm hoping GPT will not force me to.
> Would changing to GPT pretty much guarantee stomping on my first partition?

Ananconda will only use GPT partition tables when completely erasing
the existing partition table or installing on a completely empty
drive.  Therefore, you do not have to remove your first partition, and
leaving it will guarantee that your partition table is not converted.

> The new lower limit of 1000 for normal user and group IDs is another issue.
> The current user has IDs 500 and has rather
> a lot of files that I want to keep.
> Fedora's documentation says to use a kickstart file to keep 500.
> Alas, my floppy drive no longer works.
> Even if it did, I would not expect my first
> hand-made kickstart file to work.
> Is there a way to change the configuration
> file before adding the first user?
> Is there a reason that anaconda does not simply ask for the limits?

IMHO, it would be easier to change your existing files to use the new
UID.  That neatly avoids messing with anaconda/kickstart and ensures
you'll never have to mess with it again on future installs.

That being said, you can use a kickstart file from a local disk or the
network, you do not need a floppy drive.  For more information, see
the following two sections of the Fedora Installation Guide:
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Installation_Guide/sn-automating-installation.html
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Installation_Guide/s1-kickstart2-startinginstall.html

> If I am feeling brave, I might try to install from hard disk.
> Apparently, one can boot from a minimal CD
> and point anaconda at an iso image.
> Is this correct?
> anaconda apparently only wants the name of the directory.
> Does that mean that the DVD's iso image should
> be the only file in the directory?
> I see occasional references to images.
> What are they for and how do they not mess up the finding of the DVD image?

This section of the installation guide explains how to install from an
ISO image on your hard drive in detail:
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Installation_Guide/s1-installationmethod-x86.html

Note that you don't even need a minimal installation CD, though it's a
bit more work:
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Installation_Guide/ap-medialess-install.html

> Note that one reason for my frequent frustation
> is that I have only one computer.
> I cannot query the internet while running anaconda.
> It seems to me that absent conflicts, there is no particular reason one
> could not perform an installation from a running setup.

-T.C.


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