SUSE / Uwe Gansert / autoyast / autoinstall

Changes between 10.0 and 10.1

This is a brief overview of the changes in autoyast between SUSE Linux 10.0 and SUSE Linux 10.1 There are more fixes and features in other yast modules like the bootloader that affect the autoinstallation but are not listed here. This list only contains the changes of the autoyast itself.

Documentation updates
reusing all partitions and creating no new ones is fixed
creating encrypted filesystems fixed (#118594) We still can't delete an encrypted partition and recreate it immediately as encrypted one. libstorage can't remember the encryption key then. To workaround that, one has to initialize the harddisk
rnc files fixed and added
syntax check for rnc files added to UI (thanx to mvidner)
size=max is now fixed for logical volumes
parsing of the <report>...</report> section fixed
a feature implemented that gives autoyast the chance to ask the user for specific values of the autoyast profile during the installation (like for the root password or the hostname for example)
Look here for documentation.
fixed #130140 (autoyast UI)
Changing the classes repository location did not take effect
match_type "regex" implemented for rules
nested devices catched and fixed in autoyast=device://... So autoyast=device://devpar1/devpart2/dir/autoinst.xml works now.
Some raid controllers have such device names.
merging with rules "fails" under some conditions (instead of merging, one file has overwritten some entries from the other file). The merging process was changed a bit now. See The merging process of Rules and Classes
the country clients (timezone,language,keyboard) use the official autoyast API now (thanx to jsuchome).
Special code for those modules dropped. As a sideeffect, secondary languages are possible now
timezone,language,keyboard moved from <general> to the root <profile> element. Compatibility code was added to assure backward compatibility.
it's possible now to change the <general> section via pre-script
it's possible now to turn on the confirmation mode via "y2confirm" on the kernel commandline, even if it's set to "false" in the profile, autoyast will stop in the proposal dialog.
create_update_source.sh fixed and added to the autoyast-utils.rpm
pre-probing stage on s390 added, so you can do autoinstallations on s390 with DASD and ZFCP (very scary architecture BTW)
fixed cloning of the partitioning if extended partitions are used
added a checkbox to the end of the manual installation "clone this system now"
So a clone_system client was added. The parts of a system to clone are read from the control.xml of the product.
(control.xml is not the autoyast profile)
fixed some Software RAID problems
invented
```
  <general>
    <mode>
      <second_stage config:type="boolean">false</second_stage>
    </mode>
  </general>
```
To turn off the second stage of autoyast (so after the reboot a manual installation goes on). Default is "true", which means autoyast is doing a complete installation.
working "mountby" implementation in the partitioning code.
EVMS support added. This will only work with SLES10, not with SUSE Linux 10.1 but if you want to test EVMS on SUSE Linux 10.1, I'll provide an installation root image that makes the usage of EVMS possible on 10.1 too. Look out for that image on my SUSE homepage soon.
Look here for documentation of EVMS in autoyast.
a warning box implemented that annoys you if a <package> in the profile can't be found on the installation source.
the validity check in the autoyast UI can check now if important stuff in the profile is missing, like the root password.
autoyast can read it's profile/rules and classes via https now ( autoyast=https://... )
cloning LVM fixed
cloning Software RAID fixed
XML parsing errors and file transfer errors are shown in a popup now
pre-script can modify all other scripts now
partition_id - filesystem_id mixup fixed (hopefully)
fixed udev issues
one can clone a system more than one time now with the UI
proof readed texts for the UI (thanx Rebecca)
pre, chroot and post scripts can show feedback now in a popup
scripts configuration in UI enhanced. All features are supported now by UI.
added LVM and EVMS support to the UI

added support for patterns instead of selections. For SLES10 you have to use patterns instead of selections
In the software section, use:

 <software>
    <patterns config:type="list">
       <pattern>directory_server</pattern>
       <pattern>...</pattern>
    </patterns>
 </software>

Attention!

Announcement on the mailinglist

init scripts are executed in a sorted order now (thanx to Bernd Nies)
mountby udev-id and udev-path added
"mountby" can be used to specify a partition to reuse now. With create=false and mountby=label, autoyast will search the partition with the given label and will try to reuse it.

The <general> section has a new part:

  <general>
    <signature-handling>
        <accept_unsigned_file         config:type="boolean">true</accept_unsigned_file>
        <accept_file_without_checksum config:type="boolean">true</accept_file_without_checksum>
        <accept_verification_failed   config:type="boolean">true</accept_verification_failed>
        <accept_unknown_gpg_key       config:type="boolean">true</accept_unknown_gpg_key>
    </signature-handling>
    ...

If you want to use unsigned installation sources with RPMs without signature, set accept_unsigned_file and accept_file_without_checksum to "true".
The default of those values depends on the product you install.
Here is documentation.

fixed partitioning on PPC
cloning DASD and ZFCP on s390 fixed
autoyast uses the add_on_products file on the installation source now

autoyast can handle add-on products in the profile now

<add-on>
 <add_on_products config:type="list">
    <listentry>
        <media_url>http://192.168.66.1/10.1_install/CD1/updates</media_url>
        <product>SuSE-Linux-Updates</product>
        <product_dir>/</product_dir>
     </listentry>
 </add_on_products>
</add-on>

read my announcement on the mailinglist

lots of other cloning problems fixed