The Red Hat Kickstart installation method is used primarily (but not exclusively) by the Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...

 operating system to automatically perform unattended operating system installation and configuration. Red Hat publishes Cobbler

Cobbler (software)

Cobbler is a Linux provisioning server that centralizes and simplifies control of services including DHCP, TFTP, and DNS for the purpose of performing network-based operating systems installs. It can be configured for PXE, reinstallations, and virtualized guests using Xen, KVM or VMware. Cobbler...

 as a tool to automate the Kickstart configuration process.

Usage

Kickstart is normally used at sites with many such Linux systems, to allow easy installation and consistent configuration of new computer systems.

Kickstart configuration files can be built three ways:

1. By hand.
2. By using the GUI system-config-kickstart tool.
3. By using the standard Red Hat installation program Anaconda.

Anaconda will produce an anaconda-ks.cfg configuration file at the end of any manual installation. This file can be used to automatically reproduce the same installation or edited (manually or with system-config-kickstart).

Structure

A Kickstart file contains a series of options, to be passed to the Anaconda installer, that describes how to set up the system. It may also include custom scripts to be run before or after the installation.

A Kickstart installation follows these four steps:

1. The machine is booted from a CD/DVD, a USB device or over a network using PXE
   Preboot Execution Environment
   The Preboot eXecution Environment is an environment to boot computers using a network interface independently of data storage devices or installed operating systems.PXE was introduced as part of the Wired for Management framework by Intel and is described in the specification The Preboot...
   
    and the network protocols Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
   Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
   The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a network configuration protocol for hosts on Internet Protocol networks. Computers that are connected to IP networks must be configured before they can communicate with other hosts. The most essential information needed is an IP address, and a default...
   
    and Trivial File Transfer Protocol
   Trivial File Transfer Protocol
   Trivial File Transfer Protocol is a file transfer protocol known for its simplicity. It is generally used forautomated transfer of configuration or boot files between machines in a local environment....
   
   .
2. The Kickstart file is downloaded from the boot media or network (most common).
3. An Anaconda installation is automatically launched and reads the Kickstart file for the location of the Installation Tree. The tree can reside on the boot media or network.
4. After accessing the Installation Tree, the installer attempts an unattended installation. If any required information is missing from the Kickstart file, or the file is configured incorrectly, the installer may prompt the user for additional information.