Anaconda Boot Options¶

inst.repo¶

This gives the location of the Install Source - that is, the place where the installer can find its images and packages. It can be specified in a few different ways:

inst.repo=cdrom

Search the system’s CDROM drives for installer media. This is the default.

inst.repo=cdrom:<device>

Look for installer media in the specified disk device.

inst.repo=hd:<device>:<path>

Mount the given disk partition and install from ISO file on the given path. This installation method requires ISO file, which contains an installable tree.

inst.repo=[http,https,ftp]://<host>/<path>

Look for an installable tree at the given URL.

inst.repo=nfs:[<options>:]<server>:/<path>

Mount the given NFS server and path. Uses NFS version 3 by default.

You can specify what version of the NFS protocol to use by adding nfsvers=X to the options.

This accepts not just an installable tree directory in the <path> element, but you can also specify an .iso file. That ISO file is then mounted and used as the installation tree. This is often used for simulating a standard DVD installation using a remote DVD.iso image.

inst.noverifyssl¶

Prevents Anaconda from verifying the ssl certificate for all HTTPS connections with an exception of the additional kickstart repos (where –noverifyssl can be set per repo).

inst.proxy¶

inst.proxy=PROXY_URL

Use the given proxy settings when performing an installation from a HTTP/HTTPS/FTP source. The PROXY_URL can be specified like this: [PROTOCOL://][USERNAME[:PASSWORD]@]HOST[:PORT].

inst.stage2¶

This specifies the location to fetch only the installer runtime image; packages will be ignored. Otherwise the same as inst.repo.

inst.dd¶

This specifies the location for driver rpms. May be specified multiple times. Locations may be specified using any of the formats allowed for inst.repo.

inst.multilib¶

This sets dnf’s multilib_policy to “all” (as opposed to “best”).

inst.ks¶

Give the location of a kickstart file to be used to automate the install. Locations may be specified using any of the formats allowed for inst.repo.

For any format the <path> component defaults to /ks.cfg if it is omitted.

For NFS kickstarts, if the <path> ends in /, <ip>-kickstart is added.

If inst.ks is used without a value, the installer will look for nfs:<next_server>:/<filename>

• <next_server> is the DHCP “next-server” option, or the IP of the DHCP server itself
• <filename> is the DHCP “filename” option, or /kickstart/, and if the filename given ends in /, <ip>-kickstart is added (as above)

For example:

• DHCP server: 192.168.122.1
• client address: 192.168.122.100
• kickstart file: nfs:192.168.122.1:/kickstart/192.168.122.100-kickstart

inst.ks.sendmac¶

Add headers to outgoing HTTP requests which include the MAC addresses of all network interfaces. The header is of the form:

• X-RHN-Provisioning-MAC-0: eth0 01:23:45:67:89:ab

This is helpful when using inst.ks=http... to provision systems.

inst.ks.sendsn¶

Add a header to outgoing HTTP requests which includes the system’s serial number. [2]

The header is of the form:

• X-System-Serial-Number: <serial>

ip¶

Configure one (or more) network interfaces. You can use multiple ip arguments to configure multiple interfaces, but if you do you must specify an interface for every ip= argument, and you must specify which interface is the primary boot interface with bootdev.

Accepts a few different forms; the most common are:

ip=<dhcp|dhcp6|auto6|ibft>

Try to bring up every interface using the given autoconf method. Defaults to ip=dhcp if network is required by inst.repo, inst.ks, inst.updates, etc.

ip=<interface>:<autoconf>

Bring up only one interface using the given autoconf method, e.g. ip=eth0:dhcp.

ip=<ip>::<gateway>:<netmask>:<hostname>:<interface>:none

Bring up the given interface with a static network config, where:

<ip>

The client IP address. IPv6 addresses may be specified by putting them in square brackets, like so: [2001:DB8::1].

<gateway>

The default gateway. IPv6 addresses are accepted here too.

<netmask>

The netmask (e.g. 255.255.255.0) or prefix (e.g. 64).

<hostname>

Hostname for the client machine. This component is optional.

ip=<ip>::<gateway>:<netmask>:<hostname>:<interface>:<autoconf>:<mtu>

Bring up the given interface with the given autoconf method, but override the automatically obtained IP/gateway/etc. with the provided values.

Technically all of the items are optional, so if you want to use dhcp but also set a hostname you can use ip=::::<hostname>::dhcp.

nameserver¶

Specify the address of a nameserver to use. May be used multiple times.

bootdev¶

Specify which interface is the boot device. Required if multiple ip= options are used.

ifname¶

ifname=<interface>:<MAC>

Assign the given interface name to the network device with the given MAC. May be used multiple times.

inst.dhcpclass¶

Set the DHCP vendor class identifier [#dhcpd]. Defaults to anaconda-$(uname -srm).

console¶

This is a kernel option that specifies what device to use as the primary console. For example, if your console should be on the first serial port, use console=ttyS0.

You can use multiple console= options; boot messages will be displayed on all consoles, but anaconda will put its display on the last console listed.

Implies inst.text.

inst.lang¶

Set the language to be used during installation. The language specified must be valid for the lang kickstart command.

inst.geoloc¶

Configure geolocation usage in Anaconda. Geolocation is used to pre-set language and time zone.

inst.geoloc=0

Disables geolocation.

inst.geoloc=provider_fedora_geoip

Use the Fedora GeoIP API (default).

inst.geoloc=provider_hostip

Use the Hostip.info GeoIP API.

inst.keymap¶

Set the keyboard layout to use. The layout specified must be valid for use with the keyboard kickstart command.

inst.cmdline¶

Run the installer in command-line mode. This mode does not allow any interaction; all options must be specified in a kickstart file or on the command line.

inst.graphical¶

Run the installer in graphical mode. This is the default.

inst.text¶

Run the installer using a limited text-based UI. Unless you’re using a kickstart file this probably isn’t a good idea; you should use VNC instead.

inst.resolution¶

Specify screen size for the installer. Use format nxm, where n is the number of horizontal pixels, m the number of vertical pixels. The lowest supported resolution is 800x600.

inst.vnc¶

Run the installer GUI in a VNC session. You will need a VNC client application to interact with the installer. VNC sharing is enabled, so multiple clients may connect.

A system installed with VNC will start in text mode (runlevel 3).

inst.vncpassword¶

Set a password on the VNC server used by the installer.

inst.vncconnect¶

inst.vncconnect=<host>[:<port>]

Once the install starts, connect to a listening VNC client at the given host. Default port is 5900.

Use with vncviewer -listen.

inst.headless¶

Specify that the machine being installed onto doesn’t have any display hardware, and that anaconda shouldn’t bother looking for it.

inst.xdriver¶

Specify the X driver that should be used during installation and on the installed system.

inst.usefbx¶

Use the framebuffer X driver (fbdev) rather than a hardware-specific driver.

Equivalent to inst.xdriver=fbdev.

inst.sshd¶

Start up sshd during system installation. You can then ssh in while the installation progresses to debug or monitor its progress.

inst.rescue¶

Run the rescue environment. This is useful for trying to diagnose and fix broken systems.

inst.updates¶

Give the location of an updates.img to be applied to the installer runtime. Locations may be specified using any of the formats allowed for inst.repo.

For any format the <path> component defaults to /updates.img if it is omitted.

nokill¶

A debugging option that prevents anaconda from and rebooting when a fatal error occurs or at the end of the installation process.

inst.loglevel¶

inst.loglevel=<debug|info|warning|error|critical>

Set the minimum level required for messages to be logged on a terminal (log files always contain messages of all levels). The default value is info.

inst.noshell¶

Do not put a shell on tty2 during install.

inst.syslog¶

inst.syslog=<host>[:<port>]

Once installation is running, send log messages to the syslog process on the given host. The default port is 514 (UDP).

Requires the remote syslog process to accept incoming connections.

inst.virtiolog¶

Forward logs through the named virtio port (a character device at /dev/virtio-ports/<name>).

If not provided, a port named org.fedoraproject.anaconda.log.0 will be used by default, if found.

See the Anaconda wiki logging page for more info on setting up logging via virtio.

inst.zram¶

Forces/disables (on/off) usage of zRAM swap for the installation process.

extlinux¶

Use extlinux as the bootloader. Note that there’s no attempt to validate that this will work for your platform or anything; it assumes that if you ask for it, you want to try.

leavebootorder¶

Boot the drives in their existing order, to override the default of booting into the newly installed drive on Power Systems servers and EFI systems. This is useful for systems that, for example, should network boot first before falling back to a local boot.

inst.nodmraid¶

Disable support for dmraid.

inst.nompath¶

Disable support for multipath devices. This is for systems on which a false-positive is encountered which erroneously identifies a normal block device as a multipath device. There is no other reason to use this option.

inst.gpt¶

Prefer creation of GPT disklabels.

inst.selinux¶

Enable SELinux usage in the installed system (default). Note that when used as a boot option, “selinux” and “inst.selinux” are not the same. The “selinux” option is picked up by both the kernel and Anaconda, but “inst.selinux” is processed only by Anaconda. So when “selinux=0” is used, SELinux will be disabled both in the installation environment and in the installed system, but when “inst.selinux=0” is used SELinux will only be disabled in the installed system. Also note that while SELinux is running in the installation environment by default, it is running in permissive mode so disabling it there does not make much sense.

Third-party options¶

Since Fedora 19 the Anaconda installer supports third-party extensions called addons. The addons can support their own set of boot options which should be documented in their documentation or submitted here.

method¶

This is an alias for inst.repo.

repo=nfsiso:...¶

The difference between an installable tree and a dir with an .iso file is autodetected, so this is the same as inst.repo=nfs:...

dns¶

Use nameserver instead. Note that nameserver does not accept comma-separated lists; use multiple nameserver options instead.

netmask, gateway, hostname¶

These can be provided as part of the ip option.

ip=bootif¶

A PXE-supplied BOOTIF option will be used automatically, so there’s no need

ksdevice¶

Not present

The first device with a usable link is used

ksdevice=link

Ignored (this is the same as the default behavior)

ksdevice=bootif

Ignored (this is the default if BOOTIF= is present)

ksdevice=ibft

Replaced with ip=ibft. See ip

ksdevice=<MAC>

Replaced with BOOTIF=${MAC/:/-}

ksdevice=<DEV>

Replaced with bootdev

askmethod, asknetwork¶

Anaconda’s initramfs is now is completely non-interactive, so these have been removed.

Instead, use inst.repo or specify appropriate Network Options.

blacklist, nofirewire¶

modprobe handles blacklisting kernel modules on its own; try modprobe.blacklist=<mod1>,<mod2>...

You can blacklist the firewire module with modprobe.blacklist=firewire_ohci.

serial¶

This option was never intended for public use; it was supposed to be used to force anaconda to use /dev/ttyS0 as its console when testing it on a live machine.

Use console=ttyS0 or similar instead. See console for details.

updates¶

Use inst.updates instead.

essid, wepkey, wpakey¶

Dracut doesn’t support wireless networking, so these don’t do anything.

ethtool¶

Who needs to force half-duplex 10-base-T anymore?

gdb¶

This was used to debug loader, so it has been removed. There are plenty of options for debugging dracut-based initramfs - see the dracut “Troubleshooting” guide.

inst.mediacheck¶

Use the dracut option rd.live.check instead.

ks=floppy¶

We no longer support floppy drives. Try inst.ks=hd:<device> instead.

display¶

For remote display of the UI, use inst.vnc.

utf8¶

All this option actually did was set TERM=vt100. The default TERM setting works fine these days, so this was no longer necessary.

noipv6¶

ipv6 is built into the kernel and can’t be removed by anaconda.

You can disable ipv6 with ipv6.disable=1. This setting will be carried onto the installed system.

upgradeany¶

Anaconda doesn’t handle upgrades anymore.

inst.repo=hd:<device>:<path> for installable tree¶

Anaconda can’t use this option with installable tree but only with an ISO file.