Mageia forum

Going back a good many years, to the days of earlier Mandrake, I recall a utility, on instal, of saving (onto floppy disc) a listing of all the software that had been loaded on that install. When you upgraded to the next issue you could refer to this, or rather the machine referred to this list and installed everything from the list. It was much handier than trawling through the many many options in the 'Add sotware' function. Does anyone remember this, and can offer a reason why this very useful tool fell out of favour? I'm reminded of this after just doing a rebbbuild. Mind, the list of software available after completing the build is very much larger than that available in the build. I myself prefer to upgrade on a clean disc, rather than an upgrade, to avoid the cruft invariably left behind by the old system. Admittedly I have to re-enter stuff like the hosts file and printers and such, but installs are getting much easier to do.

You are presumably referring to the auto-install option. The relevant files are present in /root/drakx. The wiki page may be in need of some TLC.
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Auto_inst

Jim

That seems to have been the thing. You were right in saying that the web page might need a little TLC. It did mention that the file could be held on a floppy!!I'll have a read and see what it does

rodgoslin wrote:It did mention that the file could be held on a floppy!!

Which is still true. Only that nowadays also flash drives and similar are also supported.

Having read part way through the Wiki, and moved a copy of the file into my home directory,for later analysis, it certainly seems the best thiing since sliced bread for a system builder. Why then is not given more prominence in the installation instructions. I can remember it, because it was so.. On a quick perusal of the ffile, it did seem to indicate that only those packages in the initial install were included. As it happens, I have installed a further 25 packages, post install. If it is as easy as it looks, it will be no problem to add them to the list. And any subsequent packages which have, thus far, eluded my memory.

One final point that has occurred to me. As I posted above, since the install, I've added another 25 packages. No doubt in the weeks ahead there will be more as their omission comes to light. Why are the packages that I subsequently installed not available in the original set in the build listing? I have noticed that the listing is so much shorter than it was in the versions going back to Mandrake. I did, then, on a couple of occasions use the loading list. Going through the extensive listing was a bit daunting, but, at least, you only had to do it the once. And then just sit back and watch it all going in.
Finally (I hope), if I add my list of 25 odd packages to the listing, will they all get added when I update to Mga vers 5? And what would happen if one or more of the choices was no longer supported?

rodgoslin wrote:Why are the packages that I subsequently installed not available in the original set in the build listing?

Sorry, I don't understand your issue. You have a list of, say 1000 packages, which where used for the initial installation.
After the installation, you see there are some packages missing, so you install them manually. Then you ask, why those 25 packages are not in your initial list ...
Maybe because you didn't put them on the list?

rodgoslin wrote:Finally (I hope), if I add my list of 25 odd packages to the listing, will they all get added when I update to Mga vers 5? And what would happen if one or more of the choices was no longer supported?

Depends on how you update, but at some point you will need to update all packages to the mga5 ones, so yes they will be updated, that's independent from the your initial package installation list.

I had thought tht I had made it clear, re the missing packages. The number of packages available in the lists for a customised install initial build is far less than the total number of packages available . As an example, there are very few games packages available to install in the original build. I'm not a games user. In fact the only one I do install is PysolF and I untick the standard choices, Mines, etc.. PysolFC is not in the listings for the inital build. In the old days, I could spend over an hour ticking all the packages I wanted in my build. Now, I tick those that are listed, and afterwards, install all the rest. I have wondered whether the ones that ARE listed in the buld are the only ones available in the DVD, and the rest, only available from the repositories. If that were the case, there would be little point in adding them to the auto-install list, since they would not be available until the repositories had been set up, which is a post-build operation

rodgoslin wrote:If that were the case, there would be little point in adding them to the auto-install list, since they would not be available until the repositories had been set up, which is a post-build operation

Nope, you can setup repositories during installation, installer even offers that, and to install updates at the end of the install before the first boot.

I am aware that there is an option to install updates during the install, but I've not tried it for a long time, since after setting tup the ethernet connection, the system always returned a failure to connect, but on the re-boot, the machine connected to the modem/router with no problems, and no changes to the setup. I tend to learn by these instances and continue to act accordingly until I learn otherwise. Mageia, note, always indicates that the ethernet connection has been successful, but I still decline the invitation, on the basis that updating takes a long time (usually) and I need to see that the install has gone ok. As to the option to establish repositories during install, I've never noticed that option.

I've read through the wiki, and it's quite clear as to how the install file is created, and how it can be subsequently added to or edited. However, I can find little information as how the file is to be used. The only instruction is "Start the autoinstall installation". This is rather like having a set of instructions as to how to rob a bankk, which says "Take the money from the safe" without detailing how you get into the bank, how you find the safe, and how you open it. It used to be in the old Mandrake instruction books, but they are long gone. I've a PC that is only used to test out OS's, and is at the moment mageia-less, since using it to format an HDD, which seems to have a problem. The result of this operation is that somehow, the fstab file is corrupt and the machine will not boot, except into single user mode. So is an ideal candidate to try out this very useful adjunct. All the comments, I've come across in the hunt, suggest that this was a brilliant Mandrake option that scarcely merited a mention. Anywhere.

So what is this thread actually about, or what is your current question about?
You want to add custom software to the autoinstall list, you want to know how repos can be added curing installation or you want to know how autoinstall is supposed to work at all?

See, if you write all that text, but don't put up clearly defined questions, it's quite hard to help.

Thank you for your last post. However, I would find it much more useful if you could, in fact, answer the points I raised. Rather than raising irrelevant questions. I am still without information regarding the actual aut-installation process. Looking back to information dredged up by Google merely describes what it does, but not how to do it. I have done auto-installs before, but so long ago that the techniques has gone from my memory, A simple list of instructions would suffice, and is all that I asked for

rodgoslin wrote:However, I would find it much more useful if you could, in fact, answer the points I raised.

I've simply asked what points you raised exactly, as you jumped from one to another. Good luck in figuring that out yourself.

Yes, I think you're right. I would be better off sorting it out myself