12 Customizing your installation

This chapter introduces Ignite-UX configuration files, provides examples of how you can use them, and offers debugging tips. Additionally, it describes how to create local customizations for clients using post-installation scripts, and how to exclude software patch files from archives.

Using configuration files

Ignite-UX is driven by configuration files that define how clients are installed and configured. A configuration file can be thought of as a set of instructions. Ignite-UX provides a set of default configuration files when you install the product. These default configuration files are used until you change or customize them for use in your environment. By creating your own custom configurations, you can:

•Save time during installation

•Ensure standard configurations for similar clients

•Create configurations specific to operating system version or hardware architecture

•Automate all manner of tasks that would otherwise require manual intervention

The configuration file is expressed in a human- readable language, which is fully defined in

instl_adm(4). The configuration file language is much like other programming languages in that it supports the use of variables and conditional expressions. You can create configuration files directly or by using the Ignite-UX GUI.

Most of the important elements that make up an installed system are described in the configuration files:

•Identity of the client, presence of network configuration, and kernel modifications (additional drivers or tunable parameter settings)

•Disk and file system layout

•Software to be installed

•User-defined scripts that run at various points in the installation process to further customize the client

Classes of configuration files

The configuration files used by Ignite-UX during the installation process logically group similar information into classes by operating system and functionality. Figure 94 illustrates the classes of configuration files and their locations.

Using configuration files 161