Manually Creating your CentOS ISO for a Flame Family Product Installation

If you choose not to use the Autodesk supplied ISO to install CentOS 7.2, you need to include some extra packages provided by Autodesk, collectively called the kickstart (KS) file. After downloading CentOS, you must add the kickstart file to the distribution. You do this by running a script which takes the original CentOS ISO, adds the kickstart, and outputs the new ISO you will use to install Linux. For this you need:

• A Linux PC with the contents of dist/kickstart/ from the Autodesk distribution. Instructions are in a README file there.
• The CentOS 7.2 64-bit ISO file. The version of CentOS we currently support is labelled "1511" on the CentOS website. You must download the "1511" version of CentOS 7.2.
• A DVD burner and blank DVDs or a USB thumb drive.

To create the custom CentOS installation media:

1. Run build_kickstart_cd. This adds the kickstart file to the ISO image of your Linux distribution. For example:

   build_kickstart_cd CentOS72_kickstart.cfg Centos7.2.iso Centos7.2_KS.iso

2. Do one of the following:
   • To install from DVD, burn the updated ISO image to a DVD. You can use the stock DVD2.
   • To install from a USB drive, insert the USB drive into a USB port and run the following command to create a bootable USB: dd if=<file_path_to_Iso>/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1511-ADSK_Rev002.iso of=/dev/sdb
   Note:

   • The USB drive does not need to be partitioned.
   • If it is partitioned, make sure you select the device corresponding to the USB key as the destination ( the "of=" parameter, /dev/sdb in the above example) and not a partition (such as /dev/sdb1).
3. Insert the installation media (DVD or USB), boot the workstation and press F9 at the startup screen to select the appropriate boot device (Optical Drive or USB).
4. At the CentOS "Welcome" screen, using the arrows keys, select "Install CentOS" and press the Tab key. This presents the command line with the vmlinuz command and some parameters used to install the OS, for example:

   vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img

   Append to this command the kickstart parameters linux ks=cdrom so that the whole command line looks like:

   vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img linux inst.ks=cdrom net.ifnames=0

   Press Enter to begin the installation. You'll be prompted to set some system settings like language and time.
   Note: If the installation hangs it may be because the installer doesn't have an appropriate driver for your video card. Try appending text to the vmlinuz command:

   vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img linux ks=cdrom text

   This runs the installer in non-graphical text-only mode.
5. When you are prompted for the installation type, choose "Create Custom layout". This lets you manually initialize the hard disc. Delete the default partition scheme and partition your hard drive according to the following example: