[CentOS] re-install over internet

On 06/13/2009 07:56 AM, Bob Puff wrote:
>
> Is there a way to launch an installer while in the OS that I can re-install
> the whole thing over the internet, without having to physically go to the box?

No, but you can:

1) Grab the vmlinuz and initrd.img from the installation CD's 
images/pxeboot directory and save them to /boot/
2) Set up a stanza in grub.conf that will load that vmlinuz and initrd. 
  You will need to list the "ksdevice", ip address, netmask, gateway, 
and kickstart URL in grub.conf.
3) Create a kickstart file that specifies exactly the configuration that 
you require and store it at the URL you used in grub.conf.

Test the entire process on a local machine until it works exactly the 
way that you want it.  You can use "system-config-kickstart" to set up 
your kickstart file.  It would be best to use that tool on CentOS 5. 
Newer systems (like Fedora 11) use an updated syntax that may not parse 
correctly on CentOS 5.