Custom Fedora installations

Ask Fedora
1

I don’t know what I precisely need to ask, so I’m going to describe what I did and what I wish I could do.

  1. In a VM I installed a barebone version of Fedora (using Fedora everything Miscellaneous Downloads | The Fedora Project and choosing the minimal option).
  2. I added KDE plasma, Discover, Flathub, rpmfusion and all the core firmware and software packages that I needed.
  3. I Installed the few applications I always want to install on new systems
  4. I tweeked the DE settings exactly how I like them

So I now have a perfect fresh install of Fedora, up-to-date, and ready-to-use, that is perfectly tuned to my wishes. What I would like is create a .iso from that exact setup, and install it on multiple systems.

Also, the fact that this is running in a VM means that in the future I can update that barebone install and create new .iso that are up-to-date, so I don’t have to start that process from scratch every time. And I could also create variants with Gnome, or other pre-packaged apps.

I looked at posts in this forum (creating an .iso from an existing Fedora system, like this one : Create an ISO file from my existing Fedora ) but they all date at least from 2023.

I looked at this Kickstart guide : Making sure you're not a bot! but it doesn’t seem updated since 2021. I also tried to install system-config-kickstart but that package doesn’t seem to exist anymore.

I Iooked at the Yocto Project https://www.yoctoproject.org/ because after all, I’m basically trying to create a ‘distro’ based on Fedora but that seems a bit overkill and the requirements are way out of my range.

Why ?

Friends that want to try Linux or save their old laptops ask me to do their installation. It was never a problem in the past, because it was very rare and I could spare an hour to do the install and the post-install process. But nowadays it happens a lot, so I would like to automate things a bit.

The important part is that I tweak applications and the system a lot, to make it easier to use, and I would like those configurations saved. I also very often create webapps for Gmail or Deezer and I would like those to be there after the installation. And ideally I would like to create themes and a set of wallpapers to ship with that installation.

I know I may describe creating a new distro but it has to be easier than that, and maybe someone knows a tool that can do what I want without being a second job.

2

This is like asking a fisherman to provide fish — in the long run your friends will be better off learning to install Linux themselves. I used to run workshops introducing PhD level scientists to Linux so they could run and maintain a large specialized science package. We started by installing a Linux VM in Windows and introducing some command-line basics using the PDF book from https://LinuxCommand.org/. After participants were comfortable working with Linux and the application, we demonstrated installing Linux and the science package on an old “unloved and unwanted” PC of the sort you could often find gathering dust in most science labs.

3

Have a look into kickstart to automate what you need.

4

Is there better documentation then the stale one that OP found?

5

This 2025 thread might be useful-ish, but it’s definitely not a complete guide I’m afraid:

6

I agree, I appreciate what you’re saying, but this is not how it works in my experience. Most people don’t know anything about computers. Most people are afraid of touching anything on their computers. And basically nowbody has the patience to learn how to install linux on their laptop. I’m not happy about it, but it is what it is.

Most of the time they barely have the patience to sit through me explaining what they can do with their system, how to use it and so. And it’s not me being boring -you’ll have to trust me on that- it’s just that a lot of people shut down when you explain anything related to their computer.

I’m sure you know that. I mean, the overwhelming majority of people never opened the settings of any application they use, let alone tweak anything.

So, I think babysteps. I install Linux, I show them around a little, they use it, they are not afraid anymore, and one day they call me saying “hey, can I do this on my computer” and then…

7

I didn’t find any good documentation and the GUI version seems dead.

8

You can also consider making an OCI image of an immutable Fedora variant “packed” with stuff you need.

9

I think we all have tasks that we have others take care of for us (for money or as a favour).

I’m happy tinkering with my computer, but not with my plumbing!

10

And I don’t play with 240 volt electricity … any more.

11

Ansible is the other deployment technology, it may be easier to find documentation on that.

12

Are those bootable containers ?

I found that video : https://youtu.be/bf1xqjLeA9M

13

Yes, I had bootable containers in my mind.

14

In that case, I would install immutable systems, right ?

I don’t know how those work, but updating and adding new applications seem tricky, I don’t know.

15

I don’t know or can’t remember the name of the tool on Linux, but back in the day on Windoze we would use Norton Ghost to make bit for bit backups of hard-drives so we could reimage those onto new drives.

How to do that from a VM, I am not sure, but will think about it.

If you do want some more help with Kickstart, making a post called ‘help with kickstart’ and asking in the Matrix rooms may yield some results.

16

Found this : GitHub - brianlturney/Kickstart-ISO-Generator: Kickstart auto-installer for linux · GitHub

But hasn’t been updated in 4 years

17

I’m not an expert in Kickstart, and can’t devote the time to it as I might like.
Looking at the github, it uses python, so as long as the python version is still available or current, and kickstart has not changed too much, it should work… well, I think it is worth giving it a try!

18

I have some notes on that if it helps.

However I’m not sure you want to exactly clone an image with the same username, password and everything…

19

Ok, I found a video : https://youtu.be/QXzIoqJknX8

It is 10 month old, so nice. One minute in : “How do we generate a kickstart configuration ? Well, there aren’t a lot of good tools for doing this and the ones that are are pretty much out of date”

So that’s an answer :grin:

20

I do not think that videos are the best source of documentation for this level of activity.
Find the kickstart experts and ask them questions.