F43 Change Proposal: Anaconda WebUI for Fedora Spins by default (system-wide)

Project Discussion Change Proposals
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Anaconda WebUI for Fedora Spins by default

This is a proposed Change for Fedora Linux.
This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee.

Wiki
Announced

:link: Summary

The Anaconda WebUI installer has been developed by the Anaconda team for some time now and is already the default installer for Fedora 42 Workstation. As the next step in this user adoption process, we are now aiming to enable it for Fedora Spins / Editions starting with the Fedora 43 release, though some Spins may transition in a later release depending on readiness and specific requirements.

:link: Owner

:link: Detailed Description

The Anaconda team has developed a new web-based UI for the OS installer, which was introduced as the default installer for Fedora Workstation in Fedora 42. We are now extending this modernized installation experience to all Fedora Spins for Fedora 43.

We would like to note that there will be some differences and extra features enabled for the anaconda-webui in the Spins variant compared to the Fedora Workstation. This is due to certain tasks that are handled by GNOME Initial Setup (GIS) after installation in Fedora Workstation.

For the Web UI installer in the Spins, the following extra features will be enabled:

Date/Time Configuration Screen User/Root Configuration Screen Hostname Configuration Screen

These features are typically managed by GIS in Workstation, but will be included in the anaconda-webui installer for Spins.

Additionally, the keyboard configuration needs to be adjusted, as the current implementation in Workstation relies on a launcher for GNOME keyboard settings, which needs to be replaced with a suitable alternative for the non-gnome environments.

Lastly, Anaconda WebUI uses currently Firefox as the default browser. We will introduce a configuration option to allow this to be changed, enabling spins to define and maintain their preferred browser and its configuration as needed. For more information around the new installer experience refer to the Anaconda WebUI for Fedora Workstation.

:link: Feedback

We have been actively gathering feedback on the anaconda-webui through Bugzilla RFEs and discussions within the Fedora community. This valuable input is helping us identify areas for improvement and fine-tune the installer to better meet the needs of users.

:link: Benefit to Fedora

The benefits of the new installer were extensively discussed in the change proposal Anaconda WebUI for Fedora Workstation. With the anaconda-webui now the default installer for all Fedora Spins in Fedora 43, we are moving towards a consistent installation experience across all Fedora desktop variants. This is the single path forward as we plan to deprecate the old GTK installer, ensuring that all users benefit from the new installer in a unified way.

:link: Scope

  • Proposal owners:

    • Anaconda team
    • Fedora Spins SIG

  • Other developers: Should not have impact out of the Fedora Spins desktop environment.

  • Release engineering: Will be added

  • Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)

  • Trademark approval: TBD

  • Alignment with Community Initiatives:

:link: How To Test

Warning: Keyboard selection for non-GNOME variants and timezone configuration screens are still under development. As a result, the Anaconda Web UI is not yet fully ready for Spins or Editions other than Workstation. Testing is intended for preliminary feedback only.

Steps:

  • Download the KDE (or alternative spin) ISO image (Index of /pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Spins/x86_64/iso)
  • Start a VM with this ISO image
  • Run sudo dnf -y install anaconda-webui to install the missing package.
  • Run the installation
  • See journal log and/or browser console in case we missed error in the Anaconda

Bugs should be filed to Red Hat Bugzilla on the Anaconda component.

:link: User Experience

Installation of the system should provide a much better and more polished user experience. Compared to the current UI users should be fine without the familiarity of the complexities of OS installation.

:link: Dependencies

  • Contingency mechanism: Return back to the current GTK UI by changing packages to build the ISO.
  • Contingency deadline: Beta freeze
  • Blocks release? No, we can ship without the new web UI

Documentation will be expected especially for custom partitioning replacement but not only that.

:link: Release Notes

Last edited by @amoloney 2025-05-06T11:14:44Z

Last edited by @amoloney 2025-05-06T11:14:44Z

1 Like
2

How do you feel about the proposal as written?

  • Strongly in favor
  • In favor, with reservations
  • Neutral
  • Opposed, but could be convinced
  • Strongly opposed
0 voters

If you are in favor but have reservations, or are opposed but something could change your mind, please explain in a reply.

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3

  1. First of all +1 from my side for this proposal :bluethumb:

  2. I found a small inconsistency in the instructions. It’s the fact that KDE is no longer a spin, but rather an edition. Therefore, the KDE ISO file won’t be found in the suggested path.

(KDE got an own Folder (since F42) beside Workstation, and Spins)

See details from Mirrors 
Index of /pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide

[PARENTDIR] Parent Directory                                    -   

[DIR] COSMIC-Atomic/               2025-05-12 05:32    -   
[DIR] Cloud/                         2024-02-01 10:56    -   
[DIR] Container/                     2023-08-21 07:00    -   
[DIR] Everything/                    2022-02-12 22:05    -   
[DIR] KDE/                           2025-04-30 07:01    -   
[DIR] Kinoite/                       2025-05-12 05:32    -   
[DIR] Onyx/                          2025-05-12 05:32    -   
[DIR] Sericea/                       2025-05-12 05:32    -   
[DIR] Server/                        2022-02-12 22:05    -   
[DIR] Silverblue/                    2025-05-12 05:32    -   
[DIR] Spins/                         2025-05-12 06:44    -   
[DIR] Workstation/                   2025-04-30 07:09    -

Here’s my suggestion for changing the path:

Steps:

4

I have following notes - when comparing Web UI installer to current GTK Anaconda:

  • Web UI Disk editor:
    • all changes are immediate - risk of accidentally losing data - that’s definitely bad and risky user experience - partitioning is critical function of installer
    • no LVM support at least in case ofFedora-Workstation-Live-Rawhide-20250512.n.0.x86_64.iso (see image below)
    • when I select “EFI system partition” it auto defaults to allocate all free space on disk - which is wrong - it should offer sensible default, say 1GB
  • generally unclear benefits - Wiki just says that Web UI installer will: “enhance and modernize installation experience”, but there is no list - we should know for sure: what will really improve with Web UI installer for Fedora users?

fed-ws-storage-editor-no-lvm
fed-ws-storage-editor-no-lvm1280×800 54.8 KB

5

Thanks for the suggestion, I updated the proposal.

1 Like
6

I tried to add a footnote above, which mentions the additional instructions I mentioned in post nr 3. As TL4 I can not change it.

If a moderator reads this it would make sense to add it above like:

^[[More details about KDE Edition see post nr. 3 below](https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/f43-change-proposal-anaconda-webui-for-fedora-spins-by-default-system-wide/152038/3) ]

Then it will look like this:

Download the KDE[1] (or alternative spin) ISO image (Index of /pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Spins/x86_64/iso)

  1. More details about KDE Edition see post nr. 3 below ↩︎

7

The LVM options are there, just not under ‘Create partition’ dialog :slight_smile:
Attaching the screenshot to show where you can find them.

Screen Shot 2025-05-14 at 15.07.41
Screen Shot 2025-05-14 at 15.07.411254×955 47.4 KB

If you believe this is not an oversight of yours and we indeed need to improve discoverability of these options, I welcome the feedback.

1 Like
8

Many thanks for your hint - works fine for me!

Just suggesting, if possible, adding little clue on right box, something like:

Use Storage hamburger menu for RAID and/or LVM setup.

I tested installation using typical LVM layout:

fed-rawhide-ws-lvm-example
fed-rawhide-ws-lvm-example1280×800 55 KB

9

In favor, with reservations!

10

This can indeed be an issue. However, making a backup would be the first thing for not loosing data. Backing up a whole partition can be done with the disk app on the Gnome Desktop alias Workstation. To not overwrite any partitions you will need a to analyze the system, before thinking of a new installation.

On the spins should be gparted the tool to prepare a Harddisk/SDD/Nvmd. There it also has the function to abort your changes before clicking on "Apply all operations" :white_check_mark:

Mine /boot/efi/ is 600MB for a default installation (250GB SDD-Disk). It shows me 3% of usage (this are approximate 20MB for a single boot ). Every System is individually and has to been made with individual values. And for the individual values you can ask in the ask.fp.o section and or consult some specialists/internet.

11

User_Experience

Installation of the system should provide a much better and more polished user experience. Compared to the current UI users should be fine without the familiarity of the complexities of OS installation.

About the User Experience, I remembered that we talked about the old Anaconda and the possibility to use Orcas (screen reader), for Users which depend on it.
Does the new WebUI remove this limitation? It was about Wayland which not worked for the Workstation Image ().

As an example the Mate desktop is a bit the “Grandma/Grandpa” of the gnome environment. It is a Spin and I do believe it will be a candidate for changing to the WebUI. Mate is still on x11, however also this project is talking about Wayland.

Are we sure if this change will be a better user experience for the “Orcas” Users? (Wayland / X windows compatibility issues ?)
Might be that the Project Discussion accessibility has more information how it looks like?

Just in case if there are KDE users testing the Orcas feature/issue:

Does this fix address the old or the new installer issue?

1 Like
12

Hi,

Unfortunately, I don’t know how exactly to test this (not familiar with this technology) but we invested into this and we are currently running Firefox under user so I expect to have full support of what Firefox can give you.

There was a plan to shout out to the community for the test days for the accessibility features. Hopefully, we will be able to manage that.

It address the current (old) GTK UI on Live ISOs. I don’t think it should have impact to web UI. Also it is merged already and released in Rawhide.

Best Regards,
Jirka

1 Like
13

Good Idea, If we do have a specific scenario to test with specific instructions, it is inviting to help out.
I guess first test on Rawhide makes sense, right?