Anaconda is a

free and open-source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a Software license, license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term ...

system installer for Linux distributions. Anaconda is used by

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a commercial Linux distribution developed by Red Hat. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86-64, Power ISA, ARM64, and IBM Z and a desktop version for x86-64. Fedora Linux and ...

Oracle Linux Oracle Linux (abbreviated OL, formerly known as Oracle Enterprise Linux or OEL) is a Linux distribution packaged and freely distributed by Oracle, available partially under the GNU General Public License since late 2006. It is, in part, compile ...

Scientific Linux Scientific Linux (SL) is a discontinued Linux distribution produced by Fermilab, CERN, DESY and by ETH Zurich. It is a Free and open-source software, free and open-source operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This product is derive ...

, Rocky Linux,

AlmaLinux AlmaLinux is a free and open source Linux distribution, developed by the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, a 501(c) organization, to provide a community-supported, Deployment environment, production-grade enterprise operating system that is Binary-code co ...

CentOS CentOS (, from Community Enterprise Operating System; also known as CentOS Linux) is a discontinued Linux distribution that provided a free and open-source community-supported computing platform, functionally compatible with its upstream (softw ...

, MIRACLE LINUX, Qubes OS,

Fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...

, Sabayon Linux, Bazzite Linux and

BLAG Linux and GNU BLAG Linux and GNU is a discontinued Linux distribution that was made by the Brixton Linux Action Group. BLAG was a single-CD distro with a range of default desktop applications, including multimedia, graphics, desktop internet applications and ...

, also in some less known and discontinued distros like Progeny Componentized Linux, Asianux,

Foresight Linux Foresight Linux was a Linux distribution comprising free and proprietary software with the goal of showcasing the latest in Linux desktop technologies. Foresight is developed by the Foresight community and is based on rPath, it also follows a ro ...

Rpath Linux In computer science, rpath designates the run time (program lifecycle phase), run-time search path hard-coded in an executable file or library (computer science), library. Dynamic linking loader (computing), loaders use the rpath to find require ...

and VidaLinux.

Functionality

Anaconda offers a text-mode and GUI mode, so users can install on a wide range of systems. It is designed to be easily portable and supports a wide range of hardware platforms (

IA-32 IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", commonly called ''i386'') is the 32-bit version of the x86 instruction set architecture, designed by Intel and first implemented in the i386, 80386 microprocessor in 1985. IA-32 is the first incarn ...

Itanium Itanium (; ) is a discontinued family of 64-bit computing, 64-bit Intel microprocessors that implement the Intel Itanium architecture (formerly called IA-64). The Itanium architecture originated at Hewlett-Packard (HP), and was later jointly dev ...

DEC Alpha Alpha (original name Alpha AXP) is a 64-bit reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Alpha was designed to replace 32-bit VAX complex instruction set computers ( ...

, IBM ESA/390,

PowerPC PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...

ARMv8 ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of RISC instruction set architectures (ISAs) for computer processors. Arm Holdings develops the ISAs and lice ...

). It supports installing from local storage devices like CD-ROM drives and harddisks as well as from network resources via

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...

HTTP HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, wher ...

, or NFS. Installations can be automated with the use of a kickstart file, that automatically configures the installation, allowing users to run it with minimal supervision. Before starting the OS installation process, the installer checks the system hardware and resource requirements. Only if the requirements are satisfied does it start the installation process.

Technology

It is mainly written in

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (prog ...

with some modules written in C. It has a graphical frontend that is based on GTK+ 3/

PyGObject PyGTK is a set of Python (programming language), Python Adapter pattern, wrappers for the GTK graphical user interface library (computer science), library. PyGTK is free software and licensed under the LGPL. It is analogous to PyQt/PySide and w ...

and designed with the Glade Interface Designer. Anaconda also has a custom text frontend with support for computers with

line printer A line printer Printer (computing), prints one entire line of text before advancing to another line. Most early line printers were printer (computing)#Impact printers, impact printers. Line printers are mostly associated with unit record eq ...

like terminals, such as the IBM ESA/390

mainframes A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...

. Fedora 42 introduced an updated, web based UI for Anaconda by default on their Workstation edition. Other Fedora editions will receive this updated UI in future releases.

Under the hood

The Anaconda installer provides various useful tools and commands for both users with specific installation needs as well as for debugging issues with the installer itself or OS installation in general. Anaconda supports a rich set of options "Anaconda Boot Options"
/ref> that can be passed to the boot command line to influence installation behaviour. There is also a root shell running on TTY2 available for the user to inspect the installation environment during the installation run. There are also various useful files in the installation environment: * /tmp/anaconda.log - contains Anaconda related log messages (Anaconda also logs to journal) * /root/lorax-packages.log - contains a list of names and versions of all packages that have been used to create the installation image * /mnt/install/ks.cfg contains the kickstart used for the installation run (if any) After a successful installation, Anaconda stores various important files from the installation run on the system itself. This makes it possible to check how the system was installed even at a later time. * installation logs are stored in /var/log/anaconda * a kickstart file describing option selected during the installation run is stored in /root/anaconda-ks.cfg The anaconda-ks.cfg file found on a system can be used (possibly with small changes) to install a very similar system again.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Linux, Free and open-source software Fedora Project Free software programmed in C Free software programmed in Python Linux installation software Red Hat software Software that uses GTK Software that uses PyGObject Software using the GNU General Public License

Functionality

Technology

Under the hood

See also

References

External links