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Photon OS — JSON Kickstart Template

New installer template added in Phase 1 of the coverage roadmap. VMware Photon OS uses a JSON kickstart (not the Anaconda text kickstart used by RHEL/Fedora).

Files

  • Template: files/photon/kickstart.json
  • Spec: specs/photon/spec.json (dist photon, version 5.0, x86_64 + aarch64)

Mechanism

  • The Photon installer reads its config from the ks= kernel boot parameter.
  • osimager places photon-kickstart.json on a secondary CD (cd_label: OEMDRV, like ESXi) and the boot_command edits the GRUB kernel line to add ks=cdrom:/photon-kickstart.json photon.media=cdrom insecure_installation=1.
  • ISO: https://packages.broadcom.com/photon/5.0/GA/iso/photon-5.0-dde71ec57.<arch>.iso (host moved from packages.vmware.com → packages.broadcom.com; build hash dde71ec57 is the 5.0 GA).

ks.json schema (key fields)

hostname, password{crypted,text}, disk, partitions[], packages[], network{type,...}, postinstall[]
- Password uses the sha512 hash marker 6>images/linux:password<6 (Photon crypted:true). - network.type switches dhcp/static via an E>...<E expression on >>ip<<.

⚠ Needs build verification

  • The exact ks=cdrom: path resolution from a SEPARATE OEMDRV CD (vs the boot ISO) is modeled on ESXi's behavior and not yet build-tested. If Photon won't read the config from the second CD, fall back to serving it via HTTP (ks=<url>) or baking it into the boot ISO.
  • The GRUB boot_command edit sequence is best-effort and may need adjusting to Photon 5.0's menu.

References

  • Downloading: https://github.com/vmware/photon/wiki/Downloading-Photon-OS
  • Kickstart: https://github.com/vmware/photon/blob/master/docs/photon_user/kickstart.md