I'm currently testing a process very similar to that found here:
http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey
And would like to update that doc with my observations once confirmed.
Preliminary notes (not all relevant to that specific WikiPage - suggestions
for where to put the non-kickstart info?
First boot partition on USB is FAT32 and uses GRUB to chainload to the
second ext2 partition, which contains the LiveCD image. Choice to boot into
a CentOS 5.3 LiveUSB environment or launch a kickstart install. The ext2
partition also contains a customized version of the installation DVD -
slipstream-updated via novi, custom repodata.xml from OrangeJEOS for minimal
install. Kickstart file resides in first FAT partition so can tweak from any
OS.
So far so good, much faster than DVD - total time from menu to reboot is <
3 minutes, and don't have to burn a disc every time I update the custom ISO.
LiveCD environment a bonus - too bad no persistence. No data corruption
problems so far - using a 32GB SanDisk Cruzer Contour - very fast and seems
solid.
Sidenote - I find it very odd that I have to even build an ISO - why can't
Anaconda/Kickstart just let me boot the DVD install image via USB and see
the repo as it does when from disk - rename "cdrom" method to "local" (=same
medium as booted from), or alternatively let the harddrive method see the
raw repo rather than only being able to unpack an ISO.
Will be checking out GRUB4DOS to allow booting directly into ISO images so
can easily add options to launch GParted/Parted Magic, Clonezilla,
SystemRescueCD, maybe even UBCD, Hiren's, custom BartPE's? Could just add
new partitions, but launching directly into the ISO seems easier to maintain
and cleaner from a filesystem POV.
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