AMI images are un-partitioned filesystem images with a grub.conf that
is read by the pv-grub bootloader used by EC2. Most of the actual work
making the AMI is done in the kickstart. This just creates the image
file.
Fedora 17 changes top level directories like /bin, /lib, etc. to
symlinks to the corresponding dirs in /usr/
dracut can convert old systems to the new layout using its convertfs
module.
In the latest method for booting the rootfs is in the LiveOS
directory of the media, not appended to the initrd. Detect this
and mount the iso and pass the CDLABEL to virt-install.
This runs anaconda directly, using the --image install feature. The host
system should be the same release as the target system in order to avoid
unexpected problems.
livemedia-creator uses an anaconda install media iso to install to a
file image. virt-install is used to execute the kickstart. lorax is used
to post-process the image file and create a bootable .iso from it.
Future additions will allow creation of EC2 images and output xml
details about the install.
