Anaconda/Stage

Anaconda is executed in two stages. The first stage starts the installation, and the second stage performs the installation.

When installing fedora, verifying the stages is easy:

• stage1 only contains blue text-box user interface.
• stage2 begins from the first gui/gtk page after Running anaconda <version>, the <product> system installer - please wait.

In fedora, the first stage loads anaconda, the Fedora installer. It consists of a special kernel and initrd.img. These files can be loaded by any supported bootloader. Images for alternative installation boot media can be found on the first installation disk or installation DVD. The first stage parses command line arguments and then initializes the selected mode of the Installer. If booted from an installation CD it automatically starts the second stage. After the first stage boots the system and performs initialization of the system, it will then load the second stage from the selected installation medium. The second stage of anaconda configures all the settings such as language and keyboard mapping, time zone and network, root password, disk partitioning, package selection and so on.