Anaconda (installer)

Last updated
Anaconda
Developer(s) Anaconda Team
Initial release1999;26 years ago (1999)
Stable release
43.16 [1]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 22 April 2025;29 days ago (22 April 2025)
Repository
Written in Python and C
Operating system Linux
Available inMultilingual
Type System installer
License GPLv2 (Free software)
Website fedoraproject.org/wiki/Anaconda   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Anaconda is a free and open-source system installer for Linux distributions.

Contents

Anaconda is used by Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Oracle Linux, Scientific Linux, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, CentOS, MIRACLE LINUX, Qubes OS, Fedora, Sabayon Linux, Bazzite Linux and BLAG Linux and GNU, also in some less known and discontinued distros like Progeny Componentized Linux, Asianux, Foresight Linux, Rpath Linux and VidaLinux. [2]

Functionality

Anaconda installing CentOS 7 in text mode Anaconda text mode.png
Anaconda installing CentOS 7 in text mode

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, Itanium, DEC Alpha, IBM ESA/390, PowerPC, ARMv8). It supports installing from local storage devices like CD-ROM drives and harddisks as well as from network resources via FTP, HTTP, 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 with some modules written in C. It has a graphical frontend that is based on GTK+ 3/PyGObject and designed with the Glade Interface Designer. Anaconda also has a custom text frontend with support for computers with line printer like terminals, such as the IBM ESA/390 mainframes.

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. [3]

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 [4] 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:

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.

The anaconda-ks.cfg file found on a system can be used (possibly with small changes) to install a very similar system again.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Release 43.16". 22 April 2025. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  2. ↑ "Anaconda/Distros - Fedora Project Wiki". fedoraproject.org. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  3. ↑ "Changes in Fedora 42 For System Administrators". 6 May 2025.
  4. ↑ "Anaconda Boot Options"
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