The Slackware setup program handles installation of the software packages
on your system. There are files that tell the setup program which
packages must be installed, which ones are optional, and which ones are
selected by default by the setup program.
A tagfile is in the first software series directory and is called
tagfile. It lists the packages in that particular
disk set and their status. The status can be:
Table 16-3. tagfile Status Options
Option | Meaning |
---|
ADD | The package is required for proper system operation |
SKP | The package will be automatically skipped |
REC | The package is not required, but recommended |
OPT | The package is optional |
The format is simply:
One package per line. The original tagfiles for each software series are
stored as tagfile.org. So if you mess up yours, you
can restore the original one.
Many administrators prefer writing their own tagfiles and starting the
installer and selecting “full”. The setup program will read
the tagfiles and perform the installation according to their contents. If
you use REC or OPT, a dialog box will be presented to the user asking
whether or not they want a particular package. Therefore, it is recommended
that you stick with ADD and SKP when writing tagfiles for automated installs.
Just make sure your tagfiles are written to the same location as the
originals. Or you can specify a custom tagfile path if you have custom
tagfiles.