Ultra-minimal kickstart

Want to build a Linux server for an unsafe DMZ environment? Use the undocumented "--nobase" option when performing a Red Hat kickstart. This will install the smallest footprint of packages needed to run a bastion server--83 packages. Note that kudzu is a requirement of this setup. Use the following option in the "%packages" section of your kickstart file:

%packages --nobase
kudzu

However, the nobase option omits some useful tools for server management. Below you will find a list of packages I feel are needed for a functioning Linux server. This will yield a server with 180 packages. You can certainly prune this list to your needs.

%packages --nobase

# Necessary utility packages
crontabs
dos2unix
eject
file
ftp
gnupg
iptables
kudzu
grub
logrotate
mailx
man
man-pages
net-snmp
nmap
ntp
openldap
openldap-clients
openssh
openssh-clients
openssh-server
openssl
passwd
pciutils
procmail
psacct
psmisc
python
rhgb
rootfiles
rpm
rpm-build
rsync
schedutils
screen
setarch
slocate
sudo
symlinks
tcpdump
time
traceroute
unzip
up2date
vim-enhanced
vim-common
vixie-cron
wget
which
yum
zlib

# Kernel, debugging, and software-build related packages
cpp
gcc
gcc-c++
gdb
kernel-utils
lsof
ltrace
make
patch
patchutils
ncurses-devel
strace