Add a dry run mode to the kickstart script. (#12322)

* Ad a dry run mode to the kickstart script.

This will report what the script would try to do on the system on which
it’s run without actually doing any of it.

Also includes a handful of mnior changes to improve the overall UX of
the script.

* Create UPDATE.md

I commited my change directly because it was easier to express which changes I wanted.

* Fix typo in documentation file.

Co-authored-by: Tina Luedtke <kickoke@users.noreply.github.com>

3 files changed, 171 insertions, 71 deletions

diff --git a/packaging/installer/UPDATE.md b/packaging/installer/UPDATE.md
index 3b75e8223e..60fcbfa9d2 100644
--- a/packaging/installer/UPDATE.md
+++ b/packaging/installer/UPDATE.md
@@ -17,7 +17,17 @@ or stable version. You can also [enable or disable automatic updates on an exist
 Before you update the Netdata Agent, check to see if your Netdata Agent is already up-to-date by clicking on the update
 icon in the local Agent dashboard's top navigation. This modal informs you whether your Agent needs an update or not.
 
-![Opening the Agent's Update modal](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/99738428-add06780-2a87-11eb-8268-0e17b689eb3f.gif)
+The exact update method to use depends on the install type:
+
+-   Installs with an install type of 'custom' usually indicate installing a third-party package through the system
+    package manager. To update these installs, you should update the package just like you would any other package
+    on your system.
+-   Installs with an install type starting with `binpkg` or ending with `build` or `static` can be updated using
+    our [regular update method](#updates-for-most-systems).
+-   Installs with an install type of 'oci' were created from our official Docker images, and should be updated
+    using our [Docker](#docker) update procedure.
+-   macOS users should check [our update instructions for macOS](#macos).
+-   Manually built installs should check [our update instructions for manual builds](#manual-installation-from-git).
 
 ## Determine which installation method you used
 
@@ -27,29 +37,23 @@ Starting with netdata v1.33.0, you can use Netdata itself to determine the insta
 netdata -W buildinfo | grep 'Install type:'
 ```
 
-If this produces no output, you have an older install and will have to manually look in the Netdata config directory.
-If you are not sure where your Netdata config directory is, see the [configuration doc](/docs/configure/nodes.md). In
-most installations, this is `/etc/netdata`.
+If you are using an older version of Netdata, or the above command produces no output, you can run our one-line
+installation script in dry-run mode to attempt to determine what method to use to update by running the following
+command:
 
-Use `cd` to navigate to the Netdata config directory, then use `ls -a` to look for a file called `.install-type`.
+```bash
+wget -O /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh https://my-netdata.io/kickstart.sh && sh /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh --dry-run
+```
 
--   If the `.install-type` file doex not exist, look for a file in the same directory called `.environment`.
-    -   If the `.environment` file does not exist, then you have a ‘custom’ install.
-    -   If the `.environment` file does exist, then you have either a ‘static’ or ‘build’ install.
--   If the `.install-type` file does exist, check it’s contents with `cat .install-type`.
-    -   The value of the `INSTALL_TYPE` key indicates what type of install you have.
+Note that if you installed Netdata using an installation prefix, you will need to add an `--install` option
+specifying that prefix to make sure it finds the existing install.
 
-The exact update method to use depends on the install type:
+If you see a line starting with `--- Would attempt to update existing installation by running the updater script
+located at:`, then our [regular update method](#updates-for-most-systems) will work for you.
 
--   Installs with an install type of 'custom' usually indicate installing a third-party package through the system
-    package manager. To update these installs, you should update the package just like you would any other package
-    on your system.
--   Installs with an install type starting with `binpkg` or ending with `build` or `static` can be updated using
-    our [regular update method](#updates-for-most-systems).
--   Installs with an install type of 'oci' were created from our official Docker images, and should be updated
-    using our [Docker](#docker) update procedure.
--   macOS users should check [our update instructions for macOS](#macos).
--   Manually built installs should check [our update instructions for manual builds](#manual-installation-from-git).
+Otherwise, it should either indicate that the installation type is not supported (which probably means you either
+have a `custom` instal or built Netdata manually) or indicate that it would create a new install (which means that
+you either used a non-standard install path, or that you don’t actually have Netdata installed).
 
 ## Updates for most systems
 
diff --git a/packaging/installer/kickstart.sh b/packaging/installer/kickstart.sh
index ce449fd6f0..7467cda8df 100755
--- a/packaging/installer/kickstart.sh
+++ b/packaging/installer/kickstart.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ START_TIME="$(date +%s)"
 # ======================================================================
 # Defaults for environment variables
 
+DRY_RUN=0
 SELECTED_INSTALL_METHOD="none"
 INSTALL_TYPE="unknown"
 INSTALL_PREFIX=""
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ USAGE: kickstart.sh [options]
   --non-interactive          Do not prompt for user input. (default: prompt if there is a controlling terminal)
   --interactive              Prompt for user input even if there is no controlling terminal.
   --dont-start-it            Do not start the agent by default (only for static installs or local builds)
+  --dry-run                  Report what we would do with the given options on this system, but don’t actually do anything.
   --stable-channel           Install a stable version instead of a nightly build (default: install a nightly build)
   --nightly-channel          Install a nightly build instead of a stable version
   --no-updates               Do not enable automatic updates (default: enable automatic updates)
@@ -80,7 +82,7 @@ USAGE: kickstart.sh [options]
   --claim-only               If there is an existing install, only try to claim it, not update it.
   --claim-*                  Specify other options for the claiming script.
   --no-cleanup               Don't do any cleanup steps. This is intended to help with debugging the installer.
-  --uninstall                Uninstall netdata.
+  --uninstall                Uninstall an existing installation of Netdata.
 
 Additionally, this script may use the following environment variables:
 
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ HEREDOC
 # Telemetry functions
 
 telemetry_event() {
-  if [ "${NETDATA_DISABLE_TELEMETRY}" -eq 1 ]; then
+  if [ "${NETDATA_DISABLE_TELEMETRY}" -eq 1 ] || [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
     return 0
   fi
 
@@ -297,6 +299,10 @@ run() {
     info_console="[${TPUT_DIM}${dir}${TPUT_RESET}]$ "
   fi
 
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+    printf >&2 "%s" "Would run command:\n"
+  fi
+
   {
     printf "%s" "${info}"
     escaped_print "${@}"
@@ -307,9 +313,13 @@ run() {
   escaped_print >&2 "${@}"
   printf >&2 "%s\n" "${TPUT_RESET}"
 
-  "${@}"
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -ne 1 ]; then
+    "${@}"
+    ret=$?
+  else
+    ret=0
+  fi
 
-  ret=$?
   if [ ${ret} -ne 0 ]; then
     run_failed
     printf "%s\n" "FAILED with exit code ${ret}" >> "${run_logfile}"
@@ -361,6 +371,17 @@ create_tmp_directory() {
   mktemp -d -t netdata-kickstart-XXXXXXXXXX
 }
 
+check_for_remote_file() {
+  url="${1}"
+  if command -v curl > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    curl --output /dev/null --silent --head --fail "${url}" || return 1
+  elif command -v wget > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    wget -S --spider "${url}" 2>&1 | grep -q 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK' || return 1
+  else
+    fatal "I need curl or wget to proceed, but neither of them are available on this system." F0003
+  fi
+}
+
 download() {
   url="${1}"
   dest="${2}"
@@ -522,6 +543,11 @@ update() {
   updater="${ndprefix}/usr/libexec/netdata/netdata-updater.sh"
 
   if [ -x "${updater}" ]; then
+    if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+      progress "Would attempt to update existing installation by running the updater script located at: ${updater}"
+      return 0
+    fi
+
     if run ${ROOTCMD} "${updater}" --not-running-from-cron; then
       progress "Updated existing install at ${ndprefix}"
       return 0
@@ -529,6 +555,7 @@ update() {
       fatal "Failed to update existing Netdata install at ${ndprefix}" F0100
     fi
   else
+    warning "Could not find a usable copy of the updater script."
     return 1
   fi
 }
@@ -539,24 +566,40 @@ uninstall() {
 
   export INSTALL_PREFIX="${ndprefix}"
 
+  uninstaller="${INSTALL_PREFIX}/usr/libexec/netdata/netdata-uninstaller.sh"
+  uninstaller_url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/netdata/netdata/master/packaging/installer/netdata-uninstaller.sh"
+
   if [ $INTERACTIVE = 0 ]; then
     FLAGS="--yes --force"
   else
     FLAGS="--yes"
   fi
 
-  if [ -f "${INSTALL_PREFIX}/usr/libexec/netdata/netdata-uninstaller.sh" ]; then
-    echo "Found existing netdata-uninstaller. Running it.."
-    ${ROOTCMD} "${INSTALL_PREFIX}/usr/libexec/netdata/netdata-uninstaller.sh" $FLAGS
+  if [ -x "${uninstaller}" ]; then
+    if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+      progress "Would attempt to uninstall existing install with uninstaller script found at: ${uninstaller}"
+      return 0
+    else
+      progress "Found existing netdata-uninstaller. Running it.."
+      run ${ROOTCMD} "${uninstaller}" $FLAGS
+    fi
   else
-    echo "Downloading netdata-uninstaller ..."
-    wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/netdata/netdata/master/packaging/installer/netdata-uninstaller.sh -O "${tmpdir}/netdata-uninstaller.sh"
-    chmod +x "${tmpdir}/netdata-uninstaller.sh"
-    ${ROOTCMD} "${tmpdir}/netdata-uninstaller.sh" $FLAGS
+    if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+      progress "Would download installer script from: ${uninstaller_url}"
+      progress "Would attempt to uninstall existing install with downloaded uninstaller script."
+      return 0
+    else
+      progress "Downloading netdata-uninstaller ..."
+      download "${uninstaller_url}" "${tmpdir}/netdata-uninstaller.sh"
+      chmod +x "${tmpdir}/netdata-uninstaller.sh"
+      run ${ROOTCMD} "${tmpdir}/netdata-uninstaller.sh" $FLAGS
+    fi
   fi
 }
 
 detect_existing_install() {
+  progress "Checking for existing installations of Netdata..."
+
   if pkg_installed netdata; then
     ndprefix="/"
   else
@@ -584,7 +627,6 @@ detect_existing_install() {
 
   if [ -n "${ndprefix}" ]; then
     typefile="${ndprefix}/etc/netdata/.install-type"
-    envfile="${ndprefix}/etc/netdata/.environment"
     if [ -r "${typefile}" ]; then
       ${ROOTCMD} sh -c "cat \"${typefile}\" > \"${tmpdir}/install-type\""
       # shellcheck disable=SC1090,SC1091
@@ -593,6 +635,7 @@ detect_existing_install() {
       INSTALL_TYPE="unknown"
     fi
 
+    envfile="${ndprefix}/etc/netdata/.environment"
     if [ "${INSTALL_TYPE}" = "unknown" ] || [ "${INSTALL_TYPE}" = "custom" ]; then
       if [ -r "${envfile}" ]; then
         ${ROOTCMD} sh -c "cat \"${envfile}\" > \"${tmpdir}/environment\""
@@ -621,7 +664,6 @@ handle_existing_install() {
   case "${INSTALL_TYPE}" in
     kickstart-*|legacy-*|binpkg-*|manual-static|unknown)
       if [ "${INSTALL_TYPE}" = "unknown" ]; then
-
         warning "Found an existing netdata install at ${ndprefix}, but could not determine the install type."
         warning "Usually this means you installed Netdata through your distribution’s regular package repositories or some other unsupported method."
       else
@@ -763,7 +805,7 @@ confirm_install_prefix() {
 check_claim_opts() {
 # shellcheck disable=SC2235,SC2030
   if [ -z "${NETDATA_CLAIM_TOKEN}" ] && [ -n "${NETDATA_CLAIM_ROOMS}" ]; then
-    fatal "Invalid claiming options, claim rooms may only be specified when a token and URL are specified." F0204
+    fatal "Invalid claiming options, claim rooms may only be specified when a token is specified." F0204
   elif [ -z "${NETDATA_CLAIM_TOKEN}" ] && [ -n "${NETDATA_CLAIM_EXTRA}" ]; then
     fatal "Invalid claiming options, a claiming token must be specified." F0204
   elif [ "${NETDATA_DISABLE_CLOUD}" -eq 1 ] && [ -n "${NETDATA_CLAIM_TOKEN}" ]; then
@@ -796,7 +838,12 @@ is_netdata_running() {
 }
 
 claim() {
-  progress "Attempting to claim agent to ${NETDATA_CLAIM_URL}"
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+    progress "Would attempt to claim agent to ${NETDATA_CLAIM_URL}"
+  else
+    progress "Attempting to claim agent to ${NETDATA_CLAIM_URL}"
+  fi
+
   if [ -z "${INSTALL_PREFIX}" ] || [ "${INSTALL_PREFIX}" = "/" ]; then
     NETDATA_CLAIM_PATH=/usr/sbin/netdata-claim.sh
   elif [ "${INSTALL_PREFIX}" = "/opt/netdata" ]; then
@@ -805,12 +852,22 @@ claim() {
     NETDATA_CLAIM_PATH="${INSTALL_PREFIX}/netdata/usr/sbin/netdata-claim.sh"
   fi
 
+  claim_opts="-token=${NETDATA_CLAIM_TOKEN} -url=${NETDATA_CLAIM_URL}"
+
+  if [ -n "${NETDATA_CLAIM_ROOMS}" ]; then
+    claim_opts="${claim_opts} -rooms=${NETDATA_CLAIM_ROOMS}"
+  fi
+
   if ! is_netdata_running; then
-    NETDATA_CLAIM_EXTRA="${NETDATA_CLAIM_EXTRA} -daemon-not-running"
+    claim_opts="${claim_opts} -daemon-not-running"
+  fi
+
+  if [ -n "${NETDATA_CLAIM_EXTRA}" ]; then
+    claim_opts="${claim_opts} ${NETDATA_CLAIM_EXTRA}"
   fi
 
   # shellcheck disable=SC2086
-  if ${ROOTCMD} "${NETDATA_CLAIM_PATH}" -token="${NETDATA_CLAIM_TOKEN}" -rooms="${NETDATA_CLAIM_ROOMS}" -url="${NETDATA_CLAIM_URL}" ${NETDATA_CLAIM_EXTRA}; then
+  if run ${ROOTCMD} "${NETDATA_CLAIM_PATH}" ${claim_opts}; then
     progress "Successfully claimed node"
   else
     warning "Unable to claim node, you must do so manually."
@@ -870,10 +927,10 @@ check_special_native_deps() {
     progress "Checking for libuv availability."
     # shellcheck disable=SC2086
     if ${pm_cmd} search ${interactive_opts} -v libuv | grep -q "No matches found"; then
-      progress "libv not found, checking for EPEL availability."
+      progress "libuv not found, checking for EPEL availability."
       # shellcheck disable=SC2086
       if ${pm_cmd} search ${interactive_opts} -v epel-release | grep -q "No matches found"; then
-        warning "Unable to find a suitable source for libuv, cannot install on this system."
+        warning "Unable to find a suitable source for libuv, cannot install using native packages on this system."
         return 1
       else
         progress "EPEL is available, attempting to install so that required dependencies are available."
@@ -896,7 +953,11 @@ try_package_install() {
     return 1
   fi
 
-  progress "Attempting to install using native packages..."
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+    progress "Would attempt to install using native packages..."
+  else
+    progress "Attempting to install using native packages..."
+  fi
 
   if [ "${RELEASE_CHANNEL}" = "nightly" ]; then
     release="-edge"
@@ -1010,14 +1071,17 @@ try_package_install() {
   repoconfig_url="${REPOCONFIG_URL_PREFIX}/${repo_prefix}/${repoconfig_file}/download.${pkg_type}"
 
   if ! pkg_installed "${repoconfig_name}"; then
-    progress "Downloading repository configuration package."
-    if ! download "${repoconfig_url}" "${tmpdir}/${repoconfig_file}"; then
-      warning "Failed to download repository configuration package."
+    progress "Checking for availability of repository configuration package."
+    if ! check_for_remote_file "${repoconfig_url}"; then
+      warning "No repository configuration package available for ${DISTRO} ${SYSVERSION}."
       return 2
     fi
 
+    if ! download "${repoconfig_url}" "${tmpdir}/${repoconfig_file}"; then
+      fatal "Failed to download repository configuration package." F0209
+    fi
+
     if [ -n "${needs_early_refresh}" ]; then
-      progress "Updating repository metadata."
       # shellcheck disable=SC2086
       if ! run ${ROOTCMD} env ${env} ${pm_cmd} ${repo_subcmd} ${repo_update_opts}; then
         warning "Failed to refresh repository metadata."
@@ -1025,7 +1089,6 @@ try_package_install() {
       fi
     fi
 
-    progress "Installing repository configuration package."
     # shellcheck disable=SC2086
     if ! run ${ROOTCMD} env ${env} ${pm_cmd} install ${pkg_install_opts} "${tmpdir}/${repoconfig_file}"; then
       warning "Failed to install repository configuration package."
@@ -1033,7 +1096,6 @@ try_package_install() {
     fi
 
     if [ -n "${repo_subcmd}" ]; then
-      progress "Updating repository metadata."
       # shellcheck disable=SC2086
       if ! run ${ROOTCMD} env ${env} ${pm_cmd} ${repo_subcmd} ${repo_update_opts}; then
         fatal "Failed to update repository metadata." F0205
@@ -1044,7 +1106,7 @@ try_package_install() {
   fi
 
   if ! check_special_native_deps; then
-    warning "Could not find secondary dependencies ${DISTRO} on ${SYSARCH}."
+    warning "Could not find secondary dependencies for ${DISTRO} on ${SYSARCH}."
     if [ -z "${NO_CLEANUP}" ]; then
       progress "Attempting to uninstall repository configuration package."
       # shellcheck disable=SC2086
@@ -1053,7 +1115,6 @@ try_package_install() {
     return 2
   fi
 
-  progress "Checking for usable Netdata package."
   if ! netdata_avail_check "${DISTRO_COMPAT_NAME}"; then
     warning "Could not find a usable native package for ${DISTRO} on ${SYSARCH}."
     if [ -z "${NO_CLEANUP}" ]; then
@@ -1069,7 +1130,6 @@ try_package_install() {
     run ${ROOTCMD} touch "/etc/netdata/.opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics"
   fi
 
-  progress "Installing Netdata package."
   # shellcheck disable=SC2086
   if ! run ${ROOTCMD} env ${env} ${pm_cmd} install ${pkg_install_opts} netdata; then
     warning "Failed to install Netdata package."
@@ -1098,19 +1158,32 @@ set_static_archive_urls() {
 
 try_static_install() {
   set_static_archive_urls "${RELEASE_CHANNEL}"
-  progress "Downloading static netdata binary: ${NETDATA_STATIC_ARCHIVE_URL}"
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+    progress "Would attempt to install using static build..."
+  else
+    progress "Attempting to install using static build..."
+  fi
 
-  if ! download "${NETDATA_STATIC_ARCHIVE_URL}" "${tmpdir}/netdata-${SYSARCH}-latest.gz.run"; then
-    warning "Unable to download static build archive for ${SYSARCH}."
+  # Check status code first, so that we can provide nicer fallback for dry runs.
+  if ! check_for_remote_file "${NETDATA_STATIC_ARCHIVE_URL}"; then
+    warning "No static build available for ${SYSARCH} CPUs."
     return 2
   fi
 
+  if ! download "${NETDATA_STATIC_ARCHIVE_URL}" "${tmpdir}/netdata-${SYSARCH}-latest.gz.run"; then
+    fatal "Unable to download static build archive for ${SYSARCH}." F0208
+  fi
+
   if ! download "${NETDATA_STATIC_ARCHIVE_CHECKSUM_URL}" "${tmpdir}/sha256sum.txt"; then
     fatal "Unable to fetch checksums to verify static build archive." F0206
   fi
 
-  if ! grep "netdata-${SYSARCH}-latest.gz.run" "${tmpdir}/sha256sum.txt" | safe_sha256sum -c - > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-    fatal "Static binary checksum validation failed. Usually this is a result of an older copy of the file being cached somewhere upstream and can be resolved by retrying in an hour." F0207
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+    progress "Would validate SHA256 checksum of downloaded static build archive."
+  else
+    if ! grep "netdata-${SYSARCH}-latest.gz.run" "${tmpdir}/sha256sum.txt" | safe_sha256sum -c - > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+      fatal "Static binary checksum validation failed. Usually this is a result of an older copy of the file being cached somewhere upstream and can be resolved by retrying in an hour." F0207
+    fi
   fi
 
   if [ "${INTERACTIVE}" -eq 0 ]; then
@@ -1125,18 +1198,20 @@ try_static_install() {
     return 2
   fi
 
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -ne 1 ]; then
   install_type_file="/opt/netdata/etc/netdata/.install-type"
-  if [ -f "${install_type_file}" ]; then
-    ${ROOTCMD} sh -c "cat \"${install_type_file}\" > \"${tmpdir}/install-type\""
-    ${ROOTCMD} chown "$(id -u)":"$(id -g)" "${tmpdir}/install-type"
-    # shellcheck disable=SC1090,SC1091
-    . "${tmpdir}/install-type"
-    cat > "${tmpdir}/install-type" <<- EOF
+    if [ -f "${install_type_file}" ]; then
+      ${ROOTCMD} sh -c "cat \"${install_type_file}\" > \"${tmpdir}/install-type\""
+      ${ROOTCMD} chown "$(id -u)":"$(id -g)" "${tmpdir}/install-type"
+      # shellcheck disable=SC1090,SC1091
+      . "${tmpdir}/install-type"
+      cat > "${tmpdir}/install-type" <<- EOF
 	INSTALL_TYPE='kickstart-static'
 	PREBUILT_ARCH='${PREBUILT_ARCH}'
 	EOF
-    ${ROOTCMD} chown netdata:netdata "${tmpdir}/install-type"
-    ${ROOTCMD} cp "${tmpdir}/install-type" "${install_type_file}"
+      ${ROOTCMD} chown netdata:netdata "${tmpdir}/install-type"
+      ${ROOTCMD} cp "${tmpdir}/install-type" "${install_type_file}"
+    fi
   fi
 }
 
@@ -1162,13 +1237,16 @@ install_local_build_dependencies() {
     return 1
   fi
 
-  progress "Fetching script to detect required packages..."
   download "${PACKAGES_SCRIPT}" "${tmpdir}/install-required-packages.sh"
 
-  if [ ! -s "${tmpdir}/install-required-packages.sh" ]; then
+  if [ ! -s "${tmpdir}/install-required-packages.sh" ] && [ "${DRY_RUN}" -ne 1 ]; then
     warning "Downloaded dependency installation script is empty."
   else
-    progress "Running downloaded script to detect required packages..."
+    if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+      progress "Would run downloaded script to install required build dependencies..."
+    else
+      progress "Running downloaded script to install required build dependencies..."
+    fi
 
     if [ "${INTERACTIVE}" -eq 0 ]; then
       opts="--dont-wait --non-interactive"
@@ -1188,7 +1266,11 @@ install_local_build_dependencies() {
 }
 
 build_and_install() {
-  progress "Building netdata"
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+    progress "Would attempt to build netdata..."
+  else
+    progress "Building netdata..."
+  fi
 
   echo "INSTALL_TYPE='kickstart-build'" > system/.install-type
 
@@ -1226,6 +1308,12 @@ build_and_install() {
 }
 
 try_build_install() {
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+    progress "Would attempt to install by building locally..."
+  else
+    progress "Attempting to install by building locally..."
+  fi
+
   if ! install_local_build_dependencies; then
     return 1
   fi
@@ -1235,15 +1323,21 @@ try_build_install() {
   download "${NETDATA_SOURCE_ARCHIVE_CHECKSUM_URL}" "${tmpdir}/sha256sum.txt"
   download "${NETDATA_SOURCE_ARCHIVE_URL}" "${tmpdir}/netdata-latest.tar.gz"
 
-  if ! grep netdata-latest.tar.gz "${tmpdir}/sha256sum.txt" | safe_sha256sum -c - > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-    fatal "Tarball checksum validation failed. Usually this is a result of an older copy of the file being cached somewhere upstream and can be resolved by retrying in an hour." F0005
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
+    progress "Would validate SHA256 checksum of downloaded source archive."
+  else
+    if ! grep netdata-latest.tar.gz "${tmpdir}/sha256sum.txt" | safe_sha256sum -c - > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+      fatal "Tarball checksum validation failed. Usually this is a result of an older copy of the file being cached somewhere upstream and can be resolved by retrying in an hour." F0005
+    fi
   fi
 
   run tar -xf "${tmpdir}/netdata-latest.tar.gz" -C "${tmpdir}"
   rm -rf "${tmpdir}/netdata-latest.tar.gz" > /dev/null 2>&1
-  cd "$(find "${tmpdir}" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -name netdata-)" || fatal "Cannot cd to netdata source tree" F0006
+  if [ "${DRY_RUN}" -ne 1 ]; then
+    cd "$(find "${tmpdir}" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -name netdata-)" || fatal "Cannot cd to netdata source tree" F0006
+  fi
 
-  if [ -x netdata-installer.sh ]; then
+  if [ -x netdata-installer.sh ] || [ "${DRY_RUN}" -eq 1 ]; then
     build_and_install || return 1
   else
     # This case is needed because some platforms produce an extra directory on the source tarball extraction.
@@ -1377,6 +1471,7 @@ while [ -n "${1}" ]; do
     "--no-cleanup") NO_CLEANUP=1 ;;
     "--dont-wait"|"--non-interactive") INTERACTIVE=0 ;;
     "--interactive") INTERACTIVE=1 ;;
+    "--dry-run") DRY_RUN=1 ;;
     "--stable-channel") RELEASE_CHANNEL="stable" ;;
     "--no-updates") NETDATA_AUTO_UPDATES=0 ;;
     "--auto-update") NETDATA_AUTO_UPDATES="1" ;;
@@ -1473,7 +1568,7 @@ fi
 
 tmpdir="$(create_tmp_directory)"
 progress "Using ${tmpdir} as a temporary directory."
-cd "${tmpdir}" || exit 1
+cd "${tmpdir}" || fatal "Failed to change current working directory to ${tmpdir}." F000A
 
 handle_existing_install
 
diff --git a/packaging/installer/methods/kickstart.md b/packaging/installer/methods/kickstart.md
index 0c39a9455f..6256411755 100644
--- a/packaging/installer/methods/kickstart.md
+++ b/packaging/installer/methods/kickstart.md
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ The `kickstart.sh` script accepts a number of optional parameters to control how
 - `--non-interactive`: Don’t prompt for anything and assume yes whenever possible, overriding any automatic detection of an interactive run.
 - `--interactive`: Act as if running interactively, even if automatic detection indicates a run is non-interactive.
 - `--dont-wait`: Synonym for `--non-interactive`
+- `--dry-run`: Show what the installer would do, but don’t actually do any of it.
 - `--dont-start-it`: Don’t auto-start the daemon after installing. This parameter is not guaranteed to work.
 - `--nightly-channel`: Use a nightly build instead of a stable release (this is the default).
 - `--stable-channel`: Use a stable release instead of a nightly build.