1

I have a dhcp server running PXE, and a client I need to install ubuntu on through PXE.

I managed to get the installer working. it goes through the installation fine with the help of a kickstart file, but suddenly stops at the "installing the system", and says that it encountered an error. I have no idea what causes this, or how to fix it. any help?

the error is this generic failure, that doesn't give me anything to go on:

                             [!!] Install the system 
                             Installation step failed 
                            an installation step failed. 
                you can try to run the failing item again from the menu,
                        for skip it and choose something else. 
                       the failing step is: Install the system

my kickstart file looks like this:

#Generated by Kickstart Configurator
#platform=x86

#System language
lang en_US
#Language modules to install
langsupport en_US
#System keyboard
keyboard dk
#System mouse
mouse
#System timezone
timezone Europe/Copenhagen
#Root password
rootpw SecretPass
#Initial user
user local --fullname "Local Admin" --password SecredPass
#Reboot after installation
reboot
#Use text mode install
text
#Install OS instead of upgrade
install
#Use Web installation
url --url http://172.16.0.6/ubuntu14.10
#System bootloader configuration
bootloader --location=mbr 
#Clear the Master Boot Record
zerombr yes
#Partition clearing information
clearpart --all --initlabel 
#Disk partitioning information
part  swap --recommended --asprimary --ondisk sda
part /boot --fstype ext4 --size 128  --ondisk sda
part / --fstype ext3 --size 1 --grow --ondisk sda
#System authorization infomation
auth  --useshadow  --enablemd5  --enableldap --enableldapauth --ldapserver ldap://hellerup.mosek.intranet --ldapbasedn dc=hellerup,dc=mosek,dc=intranet
#Firewall configuration
firewall --disabled 
#Do not configure the X Window System
skipx

to install the PXE server i used this guide, to the letter https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PXEInstallServer

Tomas
  • 259
  • 3
  • 7
  • 16
  • What error did it encounter? – womble Aug 19 '15 at 06:54
  • @womble it comes up with a window saying `[!!] Install the system Installation step failed an installation step failed. you can try to run the failing item again from the menu, for skip it and choose something else. the failing step is: Install the system` – Tomas Aug 19 '15 at 07:01
  • 1
    And what about the logs? – womble Aug 19 '15 at 20:59
  • I would expect a few logfiles to be left in `/root`. Hopefully they can provide more details. – kasperd Aug 21 '15 at 16:07

1 Answers1

2

It looks like it's an error occurring on all newer versions of ubuntu. The newer Ubuntu versions use something called squashfs, during installation, but the PXE server doesn't inform were the .squashfs file is, so the installation fails.

to solve it, just add the following to a preseed file

d-i live-installer/net-image string http://path/to/installation/filesystem.squashfs
Tomas
  • 259
  • 3
  • 7
  • 16
  • 1
    This seems to be my issue but I can't figure out how to make that work in a kickstart file. Checking logs shows it's trying to copy the squashfs file from /cdrom/http://mywebpath/to/my/image to /tmp and failing. I've placed it in my kickstart both these ways: `d-i live-installer/net-image string http://my/path/filesystem.squashfs` and as `preseed live-installer/net-image string http://my/path/filesystem.squashfs` – Tony Maro Apr 26 '16 at 18:32
  • Sorry the text above missed the fact that the /cdrom/ path includes http as in `/cdrom/http://mywebpath/to/my/image` – Tony Maro Apr 26 '16 at 18:38