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Questions tagged [preseed]

Preseeding provides a way to set answers to questions asked during the installation process of a Debian operating system.

Preseeding provides a way to set answers to questions asked during the installation process of a Debian operating system, without having to manually enter the answers while the installation is running. This makes it possible to fully automate most types of installation and even offers some features not available during normal installations.

Preseeding methods:

  1. Adding the preseed file to the installer's initrd.gz

    Installation can be fully automated by adding a preseed file to the installer ISO's initrd.gz. The downside of this method is that net installer has to be generated whenever a preseed file is modified.

  2. Autoloading the preseeding file from a webserver via DHCP

    If you have control over the DHCP server on your network, this method allows fully automated installations.

  3. Loading the preseeding file from a webserver

    Type "auto url=http://webserver/path/preseed.cfg", replacing the URL with the address to your preseed configuration file

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preseeding debian netinstall does not get preseed file via http

I am trying to do a preconfigured netinstall of debian 6, using preseeding. I have setup a tftp server, which serves kernel and initrd, however the parameters specifying the preseed file seam not to work. Here is part of my pxelinux.cfg: LABEL…
Isaac
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Ubuntu installer over PXE doesn't see network adapters => can't download preseed

I'm booting one virtualbox VM from another virtualbox VM (with cobbler) over PXE. Both machines have 2 adapters: 1) external network and 2) host-only network. The "client" VM successfully boots into the installer over PXE (using the host-only…
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When seeding a Windows DFS replication copy, do you need to copy security?

I may need to rebuild a 1TB Windows 2008 DFS replication folder between our UK and USA sites. It's good practise to seed the other copy before starting replication so that the bulk of the data doesn't need to be replicated during the initial…
Rob Nicholson
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Ubuntu 10.10 / Debian preseed keyboard origin seed

Using a preseed file for Ubuntu 10.10 alternate, I am unable to skip pass the "Origin of keyboard" question. Any ideas why? My preseed file is as below Reference link here #### Contents of the preconfiguration file (for squeeze) ### Localization #…
vener
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How can I install a system with apt-get without ncurses configuration screens?

I wrote a BASH script for doing an unattendend install on an ARM based Debian system. One of the packages being installed is samba. I added apt-get -y install samba into my setup routine, but apt-get hangs due an ncurse configuration window for…
Daniel Völkerts
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How do you install Ubuntu Server with a custom kernel?

I'm installing Ubuntu Server in a machine that has certain RAID controller not supported by the default kernel. A patch for the kernel has to be downloaded and compiled as a module for this to work. As this is going to be the booting volume, the…
Andor
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How can I add a kernel argument to a debian preseed file?

I've been using Debian preseed files for a while now doing netinstalls of Debian and Ubuntu. Ubuntu 20.04 has a weird video problem even on the text terminal. After install, sometimes you can't see anything. The host is working over the network…
Billy left SE for Codidact
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Ubuntu 16.04 installer: any way to save setup info for a preseed?

Is there a way to save my setup selections from a regular CDROM install for use as a preseed or kickstart file? I'm experimenting with booting hosts from PXE to standardize Ubuntu installations and wondering if there's an easier way to get the…
Server Fault
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booting debian image via PXE boot gives No common CD-ROM drive detected

I have created a custom debian image which should be autoinstall itself using preseed. When I load the image via Dell idrac virtual drive everything goes smoothly, however if I am trying to serve the image trough PXE network boot I after the…
zozo6015
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How to make custom partitioning of hdd via preseed?

According to official debian manual (https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/apbs04.html.en), i saw: #d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string \ # boot-root :: \ # …
Piduna
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How to ensure that hostname will be set to Virtualbox VM name when using a preseed automated install debian file with PXE boot?

Let's say I create a VM in Virtual Box. My environnement with TFTP boot is ready. The install goes well, except that the machine doesn't have the VM name as hostname ... How to force that ?
jmary
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Ubuntu 16.04 Server preseed - Partitioning: Use entire disk

I am trying to generate a semi-automated Ubuntu installation. However I am running in some issues with the preseed file with regards to partitioning. What I would like to happen is: skip the menu where user would normally specify Guided (with all…
Konstantin Hadzhiev
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Ubuntu 16.04, Dell R320 & preseed install via "The Foreman"

After lots of trial & error I've finally given up on the "SATA RAID" the R320 provides, and resorted to using AHCI mode. Partitioning/Provisioning work fine, but on the next boot the machine claims to have no OS. Booting it in rescue mode of an ISO…
tink
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Unable to NFS mount in Debian preseed target

I am installing Debian 7.5 using a preseed. I am using the linux and initrd.gz supplied by Debain 7.5 for PXE booting. I have gotten the entire system to the point where I can install the OS completely automatically. I want the installer to finish…
drhagen
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How to achieve ubuntu automatic installation with help of USBDRIVE?

I wants to place Ubuntu 13.04 Server edition ISO Image to USB pendrive and then automatic installation by help of this usbdrive. I perform following steps: (1) Format the pendrive, Assuming my pendrive recognize as /dev/sdb in my system, I wrote…
Pradeep Gupta
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