[Bug 1783047] Re: Ubuntu Desktop ubiquity documentation is lacking

[Launchpad Bug Tracker]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

** Changed in: ubiquity (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Confirmed

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Title:
  Ubuntu Desktop ubiquity documentation is lacking

Status in ubiquity package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  Now that we are starting to look at creating an 18.04 desktop image,
  we'd like to get some answers for
  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1654696

  Most of this will be copy/paste from that bug, as they still seem to
  be issues in 18.04.

  #2 and #3 we've figured out. #8 I haven't tried on 18.04, so I'm not
  sure if it's still an issue.

  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  There is no good or up-to-date documentation regarding how to modify and debug the Ubuntu 16.04 Desktop preseed file. The wikis, such as wiki.ubuntu.com/Ubiquity and all the wikis that link to/from it, do not give much help.

  For example, some questions I have are:
  1. What are the mappings of d-i keys used in the Ubuntu Server to ubiquity keys in the Ubuntu Desktop?

  2. If I have both a ubiquity/failure_command and
  ubiquity/success_command, and neither run, how do I debug this?

  3. For OEM installs (oem-config/enable=true), how do I directly call
  oem-config-prepare so that I do not have to manually double click on
  the "Prepare for shipping to end user" icon? If your answer is "use
  the ubiquity/success_command", see question #2.

  4. Is it possible to use d-i directly instead of ubiquity for Ubuntu
  Desktop installs?

  5. Please provide documentation for installing additional packages
  from the /cdrom/pool during install time. I don't want to have to
  unsquash the casper/filesystem.squashfs, chroot into it and add
  packages that way. I would like to be able to run "apt-get install
  <.deb file in pool>" in the ubiquity/success_command.

  6. During oem-config, I see a "Error opening file..." error pop up
  after oem-config has finished asking questions, and starts installing.
  However, I can't tell what it failed to open from the oem-config.log
  (attached).

  7. I am unable to disable the automatic upgrades during install time.

  For instance, the kernel included with the 16.04.1 Desktop ISO is
  4.4.0-31, while the latest in the Canonical repos (as of writing this
  comment) is 4.4.0-64. I've tried adding the following into my preseed
  file to try to prevent automatically upgrading the kernel during
  ubiquity install time:

   d-i netcfg/enable boolean false
   d-i pkgsel/update-policy select none
   d-i pkgsel/upgrade select none
   d-i base-installer/kernel/image string none
   d-i base-installer/install-recommends boolean false
   d-i mirror/http/proxy string
   d-i apt-setup/use_mirror boolean false
   d-i mirror/protocol string
   d-i ubiquity/download_updates boolean false
   ubiquity ubiquity/download_updates boolean false

  If there is a network connection, then ubiquity will automatically go
  and update the kernel to the latest version. Worse yet, if there is a
  network connection, but to one that can't reach the Canonical repos,
  it will take an awful amount of time trying to download packages and
  timing out. This is the case in the factory, where systems will be
  connected only to a private network for PXE.

  I want the initial state of a freshly installed system, whether it is
  installed with or without a network connection, to be deterministic.

  8) A PXE install where the PXE server and client are on a private
  network with no external internet access will fail with a "The 'grub-
  efi-amd64-signed' package failed to install into /target/. Without
  GRUB boot loader, the installed system will not boot." error.

  The PXE server initiates the install with the following grub boot menu
  entry:

  title Software Install
          set gfxpayload=keep
          kernel (nd)/DevBoxSW/vmlinuz.efi nouveau.modeset=0 boot=casper ip=enp2s0f0 netboot=nfs username=root nfsroot=10.20.187.10:/nvidia/content/DevBoxSW file=/cdrom/preseed/nvpxefactory.seed boot=casper debug-ubiquity automatic-ubiquity toram quiet splash --debug debug-oem-config --
          initrd (nd)/DevBoxSW/initrd.lz

  Where "(nd)/DevBoxSW/" is where the PXE server's TFTP server keeps a
  copy of the vmlinuz and initrd of the ISO I'm trying to install,
  "10.20.187.10" is the PXE server's NFS server, and
  "nvidia/content/DevBoxSW" is the directory it exports that contains
  the contents of the ISO file I want to install.

  However, using the exact same ISO will work fine if I create a
  bootable USB stick with it, and directly install on the client system
  where its network cable is both plugged in and unplugged.

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