hands off install

[Carl Karsten]

 >> 1. What is the best way to keep the hoary install up to date?
 >
 > apt-get upgrade? lol


I meant the install file(s) (hoary.iso or the files that are used to 
build the iso), not an installed system.

 >> 2. Is a hands off install currently available, or is that beyond the 
scope of the current project?


 > What's the difference between preseeding and "hands off install"?


Hitting Enter at the boot: prompt, selecting Network settings, hitting 
Enter at the "Remove media and reboot", and possibly more questions 
after the reboot, like "pick nearest mirror."

For testing, I am shooting for this:  bios set to boot HD, land, floppy. 
    script that will render the HD unbootable, then reboot the box.  (dd 
comes to mind.)  Hours later, the install should be complete, with no 
human intervention, including loading up the script.  The script can 
either be launched by cron, or better yet be triggered by "new hoary 
image is ready for testing" message.

 >
 >
 >> 3. Can the network parameters be passed via kernel parameters so 
that the preseed file be pulled from the LAN?
 >
 >
 > Look at the Debian documentation on preseeding.  It can but I don't have
 > the link for it offhand.  Google will be your friend here.


5 min later, lots of hits, can't find the answer.

Whatever it is, it should really be stated here:

http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hoary/main/installer-i386/current/doc/manual/en/ch05s02.html
or here
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hoary/main/installer-i386/current/doc/manual/en/ch04s06.html

Hopfully this isn't what you were thinking of:

"... if the installer can set up the network via DHCP without asking any 
questions. You may want to set the installation priority to critical to 
avoid any questions while the network is being configured. See Section 
5.2.1, “Ubuntu Installer Parameters”.  -- debconf/priority=critical"

This will handle my needs, but I think it could be done better.  For 
instance, if the Admin wants static IP's assigned, he is out of luck.  I 
think there should be boot option(s) to address "getting the preseed 
file" that do not interfere with the box's final configuration.   Very 
low priority, if it exits, then document it else put it on the Grumpy list.

Another issue: laptops with wired and wireless.  The install is being 
done over the wire, but the resulting config should just use the 
wireless.  I could even handle the install being done over the wireless, 
but priority=critical is going to make either happen.

Carl Karsten


ps. number of times I forgot to post to the list ++