Preseeding

[Daniel Lynes]

I'm having various issues with preseeding.

The first problem I had was getting it to preselect the keyboard.  I
solved that by specifying it both in the preseed file and the kernel
append line.

The second problem I encountered was not being able to auto-select the
hostname.  I've tried various entries in the preseed file to specify
this, of which none seem to work.  This issue is still unresolved.

The third problem I encountered was not being able to do a basic desktop
install.  I partially solved that by specifying it both in the preseed
file and the kernel append line.  However, what ends up happening is
that it installs 'ubuntu-desktop' and 'print-server', even though I've
also specified 'dns-server', 'openssh-server', and 'samba-server'.

The fourth and final problem I've encountered is using 'tasksel/include'
lines to specify all of the additional packages I would like to install.
It seems to run into some kind of buffer overrun due to the number of
additional packages I want to install (developer tools, network
analyzing tools, libraries, ...)

Please find my existing text.cfg from the PXE installer image, and my
preseed.cfg file.

I should also note that I am installing via PXE boot, and have the
Ubuntu website mirrored locally.

P.S.  Please don't send me off on some wild goose chase for some other
software that you think will do the job.  I've already tried a number of
other solutions that are not suitable (remastersys, reconstructor, uck,
kickstart files).  I know this solution will work, as I already have it
working for a clustered server install...it's just not working so well
for a developer desktop install.

Thank you.

Sincerely,


Daniel
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d-i debian-installer/locale string en_CA
d-i console-setup/ask_detect boolean false
d-i console-setup/layoutcode string us

d-i netcfg/choose_interface select eth0
# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over
# values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions
# from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string developer
#d-i netcfg/get_domain string pv-labs.com
#d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen true
#d-i netcfg/get_domain seen true
#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
### Mirror settings
# If you select ftp, the mirror/country string does not need to be set.
d-i mirror/http/countries select CA
d-i mirror/country string CA
d-i mirror/suite select jaunty
d-i mirror/protocol select http
d-i mirror/http/hostname string ca.archive.ubuntu.com
d-i mirror/http/directory string /ubuntu/
d-i mirror/http/proxy string
d-i mirror/http/mirror select ca.archive.ubuntu.com
# Suite to install.
#d-i mirror/suite string testing
# Suite to use for loading installer components (optional).
#d-i mirror/udeb/suite string testing
d-i mirror/suite string jaunty

# Clock and time zone setup
d-i clock-setup/utc boolean true
d-i time/zone string UTC
d-i clock-setup/ntp boolean true
#d-i clock-setup/ntp-server string 10.0.0.2
### Partitioning
# If the system has free space you can choose to only partition that space.
# Note: this must be preseeded with a localized (translated) value.
#d-i partman-auto/init_automatically_partition \
# select Guided - use the largest continuous free space

# Alternatively, you can specify a disk to partition. The device name
# can be given in either devfs or traditional non-devfs format.
# For example, to use the first disk:
#d-i partman-auto/disk string /dev/discs/disc0/disc
d-i partman-auto/disk string /dev/sda
# In addition, you'll need to specify the method to use.
# The presently available methods are: "regular", "lvm" and "crypto"
d-i partman-auto/method string regular
# If one of the disks that are going to be automatically partitioned
# contains an old LVM configuration, the user will normally receive a
# warning. This can be preseeded away...
d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm boolean true
# The same applies to pre-existing software RAID array:
d-i partman-md/device_remove_md boolean true
# And the same goes for the confirmation to write the lvm partitions.
#d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
# You can choose from any of the predefined partitioning recipes.
# Note: this must be preseeded with a localized (translated) value.
# Choices:
# - atomic:  all files in one partition
# - home:    separate /home partition
# - multi:   separate /home, /usr, /var, and /tmp partitions
d-i partman-auto/choose-recipe select atomic
# This makes partman automatically partition without confirmation.
d-i partman/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
# Account Setup
d-i passwd/user-fullname string PSI Origin
d-i passwd/username string psio
d-i passwd/user-password password psiouser
d-i passwd/user-password-again password psiouser
d-i user-setup/encrypt-home boolean false
### Apt setup
# You can choose to install non-free and contrib software.
d-i apt-setup/multiverse boolean true
d-i apt-setup/universe boolean true
d-i apt-setup/restricted boolean true
# By default the installer requires that repositories be authenticated using a known gpg key; this setting can be used to disable that authentication.  Warning:  Insecure, not recommended.
d-i debian-installer/allow-unauthenticated string false
# Package Selection
### Package selection
#tasksel	tasksel/skip-tasks	string Standard
d-i tasksel/first multiselect dns-server, openssh-server, print-server, samba-server, ubuntu-desktop
#tasksel tasksel/first multiselect standard, base-server
# Individual additional packages to install
# Base packages not easily classified elsewhere
# Network and system performance/testing packages
# Development packages
# Eclipse packages
# Python packages
# Kernel packages
d-i pkgsel/upgrade select safe-upgrade
d-i pkgsel/update-policy select none
popularity-contest popularity-contest/participate boolean false
d-i pkgsel/updatedb boolean true

### X configuration
# X can detect the right driver for some cards, but if you're preseeding,
# you override whatever it chooses. Still, vesa will work most places.
#xserver-xorg xserver-xorg/config/device/driver select vesa

# A caveat with mouse autodetection is that if it fails, X will retry it
# over and over. So if it's preseeded to be done, there is a possibility of
# an infinite loop if the mouse is not autodetected.
#xserver-xorg xserver-xorg/autodetect_mouse boolean true

# Monitor autodetection is recommended.
xserver-xorg xserver-xorg/autodetect_monitor boolean true
# Uncomment if you have an LCD display.
#xserver-xorg xserver-xorg/config/monitor/lcd boolean true
# X has three configuration paths for the monitor. Here's how to preseed
# the "medium" path, which is always available. The "simple" path may not
# be available, and the "advanced" path asks too many questions.
xserver-xorg xserver-xorg/config/monitor/selection-method \
       select medium
xserver-xorg xserver-xorg/config/monitor/mode-list \
       select 1024x768 @ 60 Hz

# This is fairly safe to set, it makes grub install automatically to the MBR
# if no other operating system is detected on the machine.
d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean true
# This one makes grub-installer install to the MBR if it also finds some other
# OS, which is less safe as it might not be able to boot that other OS.
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean true
### Finishing up the first stage install
# Avoid that last message about the install being complete.
d-i finish-install/keep-consoles boolean true
d-i finish-install/reboot_in_progress note
d-i preseed/late_command string /home/postinstall.sh
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default install
label install
	menu label ^Install
	menu default
	kernel development-installer/i386/linux
        append ramdisk_size=14984 debian-installer/locale=en_CA console-setup/layoutcode=us netcfg/wireless_wep= netcfg/choose_interface=eth0 netcfg_gethostname= url=http://preseed.ubuntu.com/developer-preseed.cfg tasksel:tasksel/first="ubuntu-desktop" vga=normal initrd=development-installer/i386/initrd.gz --
#        append ramdisk_size=14984 debian-installer/locale=en_CA console-setup/layoutcode=us netcfg/wireless_wep= netcfg/choose_interface=eth0 netcfg_gethostname= url=http://preseed.ubuntu.com/developer-preseed.cfg tasksel:tasksel/first="ubuntu-desktop" vga=normal initrd=development-installer/i386/initrd.gz --
#	append vga=normal initrd=development-installer/i386/initrd.gz -- quiet 
label cli
	menu label ^Command-line install
	kernel development-installer/i386/linux
#        append ramdisk_size=14984 debian-installer/locale=en_CA console-setup/layoutcode=us netcfg/wireless_wep= netcfg/choose_interface=eth0 netcfg_gethostname= url=http://preseed.ubuntu.com/developer-preseed.cfg tasksel:tasksel/first="ubuntu-desktop" vga=normal initrd=development-installer/i386/initrd.gz --
#	append tasks=standard pkgsel/language-pack-patterns= pkgsel/install-language-support=false vga=normal initrd=development-installer/i386/initrd.gz -- quiet