Simple-CDD and USB install combo: How do I use preseeding?

[Fredrik Israelsson-3]

Some parts of this message have been removed. Learn more about Nabble's security policy.

Hi!
I have created a custom install CD iso image using simple-cdd. I have tried to configure pre-seeding by using a myprofile.preseed file.
I have then copied the iso image onto a USB device, following the instructions on http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch04s03.html.en, "Preparing Files for USB Memory Stick Booting".

When booting from the USB stick, the installer starts ok, scannning for and finding the installer iso image, but my pre-seeding seems to get lost on the way.

Will I have to specify the pre-seed file in the syslinux.cfg on the USB memory stick somehow? Isn't the kernel append parameters set in the isolinux.cfg file in the installer iso image recognized at all?

What should I add to the syslinux.cfg file in order to point to the pre-seed file located in the installer iso image?

Regards,
Fredrik

---

Hitta senaste spelen på Spelhallen! MSN Spelhallen

[Fredrik Israelsson-3]

My USB stick contains the following:

debian-50-i386-CD-1.iso
initrd.gz
ldlinux.sys
syslinux.cfg
vmlinuz

...where the initrd.gz and vmlinuz files are the ones I have downloaded from the hd-media directory on the debian distribution ftp site.

Contents of syslinux.cfg:
default vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.gz

Regards,
Fredrik

_________________________________________________________________
25 GB gratis lagring på nätet - Skaffa SkyDrive nu!
http://skydrive.live.com 

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-custom-REQUEST@...
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@...

[Fredrik Israelsson-3]

Some parts of this message have been removed. Learn more about Nabble's security policy.

How did you make the preseeding work?
I have a /home/fredrik/profiles directory, with a myprofile.preseed file in it.
When looking inside the resulting iso filesystem, I can see that the myprofile.preseed file is there, but the isolinux/txt.cfg file says append=blabla/default.preseed, and nowhere is my myprofile.preseed file mentioned.

/Fredrik

---

Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:11:57 +0000
Subject: Re: RE: Simple-CDD and USB install combo: How do I use preseeding?
From: danbrwn@...
To: fredrik_is@...

Just starting with this myself. I would suggest mounting the iso locally and looking in the simple-cdd directory to make sure your preseed file is where it belongs and that it is in fact the right file. I had some trouble figuring out how to get things going. My preseed is working great now.

On Feb 18, 2009 2:57am, Fredrik Israelsson <fredrik_is@...> wrote:

>
>
> My USB stick contains the following:
>
>
>
> debian-50-i386-CD-1.iso
>
> initrd.gz
>
> ldlinux.sys
>
> syslinux.cfg
>
> vmlinuz
>
>
>
> ...where the initrd.gz and vmlinuz files are the ones I have downloaded from the hd-media directory on the debian distribution ftp site.
>
>
>
> Contents of syslinux.cfg:
>
> default vmlinuz
>
> append initrd=initrd.gz
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Fredrik
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
>
> 25 GB gratis lagring på nätet - Skaffa SkyDrive nu!
>
> http://skydrive.live.com
>
>
>
> --
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-custom-REQUEST@...
>
> with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@...
>
>
>

---

Kolla på video med dina Messenger-polare! Messenger TV

[Vagrant Cascadian]

On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 08:41:30AM +0000, Fredrik Israelsson wrote:
>    I have created a custom install CD iso image using simple-cdd. I have
>    tried to configure pre-seeding by using a myprofile.preseed file.
>    I have then copied the iso image onto a USB device, following the
>    instructions on
>    http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch04s03.html.en, "Preparing
>    Files for USB Memory Stick Booting".

simple-cdd has only been tested with CD/DVD installation media, so i'm not sure
the other methods will work...

>    When booting from the USB stick, the installer starts ok, scannning for
>    and finding the installer iso image, but my pre-seeding seems to get lost
>    on the way.
>
>    Will I have to specify the pre-seed file in the syslinux.cfg on the USB
>    memory stick somehow? Isn't the kernel append parameters set in the
>    isolinux.cfg file in the installer iso image recognized at all?

yes, you may have to put default.preseed on the USB stick as well.
 
>    What should I add to the syslinux.cfg file in order to point to the
>    pre-seed file located in the installer iso image?

you'll need to specify preseed/file=/cdrom/simple-cdd/default.preseed in
whatever relevent "append" lines for syslinux.cfg. though i'm not sure hd-media
will mount the .iso as /cdrom, so you'll have to tweak that as appropriate.

it needs to know to load the "simple-cdd-profiles" udeb, or your profiles will
never be acknowledged.

good luck.

live well,
  vagrant


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-custom-REQUEST@...
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@...

[Fredrik Israelsson-3]

Some parts of this message have been removed. Learn more about Nabble's security policy.

Thank you, danbrwn and Vagrant. You have provided me with valuable information.

I will try to burn a CD instead, to see if my preseeding works that way.

Meanwhile, does anyone reading this know where the install program mounts the CD-image (the iso file) at the point where the dialog tells the user "scanning drives for install media". This mount point would be good to know if I am going to specify a preseed file in syslinux.cfg on the USB stick.

Regards,
Fredrik

> Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:41:07 -0800
> From: vagrant@...
> To: debian-custom@...
> Subject: Re: Simple-CDD and USB install combo: How do I use preseeding?
>
> On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 08:41:30AM +0000, Fredrik Israelsson wrote:
> > I have created a custom install CD iso image using simple-cdd. I have
> > tried to configure pre-seeding by using a myprofile.preseed file.
> > I have then copied the iso image onto a USB device, following the
> > instructions on
> > http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch04s03.html.en, "Preparing
> > Files for USB Memory Stick Booting".
>
> simple-cdd has only been tested with CD/DVD installation media, so i'm not sure
> the other methods will work...
>
> > When booting from the USB stick, the installer starts ok, scannning for
> > and finding the installer iso image, but my pre-seeding seems to get lost
> > on the way.
> >
> > Will I have to specify the pre-seed file in the syslinux.cfg on the USB
> > memory stick somehow? Isn't the kernel append parameters set in the
> > isolinux.cfg file in the installer iso image recognized at all?
>
> yes, you may have to put default.preseed on the USB stick as well.
>
> > What should I add to the syslinux.cfg file in order to point to the
> > pre-seed file located in the installer iso image?
>
> you'll need to specify preseed/file=/cdrom/simple-cdd/default.preseed in
> whatever relevent "append" lines for syslinux.cfg. though i'm not sure hd-media
> will mount the .iso as /cdrom, so you'll have to tweak that as appropriate.
>
> it needs to know to load the "simple-cdd-profiles" udeb, or your profiles will
> never be acknowledged.
>
> good luck.
>
> live well,
> vagrant
>
>
> --
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-custom-REQUEST@...
> with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@...
>

---

Krama någon i vinter! Hitta kärleken här! MSN Dejting

[Fredrik Israelsson-3]

Some parts of this message have been removed. Learn more about Nabble's security policy.

It works!

I now have a syslinux.cfg file that contains

default vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.gz preseed/file=/cdrom/simple-cdd/default.preseed

and most of the preseeding seems to work. I still must make some choices (install procedure language and keymapping among other things) in the beginning, but I guess that that has do do with my preseed file not being entirely correct.

I did have to use the option --force-root in order to get build-simple-cdd to accept the preseeded root password. Is this a feature or a bug, one wonders.

Thanks for all your help!

/Fredrik

> Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:41:07 -0800
> From: vagrant@...
> To: debian-custom@...
> Subject: Re: Simple-CDD and USB install combo: How do I use preseeding?
>
> On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 08:41:30AM +0000, Fredrik Israelsson wrote:
> > I have created a custom install CD iso image using simple-cdd. I have
> > tried to configure pre-seeding by using a myprofile.preseed file.
> > I have then copied the iso image onto a USB device, following the
> > instructions on
> > http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch04s03.html.en, "Preparing
> > Files for USB Memory Stick Booting".
>
> simple-cdd has only been tested with CD/DVD installation media, so i'm not sure
> the other methods will work...
>
> > When booting from the USB stick, the installer starts ok, scannning for
> > and finding the installer iso image, but my pre-seeding seems to get lost
> > on the way.
> >
> > Will I have to specify the pre-seed file in the syslinux.cfg on the USB
> > memory stick somehow? Isn't the kernel append parameters set in the
> > isolinux.cfg file in the installer iso image recognized at all?
>
> yes, you may have to put default.preseed on the USB stick as well.
>
> > What should I add to the syslinux.cfg file in order to point to the
> > pre-seed file located in the installer iso image?
>
> you'll need to specify preseed/file=/cdrom/simple-cdd/default.preseed in
> whatever relevent "append" lines for syslinux.cfg. though i'm not sure hd-media
> will mount the .iso as /cdrom, so you'll have to tweak that as appropriate.
>
> it needs to know to load the "simple-cdd-profiles" udeb, or your profiles will
> never be acknowledged.
>
> good luck.
>
> live well,
> vagrant
>
>
> --
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-custom-REQUEST@...
> with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@...
>

---

Hitta inspiration till middagsmaten! MSN Mat & Dryck

[Vagrant Cascadian]

On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 06:55:55AM +0000, Fredrik Israelsson wrote:
>    I now have a syslinux.cfg file that contains
>
>    default vmlinuz
>    append initrd=initrd.gz preseed/file=/cdrom/simple-cdd/default.preseed
>
>    and most of the preseeding seems to work. I still must make some choices
>    (install procedure language and keymapping among other things) in the
>    beginning, but I guess that that has do do with my preseed file not being
>    entirely correct.

you have to specify them in the syslinux.cfg, as preseeding isn't loaded before
those questions are asked:

  default vmlinuz
  append initrd=initrd.gz preseed/file=/cdrom/simple-cdd/default.preseed debian-installer/locale=en_US console-keymaps-at/keymap=us

i think you can short-hand it to simply locale, but i'm not sure the shorthand
for the keyboard settings.

 
>    I did have to use the option --force-root in order to get build-simple-cdd
>    to accept the preseeded root password. Is this a feature or a bug, one
>    wonders.

that's because it checks the preseed files for validity, and the password
database is owned by root. instead of running as root, i'd recommend running as
a non-root user and use --force-preseed (or force_preseed=true in any of the
profiles/*.conf). running simple-cdd as root is discouraged.

>    Thanks for all your help!

of course!

i should look into adding hd-media options to simple-cdd, as it doesn't sound
much different from the standard CD method.

live well,
  vagrant


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-custom-REQUEST@...
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@...

[Raymond.Schneider]

Hd-media options would be excellent. :)

Just thought I would share my enthusiasm for that idea.

-----Original Message-----
From: Vagrant Cascadian [mailto:vagrant@...]
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 8:15 PM
To: debian-custom@...
Subject: Re: Simple-CDD and USB install combo: How do I use preseeding?

On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 06:55:55AM +0000, Fredrik Israelsson wrote:
>    I now have a syslinux.cfg file that contains
>
>    default vmlinuz
>    append initrd=initrd.gz preseed/file=/cdrom/simple-cdd/default.preseed
>
>    and most of the preseeding seems to work. I still must make some choices
>    (install procedure language and keymapping among other things) in the
>    beginning, but I guess that that has do do with my preseed file not being
>    entirely correct.

you have to specify them in the syslinux.cfg, as preseeding isn't loaded before
those questions are asked:

  default vmlinuz
  append initrd=initrd.gz preseed/file=/cdrom/simple-cdd/default.preseed debian-installer/locale=en_US console-keymaps-at/keymap=us

i think you can short-hand it to simply locale, but i'm not sure the shorthand
for the keyboard settings.

 
>    I did have to use the option --force-root in order to get build-simple-cdd
>    to accept the preseeded root password. Is this a feature or a bug, one
>    wonders.

that's because it checks the preseed files for validity, and the password
database is owned by root. instead of running as root, i'd recommend running as
a non-root user and use --force-preseed (or force_preseed=true in any of the
profiles/*.conf). running simple-cdd as root is discouraged.

>    Thanks for all your help!

of course!

i should look into adding hd-media options to simple-cdd, as it doesn't sound
much different from the standard CD method.

live well,
  vagrant


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-custom-REQUEST@...
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@...


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-custom-REQUEST@...
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@...