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Diffstat (limited to 'en/appendix')
| -rw-r--r-- | en/appendix/preseed.xml | 43 |
1 files changed, 38 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/en/appendix/preseed.xml b/en/appendix/preseed.xml index 3c6b0110b..2fa067b3e 100644 --- a/en/appendix/preseed.xml +++ b/en/appendix/preseed.xml @@ -278,11 +278,11 @@ load it. </para><para> -For the other preseeding methods you need to tell the installer what file to -use when you boot it. This is done by passing the kernel a boot parameter, -either manually at boot time or by editing the bootloader configuration file -(e.g. <filename>syslinux.cfg</filename>) and adding the parameter to the end -of the append line(s) for the kernel. +For the other preseeding methods you need to tell the installer what file +to use when you boot it. This is normally done by passing the kernel a boot +parameter, either manually at boot time or by editing the bootloader +configuration file (e.g. <filename>syslinux.cfg</filename>) and adding the +parameter to the end of the append line(s) for the kernel. </para><para> @@ -323,6 +323,39 @@ questions even if the preseeding below misses some. </para> </sect2> + + <sect2 id="preseed-dhcp"> + <title>Using a DHCP server to specify preseed files</title> +<para> + +It's also possible to use DHCP to specify a preseed file to download from +the network. DHCP allows specifying a filename. Normally this is a file to +netboot, but it it appears to be an URL then installation media that +support network preseeding will download the file from the URL and use it +as a preseed file. Here is an example of how to set it up in the dhcpd.conf +for version 3 of the ISC DHCP server (the dhcp3-server Debian package). + +</para> + +<informalexample><screen> +if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 3) = "d-i" { + filename "http://host/preseed.cfg"; +} +</screen></informalexample> + +<para> +Note that the above example limits this filename to DHCP clients that identify +themselves as "d-i", so it will not affect regular DHCP clients, but only +the installer. You can also put the text in a stanza for only one particular +host to avoid preseeding all installs on your network. + +</para><para> +A good way to use the DHCP preseeding is to only preseed values specific to +your network, such as the Debian mirror to use. This way installs on your +network will automatically get a good mirror selected, but the rest of the +installation can be performed interactively. Using DHCP preseeding to fully +automate Debian installs should only be done with care. +</para> <sect2 id="preseed-bootparms"> <title>Using boot parameters to supplement preseeding</title> |