From 1ea73eea5ecc6a8ed901316049259aee737ee554 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joey Hess Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2005 19:51:38 +0000 Subject: move manual to top-level directory, split out of debian-installer package --- fi/install-methods/automatic-install.xml | 111 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 111 insertions(+) create mode 100644 fi/install-methods/automatic-install.xml (limited to 'fi/install-methods/automatic-install.xml') diff --git a/fi/install-methods/automatic-install.xml b/fi/install-methods/automatic-install.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000..09aaf4d8c --- /dev/null +++ b/fi/install-methods/automatic-install.xml @@ -0,0 +1,111 @@ + + + + + Automatic Installation + + +For installing on multiple computers it's possible to do fully +automatic installations. Debian packages intended for this include +fai (which uses an install server), +replicator, +systemimager, +autoinstall, and +the Debian Installer itself. + + + + + Automatic Installation Using the Debian Installer + + +The Debian Installer supports automating installs via preconfiguration +files. A preconfiguration file can be loaded from the network or from +removable media, and used to fill in answers to question asked during the +installation process. + + + +Although most dialogs used by &d-i; can be preseeded using this method, +there are some notable exceptions. You can (re)partition an entire disk +or use available free space on a disk; it is not possible to use existing +partitions. You currently cannot use preseeding to set up RAID and LVM. +Also, with the exception of network driver modules, +it is not possible to preconfigure kernel module parameters. + + + +The preconfiguration file is in the format used by the +debconf-set-selections command. A well documented and working example that +you can edit is in . + + + +Alternatively, one way to get a complete file listing +all the values that can be preseeded is to do a manual install, +and then use debconf-get-selections, +from the debconf-utils package, +to dump both the debconf database and the cdebconf +database in /var/log/debian-installer/cdebconf to a single file: + + +$ debconf-get-selections --installer > file +$ debconf-get-selections >> file + + +However, a file generated in this manner will have some items that should +not be preseeded, and the file in is a +better starting place for most users. + + + +Once you have a preconfiguration file, you can edit it if necessary, and +place it on a web server, or copy it onto the installer's boot media. Wherever +you place the file, you need to pass a parameter to the installer at boot +time to tell it to use the file. + + + +To make the installer use a preconfiguration file downloaded from the +network, add preseed/url=http://url/to/preseed.cfg to the kernel boot +parameters. Of course the preconfiguration will not take effect until the +installer manages to set up the network to download the file, so this is +most useful 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 +. + + + +To place a preconfiguration file on a CD, you would need to remaster the +ISO image to include your preconfiguration file. See the manual page for +mkisofs for details. Alternatively, put the preseed file on a floppy, and +use preseed/file=/floppy/preseed.cfg + + + +If you'll be booting from a USB memory stick, then you can simply copy your +preconfiguration file onto the memory stick's filesystem, and edit the +syslinux.cfg file to add preseed/file=/hd-media/preseed.cfg to the kernel boot +parameters. + + + + + Using Preseeding to Change Default Values + + +It is also possible to use preseeding to change the default answer for a +question, but still have the question asked. To do this the +seen flag must be reset to false after +setting the value for a template. + + +d-i foo/bar string value +d-i foo/bar seen false + + + + + + -- cgit v1.2.3