Install extra packages with preseed

[jbygden2]

Hi!

I have the exact same question as this guy here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1317...nstall-process

How to install extra packages, and I as well would like to install openssh-server (and some more) but neither

d-i pkgsel/include string openssh-server

nor

d-i preseed/late_command string in-target apt-install openssh-server

nor

ubiquity ubiquity/success_command string in-target apt-install openssh-server

installs it.

So, how are one supposed to do to get extra packages installed by preseed?

If the problem is Ubiquity - then how can I use debian-installer instead of Ubiquity?
Is it possible to install Desktop Ubuntu without running the graphical installer?

[MAFoElffen]

I followed this from your other thread: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2467323

As I remember you are using 20.04, and Desktop right? And which flavor of the installer? You want to do automated unattended installations...

You both mention the (New) Automatic Live Installer system, and the (old) debian-installer system. Then, at the end of this post, you mention if if is "possible to install Desktop Ubuntu without running the graphical installer"... (Whoops)

I think we need to back up to the basics and explanations of those. Neither of these mentioned, new installer system or the new installer system, work with the graphical installer. But rather in a text of of both, where you tell it to use either the user config file for the new installer, or to use the preseed file for the old installer.

That, and you can not mix installer command lines from one installer system to another. The commands above are from the older debian-installer PreSeed file format/type.

Which of the two threads do we need to explain how that works?

[jbygden2]

I followed this from your other thread: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2467323

As I remember you are using 20.04, and Desktop right? And which flavor of the installer? You want to do automated unattended installations...

You both mention the (New) Automatic Live Installer system, and the (old) debian-installer system. Then, at the end of this post, you mention if if is "possible to install Desktop Ubuntu without running the graphical installer"... (Whoops)

I think we need to back up to the basics and explanations of those. Neither of these mentioned, new installer system or the new installer system, work with the graphical installer. But rather in a text of of both, where you tell it to use either the user config file for the new installer, or to use the preseed file for the old installer.

That, and you can not mix installer command lines from one installer system to another. The commands above are from the older debian-installer PreSeed file format/type.

Which of the two threads do we need to explain how that works?

Oh, you can keep the condescending answers and explanations here in this thread.

I've read through the official documentation here: https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/installa...64/apbs04.html
Could you please point out to me where in that it says I have to use a different installer than what comes with Ubuntu 20.04?
And where in that documentation does it say what installer to use instead.
I'd prefer to install in text-mode, without the graphical installer - although, I'd like it to install the complete Ubuntu desktop and I'd like to be able to add whatever dpkgs I feel like besides what comes with the standard install.
If I have to setup boots/tftp to accomplish that I can do that, but I'd prefer to use a USB-thumbdrive to do the install. And I'd like to do it with as little human intervention as possible. The current preseed-file I use (https://gist.github.com/jby/a2820aaf...46c5eca735d09a) only asks for hostname and then presents the User setup dialog. That's a perfect amount of questions. And - no, I don't intend to use a config containing the `r00tme` root-password that's in that gist, other than in my test installations in a VM.

I've utilized the Ubuntu Preseed ISO Generator (https://github.com/jby/ubuntu-preseed-iso-generator) to create the ISO I currently have on a USB-thumbdrive and in my VMWare test-environment.

[MAFoElffen]

I am a bit confused. I have been following your threads and staying out of it, that you were in very good hands. I do not like to step in, if I see someone is already being helped by someone else. I knew that TheFu was very busy yesterday and today.

I apologized that you took anything I said as being condescending in any way. I assure you that my intent was genuinely, and purely in only trying to help you. That misunderstanding and confusion actually hurts my feelings, that you mistook it that way.

Instead of answering you and causing any further confusion, I will contact (my friend) TheFu to help you. (Though I know he is busy with personal things today.) What may help is to post a Pastebin of the PreSeed file, instead of a snippet, so he can debug it, see what section those commands are in and what precedes it. I can read it and make recommendations to the TheFu (if needed) on what i see from that, and debug/test it from my resources.

[jbygden2]

I am a bit confused. I have been following your threads and staying out of it, that you were in very good hands. I do not like to step in, if I see someone is already being helped by someone else. I knew that TheFu was very busy yesterday and today.

I apologized that you took anything I said as being condescending in any way. I assure you that my intent was genuinely, and purely in only trying to help you. That misunderstanding and confusion actually hurts my feelings, that you mistook it that way.

Instead of answering you and causing any further confusion, I will contact (my friend) TheFu to help you. (Though I know he is busy with personal things today.) What may help is to post a Pastebin of the PreSeed file, instead of a snippet, so he can debug it, see what section those commands are in and what precedes it. I can read it and make recommendations to the TheFu (if needed) on what i see from that, and debug/test it from my resources.

I believe you when you say that it wasn't meant to be condescending, sorry.

I did however post the preseed file as a GitHub gist in my previous reply, will that do - or should I find a pastebin somewhere instead?
It's created from the example in the docs (https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/installa...le-preseed.txt) with just minor modifications, and the gist is without all comments, as I thought it'd be easier to read without the clutter.

I really appreciate you taking time to assist here. I'm faced with some 40 clients (desktops and, primarily, laptops) that run Fedora today - that I probably have to convert (by re-install) to Ubuntu, and to be able to automate as much as possible would make that task a lesser burden.

[MAFoElffen]

Sorry.

This is what i explained to TheFu what i saw in your original post, which was confusing to me, and thought I should comment on. Please do not take it the wrong way.

You said:

So, how are one supposed to do to get extra packages installed by preseed?

In the

### Package selection
tasksel tasksel/first multiselect ubuntu-desktop 
tasksel tasksel/first multiselect openssh-server
#tasksel tasksel/first multiselect lamp-server, print-server
#tasksel tasksel/first multiselect kubuntu-desktop

At least, that is where I installed that package from usually

Then you said

If the problem is Ubiquity - then how can I use debian-installer instead of Ubiquity?

This is confusing. Preseed files are for the debian-installer, which "is" Ubiquity... Whereas the yaml config data files are for the Automated Live installer and uses cloud init.

Is it possible to install Desktop Ubuntu without running the graphical installer?

This is confusing to me, as the preseed file will not work with the graphical installer. At the startof the boot of the ubiquity system, on the first panel, where it has that keyboard/person icon at the bottom, hit the <esc> key. It will boot into the text-mode of the installer. When that gets to the first panel of that, you will notice F-key submenus at the bottom of the screen.

Press the <F6> key. It will pop up a text mode type menu about at the lower right of the screen. (The same if you were trying to select nomodeset) Arrow down in that menu and select "PreSeed." Then it will look for and use your PreSeed file. ...<Esc><Enter>

I believe that is the missing puzzle piece of your problem. At least from what I saw in what you provided.

[jbygden2]

I understand your confusion, since I'm equally confused.

You say that Ubiquity is the debian-installer, however on this page it says: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbiquityAutomation

With respect to automation, ubiquity, the desktop CD installer, works much in the same way that debian-installer, the alternate CD installer does.

That, in combination with the statement (from the same page):

Preseeding keys for the following installer components will not be used in Ubiquity, usually because they do not fit with Ubiquity's mode of operation: 

netcfg
LVM and RAID partitioning
base-installer
pkgsel/tasksel
finish-install

and, in combination with this, from https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/installa...preseed-pkgsel

If you want to install some individual packages in addition to packages installed by tasks, you can use the parameter pkgsel/include. The value of this parameter can be a list of packages separated by either commas or spaces, which allows it to be used easily on the kernel command line as well.

led me to believe that Ubiquity was an Ubuntu-specific installer.
Especially since this works:

tasksel tasksel/first multiselect ubuntu-desktop

But this doesn't, and, much to my frustration - fails silently:

d-i pkgsel/include string openssh-server

And since Ubuntu strives to be easy I (probably erroneously) then guessed that Ubiquity was the Ubuntu-specific, graphical installer, and that the documentation is too much copied from Debian and not really updated with Ubuntu-specific options.
Hence my question about using the debian-installer instead of Ubiquity, hoping that I'd get a text-only installer that actually would work as indicated in the above mentioned documentation.

[jbygden2]

I actually started looking at FAI, but couldn't find sufficient documentation on how to customise the install the way I'd like.
That led to me posting "the other thread" where I asked about the recommended way to mass deploy Ubuntu Desktop.
That in turn led me to look at preseed, which ended up in this question.

If you think that FAI might be a better solution for what I'm trying to accomplish, then I'm all ears - but I'd need some pointers to documentation there as well in that case.

[jbygden2]

Let me specify what I'm trying to achieve here - then you can come up with a tip that you think is the appropriate way to get there.

• I have some 40 Fedora clients that probably needs to be converted to Ubuntu (and probably 20.04, because LTS)
• I want some type of automatic install, from network or USB stick
• I'd like to be able to configure hostname, full disk encryption (cryptsetup) and username/pw for the end user before or during the installation.
• I'd like to be able to add packages to the default desktop installation, and have them be installed during the install (puppet-agent, openssh-server, zsh, vim, git for example)
• I'd prefer the install to be text-based, not graphical, if possible (not a deal-breaker) - but it should install the fully graphical Ubuntu desktop.

[jbygden2]

Now I've tried

tasksel tasksel/first multiselect openssh-server

as well, and still no openssh-server installed after install...