/[d-i]/trunk/manual/en/appendix/preseed.xml

Diff of /trunk/manual/en/appendix/preseed.xml

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-revision 32275 by fjp,
Wed Nov 16 23:16:13 2005 UTC
+revision 32276 by fjp,
Sat Nov 19 21:40:34 2005 UTC
 Line 10 
 Should be renamed to this, but don't wan
  <para>
+ This appendix explains the intricacies of preseeding answers to dialogs in
+ &d-i; to automate your installation.
+ </para><para>
  The configuration fragments used in this appendix are also available as an
  example preseed file from &urlset-example-preseed;.
  </para>
- <sect1 id="preseed-intro">
+  <sect1 condition="FIXME" id="preseed-intro">
   <title>Introduction</title>
  <itemizedlist>
-Line 39 
 example preseed file from &urlset-exampl
+Line 44 
 example preseed file from &urlset-exampl
  </para></listitem>
  </itemizedlist>
- <para>
+  </sect1>
- <!--
- - Methods: initrd, net, file
- - General stuff from Startup
- -->
- </para>
- </sect1>
- <sect1 id="preseed-using">
+  <sect1 id="preseed-using">
   <title>Using preseeding</title>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-loading">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-loading">
    <title>Loading the preseed file</title>
  <para>
-Line 107 
 While you're at it, you may want to add
+Line 103 
 While you're at it, you may want to add
  questions even if the preseeding below misses some.
  </para>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-bootparms">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-bootparms">
    <title>Using boot parameters to supplement preseeding</title>
  <para>
- Some parts of the installation process cannot be automated using
+ Some parts of the installation process cannot be automated using some forms
- some forms of preseeding, because the questions are asked before
+ of preseeding, because the questions are asked before the preseed file is
- the preseed file is loaded. For example, if the preseed file is
+ loaded. For example, if the preseed file is downloaded over the network,
- downloaded over the network, the network setup must be done first.
+ the network setup must be done first. One reason to use initrd preseeding
- One reason to use initrd preseeding is that it allows preseeding
+ is that it allows preseeding of even these early steps of the installation
- of even these early steps of the installation process.
+ process.
  </para><para>
-Line 137 
 excess options and 2.6 kernels will pani
+Line 133 
 excess options and 2.6 kernels will pani
  you can use 32 command line options and 32 environment options.
  </para></note>
- <note><para>
- It may not be possible to specify values with spaces for boot parameters,
- even if you delimit them with quotes.
- </para></note>
  <para>
- Some of the default options, like 'vga=normal' may be safely removed
+ For most installations some of the default options in your bootloader
- for most installations, which may allow you to add more options for
+ configuration file, like 'vga=normal', may be safely removed which may
- preseeding.
+ allow you to add more options for preseeding.
  </para>
-  </sect2>
+ <note><para>
- </sect1>
+ It may not always be possible to specify values with spaces for boot
+ parameters, even if you delimit them with quotes.
+ </para></note>
+   </sect2>
+  </sect1>
- <sect1 id="preseed-creating">
+  <sect1 condition="FIXME" id="preseed-creating">
   <title>Creating a preseed file</title>
  <itemizedlist>
-Line 161 
 preseeding.
+Line 157 
 preseeding.
    Relation with /var/lib/(c)debconf/templates
  </para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>
-   Most values need to be in English
+   Most values need to be in English or codes
  </para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>
    Using a manual installation as base
-Line 173 
 preseeding.
+Line 169 
 preseeding.
  <para>
- </para>
+ To check if the format of your preseed file is valid before performing an
+ install, you can use the command <command>debconf-set-selections -c
+ <replaceable>preseed.cfg</replaceable></command>.
- </sect1>
+ </para>
+  </sect1>
- <sect1 id="preseed-stage1">
+  <sect1 id="preseed-stage1">
   <title>Preseeding the first stage of the installation</title>
  <para>
-Line 194 
 architecture.
+Line 193 
 architecture.
  </para>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-l10n">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-l10n">
    <title>Localization</title>
  <para>
-Line 215 
 d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US
+Line 214 
 d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US
  </para><para>
- Something about selecting keyboard architectures (needs new kbd-chooser) and how
+ Keyboard configuration consists of selecting a keyboard architecture and a
- the keymap needs to match the architecture.
+ keymap. In most cases the correct keyboard architecture is selected by
+ default, so there's normally no need to preseed it. The keymap must of
+ course be valid for the selected or preseeded architecture.
+ </para><para>
+ To skip keyboard configuration preseed
+ <classname>console-tools/archs</classname> with
+ <userinput>skip-config</userinput>.
+ This will result in the kernel keymap remaining active.
+ </para>
  <informalexample><screen>
- # Keyboard.
+ # Keyboard selection.
  #d-i console-tools/archs select at
  d-i console-keymaps-at/keymap select us
+ # Example for a different keyboard architecture
+ #d-i console-keymaps-usb/keymap select mac-usb-us
  </screen></informalexample>
- </para>
+ <note><para>
-  </sect2>
+ The changes in the input layer for 2.6 kernels have made the keyboard
+ architecture virtually obsolete. For 2.6 kernels normally a <quote>PC</quote>
+ (<userinput>at</userinput>) keymap should be selected.
-  <sect2 id="preseed-network">
+ </para></note>
+   </sect2>
+   <sect2 id="preseed-network">
    <title>Network configuration</title>
  <para>
  Of course, preseeding the network configuration won't work if you're
- loading your preseed file from the network! But it's great if you're
+ loading your preseed file from the network. But it's great when you're
  booting from CD or USB stick. If you are loading preseed files from
  the network, you can pass network config parameters in using kernel
  boot parameters.
-Line 268 
 d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
+Line 287 
 d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
  #d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string radish
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-mirror">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-mirror">
    <title>Mirror settings</title>
  <para>
-Line 308 
 d-i mirror/http/proxy string
+Line 327 
 d-i mirror/http/proxy string
  #d-i mirror/udeb/suite string testing
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-partman">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-partman">
    <title>Partitioning</title>
+ <para>
+ Using preseeding to partition the harddisk is very much limited to what is
+ supported by <classname>partman-auto</classname>. You can choose to either
+ partition existing free space on a disk or a whole disk. The layout of the
+ disk can be determined by using a predefined recipe, a custom recipe from
+ a recipe file or a recipe included in the preseed file. It is currently not
+ possible to partition multiple disks using preseeding nor to set up RAID or
+ LVM.
+ </para>
+ <warning><para>
+ The identification of disks is dependent on the order in which their drivers
+ are loaded. If there are multiple disks in the system, make very sure the
+ correct one will be selected before using preseeding.
+ </para></warning>
  <informalexample><screen>
  # If the system has free space you can choose to only partition that space.
-Line 364 
 d-i partman/choose_partition \
+Line 402 
 d-i partman/choose_partition \
  d-i partman/confirm boolean true
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-time">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-time">
    <title>Clock and time zone setup</title>
  <informalexample><screen>
-Line 378 
 d-i clock-setup/utc boolean true
+Line 416 
 d-i clock-setup/utc boolean true
  d-i time/zone string US/Eastern
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-account">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-account" condition="NOT-YET">
    <title>Account setup</title>
  <para>
-Line 423 
 access to a MD5 hash allows for brute fo
+Line 461 
 access to a MD5 hash allows for brute fo
  The <classname>passwd/root-password-crypted</classname> and
  <classname>passwd/user-password-crypted</classname> variables can also be
- preseeded with "!" as value. In that case, the corresponding account
+ preseeded with <quote>!</quote> as value. In that case, the corresponding
- is disabled. This may be convenient for the root account, provided of
+ account is disabled. This may be convenient for the root account, provided
- course that an alternate method is setup to allow administrative
+ of course that an alternate method is setup to allow administrative
  activities or root login (for instance by using SSH key authentication).
  </para>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-bootloader">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-bootloader">
    <title>Boot loader installation</title>
  <informalexample><screen>
-Line 454 
 d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean
+Line 492 
 d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean
  #d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean false
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-finish">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-finish">
    <title>Finishing up the first stage install</title>
  <informalexample><screen>
-Line 468 
 d-i prebaseconfig/reboot_in_progress not
+Line 506 
 d-i prebaseconfig/reboot_in_progress not
  #d-i cdrom-detect/eject boolean false
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-shell">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-shell">
    <title>Shell commands</title>
  <informalexample><screen>
-Line 499 
 d-i prebaseconfig/reboot_in_progress not
+Line 537 
 d-i prebaseconfig/reboot_in_progress not
  #      string apt-get install zsh; chsh -s /bin/zsh
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
- </sect1>
+  </sect1>
- <sect1 id="preseed-stage2">
+  <sect1 id="preseed-stage2">
   <title>Preseeding the second stage of the installation</title>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-baseconfig">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-baseconfig">
    <title>Base config</title>
  <informalexample><screen>
-Line 525 
 base-config base-config/login note
+Line 563 
 base-config base-config/login note
  #popularity-contest popularity-contest/participate boolean false
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
+   <sect2 id="preseed-account">
+   <title>Account setup</title>
+ <informalexample><screen>
+ # To preseed the root password, you have to put it in the clear in this
+ # file. That is not a very good idea, use caution!
+ #passwd passwd/root-password password r00tme
+ #passwd passwd/root-password-again password r00tme
+ # If you want to skip creation of a normal user account.
+ #passwd passwd/make-user boolean false
-  <sect2 id="preseed-apt">
+ # Alternatively, you can preseed the user's name and login.
+ #passwd passwd/user-fullname string Debian User
+ #passwd passwd/username string debian
+ # And their password, but use caution!
+ #passwd passwd/user-password password insecure
+ #passwd passwd/user-password-again password insecure
+ </screen></informalexample>
+   </sect2>
+   <sect2 id="preseed-apt">
    <title>Apt setup</title>
  <informalexample><screen>
-Line 551 
 base-config apt-setup/another boolean fa
+Line 611 
 base-config apt-setup/another boolean fa
  base-config apt-setup/security-updates boolean true
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-tasksel">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-tasksel">
    <title>Package selection</title>
+ <para>
+ You can choose to install any combination of tasks that are available.
+ Available tasks as of this writing include:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>Standard system</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>Desktop environment</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>Web server</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>Print server</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>DNS server</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>File server</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>Mail server</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>SQL database</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>Laptop</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para>
+   <userinput>manual package selection</userinput>
+ </para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ The last of these will run aptitude. You can also choose to install no tasks,
+ and force the installation of a set of packages in some other way. We recommend
+ always including the <userinput>Standard system</userinput> task.
+ </para>
  <informalexample><screen>
- # You can choose to install any combination of tasks that are available.
+ tasksel tasksel/first multiselect Standard system, Desktop environment
- # Available tasks as of this writing include: Desktop environment,
+ #tasksel tasksel/first multiselect Standard system, Web server
- # Web server, Print server, DNS server, File server, Mail server,
- # SQL database, Laptop, Standard system, manual package selection. The
- # last of those will run aptitude. You can also choose to install no
- # tasks, and force the installation of a set of packages in some other
- # way. We recommend always including the Standard system task.
- tasksel tasksel/first multiselect Desktop environment, Standard system
- #tasksel tasksel/first multiselect Web server, Standard system
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-mailer">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-mailer">
    <title>Mailer configuration</title>
+ <para>
+ During a normal install, exim asks only a few questions. Here's how to
+ avoid even those. More complicated preseeding is possible.
+ </para>
  <informalexample><screen>
- # During a normal install, exim asks only a few questions. Here's how to
- # avoid even those. More complicated preseeding is possible.
  exim4-config exim4/dc_eximconfig_configtype \
         select no configuration at this time
  exim4-config exim4/no_config boolean true
-Line 587 
 exim4-config exim4/no_config boolean tru
+Line 687 
 exim4-config exim4/no_config boolean tru
  exim4-config exim4/dc_postmaster string
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-X">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-X">
    <title>X configuration</title>
+ <para>
- <informalexample><screen>
+ Preseeding Debian's X config is possible, but you probably need to know
- # Preseeding Debian's X config is possible, but you probably need to know
+ some details about the video hardware of the machine, since Debian's X
- # some details about the video hardware of the machine, since Debian's X
+ configurator does not do fully automatic configuration of everything.
- # configurator does not do fully automatic configuration of everything.
+ </para>
+ <informalexample><screen>
  # 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-xfree86 xserver-xfree86/config/device/driver select vesa
-Line 619 
 xserver-xfree86 xserver-xfree86/config/m
+Line 722 
 xserver-xfree86 xserver-xfree86/config/m
         select 1024x768 @ 60 Hz
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
-  <sect2 id="preseed-other">
+   <sect2 id="preseed-other">
    <title>Preseeding other packages</title>
  <informalexample><screen>
-Line 634 
 xserver-xfree86 xserver-xfree86/config/m
+Line 737 
 xserver-xfree86 xserver-xfree86/config/m
  #   debconf-get-selections >> file
  </screen></informalexample>
-  </sect2>
+   </sect2>
- </sect1>
+  </sect1>
- <sect1 id="preseed-advanced">
+  <sect1 id="preseed-advanced">
   <title>Advanced options</title>
+ <para>
+ It is possible to include other preseed files from a preseed file. Any
+ settings in those files will override pre-existing settings from files
+ loaded earlier. This makes it possible to put, for example, general
+ networking settings for your location in one file and more specific
+ settings for certain configurations in other files.
+ </para>
  <informalexample><screen>
- # If you like, you can include other preseed files into this one.
+ # More that one file can be listed, separated by spaces; all will be
- # Any settings in those files will override pre-existing settings from this
- # file. More that one file can be listed, separated by spaces; all will be
  # loaded. The included files can have preseed/include directives of their
  # own as well. Note that if the filenames are relative, they are taken from
  # the same directory as the preseed file that includes them.
-Line 658 
 xserver-xfree86 xserver-xfree86/config/m
+Line 768 
 xserver-xfree86 xserver-xfree86/config/m
  # preseed files, includes those files.
  #d-i preseed/include_command \
  #      string echo if [ "`hostname`" = bob ]; then echo bob.cfg; fi
- # To check the format of your preseed file before performing an install,
- # you can use debconf-set-selections:
- #   debconf-set-selections -c preseed.cfg
  </screen></informalexample>
- </sect1>
+  </sect1>
  </appendix>

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