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Preseed configuration for the Debian installer.

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# Debian "preseed" System Installer

> [!TIP]
> If you want to bootstrap Ubuntu systems, you can look at [my Ubuntu autoinstall setup](https://github.com/paullockaby/ubuntu-autoinstall).

> [!IMPORTANT]
> If you are viewing this repository in GitHub, know that GitHub is [a mirror of the original repository](https://code.lockaby.org/public/debian-preseed).

This is a script for building a new installer for Debian "trixie" using a technique called a "preseeding". By using a "preseed" script we tell the installer the answer to a lot of routine questions to give ourselves a standard environment for new hosts. The script in this repository does the following:

* Creates a "paul" user with an SSH `authorized_keys` file and a known good environment.
* Prompts you for a disk configuration but chooses `xfs` instead of `ext4` for the primary disk partition.
* Enables "security" and "updates" repositories but does not enable backports, sources or automatic updates.
* Fixes the systemd timesync configuration.
* Fixes the /etc/resolv.conf file.
* Installs standard system utilities and an SSH server.
* Installs some additional basic, common software.

When using the installer there are still several questions that you must answer. These include:

* If there are multiple active interfaces you must choose one.
* What IP address and host name to use for this new host.
* Which disk to use for the installation. **WARNING!** This disk *will* be erased.
* Which disk will receive the master boot record.

Otherwise this will create an entirely automated installation.

# How To Use This Script

Follow these steps to run this script:

1. Get on a Debian host!
2. [Download an netinstall image from the Debian website](https://www.debian.org/distrib/netinst).
3. Clone this repository.
4. Install these libraries: `apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends xorriso isolinux pwgen`
5. Run the build script: `./build /path/to/debian-13.x.x-amd64-netinst.iso /path/to/preseed-debian-13.x.x-amd64-netinst.iso`
6. Use the new ISO file to build your host.

Note that the preseed.cfg file has no password for logging in as the "paul" user. You can set a password or just use SSH keys. You can change the password by following these steps:

1. Put the new password in a text file. Call it something like "newpassword.txt".
2. Generate the new password: `cat newpassword.txt | mkpasswd -s -m sha-512 -S "$(pwgen -ns 16 1)"`
3. Place that new password in the preseed.cfg file.
4. Remove newpassword.txt and *definitely* **do not** put it into source control.

# Using the "preseed" ISO

Use this ISO just like you would any other install ISO. A preseeded ISO file can build baremetal systems or virtual machines. It is only useful for on-premise instances and is not useful for cloud instances.

# Building a USB Boot Disk on macOS

It's pretty simple:

1. Run `diskutil list` to find the thumb drive. It'll be labeled something like "/dev/disk6 (external, physical)"
2. Run `diskutil unmount /dev/disk6` or whatever the disk is called, to unmount any volume that it might already have.
3. Run `sudo dd if=mydebian.iso of=/dev/disk6 bs=1M` to erase the disk and install the ISO.

Your thumb drive is now bootable.

# Building a USB Boot Disk on Linux

I'm also always having to look this up so here are the steps.

1. Attach the USB disk. Use `lsblk` to see what the device label is that the USB disk has received.
2. Write the ISO file to your USB disk: `sudo dd bs=4M if=preseed.iso of=/dev/XXX conv=fdatasync`

# More Information

These links are where I got most of the information for building this preseed script.

* [https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Preseed](https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Preseed)
* [https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Preseed/EditIso](https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Preseed/EditIso)
* [https://github.com/pin/debian-vm-install](https://github.com/pin/debian-vm-install)
* [https://www.debian.org/releases/squeeze/example-preseed.txt](https://www.debian.org/releases/squeeze/example-preseed.txt)
* [https://serverfault.com/questions/722021/preseeding-debian-install-efi](https://serverfault.com/questions/722021/preseeding-debian-install-efi)
* [https://github.com/dsgnr/ubuntu-16.04-unattended-install/blob/master/preseed.cfg](https://github.com/dsgnr/ubuntu-16.04-unattended-install/blob/master/preseed.cfg)

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