I attach a new patch, to be applied after the previous ones, that
encapsulates most of the kickstart_finder portions that depend on the
breed.
I've been able to perform some debian install tests. Basically, the
kernel/initrd from media are not able to perform a network install.
They actually download the preseed file, but at a so late stage than
is not very useful. So, kernel/initrd from network install specific
media should be imported and used. Moreover, some checksum/pgp files
that are required by the network install images are absent on media
for local install, so importing will probably be useful as a first
step towards a real mirror/repository.
Regarding the boot itself, the supplied sample.seed works, but some
modifications are required. Instead of "ks", the kernel boot argument
to point to the preseed file is named "url", and if we have multiple
network interfaces, we must select it with "interface" instead of
"ksdevice" (the word "auto" can be used instead of a named interface
to leave the installer to select the interface). Up to here there is
little surprise, and it's just about different keyword names.
But for debian, some of the typical kickstart values must be supplied
in advance. Specifically, we must use "locale" to set it and avoid the
question to be asked. The only way I know to really preseed the
keyboard type is to use "priority=critical" which just reduces the
number of asked questions, and as a side effect also avoids to confirm
the values for host and domain supplied by the DHCP server. These are
the points that apply before the preseed file is downloaded.
To use a cobbler provided repository instead of a official debian
mirror, some lines should be added to sample.seed :
d-i mirror/country string enter information manually
d-i mirror/http/hostname string cobbler.server
d-i mirror/http/directory string /path/to/debian
d-i mirror/http/proxy string
apt-setup-udeb apt-setup/security_host string cobbler.server
That will use
http://cobbler.server/path/to/debian as source for
packages, and the security updates from
http://cobbler.server/debian-security (as fas a I know, only
debian-security can be used as path for security updates).
Javier Palacios