[cobbler] Can deploy Ubuntu using a kickstart file rather than a preseed?

Will Dennis wdennis at nec-labs.com
Thu Sep 25 19:40:12 UTC 2014


Thanks, Alastair. Guess I'll be learning Debian Installer syntax then ;)

Would be cool in the future if Cobbler could support either d-i or kickstart for breed "ubuntu", since there is support now, and I'd wager most Cobbler users are more familiar with kickstart...

Best,
Will

-----Original Message-----
From: cobbler-bounces at lists.fedorahosted.org [mailto:cobbler-bounces at lists.fedorahosted.org] On Behalf Of alastair at alastair-munro.com
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2014 2:57 PM
To: cobbler at lists.fedorahosted.org
Subject: Re: [cobbler] Can deploy Ubuntu using a kickstart file rather than a preseed?

Debian/ubuntu uses debian installer. All lines start d-i. See this that I wrote:

https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/wiki/Using%20template%20scripts%20for%20Debian%20and%20Ubuntu%20seeds

Use the cobbler sample.seed and then replace the pre and post seed files with your own, with embedded snippets.

I have not played round with lvm or partitioning on ubuntu/debian, but I was able to use all the snippets I wrote for centos with ubuntu (with some slight tweaks). These snippets are now multi platform!

The ubuntu guides tell you about debian installer and what the various lines do. I didn't have to tweak the sample.seed much.

Alastair

On 2014-09-25 16:39, Will Dennis wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Went looking for an automated way to install a bunch of Ubuntu (14.04) 
> nodes I had to bring up, and happily found that Ubuntu now supports 
> Kickstart (albeit in a non-complete way...)
> 
> https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/installation-guide/amd64/ch04s06.html#ki
> ckstart
> [1]
> 
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KickstartCompatibility [2]
> 
> I created a USB installer, and authored a kickstart file (via the 
> Ubuntu app "system-config-kickstart"), placed it in the root of the 
> USB key, and then in /syslinux/txt.cfg I added "ks=cdrom:/ks.cfg" to 
> the end of the "append" line for the default install. Booted my test 
> node from the USB key, and the kickstart worked like a champ.
> 
> Now, since I've been using Cobbler to install RedHat-family nodes, I 
> thought I'd try to add a Ubuntu OS choice. So I added the install ISO 
> to Cobbler via the 'cobbler import' command, and also did a 'cobbler 
> reposync' to add the local repo. Tried PXE-booting my test node, my 
> Ubuntu 14.04 OS choice shows up in the menu, and can be installed (but 
> for some reason stops at the "Partition disks" setup screen...)
> 
> When I checked out the "kickstart" file for the profile, I was 
> surprised to find that it was actually a Debian preseed file instead 
> of a kickstart... Since I don't understand preseed files, and wanted 
> to use my (working) kickstart file, I imported my kickstart file into 
> /var/lib/cobbler/kickstarts and then made a copy of the Ubuntu 14.04 
> profile, and changed the kickstart file to be mine instead of 
> "sample.seed". Upon PXE booting the test node and selecting my new 
> profile, it errored out with the following message:
> 
> "The installer failed to process the preconfiguration file from 
> http://<cobbler-svr-ip>/cblr/svc/op/ks/profile/<profile_name [3]>. The 
> file may be corrupt."
> 
> So, is there a way to support using kickstart files against Ubuntu 
> nodes, instead of preseed files? If so, any docs anywhere?
> 
> Also, is there a way to search the list archives (such as Gmane, etc.) 
> for keywords such as "Ubuntu kickstart" - I'm sure this has been 
> discussed before on the list, but couldn't (quickly) find anything...
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Will
> 
> 
> 
> Links:
> ------
> [1]
> https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/installation-guide/amd64/ch04s06.html#ki
> ckstart [2] https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KickstartCompatibility
> [3] http://%3ccobbler-svr-ip%3e/cblr/svc/op/ks/profile/%3cprofile_name
> 
> _______________________________________________
> cobbler mailing list
> cobbler at lists.fedorahosted.org
> https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/cobbler
_______________________________________________
cobbler mailing list
cobbler at lists.fedorahosted.org
https://lists.fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/cobbler


More information about the cobbler mailing list