Debian-installer is designed for automation by providing preseeding information for non-interactive installation of packages.
- Debian Wiki - Debian Installer Pressed
- Debian Installation Guide - Appendix Preseed
- Debian Handbook - Automated Installation
plain-text pressed file contain answers to debconf for configuration options during installation.
Debian-installer related configuration lines require a prefix d-i [identifier] [type] [answer]
Search for preseed configuration identifiers with the debconf-get-selections command.
Option --installer prints a list of all identifiers used by Debian-Installer:
# configuration for the ntp-server package
>>> debconf-get-selections --installer | grep ntp-server
clock-setup clock-setup/ntp-server string 0.debian.pool.ntp.orgThe network console enables SSH during installation with following configuration in the preseed file (i.e. stretch/debug):
d-i anna/choose_modules string network-console
d-i preseed/early_command string anna-install network-console
d-i network-console/password password r00tme
d-i network-console/password-again password r00tme
Among the methods to load a preseed configuration file is fetching it from an URL by providing a kernel boot parameter, e.g.:
[…] auto=true url=http:/server:<port>/path/to/pressed.cfg […]
When running debian-installer interactively press ESC on the Debian Boot Screen to adjust the debian-installer parameters. Append auto url=http://…/preseed.cfg as option to load a preseed configuration and hit ENTER.
Alternatively append the kernel parameters in an iPXE configuration file, i.e. stretch/default