Automated kickstart install of ubuntu

Checklist:
Prepare the configuration server:
Install packages
Configure DHCP and TFTP to provide pxe-boot image files
Configure lighttpd to serve operating system files
Prepare kickstart configuration file
Start client; intercept boot and request net boot

Note: the steps below expect all servers (dhcp, tftp and web) to be on the same physical machine, here: 192.168.1.100. Both the installation server, and anticipated clients are Ubuntu machines.

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Step 1.
(a) Install dhcp3 server. This will provide the initial network boot, for the client's PXE start.

$ sudo apt-get install dhcp3-server

(b) Edit its configuration.
Add the subnet info, leave all other elements of the file as they are.

$ sudo vi /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf
ddns-update-style none;

# option definitions common to all supported networks...

option domain-name "example.com";

option domain-name-servers ns1.example.org, ns2.example.org;

default-lease-time 600;

max-lease-time 7200;

log-facility local7;

subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {

range 192.168.1.111 192.168.1.222;

option domain-name-servers 212.135.1.36; # your DNS server

option domain-name "internal.example.com"; # your domain name

option routers 192.168.1.254; # your gateway

option broadcast-address 192.168.1.255;

filename "pxelinux.0";

}


(c) Start dhcp server.
$ sudo /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server start


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Step 2.
(a) Install tftpd-hpa (and its super-daemon, inetd):
$ sudo apt-get install openbsd-inetd tftpd-hpa

(b) Modify the main tftp setup file, in /etc/default/tftpd-hpa, to have the content as shown.
$ sudo vi /etc/default/tftpd-hpa

TFTP_USERNAME=”tftp”

TFTP_DIRECTORY=”/srv/tftp”

TFTP_OPTIONS=”--secure”

TFTP_ADDRESS=”192.168.1.100:69”


The address above is the IP address of your tftp server.

(c) Start the inetd superdaemon
$ sudo /etc/init.d/openbsd-inetd start
Starting internet superserver inetd [ OK ]

(d) Check the tftpd is now active:
$ netstat -a | grep tftp
udp 0 0 *:tftp *:*

----------------------
Step 3.
Copy the netboot files into the tftp server. (Check lftp is there, if not – install it, with sudo apt-get install lftp).
$ sudo mkdir -p /srv/tftp/
$ cd /srv/tftp/
$ sudo lftp -c “open http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/lucid/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/; mirror”

----------------------
Step 4.
(a) Edit /srv/tftp/pxelinux.cfg/default and change string menu.cfg into text.cfg.
After the change, the file should look as follows:

include ubuntu-installer/i386/boot-screens/text.cfg

default ubuntu-installer/i386/boot-screens/vesamenu.c32

prompt 0

timeout 0



(b) Modify the /srv/tftp/ubuntu-installer/i386/boot-screens/text.cfg file to have the following content:

timeout 1

default auto

label auto

menu label ^Auto

menu default

kernel ubuntu-installer/i386/linux

append vga=normal initrd=ubuntu-installer/i386/initrd.gz

ks=http://192.168.1.100/ubuntu/ks.cfg -- quiet



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Step 6.
(a) Install lighttpd (may need to stop apache first, if running).
$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 stop # if running
$ sudo apt-get install lighttpd

(b) Ensure that the root directory is /srv/www (the default /var/www could be used, but we follow proper FHS rules here ;-). This will serve all installation files. The url directive in the kickstart file will direct the installation program to this web page.
$ sudo vi /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf
change the document-root directive to read as follows:
server.document-root = "/srv/www/"

(c) Start lighttpd
$ sudo /etc/init.d/lighttpd start

----------------------
Step 7.
Populate the the web server with the installation files.

Here, we will get the installation files from the Ubuntu installation CD (assumes Ubuntu installation CD is in the drive on the server machine, and mounted).

$ sudo mkdir /srv/www/ubuntu
$ sudo cp -rv /dev/sr0/* /srv/www/ubuntu

(time for a cuppa)

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Step 8.
Create a text file called ks.cfg with the kickstart instructions, and place it in the /srv/www/ubuntu directory.
Notice that /srv/tftp/ubuntu-installer/i386/boot-screens/text.cfg is pointing at this file.

#platform=x86


#System language

lang en_UK

#Language modules to install

langsupport en_UK

#System keyboard

keyboard gb # not uk !

#System mouse

mouse

#System timezone

timezone Europe/London

#Root password

rootpw --disabled

#Initial user

user fred --fullname "Fred User" --iscrypted --password
$1$TbZtLDPw$YG89LpNillhOvTH4zeEse/

#Reboot after installation

reboot

#Use text mode install

text

#Install OS instead of upgrade

install

#Use Web installation - provide the URL of your web server

url --url http://192.168.1.100/ubuntu

#cdrom

#System bootloader configuration

bootloader --location=mbr

#Clear the Master Boot Record

zerombr yes

#Partition clearing information

clearpart --all --initlabel

#Disk partitioning information

part / --fstype ext3 --size 10000000 # --grow failed for me ;-(

part swap --size 512

part /lvm --fstype lvm --size 512

#System authorization information

auth --useshadow --enablemd5

#Network information

network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eth0

#Firewall configuration

firewall --disabled

#Do not configure the X Window System

skipx

%packages # comment out needed packages, or add new

openssh-server

# ubuntu-vm-builder

# libvirt-bin

# screen

%pre

%post


perl -pi -e "s/kickseed/myserver/g" /etc/hosts /etc/motd

perl -pi -e "s/ubuntu/myserver/g" /etc/hosts /etc/motd


cat > /etc/hostname <<>

myserver

EOF


cat >> /etc/hosts <<>

192.168.1.10 myserver.example.com myserver

192.168.1.11 yourserver.example.com yourserver

192.168.1.12 herserver.example.com herserver

EOF


# any other post-installation shell command(s) can go here


This concludes server configuration.


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Step 9. On the client:

Boot, intercept the booting process and enter BIOS. Change the sequence of boot devices, and select network boot.

Ideally, you want to identify a separate key, like F12 on some machines, which request PXE boot without you changing the boot sequence. This will prevent repeated boots as the machine restarts after the installation.