This repository will guide you on how to do a completely unattended install of ubuntu 16.04
You will need to mount the ISO files so that you can edit the pertinent files.
mkdir -p /mnt/iso
mount -o loop ~/Downloads/ubuntu-16.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso /mnt/iso
Now you need to copy the mounted files so that you can edit it. Do it by:
mkdir -p ~/preseed_ubuntu
cp -rT /mnt/iso ~/preseed_ubuntu
We can do that by using chmod:
sudo chmod -R ~/preseed_ubuntu
We have to add an option of Automated Install that will install everything automatically. You'll find the txt.cfg file in isolinux or syslinux folder whichever is present. After that open the file with your favourite editor.
default autoinstall
label autoinstall
menu label ^Autoinstall Ubuntu Server
kernel /install/vmlinuz
append debian-installer/locale=en_US debconf/priority=critical kbd-chooser/method=us locale=en_US console-setup/layoutcode=us file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu-server.seed initrd=/install/initrd.gz auto=true priority=high preseed/file=/cdrom/preseed/file.seed --
label install
menu label ^Install Ubuntu Server
kernel /install/vmlinuz
append file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu-server.seed vga=788 initrd=/install/initrd.gz quiet ---
label hwe-install
menu label ^Install Ubuntu Server with the HWE kernel
kernel /install/hwe-vmlinuz
append file=/cdrom/preseed/hwe-ubuntu-server.seed vga=788 initrd=/install/hwe-initrd.gz quiet ---
label maas
menu label ^Install MAAS Region Controller
kernel /install/vmlinuz
append modules=maas-region-udeb vga=788 initrd=/install/initrd.gz quiet ---
label maasrack
menu label ^Install MAAS Rack Controller
kernel /install/vmlinuz
append modules=maas-rack-udeb vga=788 initrd=/install/initrd.gz quiet ---
label check
menu label ^Check disc for defects
kernel /install/vmlinuz
append MENU=/bin/cdrom-checker-menu vga=788 initrd=/install/initrd.gz quiet ---
label memtest
menu label Test ^memory
kernel /install/mt86plus
label hd
menu label ^Boot from first hard disk
localboot 0x80
Doing so will add one more menu entry but you will still have to hit Enter key for it to start.
If you want to prevent that step too, add a TOTALTIMEOUT of 10 in isolinux.cfg or syslinux.cfg and prompt.cfg in the same folder.
isolinux.cfg:
# D-I config version 2.0
# search path for the c32 support libraries (libcom32, libutil etc.)
path
include menu.cfg
default vesamenu.c32
prompt 0
timeout 10
ui gfxboot bootlogo
TOTALTIMEOUT 10
prompt.cfg:
prompt 0
display f1.txt
timeout 10
include menu.cfg
include exithelp.cfg
f1 f1.txt
f2 f2.txt
f3 f3.txt
f4 f4.txt
f5 f5.txt
f6 f6.txt
f7 f7.txt
f8 f8.txt
f9 f9.txt
f0 f10.txt
TOTALTIMEOUT 10
Add file named file.seed in the preseed folder:
# regional setting
d-i debian-installer/language string en_US:en
d-i debian-installer/country string US
d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US
d-i debian-installer/splash boolean false
d-i localechooser/supported-locales multiselect en_US.UTF-8
d-i pkgsel/install-language-support boolean true
# keyboard selection
d-i console-setup/ask_detect boolean false
d-i keyboard-configuration/modelcode string pc105
d-i keyboard-configuration/layoutcode string us
d-i keyboard-configuration/variantcode string intl
d-i keyboard-configuration/xkb-keymap select us(intl)
d-i debconf/language string en_US:en
# network settings
d-i netcfg/choose_interface select auto
d-i netcfg/dhcp_timeout string 5
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string ubuntu
d-i netcfg/get_domain string ubuntu
# mirror settings
d-i mirror/country string manual
d-i mirror/http/hostname string archive.ubuntu.com
d-i mirror/http/directory string /ubuntu
d-i mirror/http/proxy string
# clock and timezone settings
d-i time/zone string Asia/Kolkata
d-i clock-setup/utc boolean false
d-i clock-setup/ntp boolean true
# user account setup
d-i passwd/root-login boolean false
d-i passwd/make-user boolean true
d-i passwd/user-fullname string USER
d-i passwd/username string ubuntu
d-i passwd/user-password password asdf
d-i passwd/user-password-again password asdf
d-i user-setup/allow-password-weak boolean true
d-i passwd/user-default-groups string adm cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare
d-i user-setup/encrypt-home boolean false
# configure apt
d-i apt-setup/restricted boolean true
d-i apt-setup/universe boolean true
d-i apt-setup/backports boolean true
d-i apt-setup/services-select multiselect security
d-i apt-setup/security_host string security.ubuntu.com
d-i apt-setup/security_path string /ubuntu
tasksel tasksel/first multiselect standard system utilities, Basic Ubuntu server, OpenSSH server
d-i pkgsel/upgrade select safe-upgrade
d-i pkgsel/update-policy select none
d-i pkgsel/updatedb boolean true
# disk partitioning
d-i partman/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-auto/purge_lvm_from_device boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman-auto-lvm/no_boot boolean true
d-i partman-md/device_remove_md boolean true
d-i partman-md/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-md/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman-auto/method string lvm
d-i partman-auto-lvm/guided_size string max
d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
# grub boot loader
d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean true
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean true
# Software selection
d-i pkgsel/include string openssh-server
# finish installation
d-i finish-install/reboot_in_progress note
d-i finish-install/keep-consoles boolean false
d-i cdrom-detect/eject boolean true
# to power-off the machine after install, turn halt option to true otherwise reboot the machine after install
d-i debian-installer/exit/halt boolean false
d-i debian-installer/exit/poweroff boolean true
# setup firstrun script. (these scripts will run just after installation, uncomment if you want to use)
#d-i preseed/late_command string
To view the official ubuntu example refer here. As the file is self explanatory, you can easily understand and change the parameters.
run the following code as sudo while being in the directory:
mkisofs -D -r -V "UNATTENDED_UBUNTU" -cache-inodes -J -l -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -o ~/ubuntu16-unattended-install.iso ~/preseed_ubuntu
Congratulations, You're done. Now, test the iso file on a virtual machine.
Feel free to report any problem :)