debian-autoinstall

Generate customized Debian ISO images for automatic deployments.

Usage

Run build.sh to generate a hands-free ISO image.

./build.sh [-u username] [-p password] [-n hostname] [-d domain] [-a package] [-i iso_url] [-s sign_key] [-o path] [-x] [-z] [-v] [-h]

Dependencies

Start a devbox shell with:

devbox shell --pure

Or install all dependencies on a Debian 12 system:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install curl git gnupg pwgen whois xorriso

Clone repo

Clone this repository and cd into it.

git clone https://github.com/nothub/debian-autoinstall.git
cd debian-autoinstall

SSH keys

To include SSH keys for remote access, add them to the configs/authorized_keys file.

curl -fsSLo configs/authorized_keys https://github.com/nothub.keys
echo "ssh-ed25519 AAAA... foo" >> configs/authorized_keys
echo "ssh-ed25519 AAAA... bar" >> configs/authorized_keys

Build ISO

# set user and password
./build.sh -u 'hub' -p 'changeme'
# set hostname and domain
./build.sh -n 'calculon' -d 'example.org'
# include additional apt packages
./build.sh -a 'strace' -a 'unattended-upgrades'

Flags

-u <username>    Admin username
-p <password>    Admin password
-n <hostname>    Machine hostname
-d <domain>      Machine domain
-a <package>     Additional apt package
-i <iso_url>     ISO download URL
-s <sign_key>    ISO pgp sign key
-o <out_file>    ISO output file
-x               Power off after install
-z               Sudo without password
-v               Enable verbose mode
-h               Display this help message

Password

If the -p flag is not set, a random admin password will be generated, printed to stdout and written to <out_file>.auth.

Hostname

If the -n flag is not set, a hostname will be generated at installation. The hostname will be based on the installed machines mac addresses.

Restart

If the -x flag is not set, the machine will restart after the installation is finished.

Preseed Config

For an extended example, check: https://www.debian.org/releases/bookworm/example-preseed.txt

Debug in VM

While running the installer, press ctrl+alt+f4 to show the installers log output. To switch back to the installers graphical interface, press ctrl+alt+f1. Switch to any other TTY for an interactive shell.