Debian User Forums

Btw. if somebody is interested, I've created a build tool that creates a bootable USB image through docker:
https://github.com/agilord/usb-boot-image-creator/

I'd like to create a setup where the boot is from a read-only USB drive.
It should boot into a minimal environment that has a dropbear SSH server, it gets its init command / encryption password through SSH, and with that it stops. (Maybe it also starts a nebula node).
The init command will decrypt disks (using LUKS), setup the raid-5 over them, and then mount the volume.
It should then chroot into a directory on that volume, starting local services (cron, docker, ...).

Is there an issue with ...

mcdaniels wrote: 2025-01-15 10:40 as it is not marked solved (although it is solved) the TO may also have used the Debian Live Project to build his own ISO and e.g. use hooks (minimal scripts) during iso-building to install and activate the ssh-server etc.

https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-live/

Is there any further pointer into those hooks and minimal scripts?

The following repository provided an easy to run solution that created the USB image I wanted:
https://github.com/philpagel/debian-headless

https://fai-project.org/FAIme/live/ gives me a live image that I can ssh into. Unfortunately debian-installer-launcher does not work as expected, it gives the following errors depending on running without or with the live plugin:
ERROR: 'kexec' is not a valid plugin. Check and try again.
umount: /run/live/installer: no mount point specified.
or
no suitable d-i initrd image found, aborting.
umount: /run/live/installer: no mount point specified.

Do I need to install further packages? Is there ...

arzgi wrote: 2025-01-12 18:16 Just out of interest, can you tell what kind your server is? For me it is hard to believe that any would try to sell a comptuter without display connectors.

It is an Asustor NAS, but other NAS manufacturers have similar devices too.

What exactly are you looking for?


Again, to summarize it:
- I have a machine without any VGA output / not able to attach any monitor, I want Debian on it.
- I cannot automate the install procedure, because I don't know all the things about the devices and their ids upfront.
- I can boot an USB live image or installer, but they don't enable remote ssh by default (some distros enable it - they print the root password to the console, and I cannot see it either).

I thought that it should be ...

arzgi wrote: 2025-01-12 13:07 Search the forum for preseed. Installing Debian without display can be quite hard. You need openssh-server.

Preseed would help, if I wanted to automate the installation, but in fact I don't want to do that. So the question is: how to create a live/setup usb drive that has the openssh-server enabled by default (with a pre-known password or key).

I have a machine without any VGA card with it, so I cannot install anything on it that relies on monitor feedback.
I want to create a Debian USB image that I can use to boot the machine and I can ssh into it to install the system through there. I don't want to have any automated setup, only an SSH connection I can use to run the installer.

What are my options and how can I achieve it?