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[SOLVED] Hostname question with preseed

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jby
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Joined: 2022-01-18 13:39
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[SOLVED] Hostname question with preseed

#1 Post by jby »

I'm trying to get an automatic install after booting off of a USB-drive with the firmware-netinstall ISO of 11.2 to work using a preseed file:
(https://gist.github.com/jby/7c3010e7157 ... 17ef47da30)
hosted on a server running nginx.
According to the nginx logs the file is read.
What I'd like to accomplish is to have the install be as fully automated as possible, but I *want* the question about what hostname to give the client.
I was told that setting these settings would make it ask me for the hostname:
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false
and/or maybe this:
d-i netcfg/hostname seen false
However, no matter how I do it it always sets the hostname to the default 'debian'.

How do I get it to ask me for the hostname? Are the order of the commands in the preseed file significant?
Where do I put the commands to get the hostname question in that case?

Another thing:

When I use the above linked preseed file on a (VMWare-) VM it correctly picks up the partitioning set in the preseed file,
'd-i partman-auto/method string crypto' in my case.
However, when using it on physical hardware (Dell laptops) it seems to ignore that and give me the dialog asking how to do it.

Can someone knowledgeable please help me figure this out?
Last edited by jby on 2022-01-21 08:50, edited 1 time in total.

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jby
Posts: 13
Joined: 2022-01-18 13:39
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Re: Hostname question with preseed

#2 Post by jby »

Found this post, where the guy is annoyed about getting the question that I'm trying to get.

Tried his settings in hope that it would give me the same behaviour as he's seeing:

Code: Select all

d-i netcfg/get_hostname unassigned-hostname 
d-i netcfg/get_domain unassigned-domain
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen true
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen true
But that didn't help me either...
:? :( :shock:

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jby
Posts: 13
Joined: 2022-01-18 13:39
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Re: [SOLVED] Hostname question with preseed

#3 Post by jby »

I'm now considering this (the hostname part) as solved!

My problem seems to have been a combination of some of the info in this post at StackExchange:

If using an URL to the preseed file, and waiting until asked for it by the installer, then 'netcfg' is done and (AFAIU) no settings to it inside the preseed file will make any difference. Albeit, to get the hostname question (as a part of netcfg setting up the networking) the priority of questions have to be lowered below critical. Removing the 'priority=critical' boot parameter will make the installer running at its default "high" instead, which will lead to you getting asked about the hostname and domainname.

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