Hi Richard!
On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 22:06:19 +0200, Richard Owlett wrote:
> I have two objectives:
> 1. Define, by experimentation, optimal installation parameters to
> meet my
> idiosyncratic concept of a "minimal install".
> 2. Determine if there are bugs in Debian Installer, the
> instructions for
> the installer, or MY reading of those instructions.
This second aim is what I privately discussed with Christian Perrier at
DebConf12 when I started packaging BabelBox, see:
<http://lists.debian.87zk7ht4hd.fsf@gismo.pca.it/>
The idea would be to have BabelBox automatically saving a screenshot of
the installed Debian for future checking, which means that, first, d-i
works and, second, that the default DE is working as well. Due to time
constraints, I have yet to continue integrating the changes necessary
for BabelBox to work on squeeze and wheezy, I know what is needed, but I
would like to document everything in the Git repository at:
<http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=d-i/babelbox.git;a=summary>
> BabelBox is apparently aimed at a fully scripted fully automated
> repetitive install install dependent only on the first DVD of a
> release [e.g. "When you get to partitioning, create a Linux partition
> on /dev/sda1 ( *_about 1.5 to 4GB_* depending on which media you want
> to use as installation media)..." {EMPHASIS added}].
>
> I will, initially, be doing only manual installs using preseeding to
> avoid entering fixed data - keyboard, time zone, user name/password,
> no networking etc.
BabelBox is a d-i showcase: basically you fired it on and forget it.
The fact that it does repetitive installations is because of the
pressed_late and cron scripts:
<http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=d-i/babelbox.git;a=blob;f=preseed_late;h=708775c7d96911e50bd8474f5af24558e7739749;hb=HEAD>
<http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=d-i/babelbox.git;a=blob;f=cronscript;h=e7a4aae70396d461a252165157fce71d9733842b;hb=HEAD>
The aim with the default BabelBox is to avoid any user interaction at
all, even configuration (except if you want to change the languages to
be tested). While this is not yet the case, it is easier to set up than
probably what you imagine ;-)
The instruction are for the basic BabelBox setup, but any setup is
allowed if you understand how BabelBox works. And my long-term idea was
to have such options configurable via debconf/dpkg-reconfigure.
The suggested partition scheme is to avoid extra waiting time during
each d-i cycle: the smaller the target partition is, the faster
formatting will be. But no one keeps you from defining bigger target
partitions!
> Can I simply copy all 8 DVD's to the root of my supervising Debian
> install?
> After an install will I be able to do apt-get to access the DVD
> content now residing on the hard drive?
I do not understand what actually you want to do: do you want to
automatize installation of selected packages, from DVDs other than the
first one?
You should really use BabelBox and preseeding, as it is done at:
<http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=d-i/babelbox.git;a=blob;f=preseed.cfg;h=f194524681667e8474c5b02610640e669d56cbae;hb=HEAD#l80>
However, you should also tell d-i that you want all the 8 DVDs added to
the APT sources, again done via preseeding, see:
<http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/apbs04.html.en#preseed-apt>
<http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/apbs04.html.en#preseed-other>
Please keep the list updated with your results, I will do my best
finishing ASAP the polishing work on BabelBox.
Thx, bye,
Gismo / Luca
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