Re: Disk partitioning phase of installation
On Mon 18 Oct 2021 at 11:07:05 -0500, David Wright wrote:
> On Sat 16 Oct 2021 at 18:47:25 (+0100), Brian wrote:
> > On Sat 16 Oct 2021 at 10:12:34 -0500, David Wright wrote:
> >
> > [Lots of snipping]
> >
> > > If you want to see a blow-by-blow example of the partitioner, you
> > > could revisit this post from a while back. IIRC the thread exercises
> > > most of the wrinkles that could occur if the user interface is
> > > misunderstood.
> > >
> > > https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2015/02/msg00153.html
> > >
> > > It's difficult to envisage a time when each and every d-i screen would
> > > be documented at this sort of level. I've no idea what the "limits" are
> > > of which you speak.
> >
> > The Installer Guide dots many i's and crosses many t's. However,
> > you yourself have sent many fine text screeshots of the installer
> > in action to -user.(I have never found out how they were produced).
> >
> > One picture is worth..., etc. I wonder whether the Guide would
> > benefit from an appendix showing something similar.
>
> Expert install, step 1¹ is:
>
> ┌────────────────────┤ [?] Load installer components from CD ├────────────────────┐
> │ │
> │ All components of the installer needed to complete the install will be loaded │
> │ automatically and are not listed here. Some other (optional) installer │
> │ components are shown below. They are probably not necessary, but may be │
> │ interesting to some users. │
> │ │
> │ Note that if you select a component that requires others, those components │
> │ will also be loaded. │
> │ │
> │ Installer components to load: │
> │ … … … … … … … … … … … … │
> │ [*] network-console: Continue installation remotely using SSH ▒ │
> │ … … … … … … … … … … … … │
> │ │
> │ <Go Back> <Continue> │
> │ │
> └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
>
> When you see the opportunity to execute this command, step 2 is:
>
> ┌────────────────┤ [?] Debian installer main menu ├────────────────┐
> │ │
> │ Choose the next step in the install process: │
> │ │
> │ … … … … … … … … … │
> │ Detect network hardware │
> │ Configure the network │
> │ Continue installation remotely using SSH ← I faked this line ² │
> │ Set up users and passwords │
> │ … … … … … … … … … │
> │ │
> └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
>
> ┌────────────────┤ [!!] Continue installation remotely using SSH ├────────────────┐
> │ │
> │ You need to set a password for remote access to the Debian installer. A │
> │ malicious or unqualified user with access to the installer can have disastrous │
> │ results, so you should take care to choose a password that is not easy to │
> │ guess. It should not be a word found in the dictionary, or a word that could be │
> │ easily associated with you, like your middle name. │
> │ │
> │ This password is only used by the Debian installer, and will be discarded once │
> │ you finish the installation. │
> │ │
> │ Remote installation password: │
> │ │
> │ _ │
> │ │
> │ [ ] Show Password in Clear │
> │ │
> │ <Continue> │
> │ │
> └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
>
> [ repeated]
>
> ┌────────────────┤ [!!] Continue installation remotely using SSH ├────────────────┐
> │ │
> │ Start SSH │
> │ To continue the installation, please use an SSH client to connect to the IP │
> │ address 192.168.1.xxx fe80::xxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx and log in as the "installer" │
> │ user. For example: │
> │ │
> │ ssh installer@192.168.1.nnn │
> │ │
> │ The fingerprint of this SSH server's host key is: │
> │ │
> │ SHA256:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ³ │
> │ │
> │ Please check this carefully against the fingerprint reported by your SSH client.│
> │ │
> │ <Continue> ⁴ │
> │ │
> └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
>
> On another machine, in an xterm, step 3 is:
>
> $ ssh -o GlobalKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null installer@192.168.1.nnn
>
> ┌────────────────────────────┤ [!!] Configuring d-i ├─────────────────────────────┐
> │ │
> │ This is the network console for the Debian installer. From here, you may │
> │ start the Debian installer, or execute an interactive shell. │
> │ │
> │ To return to this menu, you will need to log in again. │
> │ │
> │ Network console option: │
> │ │
> │ Start installer │
> │ Start installer (expert mode) │
> │ Start shell │
> │ │
> └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
>
> Continue to install, copy/pasting whichever screens you want.
> Note that with text, you can't record your responses selected
> by highlighting rather than by *.
>
> You can save time capturing the screens by executing script before
> running ssh, and then replaying the script through col -b.
> (Some tidying up may be required.)
>
> ¹ To capture the earliest screens, one can just execute steps that
> have already been completed.
> ² Once you've opened a remote installer, that command is never seen
> again.
> ³ Despite the advice given above, there are occasions when installing
> a newer version from an older system that the client might display
> an out-of-date fingerprint.
> ⁴ Don't press continue unless you're going to, say, abort. One could
> get very confused with several main menu instances.
The network-console is a brilliant d-i facility. I use it with three
headless machines on my local network. The screens you show are never
seen because of preseeding:
d-i anna/choose_modules string network-console
d-i network-console/password password xxxxx
d-i network-console/password-again password xxxxx
# network-console becomes available when a network connection is
# established. This line ensures preseeding continues up to the
# partitioning stage, which is done manually.
d-i network-console/start select continue
"continue" does not cause any problem and takes me to the stage I
want to be at before logging into the installer with ssh. I had to
look up the ssh options you gave. Useful.
It took me a while to figure out that network-console is run within
a screen session. Changing console within d-i is done with Ctrl-A.
--
Brian.
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