I'm trying to get an automatic install of 11.2 working using a preseed file:

(https://gist.github.com/jby/7c3010e7157286166acee617ef47da30)

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?


Update:

Found this <https://serverfault.com/questions/1077958/preseeding-debian-11-fully-unattended-get-rid-of-questions>
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:
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...

/Update


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 please help me figure this out?

--
*Jonas Bygdén* <[email protected]>

<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)">I&#39;m trying to get an automatic install of 11.2 working using a preseed file:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:
11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)">(<a href="https://gist.github.com/jby/7c3010e7157286166acee617ef47da30" title="https://gist.github.com/jby/7c3010e7157286166acee617ef47da30">https://gist.github.com/jby/
7c3010e7157286166acee617ef47da30</a>)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)">hosted on a server running nginx.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,
sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)">According to the nginx logs the file is read.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)">What I&#39;d like to accomplish is to have the install be as fu

Am Donnerstag, dem 20.01.2022 um 13:16 +0100 schrieb Jonas Bygdén:

I'm trying to get an automatic install of 11.2 working using a preseed file: (https://gist.github.com/jby/7c3010e7157286166acee617ef47da30)
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

Works for me. I have a profile for simple-cdd which does exactly that.

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?

Yes. the "seen false" must come after any pre-seeting of the value. Maybe you'll have to move the

d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false

also after preseeding netcfg/hostname? I make sure that the "seen false" entries always come after everything else.

[..]

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 please help me figure this out?

The detection mmechanism to detect the installation drive is not perfect. It is possible that it fails to detect the correct drive and doesn't know how to handle it. I use scripts to make an educated guess and set partman-auto/disk via partman/early_command.

You should check /var/log/installer/syslog and console 4 (when the above happens) to see what happened.

Regards, Daniel
--
Regards,
Daniel Leidert <[email protected]> | https://www.wgdd.de/
GPG-Key RSA4096 / BEED4DED5544A4C03E283DC74BCD0567C296D05D
GPG-Key ED25519 / BD3C132D8B3805D1808123AB7ACE00941E338C78

https://www.fiverr.com/dleidert
https://www.patreon.com/join/dleidert

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Am Donnerstag, dem 20.01.2022 um 16:41 +0100 schrieb Jonas Bygdén:

[..]

Do you mean at the end of the file, or is it enough to have it at the end of the section?

I usually put the "seen false" statements at the end of the file. But it shouldn't be any problem to put them at the end of the section.

I now have this in my preseed file, at the place where it’s in the example file, since I’ve based my config on that:

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over
# values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions
# from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
#d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
#d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false
#d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname
#d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain

It wouldn't work in that order. The pre-seeding will set the dialog to "seen true". So any "seen false" statement must come *after* pre-seeding a value.

d-i netcfg/get_hostname unassigned-hostname

^^^
There is a "string" missing.

d-i netcfg/get_domain unassigned-domain

^^^^
Ditto.

d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen true
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen true

^^^^^^^^^^^

You have set everything to "seen true", not "false". Maybe you want to check that again?

Regards, Daniel
--
Regards,
Daniel Leidert <[email protected]> | https://www.wgdd.de/
GPG-Key RSA4096 / BEED4DED5544A4C03E283DC74BCD0567C296D05D
GPG-Key ED25519 / BD3C132D8B3805D1808123AB7ACE00941E338C78

https://www.fiverr.com/dleidert
https://www.patreon.com/join/dleidert

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Ok, now it looks like this:

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over
# values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions
# from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname
d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

# If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP
# server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment
# and adjust the following line.
#d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost
#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false

# Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.
#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
# The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.
d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any hostname question.

On 20 Jan 2022, at 17:00, Daniel Leidert <[email protected]> wrote:

Am Donnerstag, dem 20.01.2022 um 16:41 +0100 schrieb Jonas Bygdén:

[..]

Do you mean at the end of the file, or is it enough to have it at the end of >> the section?

I usually put the "seen false" statements at the end of the file. But it shouldn't be any problem to put them at the end of the section.

I now have this in my preseed file, at the place where it’s in the example >> file, since I’ve based my config on that:

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over
# values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions >> # from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
#d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
#d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false
#d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname
#d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain

It wouldn't work in that order. The pre-seeding will set the dialog to "seen true". So any "seen false" statement must come *after* pre-seeding a value.

d-i netcfg/get_hostname unassigned-hostname

^^^
There is a "string" missing.

d-i netcfg/get_domain unassigned-domain

^^^^
Ditto.

d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen true
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen true

^^^^^^^^^^^

You have set everything to "seen true", not "false". Maybe you want to check that again?

Regards, Daniel
--
Regards,
Daniel Leidert <[email protected]> | https://www.wgdd.de/
GPG-Key RSA4096 / BEED4DED5544A4C03E283DC74BCD0567C296D05D
GPG-Key ED25519 / BD3C132D8B3805D1808123AB7ACE00941E338C78

https://www.fiverr.com/dleidert
https://www.patreon.com/join/dleidert

<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Ok, now it looks like this:<div class=""><br class=""></div><div
class=""><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class=""># Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class=""># values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the
questions</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class=""># from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname</font></div><div class=
""><font face="Courier New" class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class="">d-i netcfg/get_
domain seen false</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class=""># If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP</font></div><div class=""><font
face="Courier New" class=""># server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class=""># and adjust the following line.</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class="">#
d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class="">#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New"
class=""># Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class="">#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class=""># The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a
password of sorts.</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class="">d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian</font></div><div class=""><font face="Courier New" class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false</font></div><div class=""><font face="
Courier New" class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false</font></div><div><br class=""></div><div>But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any hostname question.</div><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite"
class=""><div class="">On 20 Jan 2022, at 17:00, Daniel Leidert &lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" class="">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div class="">Am Donnerstag, dem 20.01.2022 um
16:41 +0100 schrieb Jonas Bygdén:<br class=""><br class="">[..]<br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><br class="">Do you mean at the end of the file, or is it enough to have it at the end of<br class="">the section?<br class=""></
blockquote><br class="">I usually put the "seen false" statements at the end of the file. But it<br class="">shouldn't be any problem to put them at the end of the section.<br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">I now have this in my
preseed file, at the place where it’s in the example<br class="">file, since I’ve based my config on that:<br class=""><br class=""># Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over<br class=""># values set here. However,
setting the values still prevents the questions<br class=""># from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.<br class="">#d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false<br class="">#d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false<br class="">#d-i netcfg/get_hostname string
unassigned-hostname<br class="">#d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain<br class=""></blockquote><br class="">It wouldn't work in that order. The pre-seeding will set the dialog to "seen<br class="">true". So any "seen false" statement must come *
after* pre-seeding a value.<br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname unassigned-hostname<br class=""></blockquote> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&
nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;^^^<br class="">There is a "string" missing.<br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain unassigned-domain<br class=""></blockquote> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&
nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;^^^^<br class="">Ditto.<br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen true<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain seen true<br class="">
</blockquote> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;^^^^^^^^^^^<br class=""><br class="">You have set everything to "seen true", not "false". Maybe you want to
check<br class="">that again?<br class=""><br class="">Regards, Daniel<br class="">-- <br class="">Regards,<br class="">Daniel Leidert &lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" class="">[email protected]</a>&gt; | <a href="https://www.wgdd.de/" class="">
https://www.wgdd.de/</a><br class="">GPG-Key RSA4096 / BEED4DED5544A4C03E283DC74BCD0567C296D05D<br class="">GPG-Key ED25519 / BD3C132D8B3805D1808123AB7ACE00941E338C78<br class=""><br class=""><a href="https://www.fiverr.com/dleidert" class="">https://www.
fiverr.com/dleidert</a><br class="">https://www.patreon.com/join/dleidert<br class=""></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 1/20/2022 5:11 PM, Jonas Bygdén wrote:

Ok, now it looks like this:

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over
# values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions
# from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname
d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

# If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP
# server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment
# and adjust the following line.
#d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost
#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false

# Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.
#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
# The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.
d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any hostname question.

Maybey setting the 'priority' to 'high' instead of 'critical'.

--
John Doe

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

After setting priority to ‘high’ instead of ‘critical’ I don’t even get the question about where to find the preseed file...

On 20 Jan 2022, at 19:46, john doe <[email protected]> wrote:

On 1/20/2022 5:11 PM, Jonas Bygdén wrote:

Ok, now it looks like this:

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over
# values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions >> # from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname
d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

# If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP
# server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment
# and adjust the following line.
#d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost
#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false

# Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.
#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
# The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.
d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any hostname question.

Maybey setting the 'priority' to 'high' instead of 'critical'.

--
John Doe

<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">After setting priority to ‘high’ instead of ‘critical’ I
don’t even get the question about where to find the preseed file...<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 20 Jan 2022, at 19:46, john doe &lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" class="">johndoe65534@mail.
com</a>&gt; wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta charset="UTF-8" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal;
letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">On 1/20/2022 5:11 PM,
Jonas Bygdén wrote:</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform:
none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><blockquote type="cite" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal;
letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="">Ok,
now it looks like this:<br class=""><br class=""># Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over<br class=""># values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions<br class=""># from being shown, even if
values come from dhcp.<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false<br class=""><br
class=""># If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP<br class=""># server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment<br class=""># and adjust the following line.<br class="">#d-i netcfg/hostname string
somehost<br class="">#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false<br class=""><br class=""># Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.<br class="">#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string<br class=""># The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.<br class="">
d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false<br class=""><br class="">But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any
hostname question.<br class=""><br class=""></blockquote><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-
indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-
caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;"
class="">Maybey setting the 'priority' to 'high' instead of 'critical'.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-
align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style:
normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span
style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-
spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">--</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-
family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">John Doe</span></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></body></html>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

However (albeit strange after reading the docs) if I remove the priority boot-parameter completely I DO get the hostname/domainname question and THEN I get the question about where to find the preseed file. Looking promising so far.

On 20 Jan 2022, at 20:56, Jonas Bygdén <[email protected]> wrote:

After setting priority to ‘high’ instead of ‘critical’ I don’t even get the question about where to find the preseed file...

On 20 Jan 2022, at 19:46, john doe <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

On 1/20/2022 5:11 PM, Jonas Bygdén wrote:

Ok, now it looks like this:

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over
# values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions >>> # from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname
d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

# If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP
# server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment
# and adjust the following line.
#d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost
#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false

# Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.
#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
# The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.
d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any hostname question.

Maybey setting the 'priority' to 'high' instead of 'critical'.

--
John Doe

<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">However (albeit strange after reading the docs) if I remove the
priority boot-parameter completely I DO get the hostname/domainname question and THEN I get the question about where to find the preseed file. Looking promising so far.<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 20
Jan 2022, at 20:56, Jonas Bygdén &lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" class="">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div
style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">After setting priority to ‘high’ instead of ‘critical’ I don’t even get the question about where to find the preseed file...<br class=""><div class=
""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 20 Jan 2022, at 19:46, john doe &lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" class="">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta
charset="UTF-8" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform:
none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">On 1/20/2022 5:11 PM, Jonas Bygdén wrote:</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:
Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
text-decoration: none;" class=""><blockquote type="cite" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-
transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="">Ok, now it looks like this:<br class=""><br class=""># Any hostname and domain names
assigned from dhcp take precedence over<br class=""># values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions<br class=""># from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname<
br class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false<br class=""><br class=""># If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP<br class=
""># server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment<br class=""># and adjust the following line.<br class="">#d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost<br class="">#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false<br class=""><br class=""># Disable that
annoying WEP key dialog.<br class="">#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string<br class=""># The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.<br class="">d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false<br
class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false<br class=""><br class="">But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any hostname question.<br class=""><br class=""></blockquote><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-
width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">Maybey setting the 'priority' to 'high' instead of 'critical'.</span><br style="caret-
color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -
webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start;
text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-
variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !
important;" class="">--</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform:
none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight:
normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">John Doe</span></

</blockquote></div><br class=""></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></body></html>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

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 <https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/106614/preseed-cfg-ignoring-hostname-setting>
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.

On Thu, Jan 20, 2022 at 1:16 PM Jonas Bygdén <[email protected]> wrote:

I'm trying to get an automatic install of 11.2 working using a preseed
file:

(https://gist.github.com/jby/7c3010e7157286166acee617ef47da30)

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?

Update:

Found this <https://serverfault.com/questions/1077958/preseeding-debian-11-fully-unattended-get-rid-of-questions>
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:
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...

/Update

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 please help me figure this out?

--
*Jonas Bygdén* <[email protected]>

--
*Jonas Bygdén* <[email protected]>

<div dir="ltr">I&#39;m now considering this (the hostname part) as solved!<div><br></div><div>My problem seems to have been a combination of some of the info in <a href="https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/106614/preseed-cfg-ignoring-hostname-
setting">this</a> post at StackExchange:</div><div><br></div><div>If using an URL to the preseed file, and waiting until asked for it by the installer, then &#39;netcfg&#39; 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 &#39;priority=critical&#39; boot parameter will make the installer running at its
default &quot;high&quot; instead, which will lead to you getting asked about the hostname and domainname.</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Jan 20, 2022 at 1:16 PM Jonas Byg

Hi,

Jonas Bygdén <[email protected]> wrote (Thu, 20 Jan 2022 22:40:12 +0100):

However (albeit strange after reading the docs) if I remove the priority boot-parameter completely I DO get the hostname/domainname question and THEN I get the question about where to find the preseed file. Looking promising so far.

That's correct so far.
It works like it was designed:
with the priority parameter you can control, if you want to see only the most important questions or all (new-user installation vs. expert installation). That only makes sense for interactive installations.

When doing automated installations via preseeding, that's a complete
different story.
In that case, the control of which question you see and which not is
lying in your preseed file: if you answer a question via your preseed file,
the installer does not need to ask that anymore, because it's already
answered.


Holger

On 20 Jan 2022, at 20:56, Jonas Bygdén <[email protected]> wrote:

After setting priority to ‘high’ instead of ‘critical’ I don’t even get the question about where to find the preseed file...

On 20 Jan 2022, at 19:46, john doe <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

On 1/20/2022 5:11 PM, Jonas Bygdén wrote:

Ok, now it looks like this:

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over >>> # values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions
# from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname
d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

# If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP
# server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment >>> # and adjust the following line.
#d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost
#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false

# Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.
#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
# The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.
d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any hostname question.

Maybey setting the 'priority' to 'high' instead of 'critical'.

--
John Doe

--
Holger Wansing <[email protected]>
PGP-Fingerprint: 496A C6E8 1442 4B34 8508 3529 59F1 87CA 156E B076

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 29 Jan 2022, at 20:14, Holger Wansing <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi,

Jonas Bygdén <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote (Thu, 20 Jan 2022 22:40:12 +0100):

However (albeit strange after reading the docs) if I remove the priority boot-parameter completely I DO get the hostname/domainname question and THEN I get the question about where to find the preseed file. Looking promising so far.

That's correct so far.
It works like it was designed:
with the priority parameter you can control, if you want to see only the most important questions or all (new-user installation vs. expert installation). That only makes sense for interactive installations.

When doing automated installations via preseeding, that's a complete different story.
In that case, the control of which question you see and which not is
lying in your preseed file: if you answer a question via your preseed file, the installer does not need to ask that anymore, because it's already answered.

Yes, I understand that - having extensive experience with both Solaris Jumpstart and RHEL kickstart.
What I found perplexing was that regardless of setting in the preseed I still HAVE to unset the priority parameter to force the question about hostname.

I read a post at StackExchange <https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/106614/preseed-cfg-ignoring-hostname-setting> on the subject - and one of the answers to it made sense to me:

"It's debian-installer limitation. By the time you fetch your preseed config file from network, netcfg has already done it's job and is gone, so it won't refetch values.”

Understanding that, in combination with the priority parameter was what solved it for me in the end.

Holger

On 20 Jan 2022, at 20:56, Jonas Bygdén <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

After setting priority to ‘high’ instead of ‘critical’ I don’t even get the question about where to find the preseed file...

On 20 Jan 2022, at 19:46, john doe <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote:

On 1/20/2022 5:11 PM, Jonas Bygdén wrote:

Ok, now it looks like this:

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over >>>>> # values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions
# from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname
d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

# If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP >>>>> # server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment >>>>> # and adjust the following line.
#d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost
#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false

# Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.
#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
# The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts. >>>>> d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian
d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false
d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false

But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any hostname question.

Maybey setting the 'priority' to 'high' instead of 'critical'.

--
John Doe

--
Holger Wansing <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> PGP-Fingerprint: 496A C6E8 1442 4B34 8508 3529 59F1 87CA 156E B076

<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><
div class="">On 29 Jan 2022, at 20:14, Holger Wansing &lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" class="">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta charset="UTF-8" class=""><span style="caret-color:
rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-
text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">Hi,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal;
letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-
size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration:
none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-
space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">Jonas Bygdén &lt;</span><a href="mailto:[email protected]" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-
style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-
text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">[email protected]</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-
indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">&gt; wrote (Thu, 20 Jan 2022 22:40:12 +0100):</span><br style="caret-
color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -
webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><blockquote type="cite" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align:
start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="">However (albeit strange after reading the docs) if I
remove the priority boot-parameter completely I DO get the hostname/domainname question and THEN I get the question about where to find the preseed file. Looking promising so far.<br class=""></blockquote><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:
Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
text-decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-
transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-
weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">That's
correct so far.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal;
letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">It works like it was
designed:</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-
space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-
spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">with the priority parameter you
can control, if you want to see only the most</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent:
0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps:
normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class=
"">important questions or all (new-user installation vs. expert installation).</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal;
text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-
style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none;
display: inline !important;" class="">That only makes sense for interactive installations.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-
spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size:
12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"
class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:
normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">When doing automated installations via preseeding, that's a complete</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-
family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-
transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">different story.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-
size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration:
none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-
space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">In that case, the control of which question you see and which not is<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</
span></span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:
normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-
spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">lying in your preseed file: if
you answer a question via your preseed file,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent:
0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps:
normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class=
"">the installer does not need to ask that anymore, because it's already</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-
align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style:
normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display:
inline !important;" class="">answered.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""></div></blockquote><div><br class=""></div>
Yes, I understand that - having extensive experience with both Solaris Jumpstart and RHEL kickstart.</div><div>What I found perplexing was that regardless of setting in the preseed I still HAVE to unset the priority parameter to force the question about
hostname.</div><div><br class=""></div><div>I read a&nbsp;<a href="https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/106614/preseed-cfg-ignoring-hostname-setting" class="">post at StackExchange</a>&nbsp;on the subject - and one of the answers to it made sense to
me:</div><div><br class=""></div><div>"<span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 38, 41); color: rgb(35, 38, 41);" class="">It's debian-installer limitation. By the time you fetch your preseed config file from network,</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 38,
41); color: rgb(35, 38, 41);" class="">&nbsp;</span><code style="caret-color: rgb(35, 38, 41); color: var(--black-800); margin: 0px; padding: 2px 4px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height:
inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px;" class="">netcfg</code><span style="caret-color:
rgb(35, 38, 41); color: rgb(35, 38, 41);" class="">&nbsp;</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 38, 41); color: rgb(35, 38, 41);" class="">has already done it's job and is gone, so it won't refetch values.</span><font color="#232629" class=""><span
style="caret-color: rgb(35, 38, 41);" class="">”</span></font></div><div><br class=""></div><div>Understanding that, in combination with the priority parameter was what solved it for me in the end.</div><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""

<div class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-

space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-
spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">Holger</span><br style="caret-
color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -
webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start;
text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-
variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color:
rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-
text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><blockquote type="cite" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start;
text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">On 20 Jan 2022, at 20:56,
Jonas Bygdén &lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" class="">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br class=""><br class="">After setting priority to ‘high’ instead of ‘critical’ I don’t even get the question about where to find the preseed file...<
br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">On 20 Jan 2022, at 19:46, john doe &lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" class="">[email protected]</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>&lt;<a href="mailto:johndoe65534@
mail.com" class="">mailto:[email protected]</a>&gt;&gt; wrote:<br class=""><br class="">On 1/20/2022 5:11 PM, Jonas Bygdén wrote:<br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">Ok, now it looks like this:<br class=""><br class=""># Any hostname and
domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over<br class=""># values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions<br class=""># from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname string
unassigned-hostname<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_hostname seen false<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false<br class=""><br class=""># If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what
either the DHCP<br class=""># server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment<br class=""># and adjust the following line.<br class="">#d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost<br class="">#d-i netcfg/hostname seen false<br class=""><br
class=""># Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.<br class="">#d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string<br class=""># The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.<br class="">d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string debian<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_
hostname seen false<br class="">d-i netcfg/get_domain seen false<br class=""><br class="">But still - it goes directly to the partitioning after choosing keyboard layout, without any hostname question.<br class=""><br class=""></blockquote><br class="">
Maybey setting the 'priority' to 'high' instead of 'critical'.<br class=""><br class="">--<br class="">John Doe<br class=""></blockquote><br class=""></blockquote><br class=""></blockquote><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;
font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-
decoration: none;" class=""><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform:
none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight:
normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">--<span class="
Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">
Holger Wansing &lt;</span><a href="mailto:[email protected]" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">[email protected]</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;
font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float:
none; display: inline !important;" class="">&gt;</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-
indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-
caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;"
class="">PGP-Fingerprint: 496A C6E8 1442 4B34 8508 &nbsp;3529 59F1 87CA 156E B076</span></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></body></html>

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Hi,

Jonas Bygd�n <[email protected]> wrote (Sat, 29 Jan 2022 20:24:41 +0100):

Yes, I understand that - having extensive experience with both Solaris Jumpstart and RHEL kickstart.
What I found perplexing was that regardless of setting in the preseed I still HAVE to unset the priority parameter to force the question about hostname.

Ok, I see:
when using the "Automated install" entry from the installer menu, the "priority=critical" parameter is automatically used.

Maybe we should change that.
Will ask other people involved about their opinion here...


Best regards
Holger


--
Holger Wansing <[email protected]>
PGP-Fingerprint: 496A C6E8 1442 4B34 8508 3529 59F1 87CA 156E B076

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Holger Wansing <[email protected]> writes:

Hi,

Jonas Bygdén <[email protected]> wrote (Sat, 29 Jan 2022 20:24:41 +0100):

Yes, I understand that - having extensive experience with both Solaris Jumpstart and RHEL kickstart.
What I found perplexing was that regardless of setting in the preseed I still HAVE to unset the priority parameter to force the question about hostname.

Ok, I see:
when using the "Automated install" entry from the installer menu, the "priority=critical" parameter is automatically used.

Maybe we should change that.
Will ask other people involved about their opinion here...

If the question isn't critical, then most people don't want it asked in
an automated install, because otherwise they'd be forced to preseed
things where the default is perfectly fine for them.

Automatic Install is just shorthand for adding:

auto=true priority=critical

to the kernel command line, so if that's not what you wanted, you could
use the standard install and only add the `auto=true`.

BTW I'me pretty sure it's possible to preseed `debconf/priority`
(although it might already be too late by the time the network preseed
lands to make it then ask the hostname question).

Having a quick glance at the code:

https://salsa.debian.org/installer-team/preseed/-/blob/master/auto-install.sh#L12

I don't really see how dropping the priority could stop that question
being asked ... well, unless there's also DHCP preseeding (to drop the priority, say), in which case it looks like it assumes you'll also be
providing the url setting via DHCP as well, and therefore doesn't ask
for it.

Perhaps we need a preseed option to force the asking of the hostname
question, but I have a feeling that there ought to be some combination
of preseeding, DHCP and DNS that should already ensure that it is asked.

Cheers, Phil.
--
|)| Philip Hands [+44 (0)20 8530 9560] HANDS.COM Ltd.
|-| http://www.hands.com/ http://ftp.uk.debian.org/
|(| Hugo-Klemm-Strasse 34, 21075 Hamburg, GERMANY

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I’d argue that the hostname question actually IS one of the questions that you DO want, unless you set it using DHCP or preseed.

The problem here (though not confirmed, but sounds logical) seems to be that netcfg is done when the question about the preseed url is asked, so no matter what is set in the preseed file (although I’ve not tested to set it to something useful, since I
want to set it to the serial number of the host) if no hostname is provided via DHCP ‘debian’ will always be used for hostname...

On 3 Feb 2022, at 14:04, Philip Hands <[email protected]> wrote:

Holger Wansing <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> writes:

Hi,

Jonas Bygdén <[email protected]> wrote (Sat, 29 Jan 2022 20:24:41 +0100): >>> Yes, I understand that - having extensive experience with both Solaris Jumpstart and RHEL kickstart.

What I found perplexing was that regardless of setting in the preseed I still HAVE to unset the priority parameter to force the question about hostname.

Ok, I see:
when using the "Automated install" entry from the installer menu, the
"priority=critical" parameter is automatically used.

Maybe we should change that.
Will ask other people involved about their opinion here...

If the question isn't critical, then most people don't want it asked in
an automated install, because otherwise they'd be forced to preseed
things where the default is perfectly fine for them.

Automatic Install is just shorthand for adding:

auto=true priority=critical

to the kernel command line, so if that's not what you wanted, you could
use the standard install and only add the `auto=true`.

BTW I'me pretty sure it's possible to preseed `debconf/priority`
(although it might already be too late by the time the network preseed
lands to make it then ask the hostname question).

Having a quick glance at the code:

https://salsa.debian.org/installer-team/preseed/-/blob/master/auto-install.sh#L12 <https://salsa.debian.org/installer-team/preseed/-/blob/master/auto-install.sh#L12>

I don't really see how dropping the priority could stop that question
being asked ... well, unless there's also DHCP preseeding (to drop the priority, say), in which case it looks like it assumes you'll also be providing the url setting via DHCP as well, and therefore doesn't ask
for it.

Perhaps we need a preseed option to force the asking of the hostname question, but I have a feeling that there ought to be some combination
of preseeding, DHCP and DNS that should already ensure that it is asked.

Cheers, Phil.
--
|)| Philip Hands [+44 (0)20 8530 9560] HANDS.COM <http://hands.com/> Ltd. |-| http://www.hands.com/ <http://www.hands.com/> http://ftp.uk.debian.org/ <http://ftp.uk.debian.org/>
|(| Hugo-Klemm-Strasse 34, 21075 Hamburg, GERMANY

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