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 instal...@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 > instal...@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.
