I use d-i preseeding to install machines at work. Here are my notes on how to set it up, maybe they will be useful to others.
I install a variety of hardware, most using serial console, some with difference device ordering for serial and NICs, etc. So my config allows for various combinations.
I use PXE netbooting. After unpacking the netboot.tar.gz on the tftp server, I add the following targets to debian-installer/$arch/pxelinux.cfg/default
LABEL auto
kernel debian-installer/amd64/linux
append auto=true priority=critical vga=normal initrd=debian-installer/amd64/initrd.gz interface=auto url=http://server/~taggart/d-i/preseed.cfg -- console=ttyS0,115200n8
LABEL autottyS1
kernel debian-installer/amd64/linux
append auto=true priority=critical vga=normal initrd=debian-installer/amd64/initrd.gz interface=auto url=http://server/~taggart/d-i/preseed.cfg -- console=ttyS1,115200n8
LABEL autoeth1
kernel debian-installer/amd64/linux
append auto=true priority=critical vga=normal initrd=debian-installer/amd64/initrd.gz interface=eth1 url=http://server/~taggart/d-i/preseed.cfg -- console=ttyS0,115200n8
As mentioned above, these various targets are to work around issues in serial and NIC ordering, see #439462 for more info.
In the dhcp config I use something like
host foo.bar {
hardware ethernet 00:aa:bb:00:12:34;
fixed-address foo.bar;
filename "pxelinux.0";
}
Here is the preseed.cfg file that is referenced above in the pxe targets. I started with the example template and pruned things I didn't need, addded stuff I did, and tried to keep things in the same layout/style/etc so that diffing with the original would be sane and maybe I could submit patches. In particular I added a bunch of stuff for postfix, and I've split that out in postfix.cfg if you just want that part. These copies have the sensitive stuff x'd out, but I left a few things specific to my environment as examples. Be sure to change the stuff that creates a 'taggart' account and adds it to sudoers if you use this :) Click on the above links to download, also included for browsing below.
#### Contents of the preconfiguration file
### Localization
# Locale sets language and country.
d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US
# Keyboard selection.
d-i console-keymaps-at/keymap select us
### Network configuration
# netcfg will choose an interface that has link if possible. This makes it
# skip displaying a list if there is more than one interface.
# doesn't work for blade servers :(
#d-i netcfg/choose_interface select auto
# To pick a particular interface instead:
#d-i netcfg/choose_interface select eth0
#d-i netcfg/choose_interface select eth1
# If you have a slow dhcp server and the installer times out waiting for
# it, this might be useful.
#d-i netcfg/dhcp_timeout string 60
### Mirror settings
d-i mirror/country string manual
d-i mirror/http/hostname string http.us.debian.org
d-i mirror/http/directory string /debian
#d-i mirror/http/proxy string http://web-proxy:3128/
# Suite to install.
d-i mirror/suite string etch
### Partitioning
# Alternatively, you can specify a disk to partition. The device name
# can be given in either devfs or traditional non-devfs format.
# For example, to use the first disk:
# We hard code the smartarray device
d-i partman-auto/disk string /dev/cciss/c0d0
# In addition, you'll need to specify the method to use.
# The presently available methods are: "regular", "lvm" and "crypto"
d-i partman-auto/method string regular
# If one of the disks that are going to be automatically partitioned
# contains an old LVM configuration, the user will normally receive a
# warning. This can be preseeded away...
d-i partman-auto/purge_lvm_from_device boolean true
# And the same goes for the confirmation to write the lvm partitions.
d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
# You can choose from any of the predefined partitioning recipes.
# Note: this must be preseeded with a localized (translated) value.
d-i partman-auto/choose_recipe \
select All files in one partition (recommended for new users)
#d-i partman-auto/choose_recipe \
# select Separate /home partition
#d-i partman-auto/choose_recipe \
# select Separate /home, /usr, /var, and /tmp partitions
# Or provide a recipe of your own...
# The recipe format is documented in the file devel/partman-auto-recipe.txt.
# If you have a way to get a recipe file into the d-i environment, you can
# just point at it.
#d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe_file string /hd-media/recipe
# If not, you can put an entire recipe into the preconfiguration file in one
# (logical) line. This example creates a small /boot partition, suitable
# swap, and uses the rest of the space for the root partition:
#d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string \
# boot-root :: \
# 40 50 100 ext3 \
# $primary{ } $bootable{ } \
# method{ format } format{ } \
# use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext3 } \
# mountpoint{ /boot } \
# . \
# 500 10000 1000000000 ext3 \
# method{ format } format{ } \
# use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext3 } \
# mountpoint{ / } \
# . \
# 64 512 300% linux-swap \
# method{ swap } format{ } \
# .
# This makes partman automatically partition without confirmation.
d-i partman/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition \
select Finish partitioning and write changes to disk
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
### Clock and time zone setup
# Controls whether or not the hardware clock is set to UTC.
d-i clock-setup/utc boolean true
# You may set this to any valid setting for $TZ; see the contents of
# /usr/share/zoneinfo/ for valid values.
d-i time/zone string US/Mountain
### Account setup
# Skip creation of a root account (normal user account will be able to
# use sudo).
#d-i passwd/root-login boolean false
# Alternatively, to skip creation of a normal user account.
#d-i passwd/make-user boolean false
# Root password, either in clear text
#d-i passwd/root-password password r00tme
#d-i passwd/root-password-again password r00tme
# or encrypted using an MD5 hash.
d-i passwd/root-password-crypted password xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
# To create a normal user account.
d-i passwd/user-fullname string Matt Taggart
d-i passwd/username string taggart
# Normal user's password, either in clear text
#d-i passwd/user-password password insecure
#d-i passwd/user-password-again password insecure
# or encrypted using an MD5 hash.
d-i passwd/user-password-crypted password xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
d-i passwd/user-uid string 22223
### Base system installation
# Select the initramfs generator used to generate the initrd for 2.6 kernels.
#d-i base-installer/kernel/linux/initramfs-generators string yaird
### Apt setup
# You can choose to install non-free and contrib software.
d-i apt-setup/non-free boolean true
d-i apt-setup/contrib boolean true
# Uncomment this if you don't want to use a network mirror.
#d-i apt-setup/use_mirror boolean false
# Uncomment this to avoid adding security sources, or
# add a hostname to use a different server than security.debian.org.
#d-i apt-setup/security_host string
# Additional repositories, local[0-9] available
#d-i apt-setup/local0/repository string \
# http://local.server/debian stable main
#d-i apt-setup/local0/comment string local server
# Enable deb-src lines
#d-i apt-setup/local0/source boolean true
# URL to the public key of the local repository; you must provide a key or
# apt will complain about the unauthenticated repository and so the
# sources.list line will be left commented out
#d-i apt-setup/local0/key string http://local.server/key
# By default the installer requires that repositories be authenticated
# using a known gpg key. This setting can be used to disable that
# authentication. Warning: Insecure, not recommended.
#d-i debian-installer/allow_unauthenticated string true
### Package selection
#tasksel tasksel/first multiselect standard, web-server
# If the desktop task is selected, install the kde and xfce desktops
# instead of the default gnome desktop.
#tasksel tasksel/desktop multiselect kde-desktop, xfce-desktop
#tasksel tasksel/first multiselect standard, kde-desktop
# we don't want any tasks
tasksel tasksel/first multiselect
# Individual additional packages to install
d-i pkgsel/include string openssh-server build-essential rsync less firmware-qlogic sudo cron-apt ntp host debsums devscripts pciutils ethtool
# Some versions of the installer can report back on what software you have
# installed, and what software you use. The default is not to report back,
# but sending reports helps the project determine what software is most
# popular and include it on CDs.
popularity-contest popularity-contest/participate boolean false
### Boot loader installation
# Grub is the default boot loader (for x86). If you want lilo installed
# instead, uncomment this:
#d-i grub-installer/skip boolean true
# To also skip installing lilo, and install no bootloader, uncomment this
# too:
#d-i lilo-installer/skip boolean true
# This is fairly safe to set, it makes grub install automatically to the MBR
# if no other operating system is detected on the machine.
d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean true
# This one makes grub-installer install to the MBR if it also finds some other
# OS, which is less safe as it might not be able to boot that other OS.
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean true
# Alternatively, if you want to install to a location other than the mbr,
# uncomment and edit these lines:
#d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean false
#d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean false
#d-i grub-installer/bootdev string (hd0,0)
# we hardcode it, because otherwise it might end up on a fiber channel device
d-i grub-installer/bootdev string /dev/cciss/c0d0
# To install grub to multiple disks:
#d-i grub-installer/bootdev string (hd0,0) (hd1,0) (hd2,0)
### Finishing up the first stage install
# Avoid that last message about the install being complete.
d-i finish-install/reboot_in_progress note
# This will prevent the installer from ejecting the CD during the reboot,
# which is useful in some situations.
#d-i cdrom-detect/eject boolean false
## postfix preseeding
# General type of configuration? Default:Internet Site
# Choices: No configuration, Internet Site, Internet with smarthost,
# Satellite system, Local only
#postfix postfix/main_mailer_type select Internet with smarthost
# Where should mail for root go, Default:if not set, will spool locally
postfix postfix/root_address string foo@bar.com
# SMTP relay host? (blank for none) Default:(none)
#postfix postfix/relayhost string smtp.example.com
# Force synchronous updates on mail queue? Default:false
#postfix postfix/chattr boolean true
# Local networks? Default:"127.0.0.0/8"
# blank uses the postfix default (which is based on the connected subnets)
#postfix postfix/mynetworks string
# Use procmail for local delivery? Defaults to true if /usr/bin/procmail exists
#postfix postfix/procmail boolean false
# Mailbox size limit Default:0 (unlimited), upstream default is 51200000
postfix postfix/mailbox_limit string 51200000
# Local address extension character? Default:+
#postfix postfix/recipient_delim string -
# Internet protocols to use? Default is based on checking if
# /proc/sys/net/ipv{4,6} exist
# Choices: all, ipv6, ipv4
postfix postfix/protocols select ipv4
### Preseeding other packages
# Depending on what software you choose to install, or if things go wrong
# during the installation process, it's possible that other questions may
# be asked. You can preseed those too, of course. To get a list of every
# possible question that could be asked during an install, do an
# installation, and then run these commands:
# debconf-get-selections --installer > file
# debconf-get-selections >> file
#### Advanced options
### Running custom commands during the installation
# d-i preseeding is inherently not secure. Nothing in the installer checks
# for attempts at buffer overflows or other exploits of the values of a
# preconfiguration file like this one. Only use preconfiguration files from
# trusted locations! To drive that home, and because it's generally useful,
# here's a way to run any shell command you'd like inside the installer,
# automatically.
# This first command is run as early as possible, just after
# preseeding is read.
#d-i preseed/early_command string anna-install some-udeb
# This command is run just before the install finishes, but when there is
# still a usable /target directory. You can chroot to /target and use it
# directly, or use the apt-install and in-target commands to easily install
# packages and run commands in the target system.
#d-i preseed/late_command string apt-install zsh; in-target chsh -s /bin/zsh
d-i preseed/late_command string in-target update-alternatives --set editor /usr/bin/vim.tiny;echo "taggart ALL=(ALL) ALL">>/target/etc/sudoers;sync