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Ubuntu Headless Installer

Introducing the ultimate lightweight tool for installing Ubuntu Linux from the command line: A single Bash script that is only using debootstrap and chroot to get the job done.

Because the installation does not require any user interaction if fully configured, this solution is ideal for an automatic server setup. Install Ubuntu directly on a free partition of the target hardware or create a USB live system and use it as a recovery solution.

What makes this installer special?
The installer is a headless tool, which means that no graphical user interface is required. It builds the system from scratch without using any pre-packaged OS image. Because each installation step can be seen in the script, this solution is very transparent and highly adaptable for personal needs.

Download new versions from the Git repository: https://github.com/brettaufheber/ubuntu-headless-installer

Dependencies

The debootstrap tool which is required by the installer, might not be installed.

sudo apt-get install debootstrap

Usage

This tool can be installed by calling the following command:

sudo ./install.sh

Preparation: partitioning and formatting

  • Partitioning must be done before installation because the installer requires the system partition and home partition as block device files.

  • The block device file for the system partition must be unmounted before starting the installer.

  • The system partition is formatted during installation.

  • The home partition is not formatted during installation to keep the user data. In case of a new home partition, formatting must be done manually.

Install Ubuntu

Before installation, it must be clear which boot mode is used for the target hardware. Most computers nowadays use the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) standard but often support the legacy BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) what can be enabled in the boot settings. Both firmware interfaces are supported by the installer.

UEFI boot mode

sudo ubuntu-installer.sh install-system \
  ‑‑efi \
  ‑‑separate‑home \
  -u <your username> \
  -n <hostname> \
  -c <Ubuntu codename: bionic|cosmic|...> \
  -x <block device file for system partition "/": /dev/...> \
  -y <block device file for home partition "/home": /dev/...> \
  -z <block device file for EFI partition "/boot/efi": /dev/...>

Legacy BIOS boot mode

sudo ubuntu-installer.sh install-system \
  ‑‑separate‑home \
  -u <your username> \
  -n <hostname> \
  -c <Ubuntu codename: bionic|cosmic|...> \
  -x <block device file for system partition "/": /dev/...> \
  -y <block device file for home partition "/home": /dev/...> \
  -z <block device file of the whole disk: /dev/...>

Parameters for the installation task

command line parameter environment variable description required

‑‑help
‑h

If enabled the help text is shown and other arguments are ignored.

no

‑‑login
‑l

This option allows logging into the shell for diagnostic purposes directly at the end of the installation.

no

‑‑efi
‑e

Switch between UEFI boot mode and legacy BIOS boot mode. Default is legacy mode.

no

‑‑separate‑home
‑s

Use a separate home partition.

no

‑‑copy‑network‑settings
‑k

Allows copying network settings to the target medium. This is particularly useful for installations behind a proxy because it makes the network available out-of-the-box within the chroot environment.

no

‑‑username < >
‑u < >

USERNAME_NEW

The username for the first user of the system to be created. If unspecified the username of the current shell session is used.

no

‑‑hostname < >
‑n < >

HOSTNAME_NEW

The hostname of the system to be created. If unspecified the hostname of the running system is used.

no

‑‑codename < >
‑c < >

CODENAME

The first word of an Ubuntu codename in lowercase must be defined to refer to a specific Ubuntu version. See here to choose from available releases.

yes

‑‑dev‑root < >
‑x < >

DEV_ROOT

The path to the block device file of the system partition must be specified. This block device file must be unmounted during installation.

yes

‑‑dev‑home < >
‑y < >

DEV_HOME

The path to the block device file of the home partition must be specified. It does not matter whether the partition is mounted during installation.

only if a separate home partition is used

‑‑dev‑boot < >
‑z < >

DEV_BOOT

If the EFI option is enabled, the path to the block device file of the EFI partition must be specified. If the legacy boot is used the path to the block device file for the whole disk must be specified. See here for more information about device file names. It does not matter whether the partition is mounted during installation.

yes

‑‑bundles < >
‑b < >

BUNDLES

An optional comma separated list that allows installing additional software. See the topic "Software bundles" below.

no

‑‑bundles‑file < >

BUNDLES_FILE

The path to an optional file that contains information about bundles and packages.

no

‑‑debconf‑file < >

DEBCONF_FILE

The path to an optional file that allows to pre-seed the debconf database.

no

‑‑dconf‑file < >

DCONF_FILE

The path to an optional file that overwrites the GNOME dconf defaults.

no

‑‑mirror < >

MIRROR

The mirror used to resolve software packages. Default is "mirror://mirrors.ubuntu.com/mirrors.txt"

no, but recommended

‑‑locales < >

LOCALES

The locales (e.g. C.UTF-8, en_US.UTF-8, de_DE.UTF-8) of the system to be created. If unspecified the installer will ask interactively.

no

‑‑time‑zone < >

TZ

The time zone (e.g. UTC, Europe/Berlin) of the system to be created. If unspecified the installer will ask interactively.

no

‑‑user‑gecos < >

USER_GECOS

Additional GECOS information for the first user of the system to be created.

no

‑‑password < >

PASSWORD

The password for the first user of the system to be created. If unspecified the installer will ask interactively.

no

‑‑keyboard‑model < >

XKBMODEL

The keyboard model. If unspecified the installer will ask interactively. See file "/etc/default/keyboard" of another system to find matching values.

no

‑‑keyboard‑layout < >

XKBLAYOUT

The keyboard layout. If unspecified the installer will ask interactively. See file "/etc/default/keyboard" of another system to find matching values.

no

‑‑keyboard‑variant < >

XKBVARIANT

The keyboard variant. If unspecified the installer will ask interactively. See file "/etc/default/keyboard" of another system to find matching values.

no

‑‑keyboard‑options < >

XKBOPTIONS

The keyboard options. If unspecified the installer will ask interactively. See file "/etc/default/keyboard" of another system to find matching values.

no

Software bundles

Optionally, bundles (collection of software packages) can be installed together with the system. See the code to get an overview of the used packages.

  • net: network tooling

  • virt: QEMU/KVM with tooling

  • dev: basic equipment for software developers

  • desktop: minimal GNOME desktop

  • laptop: power saving tools for mobile devices

  • x86: architecture specific tools and libraries (requires dev)

Other features

The installer is able to create Docker container images and Linux containers. See the code to learn more about these features.

License

Copyright (c) 2018 Eric Löffler

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.