Unattended Ubuntu ISO Maker

This simple script will create an unattended Ubuntu ISO from start to finish. It will ask you a few questions once, and embed your answers into a remastered ISO file for you to use over and over again.

This script creates a 100% original Ubuntu installation; the only additional software added is openssh-server. There is no apt-get update performed. You have all the freedom in the world to customize your Ubuntu installation whichever way you see fit. This script just takes the pain out of re-installing Ubuntu over and over again.

Created by: Harald van der Laan

Compatibility

The script supports the following Ubuntu editions out of the box:

• Ubuntu 14.04.1 Server LTS i386 - Trusty Tahr
• Ubuntu 14.04.1 Server LTS amd64 - Trusty Tahr
• Ubuntu 14.10 Server i386 - Utopic Unicorn
• Ubuntu 14.10 Server adm64 - Utopic Unicorn

This script has been tested on and with these two versions as well, but I see no reason why it shouldn't work with other Ubuntu editions. Other editions would require minor changes to the script though.

Usage

• From your command line, run the following commands:

$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hvanderlaan/ubuntu-unattended/master/create-unattended-iso.sh
$ chmod 0744 create-unattended-iso.sh
$ sudo ./create-unattended-iso.sh

• Choose which version you would like to remaster:

 +---------------------------------------------------+
 |            UNATTENDED UBUNTU ISO MAKER            |
 +---------------------------------------------------+

 which ubuntu edition would you like to remaster:

  [1] Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS Server i386  - Trusty Tahr
  [2] Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS Server amd64 - Trusty Tahr
  [3] Ubuntu 14.10 Server i386  - Utopic Unicorn
  [4] Ubuntu 14.10 Server amd64 - Utopic Unicorn

 please enter your preference: [1|2|3|4]:

• Enter your desired timezone; the default is US/Eastern:

 please enter your preferred timezone: US/Eastern

• Enter your desired username; the default is quapow:

 please enter your preferred username: quapow

• Enter the password for your user account; the default is empty

 please enter your preferred password:

• Confirm your password:

 confirm your preferred password:

• Sit back and relax, while the script does the rest! :)

What it does

This script does a bunch of stuff, here's the quick walk-through:

• It asks you for your preferences regarding the unattended ISO
• Downloads the appropriate Ubuntu original ISO straight from the Ubuntu servers; if a file with the exact name exists, it will use that instead (so it won't download it more than once if you are creating several unattended ISO's with different defaults)
• Downloads the netson preseed file; this file contains all the magic answers to auto-install ubuntu. It uses the following defaults for you (only showing most important, for details, simply check the seed file in this repository):
• Language/locale: en_US
• Keyboard layout: US International
• Root login disabled (so make sure you write down your default usernames' password!)
• Partitioning: LVM, full disk, single partition
• Install the mkpasswd program (part of the whois package) to generate a hashed version of your password
• Install the genisoimage program to generate the new ISO file
• Mount the downloaded ISO image to a temporary folder
• Copy the contents of the original ISO to a working directory
• Set the default installer language
• Add/update the preseed file
• Add the autoinstall option to the installation menu
• Generate the new ISO file
• Cleanup
• Show a summary of what happended:

 installing required packages
 remastering your iso file
 creating the remastered iso
 -----
 finished remastering your ubuntu iso file
 the new file is located at: /tmp/ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64-unattended.iso
 your username is: quapow
 your password is: 
 your hostname is: ubuntu
 your timezone is: US/Eastern

Once Ubuntu is installed ...

Just fire off the init.sh script in your user's home directory to complete the installation.

$ sudo ~/init.sh