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
