iPXE script for deploying Ubuntu 20.04 autoinstall nocloud-net method

ubuntu2004.ipxe

#!ipxe
# ubuntu focal 20.04

# $seedfrom used to find the user-data and meta-data files by nocloud-net provider for cloud-init.
# the trailing slash is important, the cloud-init sticks 'meta-data' or 'user-data' right after it, without prepending a forward slash.
set seedfrom http://repo/files/ubuntu2004/

# $base url is where the vmlinuz and initrd live.
# they were fished out from the live-server iso file. the iso file is also in this directory.
set base http://repo/files/ubuntu2004

kernel ${base}/vmlinuz initrd=initrd autoinstall url=${base}/ubuntu-20.04-live-server-amd64.iso net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 ip=dhcp ds=nocloud-net;s=${seedfrom}
initrd ${base}/initrd
boot

@artworkk, ha ☺️! yup, no problem. Doing this in my fun-free time, definitely enjoy it and if its questions I can quickly answer or figure out, I don't mind.

I tried using the kernel and initrd from this repo with your boot parameters, and it seems to work (boot without complaining No space left on device on qemu. But this boot does not seem to do autoinstall. Very strange indeed lol.

I tried that too and ended up at a dead end, I think that is for the preseed version only. I also saw that they totally removed the legacy-images folder in the latest jammy version.

If Ubuntu's server images are too big, maybe their other versions could work? I haven't tried this on a x86 VM box, but maybe their Ubuntu Core? https://ubuntu.com/core.

@tlhakhan I just did some digging and it seemed the legacy image used Kickstart for cloud-init, while the newer image uses Subiquity. This explains why the legacy image only processed preseed.

As for Ubuntu Core, thanks! I'll try that out. I have always avoided Ubuntu so I don't know a thing about their available flavors lol. The thing I'm doing here is for my work, hence why I'm working with Ubuntu and iPXE for the first time. I'll try Ubuntu Core and report back whether it worked or not.

PS. Actually my work uses bare-metal with 128GB RAM, but I want to make the flow works with all my personal VPSes (which are all 1GB) too.

@artworkk, good luck 🙌 🖖! When I have some free time, I will also try out the Ubuntu core as well, hopefully the installation is lighter and allows for easy iPXE scripting.

Hi Tenzin,
Thank you very for sharing. Would you happen to have a similar deployment solution for Ubuntu 18.04 Desktop LTS?
Thank you.

Ah my bad 😗, didn't see this earlier question. I think there was a time where GitHub wasn't sending any emails for replies in gists. Hopefully you have gotten to a solution. 🤞

Hi Tenzin,

Thank you for the follow-up. I was deploying 18.04 via netboot, but I still think the live cd is better. Do you have a similar solution for 18.04 Desktop? Your suggestion is much appreciated. Thank you.

@jamaya77, I haven't done any automated installs of Ubuntu desktops, only server versions. However, with the new auto-install method, I think it must be possible.

Quick googling, I found this repo, which looks like a starting point🤞: https://github.com/canonical/autoinstall-desktop