Importing Ubuntu ISO's

Once cobbler is installed, we can proceed with importing Ubuntu ISO's. The ISO's that have been currently tested are:

• Ubuntu Server ISO (both amd64/i386).
• Ubuntu Alternate ISO (both amd64/i386).
• Ubuntu Mini ISO (both amd64/i386).

The command to import ISO's is:

sudo cobbler import

And some of the options we need to consider when importing Ubuntu ISO's are:

• --name: Name to be used for the imported ISO distro/profile name.

• --path: Path where the ISO to be imported has been loop mounted.

• --breed: The name of the Distribution. (i.e. ubuntu, debian, redhat, suse, etc)

• --os-version: The release of the Distribution to be imported. (i.e. natty, maverick, etc)

• --arch: The architecture of the ISO. (i.e. i386, x86_64)

Importing Ubuntu Server/Alternate ISO's

Once we download an Ubuntu Server or Alternate ISO, we need to loop mount it in order to be able to import it with cobbler. We do so as follows:

sudo mount -o loop ubuntu-server-i386.iso /mnt

Once it is mounted, we import the ISO as follows:

sudo cobbler import --name=ubuntu-server --path=/mnt --breed=ubuntu

NOTE: After importing the Ubuntu Server or Alternate ISO's, a default preseed file will be provided. This preseed will ask questions during installations requiring the interaction of an administrator. However, if you would like to perform an Installation with No Questions Asks and no interaction of the administrator, please refer to NQA Preseed.

Importing Ubuntu Mini ISO's

The process of importing an Ubuntu mini ISO is similar to importing an Ubuntu Server or Alternate ISO, however it takes a different approach. First, we need to loop mount it:

sudo mount -o loop mini.iso /mnt

Second, given that the Ubuntu Mini ISO does not contain information of itself inside it, we need to specify the Ubuntu release and architecture of the ISO that we are importing. We do this as follows:

sudo cobbler import --name=ubuntu-mini --path=/mnt --breed=ubuntu --os-version=natty --arch=i386

IMPORTANT: After importing an Ubuntu Mini ISO's, no default preseed is set. For this reason, we need to define a preseed file before been able to deploy using Mini ISO's. For this, please refer to NQA Preseed.