Score:0

Enabling verbose output during debian preseed installation, namely during software installation

ru flag

During a Debian pre-seed automated installation onto a VM, the output is particularly... well, quiet. There's no transparency into the progress of things, or to even see the Aptitude output during the software installation process - just basic, single-line progress bars.

Is there a way to enable more verbose output during a pre-seeded debian installation?

Score:0
in flag

Enter the Key+Combo Alt+Left or Alt+Right and you will eventually end up at an tty where the Log is Printed. Alt+F1-7 should also Work. I don't know which tty is assigned to which Function. But I think Alt+Left once will Switch to the Log-Output. And all other tty's can be Enabled via Enter to gain a Shell.

ru flag
This is a debian preseed environment, so typing anything is strictly off-limits since it's an automated install.
crpb avatar
in flag
I just tried it, because i was adding an remote-bash Script in my preseed for additional user-creation with pw-hash and ssh-pubkey... It doesn't matter if you switch the Consoles during Setup. It won't change the outcome in any way. "Hold Alt + two or three Times Left"...
crpb avatar
in flag
Just checked for `chvt`, it's not shipped to use it with an early_command...
Score:0
in flag

The most useful methods I've found for getting more verbose details are:

  • Add DEBCONF_DEBUG=5 to your kernel command line to get a lot more detail about what the installer itself is doing
  • For early_command/late_command scripts you can run things with the log-output command to send the output of the script to syslog (which will make it appear in the logs on the console)
  • For really unattended installs where you can't get to the console, you can use log_host=<ip-address> on the kernel command line to send the installers logs to a syslog server
mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.