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Is there a way to add additional HW support to the installer/installation process?

sa flag

We've got a lab with a variety of systems used for HW validation. The testing is largely automated including OS install (Windows, Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, RHEL, etc). All our installs and control are over the network. We also rely on PXE booting so we can reliably transition from one OS to another. The entire process including OS installation is automated/unattended.

With some newer systems the Ubuntu installers fail to detect the NIC, so the OS install fails. We are working under the constraint that the only attached storage is one or more SSD drives -- no USB sticks, no DVD/CD-ROM drive.

In most cases, we've been able to install supported NICs to work around the issue (we're not testing the NIC hardware, so that doesn't impact what we're doing). However, we've encountered cases where this work-around isn't viable ... like BIOS/EUFI issues not allowing us to PXE boot off the add-on NIC.

Is there any way to update the installers (debian or subiquity) to broaden support for additional hardware?

ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
*BIOS/EUFI issues not allowing us to PXE boot off the add-on NIC* This has nothing to do with Ubuntu or any other OS. A UEFI update may help. *Is there any way to update the installers* No, the hardware support isn't in the installer but in the kernel shipped with that distro release. Conclusion: If you need support for newer hardware use a newer release.
user535733 avatar
cn flag
"*Ubuntu installers fail to detect the NIC*" seems like a kernel bug report. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/Bugs . If the NIC is detected by a newer kernel (like 21.10 running kernel 5.13), then you likely just have a backport request.
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