I'm trying to create a custom Debian live-cd with live-build and debian-installer.
I need a "Desktop" Debian Installer. As described in the manual:
"Desktop" Debian Installer: Regardless of the type of Debian Installer included, d-i can be launched from the Desktop by clicking on an icon. This is user friendlier in some situations. In order to make use of this, the debian-installer-launcher package needs to be included.
Note that by default, live-build does not include Debian Installer images in the images, it needs to be specifically enabled with lb config. Also, please note that for the "Desktop" installer to work, the kernel of the live system must match the kernel d-i uses for the specified architecture. For example:
$ lb config --architectures i386 --linux-flavours 586 \ --debian-installer live $ echo debian-installer-launcher >> config/package-lists/my.list.chroot
So, I used lb config to create a live-cd with debian-installer and debian-installer-launcher included and a kernel matching d-i's kernel version.
I don't want to install the live system to disk, so I pass --debian-installer cdrom to install Debian by fetching and installing .deb packages using debootstrap, from local media.
lb config \
--apt-recommends false \
--apt-indices false \
--architectures amd64 \
--binary-images iso-hybrid \
--debian-installer cdrom \
--debian-installer-gui true \
--distribution bullseye \
--linux-packages "linux-image-5.10.0-20"
cat << EOF > config/package-lists/my.list.chroot
user-setup
sudo
debian-installer-launcher
task-lxde-desktop
EOF
lb build
The whole build process occurred well and finished with a live-image-amd64.hybrid.iso file.
I successfully booted this ISO and started the live-cd, but when I click on Menu > System Tools > Install Debian the Install process is stuck at the Configure the package manager step and I can't proceed.
The Start Installer option from the GRUB menu works nicely.
I found this old bug report on Debian mail list:
Unfortunately, what you're probably running into is a battle between the live image and the installer about what to do with the network. The live image will configure the network one way (usually NetworkManager), then the installer will attempt to configure it its own way (using ifupdown, dropping connection in the live system). There are a couple of possible workarounds I can think of (but have not tested):
disconnect the network in the live system before doing an install and see what happens
run the installer with the network still up in the live system, but don't configure the network (d-i doesn't really give you an option to do this; choose a network interface you know will fail because it's not plugged in). since the live-installer installs from the contents of the image, it doesn't actually need the network. unfortunately, configuration of apt and the network then becomes a post-install step the user has to deal with later.
But none of the workarounds work.
How can I create a live-cd that launches debian-installer and works properly?
