Ventoy Auto Installation Plugin
Many distros provide unattended deployment solution. You just need to give a script or template for the installation.
For example, unattend xml for Windows, kickstart script for Redhat/CentOS, autoYast xml for SUSE, preseed script for Debian and so on.
In normal case, if you want to make an unattended deployment, you need to recreate a new iso file based on the original iso file, and add the
script or template into the new iso file.
Now Ventoy brings a new feature here. You don't need to recreate a new iso file, just use the original one. You just need to put a script or template in
the USB drive and tell ventoy, that's all. You can specify more than one scripts for an iso file at a time, ventoy will provide a menu to choose before boot.
You can also update these scripts whenever you want.
- Supported Distros (Updating)
In theory, as long as the distribution supports automatic installation through script or template, Ventoy can support it, but it takes time to test each one.
| Distros | Template | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | Unattend XML | unattended.xml | Windows |
| RHEL8/CentOS8 | Kickstart script | kickstart8.cfg | Distros based on them are also supported. |
| RHEL7/CentOS7/Fedora | Kickstart script | kickstart7.cfg | Distros based on them are also supported. |
| RHEL6/CentOS6 | Kickstart script | kickstart6.cfg | Distros based on them are also supported. |
| Debian | Preseed script | preseed.cfg | Distros based on them are also supported. |
| Ubuntu Server (< 20.x) | Preseed script | preseed.cfg | Earlier Ubuntu Server Edition |
| Ubuntu Server (20.x+) | cloud-init | cloud-init-user-data | Ubuntu Server After 20.x Edition |
| SUSE | autoYast XML | autoYast.xml | SLES and openSUSE |
Attention! The sample script here is just for reference. You need to modify it for your hardware enviroment, especially the configuration for disk partition.
- Json Configuration
Recommend to use VentoyPlugson, a GUI ventoy.json configurator. Refer VentoyPlugson
A auto_install array is defined to describe the auto installation configuration in /ventoy/ventoy.json.
{
"auto_install": [
{
"image": "/abc/centos.iso",
"template": "/ventoy/script/centos_kickstart.cfg"
},
{
"image": "/ISO/cn_windows_server_2012_r2_vl_x64_dvd_2979220.iso",
"template": [
"/ventoy/script/windows_unattended1.xml",
"/ventoy/script/windows_unattended2.xml",
"/ventoy/script/windows_unattended3.xml",
"/ventoy/script/windows_unattended4.xml",
"/ventoy/script/windows_unattended5.xml",
"/ventoy/script/windows_unattended6.xml"
],
"autosel": 2
},
{
"image": "/ISO/cn_windows_server_2016.iso",
"template": [
"/ventoy/script/windows_unattended7.xml",
"/ventoy/script/windows_unattended8.xml",
"/ventoy/script/windows_unattended9.xml"
],
"autosel": 3,
"timeout": 10
},
{
"image": "/SLE-12-SP3-Server-DVD-x86_64-GM-DVD1.iso",
"template": "/ventoy/script/suse_autoyast.xml"
},
{
"parent": "/ISO/SUSE",
"template": "/ventoy/script/suse_autoyast.xml"
},
{
"image": "/ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso",
"template": "/ventoy/script/ubuntu_server.seed",
"autosel": 1
}
]
}
| Key | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
image |
STRING |
The full path of the iso file. This option supports fuzzy matching, please refer About Path Matching |
parent |
STRING |
The full path of the parent directory. All iso files under this directory will use the same template. The trailing slash must be removed. |
template |
STRING or ARRAY |
The full path of the installation template for the iso file. Can be a single string or an array of strings. |
autosel |
INTEGER |
Optional. If you set it, that means you auto select the corresponding option in the prompt menu. If not set, default is 1. 0: boot without installation template 1: boot with the 1st installation template 2: boot with the 2nd installation template 3: boot with the 3rd installation template ...... |
timeout |
INTEGER |
Prompt menu timeout. Optional, if you set it the value must be greater than or equal to 0 When greater than 0: Prompt menu will be popped up, the default selected menu item is as described above, when timeout the corresponding menu item will be selected. When equal to 0: Prompt menu will be popped up, the default selected menu item is as described above, no timeout, will wait for user selection all the time. When not set: if autosel exist, then the corresponding menu item will be used and the prompt menu will NOT be popped up anymore.if autosel not exist, it's the same as it set equal to 0. |
- Multi-Mode
Supported. You can set different configurations for different BIOS mode. Please refer Multi-Mode Option for details.
- Prompt Before Boot (1.0.12+)
When you boot an iso file with auto installation config, a prompt will be shown.
You can choose whether to use the auto installation template and which template to use for this time.
