Plugin.auto_install . Ventoy

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/Ubuntu Server	Preseed script	preseed.cfg	Distros based on them are also supported.
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.