The desktop installer might download an update via the snap store and restart the installation process. Some of our users have found this difference from the tutorial to be jarring – could we add the screenshots of the installer self-updating and restarting from the beginning?
Thanks
The BitLocker section should be updated with how to decrypt/remove BitLocker from the command line manage-bde c: -off. this is especially useful if BitLocker is “waiting for activation”:
Currently the installer does not auto-update: Bug #2047034 “Noble ubuntu-desktop-installer does not refresh” : Bugs : subiquity
Etcher didn’t work with the image, didn’t create a bootable disk.
Rufus did work.
For every complaint that “X didn’t work, but Y did,” there is typically a matching complaint in the opposite direction. No single application or method works for everybody. New versions of those applications change the calculus, too. It’s a rich tapestry. There are numerous tutorials about how to use each application if the one in the example does not work for some folks.
Suggest to add reference to https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu#5-confirm-usb-device as alternative to balenaEtcher for those who already run Ubuntu.
There is no affiliation with Balanaetcher. We simply wanted a tutorial that could be followed across Windows, Mac and Linux. Those using startup disc creator likely already know how to install Ubuntu since they have it already, therefore we chose a tool that is available consistently on non-Ubuntu platforms!
Looks like a URL is missing here. Could we get that added? Thanks!
Added sorry! There’s still a couple of screenshots I need to update here and pulled together an autoinstall tutorial on my blog last night to help in the meantime: https://blog.local-optimum.net/getting-started-with-autoinstall-on-ubuntu-desktop-24-04-lts-147a1defb2de
I am missing all of the detailed documentation on how o use the autoinstall options. Auto install for VM’s, auto install on a network… perhaps it is located somewhere and i am not seeing it? This does not seem to be working: “${bin_virt_install}” --name ${vm_name}
–vcpus “${_cpu}”
–memory “${_mem}”
–network “${virt_net}”
–disk size=“${_dsk}”
–os-variant=“ubuntu23.04”
–video “virtio” --channel “spicevmc”
–disk path=“${CloudConfigDir}/cidata.iso,device=cdrom”
–location=“${iso},kernel=casper/vmlinuz,initrd=casper/initrd”
I would start here @stephan-schutter https://canonical-subiquity.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/reference/autoinstall-reference.html .
There is also a github repo of examples for reference: subiquity/examples/autoinstall at main · canonical/subiquity · GitHub
Thank you for the reply. I have looked here, but no matter what I do, or how I try to provide the autoinstall.yaml file it is ignored with no error messages. I have tried CICD iso, --initrd-inject, and floppy. Nothing works. I do not have a web server available to server it from, and this will anyhow not work because the yaml file is generated by script + variables and is not the same for the VM’s. I have no idea what to do now. It used to work great wiht the preseed (debian way) and now that is disabled and nothing I do can make it work.
The /var/log/installer/subiquity-server-debug.log file can give a comprehensive answer on if the autoinstall data did in fact make it to the installer. One scenario that sounds similar to your symptoms is, if you’re providing autoinstall data by way of cloud-init, but it is not valid cloud-config data, it won’t make it as far as subiquity. This explanation was written in hopes of disambiguating that problem: https://canonical-subiquity.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/explanation/cloudinit-autoinstall-interaction.html
In terms of looking at logs for debugging, a successful autoinstall will contain a line in subiquity-server-debug.log that looks similar to this:
2024-05-08 19:53:30,082 DEBUG subiquity.server.server:703 load_autoinstall_config only_early True file /autoinstall.yaml
The file value at the end there is somewhat deceptive, any value that isn’t None is success. (Data provided via cloud-init will be copied to /autoinstall.yaml.)
Failure on the other hand looks like:
2024-05-08 21:10:27,076 DEBUG subiquity.server.server:703 load_autoinstall_config only_early True file None
Again, the file argument is what we’re interested in, and it shows None this time. So in this case, no autoinstall data made it to Subiquity, perhaps because it wasn’t provided, or perhaps it could be that the data was malformed so it didn’t make it that far, or maybe something I’m not thinking of right now.
In Ubuntu 24.04 we have added more debugging clues - these are visible in the logs, and in the Subiquity UI when installing Ubuntu Server. I think those autoinstall failures haven’t quite made it as far yet as showing in the Ubuntu Desktop installer UI, but the errors should still be visible in the log.
This last logfile snippet is of me intentionally providing malformed cloud-config - it won’t be acted upon as autoinstall because of this:
input:
#cloud-config
# THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF BAD AUTOINSTALL DATA, PROVIDED TO DEMONSTRATE WHAT
# FAILURES WOULD LOOK LIKE
version: 1
source:
id: ubuntu-server-minimal
result in subiquity-server-debug.log:
2024-05-08 21:26:42,298 WARNING subiquity.server.server:130 cloud-init schema validation failure for: 'source'
2024-05-08 21:26:42,298 DEBUG curtin.reporting.warning.subiquity/load_cloud_config/extract_autoinstall:45 warning: subiquity/load_cloud_config/extract_autoinstall: cloud-init schema validation failure for: 'source'
2024-05-08 21:26:42,299 ERROR subiquity.server.server:135 'source' is valid autoinstall but not found under 'autoinstall'.
2024-05-08 21:26:42,299 DEBUG curtin.reporting.error.subiquity/load_cloud_config/extract_autoinstall:45 error: subiquity/load_cloud_config/extract_autoinstall: 'source' is valid autoinstall but not found under 'autoinstall'.
2024-05-08 21:26:42,299 DEBUG curtin.reporting.finish.subiquity/load_cloud_config/extract_autoinstall:45 finish: subiquity/load_cloud_config/extract_autoinstall: FAIL: Misplaced autoinstall directives resulted in a cloud-init schema validation failure.
2024-05-08 21:26:42,299 DEBUG curtin.reporting.finish.subiquity/load_cloud_config:45 finish: subiquity/load_cloud_config: FAIL: Misplaced autoinstall directives resulted in a cloud-init schema validation failure.
Is it possible to add a verification step after downloading Ubuntu or in the same step?
I struggled for hours because there was an error during the download, and the sha256sum I got differed from the one on the official website. I downloaded the iso from the official website. Also, I came across many reported bugs similar to mine and problems and questions on different websites for help, so I believe this is a very common mistake. It is not even my first time installing Ubuntu; I just haven’t done it in a while and have forgotten about the sha256sum.
I found many different ways to verify Ubuntu, and the simplest I would suggest is https://ubuntu-mate.org/faq/verify-download-quick:
Find the Ubuntu version here http://releases.ubuntu.com. For example, noble or 24.04.
Open the SHA256SUMS file.
Find the iso you are downloading. For example, if you are using ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso, then the sha256sum you need is 81fae9cc21e2b1e3a9a4526c7dad3131b668e346c580702235ad4d02645d9455.
After the iso is downloaded, check if the sha256sum of the iso is the same as the sha256sum you found above.
sha256sum path/to/isocertutil -hashFile path\to\iso SHA256shasum -a 256 path/to/isoOr if you could at least add a link to the existing guide: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/how-to-verify-ubuntu
At the end of “Ready to install,” the tutorial reads “Ubuntu will begin the installation process will begin.”
Slight error, easy fix
Done, thanks for the feedback!
The steps given, won’t create a bootable USB drive for a laptop with a UEFI bios.
I’m facing a BitLocker-related issue. The documentation provides three options to resolve this problem. I want to proceed with option two, which involves overwriting the data contents. However, the instructions for executing step 2 are missing. The document provides well-organized instructions for option three (turning off BitLocker), but for some reason, my Windows doesn’t show the BitLocker Manager. Therefore, the documentation isn’t helpful in solving my problem. This is frustating.