How to really customize an "ubuntu-11.04-alternate-amd64.iso" image?

Solution 1:

The last time I looked into this, there were several different methods, each with pros and cons.

I ended up using the Ubuntu port of Red Hat's kickstart. There's a decent GUI tool you can apt-get install: system-config-kickstart. It can definitely do the simple things, like skipping a windowing system or customizing a list of packages to install. It can even do simple partitioning, but I wouldn't count on being able to do LVM, let alone encrypted LVM. See further documentation here: https://help.ubuntu.com/11.04/installation-guide/i386/automatic-install.html

Once you have your ks.cfg, you can either specify it as an HTTP URL when booting, or you can build a new image with genisoimage that has the file at e.g. /preseed/ks.cfg and passes a kernel argument ks=cdrom:/preseed/ks.cfg when booting.

Preseeding the Debian Installer might be the more native way to do it: https://help.ubuntu.com/11.04/installation-guide/i386/appendix-preseed.html

This thread has some other good suggestions, especially FAI: https://serverfault.com/questions/463/how-can-i-configure-unattended-installation-of-ubuntu

P.S. There are several configuration management systems that may suit your needs if you find that configuring the machine after installation is acceptable. See especially puppet, bcfg2, and chef.

Solution 2:

Have you tried remastersyshttp://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/backup? You have to make your system just the way you want your custom distro to be and then use remastersys to make your own Ubuntu remix disc.