Installing a customized Raspbian system with Netinstaller
Modifications
With the use of two configuration files (installer-config.txt and post-install.txt) in the root directory of the SD card, you control the installer. The homepage for Netinstaller and the Netinstaller fork contain a general overview of the available variables for these configuration files. Listing 4 shows an example. The author recommends that the user only list the modified variables in the configuration files.
Listing 4
installer-config.txt
packages=rsync,jed,bc,console-data,keyboard-configuration hostname=pi3net domainname=local-mine.com rootpw=TopSecret usbroot=1
For example, if you need Rsync and the small but elegant editor Jed, add the tools to the packages variable (first line in Listing 4). The usbroot variable (line 5) specifies that the system will install to the first USB device. In spite of the name endings, the system integrates the two configuration files as shell scripts, so it is a good idea to be careful with empty spaces. Use the post-install.txt file to issue commands that will execute after the installation.
The online_config variable can be used during installation to call the configuration from a local web server. Use online_config to install multiple Rasp Pis with different hostnames and IP addresses.
Optimization
During installation, the installer copies files under the config/files/ directory to a designated file. Something like config/files/etc/hosts would work for copying the hosts file in the /etc directory. The config/my-files.txt file has a list of files that need to be copied, together with the accompanying rights.
The line install_files myfiles.txt calls the copy process. As previously mentioned, the installer processes post-install.txt as another shell script, which opens many possibilities for the user.
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