Setup Clean Debian OS for Your (Cloud) VPS

Step 1. Preparation

• A clean normally running true virtualization (e.g. KVM) VPS with GRUB2 and VNC access. This script have been tested on SolusVM KVM VPS & Alibaba Cloud ECS with Debian 8/9 & Ubuntu 16.04/18.04.
• Then check /etc/default/grub with your preferred editor (e.g. nano or vi).
• Set GRUB_DEFAULT to 2 (which means select 3rd entry by default) will let most of the virtual instances boot to installer automatically after timeout.
• Make sure there's reasonable number for GRUB_TIMEOUT timeout. You can just set GRUB_TIMEOUT=30 which will be fine.
• Make sure there's no GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET and GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT. Just delete them.

Install dependencies:

sudo apt update && sudo apt -y install ca-certificates whois

Step 2. Run the Script

Replace following <OPTIONS> with your options.

sudo sh -c "$(wget -qO- https://github.com/brentybh/debian-netboot/raw/master/netboot.sh)" -- <OPTIONS>

Remember to enter your current user's password for sudo (if need) and then enter the new user's password (if not specified by -p).

All Options

• -c US Debian Installer Country
• -fqdn debian FQDN including hostname and domain. Priority: -fqdn option > rDNS > debian as default.
• -proto http Transport protocol for archive mirror only but not security repository (http, https, ftp)
• -host deb.debian.org Host for archive mirror only but not security repository
• -dir /debian Directory path relative to root of the mirror
• -suite stretch Suite (stable, testing, stretch, etc.)
• -u debian Username of admin account with sudo privilege
• -p secret Password of the account (if not specified, it will be asked interactively)
• -tz UTC Time zone
• -ntp pool.ntp.org NTP server
• -upgrade full-upgrade Whether to upgrade packages after debootstrap (none, safe-upgrade, full-upgrade)
• -s http://security.debian.org/debian-security Custom URL for security repository mirror
• -fs ext4 Filesystem for partition
• -crypto Full disk encryption (Can't be fully automated at current time. Need VNC connection to go through the steps)
• -ip 192.168.1.42 Configure network manually with an IP address (the following -cidr, -gw and -dns options only work when an IP address is specified)
• -cidr 255.255.255.0 Netmask for manual network configuration
• -gw 192.168.1.1 Gateway for manual network configuration
• -ns "8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4" DNS for manual network configuration
• -add "ca-certificates curl fail2ban openssl whois" Include individual additional packages to install
• -ssh secret Enable network console and specify password for SSH access during install process. You can login with installer user and check system logs.
• -dry-run Generate preseed.cfg and save to current dir but don't actually do anything

Chinese Special

If -c CN is used, Chinese Special options will be setup for good connectivity and experience against GFW.

• Default archive mirror is https://chinanet.mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/debian.
• Default security mirror is https://chinanet.mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/debian-security.
• Default time zone is Asia/Shanghai.
• Default NTP server is cn.ntp.org.cn.
• Default DNS is 156.154.70.5 156.154.71.5.
• All custom settings will override above defaults.

Step 3. Entering Debian Installer

• Keep your SSH connection and open VNC console on your Provider's control panel.
• sudo reboot with your SSH and the VM should reboot.
• Switch to your VNC window quickly. You should enter the GRUB selection menu now.
• If you've configured correct GRUB_DEFAULT, it should be booted into installer automatically after timeout.
• Or, use your keyboard to select New Install and enter it. Also, be quick, just do not miss the GRUB_TIMEOUT timeout you've set.
• Finally, you should see the screen of Debian Installer now. It will setup all things automatically and reboot when complete.