Unattended install of Ubuntu 18.04 minimal desktop?

Question

I've read a lot about the "minimal desktop" flavor that will be included in Ubuntu 18.04. What do I need to put it the preseed file to do an unattended install of it?

I assume it's some variation of the existing

tasksel tasksel/first multiselect ubuntu-desktop

(from https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/installation-guide/example-preseed.txt) but I don't know what the legal choices are.

Solution

The available options are documented in the Ubuntu installation guide, section B.4.10 which reads:

You can choose to install any combination of tasks that are available. Available tasks as of this writing include:

• standard (standard tools)
• ubuntu-desktop
• kubuntu-desktop
• edubuntu-desktop
• lubuntu-desktop
• ubuntu-gnome-desktop
• xubuntu-desktop
• ubuntu-mate-desktop
• lamp-server
• print-server (print server)

However, minimal install is not a d-i key, but an ubiquity one. Add this to the preseed:

ubiquity ubiquity/minimal_install boolean true

(Obtained by reading the Ubiquity source code).

Comments

[user535733]

Seems like an XY Problem as currently described. Few folks actually want a minimal system as the end product; most want to build up from that minimal base. In an unattended install, that building is also part of the install process. Consider describing the final result you actually want.

[Saleh Al-Abbas]

+1. A link to this source code would be welcome :)