How to preseed values for debian package

Here's how to make a fully automated (without interaction) installation of the OcsInventory-NG agent on debian, using packages:

• Create a seed file (see above for file creation) with answers to questions asked during interactive installation:

  # cat ocsinv.preseed
  ocsinventory-agent      ocsinventory-agent/method       select  http
  ocsinventory-agent      ocsinventory-agent/tag  string  LINUX
  ocsinventory-agent      ocsinventory-agent/server       string  ocs.mydomain.com
  

• Import seed file:

  # debconf-set-selections ocsinv.preseed
  

• Install ocs:

  apt-get install ocsinventory-agent
  

The installation will not ask any questions.

• Creating a seed file from an installed package:

To create the seed file, the easiest way is to make the installation interactively once on a machine. Then, using tools from the debconf-utils package, get the answers from the debconf database:

debconf-get-selections |grep ocsinv > ocsinv.preseed

Note This methode can be applied to any debian package, not just OcsInventory !