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Add an unattended-install ISO builder

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Boot the stick, pick one GRUB entry, walk away: it wipes the target disk, installs Ubuntu
26.04.1 with the NVIDIA driver and codecs, and runs setup.sh on first boot to install the
apps. build-iso.sh does the image surgery in a container, so the build machine needs nothing
but podman.

The wipe is pinned to one disk serial (the 990 PRO). The Data drive can't match it, and an
unmatched disk stops the install rather than guessing — so the stick can't eat another
machine either. The autoinstall entry is not the GRUB default, so an accidental boot lands in
the ordinary Ubuntu installer.

Verified by running the install in a VM with two virtual NVMe drives carrying the real
serials: unattended start to finish, target partitioned and installed, Data disk byte-for-byte
identical, and late-commands left /opt/main-desktop plus the enabled first-boot service in
place. Testing caught the autoinstall args landing after '---' (where they reach the installed
system instead of the installer, and do nothing), and the first-boot run adding root rather
than ckoch to the docker group, since runuser leaves $USER alone.

setup.sh gains an unattended mode for that first-boot run, waits out the dpkg lock that
Ubuntu's own boot-time upgrades hold, waits for snapd to finish seeding before removing the
Firefox snap, and skips the driver step on machines with no NVIDIA card.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
ckoch
2026-09-24 10:01:09 -04:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5
parent 8b26c5d693
commit 4739fb5e0d
7 changed files with 427 additions and 80 deletions
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README.md
+96 -57
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@@ -1,13 +1,18 @@
# main-desktop
**Ubuntu 26.04 LTS** on my desktop (Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5090, 49" 5120x1440), set up by one
script. This replaces the Bazzite/BlueBuild image that used to live here — that version is still
in the git history.
**Ubuntu 26.04 LTS** on my desktop (Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5090, 49" 5120x1440), installed from a
custom ISO that wipes the drive and sets the whole machine up without being watched. This replaces
the Bazzite/BlueBuild image that used to live here — that version is still in the git history.
[scripts/setup.sh](scripts/setup.sh) turns a fresh Ubuntu install into this machine: NVIDIA
driver, Docker with GPU access, Steam, the apps in [flatpaks.txt](flatpaks.txt), and the drive
mounts. It's safe to re-run. Copying files over and signing in to apps are deliberately **not**
its job — I do those by hand.
| File | What it is |
|---|---|
| [scripts/build-iso.sh](scripts/build-iso.sh) | Builds the install ISO: stock Ubuntu desktop ISO + this repo + the autoinstall config |
| [iso/user-data.in](iso/user-data.in) | The autoinstall config — which disk to wipe, the user, the driver and codec choices |
| [scripts/setup.sh](scripts/setup.sh) | Installs everything (drivers, Docker, Steam, Flatpaks, mounts). Runs itself on first boot; also runnable by hand on a stock Ubuntu install |
| [scripts/firstboot.sh](scripts/firstboot.sh) | The one-shot first-boot wrapper that calls setup.sh |
| [flatpaks.txt](flatpaks.txt) | The app list |
Copying files over and signing in to apps are deliberately **not** automated — I do those by hand.
## Why leave Bazzite
@@ -15,39 +20,62 @@ The read-only base made ordinary things into projects. VS Code had to be layered
Node and .NET came from Homebrew, and Claude desktop ran inside an Ubuntu distrobox because it
only ships for Ubuntu/Debian. On Ubuntu, each of those is an `apt install`.
## 1. Install Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
> **⚠ Two identical 1 TB NVMe drives.** Install to the **Samsung SSD 990 PRO**. Never pick the
> **Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus** — that's the "Data" drive holding the second Steam library and the
> emulator files, and it stays untouched. `nvme0`/`nvme1` can swap between boots, so go by the
> model name the installer shows.
- "Erase disk and install Ubuntu" on the 990 PRO is fine.
- Make the user **`ckoch`**. The first user gets UID 1000, which matches the file ownership
already on the Data drive.
- The "third-party drivers" checkbox doesn't matter; setup.sh installs the NVIDIA driver either
way.
- Prefer KDE? Install **Kubuntu 26.04** instead. The script doesn't care which desktop you run.
## 2. Run the script
## 1. Build the ISO
```bash
sudo apt install -y git
git clone https://git.lazypugs.com/ckoch/main-desktop.git ~/Documents/git/main-desktop
cd ~/Documents/git/main-desktop && scripts/setup.sh
scripts/build-iso.sh
```
It asks for your sudo password once, then for the server-marvin SMB credentials — press Enter
there to skip that mount. Flatpaks take most of the run. **Reboot** when it finishes.
It asks for the login password to bake in, downloads the Ubuntu 26.04.1 desktop ISO if `build/`
doesn't have it (~6 GB, resumable, checksum-verified), and writes
`build/main-desktop-<date>.iso`. The image surgery runs in a container, so the build machine needs
nothing but podman — it works from Bazzite as-is.
What it installs:
**The ISO holds your password hash, so treat the stick as private.**
- **NVIDIA driver:** Ubuntu's recommended **open-kernel** branch (595 today) with the prebuilt,
signed modules, so no DKMS. The script stops if it ends up with a non-open driver, since
Blackwell only runs on the open modules. Also 32-bit GL for Steam and Proton.
- **Gaming:** Steam (`steam-installer` plus `steam-devices` for controllers), Lutris, GameMode,
MangoHud, and ProtonUp-Qt for Proton-GE. The Xbox Bluetooth fix (`disable_ertm`) carries over
from Bazzite.
Write it to a USB stick — check the device name first, `lsblk` before you `dd`:
```bash
sudo dd if=build/main-desktop-<date>.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=direct conv=fsync
```
## 2. Boot it and pick the last GRUB entry
> **Install main-desktop UNATTENDED — ERASES the target disk**
It is deliberately **not** the default entry: left alone, the stick boots into the ordinary Ubuntu
installer, so an accidental boot can't wipe anything. The other entries are untouched.
### What keeps this from eating the wrong disk
The autoinstall config matches **one disk by serial** — `S73VNU0Y101555E`, the 1 TB Samsung
990 PRO. The other NVMe in this machine (the 970 EVO Plus, "Data", serial `S6P7NS0X656465Z`,
holding the second Steam library and the emulator files) never matches, and if no disk matches
the installer stops instead of guessing. The same goes for any other machine you boot the stick
on: it refuses rather than picking something.
Verified by installing from this ISO in a VM with two virtual NVMe drives carrying exactly those
two serials: the 990 PRO one came out partitioned (1 GB ESP + root) with Ubuntu on it, and the
Data one was byte-for-byte identical afterwards, marker file and all. The whole install ran
without a keypress and rebooted on its own.
From there it runs on its own: partition, install Ubuntu desktop, install the NVIDIA driver and
media codecs, then reboot.
## 3. First boot installs the apps
A one-shot service runs [setup.sh](scripts/setup.sh) the first time the new system boots. It
needs the network, takes a while (roughly 12 GB of Flatpaks), and logs to
`/var/log/main-desktop-firstboot.log`:
```bash
tail -f /var/log/main-desktop-firstboot.log
```
You can log in and use the machine while it works. It installs:
- **Gaming:** Steam (plus `steam-devices` for controllers), Lutris, GameMode, MangoHud, and
ProtonUp-Qt for Proton-GE. The Xbox Bluetooth fix (`disable_ertm`) carries over from Bazzite.
- **Containers:** Docker CE from Docker's repo (not the snap), with `--gpus all` wired up through
nvidia-container-toolkit. You're added to `docker` and `kvm`.
- **Apps:** the 27 Flatpaks in [flatpaks.txt](flatpaks.txt), picked from the 42 that were on
@@ -57,26 +85,19 @@ What it installs:
cmake, and git credentials kept in the GNOME keyring. **No Node or .NET on the host** by
choice — LudosData and landingPage build in Docker. To add them:
`sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jdxcode/mise && sudo apt install mise dotnet-sdk-10.0`.
- **Mounts:** the Data drive at **`/mnt/data`**, and server-marvin at
**`/mnt/server-marvin-personal`** if you gave it credentials.
- **Mounts:** the Data drive at **`/mnt/data`**. The server-marvin share is skipped on an
unattended run; run setup.sh again by hand if you want it, and it'll ask for the credentials.
## 3. After the reboot
The installer grants passwordless sudo for that one run; firstboot.sh takes it away again on its
way out, whether setup.sh succeeded or not.
```bash
sudo flatpak update # fetches the NVIDIA GL runtime the Flatpak apps need
```
Flatpak can only match that runtime to the driver once the driver is actually loaded, which is why
it waits until after the reboot. Skip it and apps fall back to software rendering until the daily
timer catches up about 10 minutes after boot.
Then, by hand:
## 4. Then, by hand
- **Log out and back in** — the `docker` and `kvm` groups need a fresh session.
- **Steam:** sign in, then **Settings → Storage → Add drive → `/mnt/data/SteamLibrary`**. Those
games need no redownload.
- **Display:** Settings → Displays. The monitor does **5120x1440 @ 240 Hz**; Bazzite was running
it at 120. Turn on variable refresh rate while you're there. Ubuntu's built-in tiling earns its
keep at this width.
it at 120. Turn on variable refresh rate while you're there.
- **PIA VPN:** the official Linux app works on Ubuntu (it couldn't on Bazzite's read-only `/usr`).
Download the installer from PIA and run it.
- **Gitea:** the first `git push` asks for your username and password once, then the GNOME keyring
@@ -84,15 +105,11 @@ Then, by hand:
### Moving files across by hand
Worth knowing while you copy things over from the old install:
- **Flatpak app data** lives in `~/.var/app/<app-id>`. Copying one app's folder across brings that
app's logins, profile and settings with it — Firefox and Thunderbird profiles included — as long
as the app ID matches.
- **Steam saves** are in `~/.local/share/Steam/userdata` (and Proton prefixes in
app's logins, profile and settings with it — Firefox and Thunderbird profiles included.
- **Steam saves** are in `~/.local/share/Steam/userdata` (Proton prefixes in
`steamapps/compatdata`). Game files themselves redownload.
- **FFXIV** is `~/.xlcore`, ~124 GB. Worth copying rather than re-fetching from Square's patch
servers.
- **FFXIV** is `~/.xlcore`, ~124 GB. Worth copying rather than re-fetching from Square's servers.
- **ComfyUI:** copy the folder but not its `venv` — rebuild that with
`python3 -m venv venv && venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt`.
- **Don't copy** Fedora's `.bashrc`/`.bash_profile`, `~/.local/bin` (pip shims built against
@@ -108,12 +125,29 @@ docker run --rm --gpus all nvidia/cuda:12.8.0-base-ubuntu24.04 nvidia-smi
flatpak list --app | wc -l # 27
findmnt /mnt/data
claude --version && code --version
systemctl status main-desktop-firstboot # should be a completed one-shot, now disabled
```
Podman's `--device nvidia.com/gpu=all` needs a CDI spec. The toolkit normally generates one at
boot; if Podman says the device is unknown, run
`sudo nvidia-ctk cdi generate --output=/etc/cdi/nvidia.yaml`.
## Without the ISO
Install Ubuntu 26.04 by hand (user **`ckoch`** — the first user gets UID 1000, which matches the
file ownership on the Data drive), then:
```bash
sudo apt install -y git
git clone https://git.lazypugs.com/ckoch/main-desktop.git ~/Documents/git/main-desktop
cd ~/Documents/git/main-desktop && scripts/setup.sh # safe to re-run
```
Reboot when it finishes, then `sudo flatpak update` once — Flatpak can only match its NVIDIA GL
runtime to a driver that's already loaded, so apps render in software until that happens (the
daily timer catches it about 10 minutes after boot anyway). The ISO route avoids this, because the
driver is already installed before the apps are.
## Coming from Bazzite: what moved
| Was | Now |
@@ -129,8 +163,13 @@ boot; if Podman says the device is unknown, run
## Maintenance
- **Add or remove an app:** edit [flatpaks.txt](flatpaks.txt) and re-run `scripts/setup.sh`.
Removing a line doesn't uninstall anything; `flatpak uninstall <id>` once by hand.
- **Add or remove an app:** edit [flatpaks.txt](flatpaks.txt), then re-run `scripts/setup.sh` on
the machine (or rebuild the ISO for the next install). Removing a line doesn't uninstall
anything; `flatpak uninstall <id>` once by hand.
- **New Ubuntu point release:** bump `UBUNTU_POINT` in
[scripts/build-iso.sh](scripts/build-iso.sh) and rebuild.
- **Next LTS (28.04):** Ubuntu offers the upgrade in Software Updater once 28.04.1 is out. The
upgrader disables third-party repos (Docker, NVIDIA toolkit, and so on) — turn them back on in
Software & Updates → Other Software afterwards.
- The ISO's own "Check disc for defects" option will report mismatches, since the added files
aren't in the stock `md5sum.txt`. That's expected and doesn't affect installing.