Pre-seeding linux-generic-lts-utopic in a trusty install lacks the utopic kernel initrd and results in a kernel panic at first boot

[David Moreau Simard]

We've successfully installed and ran preseeded Ubuntu Precise installs with the linux-generic-lts-trusty package in pkgsel/include.
This resulted in the first boot being on the linux-generic-lts-trusty kernel.

We seem to be unable to do the equivalent successfully with Ubuntu Trusty with linux-generic-lts-utopic in pkgsel/include.
The installs does complete without apparent errors but when Grub attempts to boot the linux-generic-lts-utopic 3.16 kernel, it ends up doing a hard kernel panic very early in the boot process.

When booting on the original 3.13 kernel (through Grub's Ubuntu 'Additional options'), the server boots successfully. By running update-grub, you can tell that it doesn't find the 3.16 initrd. Running update-initramfs to generate the 3.16 initrd will work and you will then be able to reboot into 3.16.

People on ask.ubuntu are coming up with hacks to manually run an update-initramfs in late_command but I feel we should fix the underlying problem: http://askubuntu.com/questions/526193/preseeding-3-16-hardware-enablement-kernel-requires-manual-update-initramfs

I'm not sure if this is in the scope of initramfs-tools ? Feel free to re-assign..

Thanks.

[Adam Conrad (adconrad)]

You should be using the lts-trusty d-i images linked from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/precise/ rather than trying to hack around it with preseeds.

[Adam Conrad (adconrad)]

Err, make that the lts-utopic images from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/trusty/ rather.

[David Moreau Simard (dmsimard)]

@adconrad

Not a bad suggestion, I'll look into that for the time being. I maintain that this worked in precise but fails in trusty, however.

The askubuntu thread I linked shows that I'm not the only one who noticed the problem.

[jose manuel ortega cruz (jmortegacruz994)]

pude ser provechoso