Custom Installation Sets and Scripts

If you have downloaded the installation sets to a local FTP server or have built some other local installation media, the OpenBSD installer allows you to add your own custom files or scripts to the install process. This is very useful if you have a "standard build" for your network and want to replicate one set of changes to every freshly installed machine.

The installation script looks for a set called "siteXX.tgz" in the same directory as the other distribution sets. Replace the "XX" with the release name — for example, a custom site file for OpenBSD 3.3 would be called "site33.tgz." This file is a standard gzipped tar file rooted in /. This file is extracted last, using the standard xvpf options, allowing the administrator to add custom files or packages (see Chapter 13) to every system installed with that set.

As a final step in the install process, the installer will look for a shell script called /install.site. If such a script is found, it is run as the last stage of the install process. You can use this to remove unwanted programs, install other software or any other actions desired. The easiest way to get /install.site onto your new system is to include it in siteXX.tgz.