NB These instructions are out of date since the release of Debian 11 (Bullseye). Some parts of this guide will need to be updated to the new Debian release.

Overview

Get the Installer Images

NB Instead of vmlinuz and initrd.gz as the filenames you should use filenames that include the debian version and architecture (e.g. call vmlinuz debian-10.6.0-armhf-vmlinuz).

  1. Get [Debian Buster armhf kernel](https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/buster/main/installer-armhf/20190702+deb10u6../../assets/images/cdrom/vmlinuz)
  2. Get [Debian Buster armhf initrd](https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/buster/main/installer-armhf/20190702+deb10u6../../assets/images/cdrom/initrd.gz)
  3. Get [Debian Buster armhf CD#1 image](https://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/debian-cd/10.6.0/armhf/iso-cd/debian-10.6.0-armhf-xfce-CD-1.iso) Buster is no longer available for download; for the current version of Debian see https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/armhf/iso-cd/. The instructions in this article have not yet been updated for Bullseye, however.

Subsequent instructions assume you have the renamed files in /home/user/Downloads.

Create the Images

Setup the Packer Environment

Prerequisites

  1. The packer executable found in the download for your system at https://www.packer.io/ (Download button) needs to be in a directory that is in your PATH.
  2. Packer’s prerequisites including QEMU in your PATH.
  3. A directory for your packer files.
  4. In the packer file directory, a subdirectory named preseed-dir.
Debian preseed file

A Debian preseed file preseed-arm-uefi.cfg such as the one shown here, in the preseed-dir subdirectory:

NOTE This file has default root password defined. Obviously this is not intended to be the final image, not for the image to be exposed to a network (the intention is for the image to be fed to a Packer provisioning run).

# Contents of the preconfiguration file (for buster)
# Localization
# Preseeding only locale sets language, country and locale.
#d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US
d-i debian-installer/language string en
d-i debian-installer/country string CA
d-i debian-installer/locale string en_CA.UTF-8

# The values can also be preseeded individually for greater flexibility.
#d-i debian-installer/language string en
#d-i debian-installer/country string NL
#d-i debian-installer/locale string en_GB.UTF-8
# Optionally specify additional locales to be generated.
#d-i localechooser/supported-locales multiselect en_US.UTF-8, nl_NL.UTF-8
d-i localechooser/supported-locales multiselect en_US.UTF-8, en_GB.UTF-8

# Keyboard selection.
d-i keyboard-configuration/xkb-keymap select us
# d-i keyboard-configuration/toggle select No toggling

### Network configuration
# Disable network configuration entirely. This is useful for cdrom
# installations on non-networked devices where the network questions,
# warning and long timeouts are a nuisance.
#d-i netcfg/enable boolean false

# netcfg will choose an interface that has link if possible. This makes it
# skip displaying a list if there is more than one interface.
d-i netcfg/choose_interface select auto

# To pick a particular interface instead:
#d-i netcfg/choose_interface select eth1

# To set a different link detection timeout (default is 3 seconds).
# Values are interpreted as seconds.
#d-i netcfg/link_wait_timeout string 10

# If you have a slow dhcp server and the installer times out waiting for
# it, this might be useful.
#d-i netcfg/dhcp_timeout string 60
#d-i netcfg/dhcpv6_timeout string 60

# If you prefer to configure the network manually, uncomment this line and
# the static network configuration below.
#d-i netcfg/disable_autoconfig boolean true

# If you want the preconfiguration file to work on systems both with and
# without a dhcp server, uncomment these lines and the static network
# configuration below.
#d-i netcfg/dhcp_failed note
#d-i netcfg/dhcp_options select Configure network manually

# Static network configuration.
#
# IPv4 example
#d-i netcfg/get_ipaddress string 192.168.1.42
#d-i netcfg/get_netmask string 255.255.255.0
#d-i netcfg/get_gateway string 192.168.1.1
#d-i netcfg/get_nameservers string 192.168.1.1
#d-i netcfg/confirm_static boolean true
#
# IPv6 example
#d-i netcfg/get_ipaddress string fc00::2
#d-i netcfg/get_netmask string ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff::
#d-i netcfg/get_gateway string fc00::1
#d-i netcfg/get_nameservers string fc00::1
#d-i netcfg/confirm_static boolean true

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over
# values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions
# from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.
#d-i netcfg/get_hostname string somehost
#d-i netcfg/get_domain string localdomain

# If you want to force a hostname, regardless of what either the DHCP
# server returns or what the reverse DNS entry for the IP is, uncomment
# and adjust the following line.
#d-i netcfg/hostname string somehost

# Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.
d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string
# The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.
#d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string radish

# If non-free firmware is needed for the network or other hardware, you can
# configure the installer to always try to load it, without prompting. Or
# change to false to disable asking.
#d-i hw-detect/load_firmware boolean true
d-i hw-detect/load_firmware boolean false

### Network console
# Use the following settings if you wish to make use of the network-console
# component for remote installation over SSH. This only makes sense if you
# intend to perform the remainder of the installation manually.
#d-i anna/choose_modules string network-console
#d-i network-console/authorized_keys_url string http://10.0.0.1/openssh-key
#d-i network-console/password password r00tme
#d-i network-console/password-again password r00tme

### Mirror settings
# If you select ftp, the mirror/country string does not need to be set.
#d-i mirror/protocol string ftp
#d-i mirror/country string manual
#d-i mirror/http/hostname string http.us.debian.org
#d-i mirror/http/directory string /debian
#d-i mirror/http/proxy string
d-i mirror/protocol string http
d-i mirror/country string Canada
d-i mirror/http/hostname string deb.debian.org
d-i mirror/http/directory string /debian
d-i mirror/http/proxy string

# Suite to install.
#d-i mirror/suite string testing
d-i mirror/suite string buster
# Suite to use for loading installer components (optional).
#d-i mirror/udeb/suite string testing

### Account setup
# Skip creation of a root account (normal user account will be able to
# use sudo).
d-i passwd/root-login boolean true
# Alternatively, to skip creation of a normal user account.
d-i passwd/make-user boolean false

# Root password, either in clear text
#d-i passwd/root-password password r00tme
#d-i passwd/root-password-again password r00tme
d-i passwd/root-password password example-provision-password
d-i passwd/root-password-again password example-provision-password
# or encrypted using a crypt(3) hash.
#d-i passwd/root-password-crypted password [crypt(3) hash]

# To create a normal user account.
#d-i passwd/user-fullname string Debian User
#d-i passwd/username string debian
# Normal user's password, either in clear text
#d-i passwd/user-password password insecure
#d-i passwd/user-password-again password insecure
# or encrypted using a crypt(3) hash.
#d-i passwd/user-password-crypted password [crypt(3) hash]
# Create the first user with the specified UID instead of the default.
#d-i passwd/user-uid string 1010

# To create a normal user account.
# d-i passwd/user-fullname string User Fullname
# d-i passwd/username string unspecified-user
# Normal user's password, either in clear text
# d-i passwd/user-password password passw0rd
# d-i passwd/user-password-again password passw0rd
# or encrypted using a crypt(3) hash.
#d-i passwd/user-password-crypted password [crypt(3) hash]
# Create the first user with the specified UID instead of the default.
#d-i passwd/user-uid string 1010


# The user account will be added to some standard initial groups. To
# override that, use this.
#d-i passwd/user-default-groups string audio cdrom video

### Clock and time zone setup
# Controls whether or not the hardware clock is set to UTC.
d-i clock-setup/utc boolean true

# You may set this to any valid setting for $TZ; see the contents of
# /usr/share/zoneinfo/ for valid values.
d-i time/zone string US/Eastern

# Controls whether to use NTP to set the clock during the install
d-i clock-setup/ntp boolean true
# NTP server to use. The default is almost always fine here.
#d-i clock-setup/ntp-server string ntp.example.com

### Partitioning
## Partitioning example
# If the system has free space you can choose to only partition that space.
# This is only honoured if partman-auto/method (below) is not set.
#d-i partman-auto/init_automatically_partition select biggest_free

# Alternatively, you may specify a disk to partition. If the system has only
# one disk the installer will default to using that, but otherwise the device
# name must be given in traditional, non-devfs format (so e.g. /dev/sda
# and not e.g. /dev/discs/disc0/disc).
# For example, to use the first SCSI/SATA hard disk:
#d-i partman-auto/disk string /dev/sda
# In addition, you'll need to specify the method to use.
# The presently available methods are:
# - regular: use the usual partition types for your architecture
# - lvm: use LVM to partition the disk
# - crypto: use LVM within an encrypted partition
d-i partman-auto/method string regular
d-i partman-auto/disk string /dev/vda

# You can define the amount of space that will be used for the LVM volume
# group. It can either be a size with its unit (eg. 20 GB), a percentage of
# free space or the 'max' keyword.
#d-i partman-auto-lvm/guided_size string max

# If one of the disks that are going to be automatically partitioned
# contains an old LVM configuration, the user will normally receive a
# warning. This can be preseeded away...
d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm boolean true
# The same applies to pre-existing software RAID array:
d-i partman-md/device_remove_md boolean true
# And the same goes for the confirmation to write the lvm partitions.
d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true

# Or provide a recipe of your own...
# If you have a way to get a recipe file into the d-i environment, you can
# just point at it.
#d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe_file string /hd-media/recipe

# If not, you can put an entire recipe into the preconfiguration file in one
# (logical) line. This example creates a small /boot partition, suitable
# swap, and uses the rest of the space for the root partition:
#d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string

d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string
  boot-root ::
  538 0 538 fat32
  $primary{ }
  $bootable{ }
  method{ efi }
  format{ }
  .
  128 10000 1024 linux-swap
  method{ swap } format{ }
  .
  1024 0 1024 ext4
  method{ format } format{ }
  use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext4 }
  mountpoint{ /var/log }
  .
  500 10000 -1 ext4
  method{ format } format{ }
  use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext4 }
  mountpoint{ / }
  .

# This makes partman automatically partition without confirmation, provided
# that you told it what to do using one of the methods above.
d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true

# When disk encryption is enabled, skip wiping the partitions beforehand.
#d-i partman-auto-crypto/erase_disks boolean false

# This makes partman automatically partition without confirmation.
d-i partman-md/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true

## Controlling how partitions are mounted
# The default is to mount by UUID, but you can also choose "traditional" to
# use traditional device names, or "label" to try filesystem labels before
# falling back to UUIDs.
#d-i partman/mount_style select uuid

### Base system installation
# Configure APT to not install recommended packages by default. Use of this
# option can result in an incomplete system and should only be used by very
# experienced users.
#d-i base-installer/install-recommends boolean false

# The kernel image (meta) package to be installed; "none" can be used if no
# kernel is to be installed.
#d-i base-installer/kernel/image string linux-image-686

### Apt setup
# You can choose to install non-free and contrib software.
#d-i apt-setup/non-free boolean true
#d-i apt-setup/contrib boolean true
# Uncomment this if you don't want to use a network mirror.
#d-i apt-setup/use_mirror boolean false
d-i apt-setup/use_mirror boolean true
# Select which update services to use; define the mirrors to be used.
# Values shown below are the normal defaults.
#d-i apt-setup/services-select multiselect security, updates
#d-i apt-setup/security_host string security.debian.org

# Additional repositories, local[0-9] available
#d-i apt-setup/local0/repository string
# http://local.server/debian stable main
#d-i apt-setup/local0/comment string local server
# Enable deb-src lines
#d-i apt-setup/local0/source boolean true
# URL to the public key of the local repository; you must provide a key or
# apt will complain about the unauthenticated repository and so the
# sources.list line will be left commented out
#d-i apt-setup/local0/key string http://local.server/key

# By default the installer requires that repositories be authenticated
# using a known gpg key. This setting can be used to disable that
# authentication. Warning: Insecure, not recommended.
#d-i debian-installer/allow_unauthenticated boolean true

# Uncomment this to add multiarch configuration for i386
#d-i apt-setup/multiarch string i386

apt-cdrom-setup apt-setup/cdrom/set-first false
apt-cdrom-setup apt-setup/disable-cdrom-entries true


### Package selection
#tasksel tasksel/first multiselect standard, web-server, kde-desktop
tasksel tasksel/first multiselect standard, ssh-server

# Individual additional packages to install
#d-i pkgsel/include string openssh-server build-essential
d-i pkgsel/include string python-apt sudo

# Whether to upgrade packages after debootstrap.
# Allowed values: none, safe-upgrade, full-upgrade
#d-i pkgsel/upgrade select none
d-i pkgsel/upgrade select full-upgrade

# Some versions of the installer can report back on what software you have
# installed, and what software you use. The default is not to report back,
# but sending reports helps the project determine what software is most
# popular and include it on CDs.
#popularity-contest popularity-contest/participate boolean false
popularity-contest popularity-contest/participate boolean true

### Boot loader installation
# Grub is the default boot loader (for x86). If you want lilo installed
# instead, uncomment this:
#d-i grub-installer/skip boolean true
d-i grub-installer/skip boolean false
# To also skip installing lilo, and install no bootloader, uncomment this
# too:
d-i lilo-installer/skip boolean true


# This is fairly safe to set, it makes grub install automatically to the MBR
# if no other operating system is detected on the machine.
d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean false

# This one makes grub-installer install to the MBR if it also finds some other
# OS, which is less safe as it might not be able to boot that other OS.
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean false

# Due notably to potential USB sticks, the location of the MBR can not be
# determined safely in general, so this needs to be specified:
#d-i grub-installer/bootdev string /dev/sda
# To install to the first device (assuming it is not a USB stick):
#d-i grub-installer/bootdev string default
d-i grub-installer/bootdev string default

# Alternatively, if you want to install to a location other than the mbr,
# uncomment and edit these lines:
#d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean false
#d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean false
#d-i grub-installer/bootdev string (hd0,1)
# To install grub to multiple disks:
#d-i grub-installer/bootdev string (hd0,1) (hd1,1) (hd2,1)

# Optional password for grub, either in clear text
#d-i grub-installer/password password r00tme
#d-i grub-installer/password-again password r00tme
# or encrypted using an MD5 hash, see grub-md5-crypt(8).
#d-i grub-installer/password-crypted password [MD5 hash]

# Use the following option to add additional boot parameters for the
# installed system (if supported by the bootloader installer).
# Note: options passed to the installer will be added automatically.
#d-i debian-installer/add-kernel-opts string nousb

### Finishing up the installation
# During installations from serial console, the regular virtual consoles
# (VT1-VT6) are normally disabled in /etc/inittab. Uncomment the next
# line to prevent this.
#d-i finish-install/keep-consoles boolean true

# Avoid that last message about the install being complete.
d-i finish-install/reboot_in_progress note

# This will prevent the installer from ejecting the CD during the reboot,
# which is useful in some situations.
#d-i cdrom-detect/eject boolean false
d-i cdrom-detect/eject boolean true

# This is how to make the installer shutdown when finished, but not
# reboot into the installed system.
#d-i debian-installer/exit/halt boolean true
# This will power off the machine instead of just halting it.
#d-i debian-installer/exit/poweroff boolean true

# This first command is run as early as possible, just after
# preseeding is read.
#d-i preseed/early_command string anna-install some-udeb
# This command is run immediately before the partitioner starts. It may be
# useful to apply dynamic partitioner preseeding that depends on the state
# of the disks (which may not be visible when preseed/early_command runs).
#d-i partman/early_command
# string debconf-set partman-auto/disk "$(list-devices disk | head -n1)"
# This command is run just before the install finishes, but when there is
# still a usable /target directory. You can chroot to /target and use it
# directly, or use the apt-install and in-target commands to easily install
# packages and run commands in the target system.
#d-i preseed/late_command string apt-install zsh; in-target chsh -s /bin/zsh
Packer Template

A packer JSON template such as the following named

{
    "variables": {
        "accelerator": "none",
        "build_time": "{{isotime "2006-01-02-15-04"}}",
        "domain": "",
        "hostname": "",
        "iso_checksum": "",
        "iso_checksum_type": "sha512",
        "iso_src_url_prefix": "",
        "iso_src_path_prefix": "",
        "iso_name": "",
        "machine_type": "virt",
        "memory_size": "1024",
        "os_disk_size": "8192",
        "output_compression": "true",
        "output_format": "qcow2",
        "uefi_firmware_CODE_path": "/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_CODE.fd",
        "uefi_firmware_VARS_path": "",
        "vm_name_suffix": "-armhf.qcow2"
    },
    "builders": [
        {
            "type": "qemu",
            "accelerator": "{{ user `accelerator` }}",
            "cdrom_interface": "virtio-scsi",
            "communicator": "none",
            "cpus": 4,
            "disable_vnc": true,
            "disk_compression":"{{ user `output_compression` }}",
            "disk_size": "{{ user `os_disk_size` }}",
            "headless": true,
            "http_directory": "./preseed_dir",
            "format": "{{ user `output_format` }}",
            "iso_checksum": "{{ user `iso_checksum_type` }}:{{ user `iso_checksum` }}",
            "iso_url": "{{ user `iso_src_url_prefix` }}/{{ user `iso_name` }}",
            "machine_type": "{{ user `machine_type` }}",
            "memory": "{{ user `memory_size` }}",
            "net_device": "virtio-net-pci",
            "output_directory": "output/preseeded-armhf-uefi-image-{{ user `hostname` }}-{{user `build_time`}}",
            "qemuargs": [
                [ "-machine", "{{ user `machine_type` }},accel={{ user `accelerator` }},usb=off,dump-guest-core=off,gic-version=2,pflash0=pflash0-format,pflash1=pflash1-format" ],
                [ "-display", "none" ],
                [ "-kernel", "{{ user `armhf_kernel` }}" ],
                [ "-initrd", "{{ user `armhf_initrd` }}" ],
                [ "-boot", "menu=off,order=cd,strict=on" ],
                [ "-serial", "mon:pty" ],
                [ "-no-reboot", null ],
                [ "-device", "virtio-net-pci,netdev=user.0" ],
                [ "-device", "virtio-scsi-device" ],
                [ "-device", "scsi-cd,drive=cdrom0" ],
                [ "-drive", "file=output/preseeded-armhf-uefi-image-{{ user `hostname` }}-{{user `build_time`}}/{{ .Name }},if=virtio,cache=writeback,discard=ignore,format=qcow2" ],
                [ "-drive", "file={{ user `iso_src_path_prefix` }}/{{ user `iso_name` }},if=none,index=0,id=cdrom0,media=cdrom" ],
                [ "-blockdev", "driver=file,filename=/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_CODE.fd,node-name=pflash0-storage,auto-read-only=on,discard=unmap" ],
                [ "-blockdev", "node-name=pflash0-format,read-only=on,driver=raw,file=pflash0-storage" ],
                [ "-blockdev", "driver=file,filename={{ user `uefi_firmware_VARS_path` }},node-name=pflash1-storage,auto-read-only=on,discard=unmap" ],
                [ "-blockdev", "node-name=pflash1-format,read-only=off,driver=raw,file=pflash1-storage" ],
                [ "-netdev", "user,id=user.0" ],
                [ "-append", "efi_no_storage_paranoia preseed/url=http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/preseed-arm-uefi.cfg debian-installer/locale=en_CA.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/xkb-keymap=us netcfg/get_hostname={{ user `hostname` }} netcfg/get_domain={{ user `domain` }} fb=false debconf/frontend=noninteractive preseed/late_command="wget -O - http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/preseed_default_late_command.sh | /bin/sh -s {{ .HTTPIP }} {{ .HTTPPort }} " "
                ]
            ],
            "qemu_binary": "qemu-system-arm",
            "shutdown_timeout": "2h30m",
            "use_backing_file": false,
            "vm_name": "{{ user `hostname` }}{{ user `vm_name_suffix` }}"
        }
    ]
}
Provisioning Script

A file named preseed_default_late_command.sh such as the following in the preseed-dir subdirectory

#!/bin/sh

set -e

wget -O /target/etc/ssh/sshd_config http://${1}:${2}/sshd_config_buster
sed -i -e '1,$s/^\(deb cdrom.*\)/#\1/' /target/etc/apt/sources.list

exit 0
A Provisioning SSH Server Config

A file named ssh_config_buster such as the following in the preseed-dir subdirectory:

# $OpenBSD: sshd_config,v 1.103 2018/04/09 20:41:22 tj Exp $

# This is the sshd server system-wide configuration file. See
# sshd_config(5) for more information.

# This sshd was compiled with PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin

# The strategy used for options in the default sshd_config shipped with
# OpenSSH is to specify options with their default value where
# possible, but leave them commented. Uncommented options override the
# default value.

#Port 22
#AddressFamily any
#ListenAddress 0.0.0.0
#ListenAddress ::

#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key

# Ciphers and keying
#RekeyLimit default none

# Logging
#SyslogFacility AUTH
#LogLevel INFO

# Authentication:

#LoginGraceTime 2m
#PermitRootLogin prohibit-password
PermitRootLogin yes
#StrictModes yes
#MaxAuthTries 6
#MaxSessions 10

#PubkeyAuthentication yes

# Expect .ssh/authorized_keys2 to be disregarded by default in future.
#AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys .ssh/authorized_keys2

#AuthorizedPrincipalsFile none

#AuthorizedKeysCommand none
#AuthorizedKeysCommandUser nobody

# For this to work you will also need host keys in /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
#HostbasedAuthentication no
# Change to yes if you don't trust ~/.ssh/known_hosts for
# HostbasedAuthentication
#IgnoreUserKnownHosts no
# Don't read the user's ~/.rhosts and ~/.shosts files
#IgnoreRhosts yes

# To disable tunnelled clear text passwords, change to no here!
#PasswordAuthentication yes
#PermitEmptyPasswords no

# Change to yes to enable challenge-response passwords (beware issues with
# some PAM modules and threads)
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no

# Kerberos options
#KerberosAuthentication no
#KerberosOrLocalPasswd yes
#KerberosTicketCleanup yes
#KerberosGetAFSToken no

# GSSAPI options
#GSSAPIAuthentication no
#GSSAPICleanupCredentials yes
#GSSAPIStrictAcceptorCheck yes
#GSSAPIKeyExchange no

# Set this to 'yes' to enable PAM authentication, account processing,
# and session processing. If this is enabled, PAM authentication will
# be allowed through the ChallengeResponseAuthentication and
# PasswordAuthentication. Depending on your PAM configuration,
# PAM authentication via ChallengeResponseAuthentication may bypass
# the setting of "PermitRootLogin without-password".
# If you just want the PAM account and session checks to run without
# PAM authentication, then enable this but set PasswordAuthentication
# and ChallengeResponseAuthentication to 'no'.
UsePAM yes

#AllowAgentForwarding yes
#AllowTcpForwarding yes
#GatewayPorts no
X11Forwarding yes
#X11DisplayOffset 10
#X11UseLocalhost yes
#PermitTTY yes
PrintMotd no
#PrintLastLog yes
#TCPKeepAlive yes
#PermitUserEnvironment no
#Compression delayed
#ClientAliveInterval 0
#ClientAliveCountMax 3
#UseDNS no
#PidFile /var/run/sshd.pid
#MaxStartups 10:30:100
#PermitTunnel no
#ChrootDirectory none
#VersionAddendum none

# no default banner path
#Banner none

# Allow client to pass locale environment variables
AcceptEnv LANG LC_*

# override default of no subsystems
Subsystem sftp /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server

# Example of overriding settings on a per-user basis
#Match User anoncvs
# X11Forwarding no
# AllowTcpForwarding no
# PermitTTY no
# ForceCommand cvs server
A Packer ‘var-file’

A packer ‘var-file’ (JSON) such as the following named preseed-image-armhf-uefi-debian-10-var-file.json

{
    "accelerator": "tcg",
    "armhf_kernel": "/home/user/Downloads/armhf-debian-10.6-buster-vmlinuz",
    "armhf_initrd": "/home/user/Downloads/armhf-debian-10.6-buster-initrd.gz",
    "domain": "example.net",
    "hostname": "preseed-image",
    "iso_checksum": "d0ca0c307fb86499748dee06ca1a2c8a2df1d574b98c14f605d8333eadac7e9f74d8d6a940f1fe34946ce91e4f73189bd1714176860382e14d1fed8483c2f6a6",
    "iso_checksum_type": "sha512",
    "iso_src_url_prefix": "file:///home/user/Downloads/",
    "iso_src_path_prefix": "/home/user/Downloads/",
    "iso_name": "debian-10.6.0-armhf-xfce-CD-1.iso",
    "machine_type": "virt-2.12,gic-version=2",
    "memory_size": "2048",
    "os_disk_size": "8192",
    "output_compression": "true",
    "output_format": "qcow2",
    "uefi_firmware_CODE_path": "/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_CODE.fd",
    "uefi_firmware_VARS_path": "output/armhf-uefi-debian-10.6_VARS/armhf-uefi-debian-10.6_VARS.fd",
    "vm_name_suffix": "-armhf-uefi-buster-packer.qcow2"
}
Create UEFI VAR ‘flash’ file
  1. Execute mkdir -p output/armhf-uefi-debian-10.6_VARS
  2. Execute truncate -s 64M output/armhf-uefi-debian-10.6_VARS
Optional: A serial terminal

If you want to watch the progress of the install you will need a serial terminal program that works with a Linux pty as the serial input/output. picocom is a good choice.

Execute Packer Command

  1. Execute

    PACKER_LOG=1 packer build -var-file preseed-image-armhf-uefi-debian-10-var-file.json qemu-iso-armhf-uefi-packer-template.json
    
  2. The packer command while take a long time (probably over an hour and a half). To watch the progress point your serial terminal program at the PTY device with baud rate 115200, pointed to by the line Qemu stdout: char device redirected to /dev/pts/xin the packer output. ‘x’ will be a number. For example picocom -b 115200 /dev/pts/3 if x was 3.

Extract the Kernel and Initramfs (vmlinuz and initrd.img)

  1. Change to the output directory containing the generated image.

  2. Execute guestfish -i -a <name-of-image-file>

  3. Execute ls /boot to find the names of the newest vmlinuz and initrd.img (you don’t want the plain vmlinuz and initrd.img because they are just symlinks).

  4. Execute

    copy-out /boot/vmlinuz-x.x.x-x-armmp-lpae /boot/initrd.img-x.x.x-x-armmp-lpae ./
    
  5. Execute exit

  6. Copy the vmlinuz an initrd.img files to a directory that you can use with the subsequent Packer provisioning step. For this guide we use /home/user/Documents/Artifacts.

Upload packer image using virsh

  1. ls -al *.qcow2

  2. Execute

    virsh -c qemu+ssh://user@host/system vol-upload --pool default --vol preseeded-armhf-uefi-image-preseed-image-xxxx-xx-xx-xx-xx.qcow2 --file preseeded-armhf-uefi-image-preseed-image-xxxx-xx-xx-xx-xx.qcow2
    

Create the ARM VM using Virtual Machine Manager

  1. Launch “Virtual Machine Manager” (virt-manager from the command line).

  2. Select ‘Edit|Prefrences’

  3. Make sure ‘Enable XML editing’ is checked

  4. Select ‘File|New Virtual Machine’

  5. Select ‘Import existing disk image’

  6. Change ‘Architecture options’ to Architecture: ‘arm’, Machine Type: ‘virt-2.12’. (virt-3.0 and virt-3.1 are known to not work with this guide; newer and older versions likely will work).

  7. Select ‘Browse…’, select a virtual image you uploaded above, and select ‘Choose Volume’.

    1. Alternatively, if you want to use this image for more than one virtual machine, then create a new virtual hard drive and use the uploaded virtual image as a ‘backing store’.
  8. Set the operating system to ‘Debian10’

  9. Select ‘Forward’

  10. Configure the amount of memory and cpus (max 4) and select ‘Forward’

  11. Set the VM name and check ‘Customize configuration before install`

  12. Select the appropriate network device for your virtual hosting setup.

  13. Click ‘Finish’

  14. Change ‘Firmware’ to ‘Custom: /usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_CODE.fd’ and click ‘Apply’.

  15. Select ‘Begin installation’

  16. The system will drop to an EFI prompt.

Configure EFI to Boot Debian

  1. Execute bcfg add 0 FS0:EFI\debian\grubarm.efi "Linux"
  2. Execute reset
  3. VM should reboot into Debian GNU/Linux.

Option 2: Feed the Image to a Packer Provisioning Run

You need a few files:

Output From the Preseed Stage

This guide assumes you have copied the …_VARS.fd, hard drive image (….qcow2), and kernel (vmlinuz) and initramfs (initrd.img) into /home/user/Documents/Artifacts.

Packer Template

You could name this qemu-ansible-armhf-blog-uefi-template.json

{
    "variables": {
        "accelerator": "none",
        "admin_password": "Should fail unless overridden via other variable input.",
        "admin_user": "example-admin",
        "armhf_kernel": "",
        "armhf_initrd": "",
        "build_time": "{{isotime "2006-01-02-15-04"}}",
        "domain": "",
        "hostname": "",
        "iso_checksum": "",
        "iso_checksum_type": "sha512",
        "iso_src_url_prefix": "",
        "iso_name": "",
        "machine_type": "virt",
        "memory_size": "1024",
        "os_disk_size": "8192",
        "output_compression": "true",
        "output_format": "qcow2",
        "provisioning_groups": "",
        "ssh_boot_password": "example-provision-password",
        "uefi_firmware_CODE_path": "/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_CODE.fd",
        "uefi_firmware_VARS_path": "",
        "vm_name_suffix": "-os.qcow2"
    },
    "sensitive-variables": [
        "admin_password",
        "ssh_boot_password"
    ],
    "builders": [
        {
            "type": "qemu",
            "accelerator": "{{ user `accelerator` }}",
            "cpus": 4,
            "disable_vnc": true,
            "disk_compression":"{{ user `output_compression` }}",
            "disk_image": true,
            "disk_size": "{{ user `os_disk_size` }}",
            "headless": true,
            "format": "{{ user `output_format` }}",
            "iso_checksum": "{{ user `iso_checksum_type` }}:{{ user `iso_checksum` }}",
            "iso_target_extension": "qcow2",
            "iso_url": "{{ user `iso_src_url_prefix` }}/{{ user `iso_name` }}",
            "machine_type": "{{ user `machine_type` }}",
            "memory": "{{ user `memory_size` }}",
            "net_device": "virtio-net-pci",
            "output_directory": "output/output-armhf-uefi-{{ user `hostname` }}-{{user `build_time`}}",
            "qemuargs": [
                [ "-display", "none" ],
                [ "-kernel", "{{ user `armhf_kernel` }}" ],
                [ "-initrd", "{{ user `armhf_initrd` }}" ],
                [ "-boot", "menu=off,order=cd,strict=on" ],
                [ "-serial", "mon:pty" ],
                [ "-machine", "{{ user `machine_type` }},accel={{ user `accelerator` }},usb=off,dump-guest-core=off,gic-version=2,pflash0=pflash0-format,pflash1=pflash1-format" ],
                [ "-drive", "file=output/output-armhf-uefi-{{ user `hostname` }}-{{user `build_time`}}/{{ .Name }},if=virtio,cache=writeback,discard=ignore,format=qcow2" ],
                [ "-blockdev", "driver=file,filename=/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_CODE.fd,node-name=pflash0-storage,auto-read-only=on,discard=unmap" ],
                [ "-blockdev", "node-name=pflash0-format,read-only=on,driver=raw,file=pflash0-storage" ],
                [ "-blockdev", "driver=file,filename={{ user `uefi_firmware_VARS_path` }},node-name=pflash1-storage,auto-read-only=on,discard=unmap" ],
                [ "-blockdev", "node-name=pflash1-format,read-only=off,driver=raw,file=pflash1-storage" ],
                [ "-append", "elevator=noop noresume root=/dev/vda4" ]
            ],
            "qemu_binary": "qemu-system-arm",
            "shutdown_command": "su -c '( sleep 10 && echo {{ user `admin_password` }} ) | sudo -u root -S shutdown -P now' {{ user `admin_user` }}",
            "ssh_password": "{{ user `ssh_boot_password` }}",
            "ssh_timeout": "10m",
            "ssh_username": "root",
            "use_backing_file": false,
            "vm_name": "{{ user `hostname` }}{{ user `vm_name_suffix` }}"
        }
    ],
    "provisioners": [
        {
            "type": "shell",
            "expect_disconnect": true,
            "inline": [
                "hostnamectl set-hostname {{ user `hostname` }}",
                "sed -i -e '1,$s/preseed-image/{{ user `hostname` }}/g' /etc/hosts",
                "systemctl reboot"
            ]
        },
        {
            "type": "ansible",
            "groups": "{{ user `provisioning_groups` }}",
            "host_alias": "{{ user `hostname` }}.{{ user `domain` }}",
            "playbook_file": "playbook-armhf-uefi-blog-example.yml",
            "user": "root"
        }
    ]
}

A Packer ‘var-file’

You could name this arm-devel-blog-uefi-var-file.json

{
    "accelerator": "tcg",
    "admin_user": "example-admin",
    "armhf_kernel": "/home/user/Documents/Artifacts/preseeded-armhf-uefi-image-preseed-image-2020-11-11-10-29/vmlinuz-4.19.0-12-armmp-lpae",
    "armhf_initrd": "/home/user/Documents/Artifacts/preseeded-armhf-uefi-image-preseed-image-2020-11-11-10-29/initrd.img-4.19.0-12-armmp-lpae",
    "domain": "example.net",
    "hostname": "arm-devel",
    "iso_checksum": "6aeecc54be02d3cf51e65dd6f592c7f6b4c3d4ad7663cbdd824f2d895f5509bcee9ec9c858d79b7bb97071a0f24a4ab6144c992fe8a6101d96fa8d0922645532",
    "iso_checksum_type": "sha512",
    "iso_src_url_prefix": "file:///home/user/Documents/Artifacts/preseeded-armhf-uefi-image-preseed-image-2020-11-11-10-29/",
    "iso_name": "preseed-image-armhf-uefi-buster-packer.qcow2",
    "machine_type": "virt-2.12",
    "memory_size": "2048",
    "os_disk_size": "8192",
    "output_compression": "true",
    "output_format": "qcow2",
    "provisioning_groups": "apt_no_proxy,devel_hosts,dhcp,unattended_upgraders,first_regular_user,vm_guest_type_kvm,vm_role_guest,not_wsl",
    "uefi_firmware_CODE_path": "/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_CODE.fd",
    "uefi_firmware_VARS_path": "/home/user/Documents/Artifacts/preseeded-arm-uefi-image-preseed-image-2020-11-11-10-29/armhf-uefi-debian-10.6_VARS.fd",
    "vm_name_suffix": "-os.qcow2"
}

Admin Password Var File

You could call this password-var-file.json. I recommend you do NOT place this version control, and that you make it readable by the user only (e.g. chmod 600 password-var-file.json), and that you delete it when finished creating the image.

{
    "admin_password": "example-admin-password"
}

Ansible Playbook and Support Files

  • The following is a very simple ansible playbook for demonstration purposes as the use of Ansible is beyond the scope of this article.

  • Also note that Packer can use many provisioners, so if you don’t like Ansible you have other choices.

  • NB Password really shouldn’t be included in playbooks.

  • This playbook assumes you have an SSH public/private keypair in your home directory’s .ssh subdirectory. If this is not true, please generate one with ssh-keygen -t rsa.

  • You should name this playbook-armhf-uefi-blog-example.yml.

- hosts: all
  vars:
    admin_user_name: example-admin
    admin_user_password: example-admin-password
    admin_groups:
    - sudo
    - adm
    - operator
    - staff
    first_user_name: example-user
    first_user_password: example-user-password
    first_user_groups:
    - users

  tasks:
    - name: Configure local admin user
      tags:
        - admin_user
        - ssh
      become: yes
      block:
        - name: Configure group for local admin user
          group:
            name: "{{ admin_user_name }}"
            system: yes
            state: present
        - name: Add local admin user system groups
          group:
            name: "{{ item }}"
            system: yes
            state: present
        loop: "{{ admin_groups | union(['{{ admin_user_name }}'] ) }}"
    - name: Configure local admin user
      user:
        name: "{{ admin_user_name }}"
        password: "{{ admin_user_password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
        system: yes
        create_home: yes
        expires:
        shell: "/bin/bash"
        group: "{{ admin_user_group_name | default(admin_user_name) }}"
        groups: "{{ admin_groups }}"
        state: present
  - name: Configure SSH authorized keys for local admin user
    vars:
        admin_user_public_key:
        - ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
        authorized_key:
            user: "{{ admin_user_name }}"
            state: present
            key: "{{ lookup('file', lookup('first_found', admin_user_public_key)) }}"
            exclusive: True

  - name: Install QEMU guest agent
    apt:
    name: "qemu-guest-agent"
    state: present

  - name: Configure local regular user
    tags:
    - regular_user
    - ssh
    become: yes
    block:
      - name: Configure group for first regular user
        group:
        name: "{{ first_user_name }}"
        state: present
      - name: Add first regular user system groups
        group:
            name: "{{ item }}"
            system: yes
            state: present
        loop: "{{ first_user_groups }}"
      - name: Configure first regular user
        user:
            name: "{{ first_user_name }}"
            password: "{{ first_user_password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
            comment: "{{ first_user_comment | default(omit) }}"
            create_home: yes
            expires:
            shell: "/bin/bash"
            group: "{{ first_user_name }}"
            groups: "{{ first_user_groups }}"
            state: present
      - name: Configure SSH authorized keys for local admin user
        vars:
            first_user_public_key:
            - ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
            authorized_key:
            user: "{{ first_user_name }}"
            state: present
            key: "{{ lookup('file', lookup('first_found', first_user_public_key)) }}"
            exclusive: True

  - name: Install packages for debian family hosts
    become: yes
    vars:
        devel_packages:
        -  autoconf
        -  autoconf-doc
        -  automake
        -  autopoint
        -  autotools-dev
        -  build-essential
        -  debootstrap
        -  fakechroot
        -  fakeroot
        -  gawk
        -  libncurses-dev
        -  libncurses5-dev
        -  libncursesw5-dev
        -  quilt
    apt:
        name: "{{ devel_packages }}"
        state: present

  - name: Add ifupdown configs as appropriate
    vars:
        iface_fragments:
        enp1s0:
        inet6_type: auto
        become: yes
    block:
      - name: Add ifupdown and related packages
        apt:
          name:
            - ifupdown
            - ethtool
            - isc-dhcp-client
          state: present
      - name: Add configuration for ifupdown
        block:
        - name: Add base interfaces file
          copy:
            src: interfaces
            dest: /etc/network/interfaces
            owner: root
            group: root
            mode: 0644
  - name: Create interfaces fragments directory
    file:
        path: /etc/network/interfaces.d
        owner: root
        group: root
        mode: 0755
        state: directory
  - name: Add interfaces fragments files
    template:
        src: interfaces.d.j2
        dest: "/etc/network/interfaces.d/{{ item.key }}"
        owner: root
        group: root
        mode: 0644
    loop: "{{ iface_fragments|default({})|dict2items }}"

  - name: Configure SSH
    become: yes
    block:
      - name: Add final sshd_config
        copy:
            dest: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
            owner: root
            group: root
            mode: 0755
            src: "sshd_config.sample"

  - name: Configure local root user
    tags:
    - root_user
    become: yes
    user:
      name: "{{ root_user_name | default('root') }}"
      password: "{{ root_user_password | default('*') }}"
      state: present

Support File: SSH Server Config

This should be in the files subdirectory and named sshd_config.sample.

# $OpenBSD: sshd_config,v 1.103 2018/04/09 20:41:22 tj Exp $

# This is the sshd server system-wide configuration file. See
# sshd_config(5) for more information.

# This sshd was compiled with PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin

# The strategy used for options in the default sshd_config shipped with
# OpenSSH is to specify options with their default value where
# possible, but leave them commented. Uncommented options override the
# default value.

#Port 22
#AddressFamily any
#ListenAddress 0.0.0.0
#ListenAddress ::

#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key

# Ciphers and keying
#RekeyLimit default none

# Logging
#SyslogFacility AUTH
#LogLevel INFO

# Authentication:

#LoginGraceTime 2m
#PermitRootLogin prohibit-password
PermitRootLogin no
#StrictModes yes
#MaxAuthTries 6
#MaxSessions 10

#PubkeyAuthentication yes

# Expect .ssh/authorized_keys2 to be disregarded by default in future.
#AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys .ssh/authorized_keys2

#AuthorizedPrincipalsFile none

#AuthorizedKeysCommand none
#AuthorizedKeysCommandUser nobody

# For this to work you will also need host keys in /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
#HostbasedAuthentication no
# Change to yes if you don't trust ~/.ssh/known_hosts for
# HostbasedAuthentication
#IgnoreUserKnownHosts no
# Don't read the user's ~/.rhosts and ~/.shosts files
#IgnoreRhosts yes

# To disable tunnelled clear text passwords, change to no here!
#PasswordAuthentication yes
PasswordAuthentication no
#PermitEmptyPasswords no

# Change to yes to enable challenge-response passwords (beware issues with
# some PAM modules and threads)
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no

# Kerberos options
#KerberosAuthentication no
#KerberosOrLocalPasswd yes
#KerberosTicketCleanup yes
#KerberosGetAFSToken no

# GSSAPI options
#GSSAPIAuthentication no
#GSSAPICleanupCredentials yes
#GSSAPIStrictAcceptorCheck yes
#GSSAPIKeyExchange no

# Set this to 'yes' to enable PAM authentication, account processing,
# and session processing. If this is enabled, PAM authentication will
# be allowed through the ChallengeResponseAuthentication and
# PasswordAuthentication. Depending on your PAM configuration,
# PAM authentication via ChallengeResponseAuthentication may bypass
# the setting of "PermitRootLogin without-password".
# If you just want the PAM account and session checks to run without
# PAM authentication, then enable this but set PasswordAuthentication
# and ChallengeResponseAuthentication to 'no'.
UsePAM yes

#AllowAgentForwarding yes
#AllowTcpForwarding yes
#GatewayPorts no
X11Forwarding yes
#X11DisplayOffset 10
#X11UseLocalhost yes
#PermitTTY yes
PrintMotd no
#PrintLastLog yes
#TCPKeepAlive yes
#PermitUserEnvironment no
#Compression delayed
#ClientAliveInterval 0
#ClientAliveCountMax 3
#UseDNS no
#PidFile /var/run/sshd.pid
#MaxStartups 10:30:100
#PermitTunnel no
#ChrootDirectory none
#VersionAddendum none

# no default banner path
#Banner none

# Allow client to pass locale environment variables
AcceptEnv LANG LC_*

# override default of no subsystems
Subsystem sftp /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server

# Example of overriding settings on a per-user basis
#Match User anoncvs
# X11Forwarding no
# AllowTcpForwarding no
# PermitTTY no
# ForceCommand cvs server

Support File: Network Configuration (interfaces) File

This should be in the templates subdirectory and named interfaces.d.j2

# {{ ansible_managed }}

auto {{ item.key }}
allow-hotplug {{ item.key }}

iface {{ item.key }} inet {{ item.value['inet_type'] | default((inventory_hostname in groups['dhcp']) | ternary ('dhcp','static')) }}
{% if item.value['bridge_ports'] is defined %}
  bridge_ports {{ item.value['bridge_ports'] }}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['bridge_vlan_aware'] is defined %}
  bridge_vlan_aware {{ item.value['bridge_vlan_aware'] | ternary('on','off') }}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['addresses'] is defined -%}
{%- for aitem in item.value['addresses'] %}
  address {{ aitem }}
{% endfor -%}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['gateways'] is defined -%}
{%- for aitem in item.value['gateways'] %}
  gateway {{ aitem }}
{% endfor -%}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['ups'] is defined -%}
{%- for aitem in item.value['ups'] %}
  up {{ aitem }}
{% endfor -%}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['downs'] is defined -%}
{%- for aitem in item.value['downs'] %}
  down {{ aitem }}
{% endfor -%}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['extrav4block'] is defined %}
  {{ item.value['extrav4block'] }}
{% endif %}

{% if item.value['inet6_type'] is defined %}
iface {{ item.key }} inet6 {{ item.value['inet6_type'] }}
{% if item.value['bridge_ports'] is defined %}
  bridge_ports {{ item.value['bridge_ports'] }}
{% endif -%}
{%- if item.value['bridge_vlan_aware'] is defined %}
  bridge_vlan_aware {{ item.value['bridge_vlan_aware'] | ternary('on','off')}}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['v6addresses'] is defined -%}
{%- for aitem in item.value['v6addresses'] %}
  address {{ aitem }}
{% endfor -%}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['v6gateways'] is defined -%}
{%- for aitem in item.value['v6gateways'] %}
  gateway {{ aitem }}
{% endfor -%}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['v6ups'] is defined -%}
{%- for aitem in item.value['v6ups'] %}
  up {{ aitem }}
{% endfor -%}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['v6downs'] is defined -%}
{%- for aitem in item.value['v6downs'] %}
  down {{ aitem }}
{% endfor -%}
{% endif -%}
{% if item.value['extrav6block'] is defined %}
  {{ item.value['extrav6block'] }}
{% endif -%}
{% endif -%}

Optional: A serial terminal

  • If you want to watch the virtual machines boot screens you will need a serial terminal program that works with a Linux pty as the serial input/output. picocom is a good choice. Unlike the preseed phase, very little actually happens on this terminal.

  • I recommend omitting PACKER_LOG=1 in the command below and not bothering to watch the terminal; this will also make the provisioning output much easier to read.

Execute Packer Command

  1. Execute

    PACKER_LOG=1 packer build -var-file arm-devel-blog-uefi-var-file.json -var-file password-var-file.json qemu-ansible-armhf-blog-uefi-template.json
    
  2. The packer command will take a while (probably over ten minutes). To watch the progress point your serial terminal program at the PTY device with baud rate 115200, pointed to by the line Qemu stdout: char device redirected to /dev/pts/xin the packer output. ‘x’ will be a number. For example picocom -b 115200 /dev/pts/3 if x was 3.

Use the Image

Upload instance image using virsh

  1. ls -al *.qcow2

  2. Execute

    virsh -c qemu+ssh://user@host/system vol-create-as --pool default --name preseeded-armhf-no-efi-image-preseed-image-xxxx-xx-xx-xx-xx.qcow2 --format qcow2 --allocation <size-from-ls> --capacity <size-from-ls>
    
  3. Execute

    virsh -c qemu+ssh://user@host/system vol-upload --pool default --vol preseeded-armhf-uefi-image-preseed-image-xxxx-xx-xx-xx-xx.qcow2 --file preseeded-armhf-uefi-image-preseed-image-xxxx-xx-xx-xx-xx.qcow2
    

Create the ARM VM instance using Virtual Machine Manager

  1. Launch “Virtual Machine Manager” (virt-manager from the command line).

  2. Select ‘Edit|Prefrences’

  3. Make sure ‘Enable XML editing’ is checked

  4. Select ‘File|New Virtual Machine’

  5. Select ‘Import existing disk image’

  6. Change ‘Architecture options’ to Architecture: ‘arm’, Machine Type: ‘virt-2.12’. (virt-3.0 and virt-3.1 are known to not work with this guide; newer and older versions likely will work).

  7. Select ‘Browse…’, select a virtual image you uploaded above, and select ‘Choose Volume’.

    1. Alternatively, if you want to use this image for more than one virtual machine, then create a new virtual hard drive and use the uploaded virtual image as a ‘backing store’.
  8. Set the operating system to ‘Debian10’

  9. Select ‘Forward’

  10. Configure the amount of memory and cpus (max 4) and select ‘Forward’

  11. Set the VM name and check ‘Customize configuration before install`

  12. Select the appropriate network device for your virtual hosting setup.

  13. Click ‘Finish’

  14. Change ‘Firmware’ to ‘Custom: /usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_CODE.fd’ and click ‘Apply’.

  15. Select ‘Begin installation’

  16. The system will drop to an EFI prompt.

Configure EFI to Boot Debian Instance

  1. Execute bcfg boot add 0 FS0:EFI\debian\grubarm.efi "Linux"
  2. Execute reset
  3. VM should reboot into Debian GNU/Linux.

Boot at Will

Your UEFI ARM Hard Float Virtual Machine is now ready for use.