6. Performing ISO Install Tests

Beginning with Ubuntu 22.04, tests must be performed to ensure that the SUT can be installed manually with physical installation media (optical discs or USB flash drives). (For purposes of this test, a BMC’s virtual media support counts as “physical media.”) These tests may be run before or after the bulk of the certification tests, as just described. Results are submitted in a similar way and those results must be referenced in the main submission, as described shortly. To perform these tests:

  1. Download an Ubuntu installation image from https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-server/daily-live/current/. Be sure to retrieve the server install image (ubuntu-24.04-live-server-amd64.iso or a variant for your SUT’s architecture).

  2. Write the image to a bootable medium. There are several ways to do this, including:

    • You can use any optical disc burner program to write the image to a DVD+R or similar medium if the SUT has an optical drive. (Note that a CD-R is not large enough to hold the image; you must use a DVD-sized medium.)

    • You can use the Linux dd command to write the image to a USB flash drive, as in sudo dd if=ubuntu-24.04-live-server-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdd status=progress, changing /dev/sdd to whatever device file accesses your USB flash drive. (WARNING: Specifying the wrong device file can wipe out a hard disk!) Be sure the target disk is large enough to hold the image; it’s about 1.4 GiB.

    • For information on creating a bootable USB drive from Windows or using GUI Linux tools, see the Burning ISO HOWTO.

    • To use the SUT’s BMC to map the .iso file to a virtual medium, consult the SUT’s documentation.

  3. Prepare the SUT. For the most part, the SUT must be configured as described earlier, in Setting up the SUT for Testing; however, for this test, it must boot from the removable medium. This can be done on a one-time basis by using the computer’s one-time boot option, as described shortly.

  4. Insert the Ubuntu Live Server medium in the SUT or link the .iso image file as a virtual medium using the computer’s BMC.

  5. Acquire console access. This can be a physical keyboard and monitor connected directly to the computer or a remote KVM provided by the computer’s BMC or a remote KVM device.

  6. Power on (or reboot) the server.

  7. At the appropriate point in the boot process, enter the computer’s boot options menu. This is typically done by hitting F10, F12, Esc, or some other key at a critical point. The key to press is usually prompted when it becomes relevant. Consult the server’s documentation for details. You can then select the boot medium for booting. The boot medium is usually (but not always) identified by brand name; for instance, an ADATA USB flash drive will be identified by that brand name. In some cases, two options appear for the boot medium, one of which includes the string “UEFI” and one of which doesn’t. Select the “UEFI” option if it’s present.

  8. Install Ubuntu Live Sever. The Setting up the SUT for Testing Tutorial describes how to do this in detail. For the most part, you can install as described in that Tutorial and using whatever options are appropriate for your network; however, some items to which you may need to pay special attention include:

    • At least one active network device is desirable for machine access and to transfer results from the SUT to C3; however, the ISO-install test does not explicitly test network connections. Therefore, you may opt to configure just one network device if that’s convenient.

    • Certification testing normally requires a “flat” (non-LVM) storage configuration; however, the ISO-install test does not test storage, so this requirement is waived for this test. The Live Server installation defaults to an LVM configuration. You can leave this as-is or change it, as you see fit.

    • You can use any username and password you desire. Be sure to remember both so that you can log in.

    • Installing the OpenSSH server is desirable if you want to access the server remotely; however, this capability is not required if you have physical access to the server, or access via a BMC’s remote KVM functionality. If you do install the OpenSSH server, you will have the option to install remote access credentials from Launchpad or GitHub. Doing so will simplify access.

    • When asked whether to install any of the “featured server snaps,” leave them all de-selected; none are required.

  9. When the installation is complete, reboot into the installed system and log in. You can log in at the console, remotely via a KVM, or remotely via SSH.

  10. Install the Server Test Suite by typing the following commands:

    $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:checkbox-dev/beta
$ sudo apt install canonical-certification-server

  11. Type test-iso-install. This command runs the ISO-install test.

    • You will be prompted for your password early in the test run. Enter it to proceed.

    • The test should take about 2-5 minutes to run. At the end of the test run, you will be asked whether to submit test results. Respond Y to do so. You will then be asked to enter a test description and the computer’s SID value, as with a full test run.

    • If the SUT has no direct Internet access, you can instead extract the test files and submit them from another computer, as described in the next section, Manually Uploading Test Results to the Certification Site.

  12. If you’ve already created a certificate request based on the main test run submission, you should locate that certificate request on C3 and add a note that points to the URL of the results you’ve just uploaded for the ISO-install test. If you have not yet submitted the machine’s main results, you will have to create a Note linking to the ISO-install test after you submit those results. (See the upcoming section, Requesting a Certificate, for information on that process, including attaching Notes to certificate requests.)