Ubuntu 24.04 based with ZFSBootMenu / rEFInd (UEFI) / Syslinux (BIOS) managed boot environments

New Features

• Builds Ubuntu 24.04 LTS "noble".
• Support for SSH 2FA with Google Authenticator.
• apt source files use new format and locations.
• ZFS Boot Menu is now package based and not built from source during install.
• Added support for LZ4 zswap compressed page cache in front of swap file.

Fixes

• Numerous small fixes/changes required by linter.
• Changed default rEFInd background image to be easier on the eyes.
• Changed basic_checks from ansible.builtin.fail to ansible.bultin.assert.
• Removed last few hard coded partition numbers to be variable based.
• Restricted default permission on created Netplan config files.
• Tweaks to required packages and when they are installed.
• rEFInd boot menu logo filenames are no longer hard coded logo.jpg.
• Syslinux Memtest86 versions no longer hard coded, install version is now variable based.
• Only show default encryption password reminder, if encryption is enabled.
• Create .ssh directory for provisioned users and set perms.
• Renumbered internal task file names to be more consistent, used numbers previously skipped.
• Removed old package references no longer offered in 24.04 such as lilo.

DOC Updates

• Updated screens shots for 24.04 versions.
• Added more details on Ansible directory structure.
• Added 2FA Google Authenticator QR code examples.
• Updated chroot recovery instructions.

Ubuntu 22.04 Bug Fixes / Minor Enhancements

• NEW: Support for Refind banner Image named "logo.jpg"
• NEW: Support for Syslinux banner Image named "logo-sm.jpg"
• NEW: Include two dark background images for Refind/Syslinux boot loader
• NEW: ZFS Read Only commands without sudo enabled
• FIX: ZFS Boot Menu grabs latest stable not latest development
• FIX: Updated support for Ubuntu Hardware Enablement (newer kernels)
• FIX: Removed "partprobe" which tended to fail and stop Ansible progress
• FIX: Many YAML formatting changes as per linter
• FIX: zfs-snapshot-bootfs.service invalid entries
• FIX: zfs-rollback-bootfs.service invalid entries
• FIX: Dracut without Dropbear does not make Ethernet required (help with laptops boot hang)
• FIX: ZFS Load-Key Service targets ROOT dataset and its child datasets only (should be quicker load for systems with lots of datasets with keys unavailable)
• DOC: Updated README.md
• WIP: Partition Drive Helper script update

Ubuntu 22.04 based with ZFSBootMenu / rEFInd (UEFI) / Syslinux (BIOS) managed boot environments

BREAKING CHANGES:

• Everything. Not compatible with previous 20.04 ZFS on Root method.

Improvements:

• No more GRUB Boot Loader / No more bpool/rpool combination, just single pool.

• ESP (EFI System Partitions) are now mdadm mirrors. Keep all partitions in sync.
• NEW: Added MSMTP Simple SMTP Email Agent (system alerts).
• NEW: Added ZED Service Email Notification.
• NEW: Added Support for APT-Cacher-NG used to cache Ubuntu packages locally on your network.
• FIX: do_ssh.sh helper script will now terminate on failed package download.
• NEW: Added Additional Install Package List to define what should be in your standard builds.
• NEW: add_user.sh helper script to create ZFS dataset as home directory for a new user.
• NEW: ZFS "initial snapshot" now taken at end of installation.
• NEW: Define a list of packages to MARK HOLD which can conflict with non-GRUB bootloaders.
• NEW: All YAML files updated per linter recommendations.

Initial Public Pre-Release

This has undergone extensive internal testing under Virtual-box, and I have used this to build all my home lab servers. This is my initial release to the public.