[Bug 2070320] Re: Autoinstall with apt deb822 source on noble does not override '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu.sources' despite 'preserve_sources_list: false'

[Chris Peterson]

So I've dug into this and I wouldn't say this is a bug, but just the apt
section being terribly confusing to reason about.

Curtin will always render a sources.list or ubuntu.sources file either
using the template built into the ISO (of the same name) or using what
is provided to the "sources_list" key. Setting "preserve_sources_list:
false" will make sure this file is not overwritten by cloud-init on
first boot.

The "sources" dictionary is only ever additive and does not change the
sources.list/ubuntu.sources file, unless you name your source with the
same name (and I think the smart thing here is done here by appending to
the file instead of overwriting). Further, this section is not affected
by the "preserve_sources_list" key. Any extra sources that end up in
sources.list.d will stay there.

I think behavior this is sensible, if only unclear on first pass. The
template includes the base sources required to install Ubuntu and I
imagine most of the time when a user specifies the "sources" key, they
just want to include sources in addition to the defaults.

That being said, I think you can achieve what you're looking for using
the example from the documentation page
(https://curtin.readthedocs.io/en/latest/topics/apt_source.html),
modified for your use case:


 apt:
  preserve_sources_list: false
  primary:
    - arches [default]
      uri: http://landscape.home/repository/standalone/ubuntu/
  sources:
    landscapekey:
      key: | # full key as block
        -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
        ...
        -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----


Alternatively, "sources_list" accepts the deb822 format in 24.04, so you could do something like this which will give you a little more control:

  apt:
    sources_list: |
        Types: deb
        URIs: http://landscape.home/repository/standalone/ubuntu/
        Suites: noble noble-updates noble-security
        Components: main universe restricted multiverse
        Signed-By: 16234E77E46C9DE644E1F4F4DA787C193976C85B
        Architectures: amd64
    sources:
      landscapekey:
        key: | # full key as block
          -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
          ...
          -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----


I'm going to mark this bug as Invalid since it's not a regression like I
thought it was.

** Changed in: subiquity (Ubuntu)
       Status: Triaged => Invalid

** Changed in: subiquity (Ubuntu)
     Assignee: Chris Peterson (cpete) => (unassigned)

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2070320

Title:
  Autoinstall with apt deb822 source on noble does not override
  '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu.sources' despite
  'preserve_sources_list: false'

Status in subiquity package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid

Bug description:
  When using the following apt section on autoinstall, it does not
  replace the existing ubuntu sources despite the preserve_sources_list
  variable being set to false. It does appear to replace
  /etc/apt/sources.list, but this file is no longer used in Ubuntu
  24.04.

  ======
  apt:
    preserve_sources_list: false
    fallback: abort
    geoip: false
    sources:
      landscape.sources:
        source: |
          Types: deb
          URIs: http://landscape.home/repository/standalone/ubuntu/
          Suites: noble noble-updates noble-security
          Components: main universe restricted multiverse
          Signed-By: 16234E77E46C9DE644E1F4F4DA787C193976C85B
          Architectures: amd64
        key: |
          -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
          ...
          -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
  ======

  What ends up happening is the system will install from the Landscape
  mirror, but the other sources are not removed.

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