VMWare has a feature when creating new VMs called Easy Install, that will show you a small wizard asking you the minimum things needed and then will install the entire OS without you needing to do anything.
When installing Ubuntu server, it only asks you the details of the default user (Full name, username, password and repeat password) and then installs ubuntu with the default options and packages.
I'd like to know if I can tell it to install some extra packages, run custom commands before finishing the installation or using another apt repository than the default one.
BTW if it matters, I'm using VMware Player 5.0.0 on Ubuntu 11.10 amd64, and I'm planning to install Ubuntu 11.10 amd64 server as a guest.
Best Answer
I don't think there is any way to customize the Easy Install option, but you can perform a regular install to make the changes you need. When creating the virtual machine you will need to select the option "I will install the operating system later".
Once the VM has been created, right click on it in the menu and select "Virtual Machine Settings..." from the pop-up menu. Next, click on "CD/DVD (IDE)" in the left pane, then "Use an ISO image file:" in the right pane and browse to your ISO file.
Now when you power on the VM it should automatically boot from the ISO file and perform a regular install, which will allow you to make additional customizations.