Seamless Provisioning allows users to register devices to the console before they’re provisioned. Linux Seamless Provisioning differs from Android and iOS Seamless because users can also provision their Linux devices using supported distribution packages.
Supported packages:
- .deb for Ubuntu
- .rpm for Red Hat
In this article:
Linux Seamless
Step 1: To use Linux Seamless Provisioning, go to the console’s Provisioning Methods section. Select Linux as the Device Platform and Seamless Provisioning as the Provisioning Method.
Then select a blueprint.
Step 2: Enter the device's serial number into the input file. You can register multiple devices at once by separating the serial numbers by a comma.
You can also use Bulk Upload to upload a CSV file of device identifiers. Follow the CSV formatting to upload multiple devices. Bulk uploading also allows you to add aliases and tags to the device.
| unique_id | unique_id_type | group_id | assigned_blueprint_id | alias | tags |
| 12XXXXXXXXX | SERIAL | GROUP ID | BLUEPRINT ID | ALIAS | TAG1,TAG2,TAG3 |
Step 3: Click on Seamless Provisioning Package to download the package. Choose from:
- .deb for Ubuntu
- .rpm for Red Hat
After downloading the package, integrate the package into your image generation process.
Then, install the operating system on the device. After installation, boot the device to trigger provisioning.
Integrating the Debian Package for Ubuntu Devices
There are many ways to integrate the Esper package in your image. In this example, we use Cubic to integrate the Esper Debian package into the Ubuntu ISO image.
Before you begin:
- Ensure you have administrator (sudo) privileges on your build system
- Back up any important data on the USB drive as it will be completely overwritten
- The entire process takes approximately 30-45 minutes
Requirements:
- A bootable drive, such as a USB drive
- A Linux device to do the integration on, we’ll call this a work computer
- A Linux device to install the image on, we’ll call this the seamless device
- Cubic or something similar
- An Ubuntu ISO image
Proceed with the seamless provisioning steps listed as Steps 1, 2, and 3 of this guide.
Step 4: Prepare the Ubuntu image
While on your work computer, launch Cubic. Create a directory to save the project.
On the next screen, click on the filename and select the Ubuntu ISO image. The rest of the information should auto-populate.
Press Next. Wait while the program exacts the image.
Step 5: Integrate the Esper Debian package
On the next screen, click on the copy button and choose the Esper Debian package.
Then press the copy button to copy the file into the virtual environment.
While in the virtual environment, install the package. Then verify that the package was copied successfully.
Installation
Install the Debian package and check for dependencies.
dpkg -i /root/app.deb || apt-get -f install -yVerification
Verify the installation.
-l /var/lib/esper/bin/provisioner
ls -l /lib/systemd/system/esper-provsioner.service
ls -l /ect/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/esper-provsioner.serviceThe error “System has not been booted with systemd as init system…” is expected. You can proceed with the verification steps after the package is installed.
Then press Next.
The system will prepare the new image.
Click Next.
Select gzip and click Generate.
Then press Finish.
The system will create the image. This may take a while.
Step 6: Load the image to the USB drive
Then insert the USB drive. Select the USB drive from the Disks menu.
Then, select the image.
Press Start Restoring to begin.
You may need to input your access credentials to proceed.
The image will start saving to the USB drive. This may take a while. Once the operation is finished, disconnect the USB drive.
You can use Rufus or Balena to burn the software to a disk as well.
Step 7: Install the image on the seamless device
Connect the USB drive to the seamless drive and enter the device’s boot menu (usually by pressing F2, F10, or F12. Check your manufacturer’s documentation). Choose the USB drive, and boot the Ubuntu image.
Troubleshooting
I cannot load the image because it says there is a Bitlocker issue.
Ensure Bitlocker and other security functions are disabled while booting the image.
How do I enter the boot menu?
Each device differs. Look up your device manufacturer information to see how to enter the boot menu. Typically, entering the boot menu involves hitting F2, F10, or F12 repeatedly during the start up screen.
I need to install the X11 display package separately from the Wayland package.
Starting in January 2026, the X11 and Wayland packages can now be installed separately or together depending on your requirements.