A few years ago, with Ubuntu, I used remastering tools to create a custom bootable installer ISO from my fully configured system. This ISO included all installed software, user configurations, and settings, so after a fresh install, the system was immediately ready to use without further setup.
Is it possible to do something similar for Qubes OS? Producing a bootable installer ISO that, after installation, results in a system that is essentially ready to go, including pre installed and customized templates and pre created AppVMs with specific settings?
Is this feasible in Qubes?
If this becomes possible, it will enable sysadmins to create a ready to use Qubes OS for non technical users, requiring very little further configuration.
The Qubes packages will already be built, and you can build templates
pulling down packages from the official repositories. If you want to
customise them then (generally) it is a matter of adjusting the package
lists to be found under (e.g) builder-debian.
If you look at the example-configs under qubes-builderv2, you will see how the
full iso is put together, and that should provide pointers as to how to
build a custom iso.
An alternative approach, and one that most sysadmins will know, is to
use PXE. You can slipstream the official iso, and provide custom
templates, and salt files, to install and configure the system after a
network boot. PXE allows you to serve different configurations to
different hosts, which makes for a much easier approach than having
multiple iso images, particularly in a reasonably sized deployment.
I never presume to speak for the Qubes team.
When I comment in the Forum I speak for myself.