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FAI (Fully Automatic Installation)

FAI (Fully Automatic Installation) automates unattended installation and configuration of Linux systems and software on computers and virtual machines.

Place
#15 of 28
Score
6.1
FAI (Fully Automatic Installation)'s website

What FAI (Fully Automatic Installation) is

FAI (Fully Automatic Installation) automates unattended installation and configuration of Linux systems and software on computers and virtual machines. It is free software under GNU GPL version 2 or later, and the project dates to 1999. The project lists Debian, Ubuntu, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, Linux Mint, RHEL, and SUSE among supported distributions, and describes use from a few computers to several thousand.

Installations can begin with PXE network boot or unattended CD media, with configuration data retrieved through HTTP, NFS, SVN, or Git. FAI groups similar machines into classes and uses hooks to customize installation stages. It can partition disks, create file systems, and set up software RAID or LVM. It also supports automated virtual machine installation and customized cloud images for OpenStack, KVM, Azure, EC2, and GCE. FAI.me is a web service for building custom installation or live media and bootable disk images without installing FAI locally; its settings include repositories, packages, SSH keys, custom scripts, and first-boot actions.

Good

  • Free software under GNU GPL version 2 or later.
  • Supports several listed Linux distributions.
  • Scales from a few computers to several thousand.
  • Supports PXE boot and unattended CD media.
  • FAI.me builds images without local FAI installation.

Watch out

  • The default large CD includes only base files for several distributions.
  • Remaining packages for those distributions are fetched over the network.
  • Questions and bug reports use separate project channels.

Who it suits

FAI suits administrators deploying Linux across desktops, servers, notebooks, clusters, server farms, or Linux labs and classrooms. It is also relevant when automated virtual machine installation or custom cloud images are needed.

Verdict

FAI provides unattended Linux deployment with configurable installation stages, storage setup, and virtual machine and cloud-image workflows. Its FAI.me service offers image creation without a local FAI installation.

Plans and prices

From FAI (Fully Automatic Installation)'s own pricing page, checked 7 Oct 2026.

All about pricing
PlanPriceWhat it gives you
FAIFreeFree software under GNU GPL version 2 or later

The facts

Each one read from FAI (Fully Automatic Installation)'s own pages, with the date it was checked.

What it does

Configuration
FAI uses classes to group similar machines and hooks to customize installation stages.checked 7 Oct 2026
Deployment scale
FAI is described as scaling from a few computers to several thousand machines.checked 7 Oct 2026
FAI.me
FAI.me is a web service for building custom installation or live media and bootable disk images without installing FAI locally.checked 7 Oct 2026
FAI.me options
The image builder exposes settings for SSH keys, partitioning, repositories, desktop and packages, custom scripts, and first boot actions.checked 7 Oct 2026
Installation media limit
The default large FAI CD image includes packages for Debian XFCE and GNOME but only base files for several other listed distributions, whose remaining packages are fetched over the network.checked 7 Oct 2026
Installation methods
Installations can use PXE network boot or unattended CD media, with configuration data retrieved through HTTP, NFS, SVN or Git.checked 7 Oct 2026
Integrations
The maker documents receiving configuration over HTTP, NFS, SVN or Git, and adding SSH public keys from GitHub, GitLab, Debian Salsa or a custom URL in FAI.me.checked 7 Oct 2026
Intended environments
The maker lists desktops, servers, notebooks, clusters, server farms, and Linux labs or classrooms as installation targets.checked 7 Oct 2026
Operating systems
The project lists Debian, Ubuntu, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, Linux Mint, RHEL and SUSE among supported Linux distributions.checked 7 Oct 2026
Purpose
FAI automates unattended mass deployment and configuration of Linux systems and software on computers and virtual machines.checked 7 Oct 2026
Security
FAI packages are signed with Thomas Lange's GPG key, and the project lists Secure Boot support in FAI release 6.5.7.checked 7 Oct 2026
Storage
The project lists software RAID and LVM setup, disk partitioning, and file system creation as installation capabilities.checked 7 Oct 2026
Support
The project directs questions to its mailing list and bugs to the Debian Bug Tracking System, and says commercial support is available worldwide from the author.checked 7 Oct 2026
Virtualization and cloud
FAI supports automated virtual machine installation and customized cloud images for platforms including OpenStack, KVM, Azure, EC2 and GCE.checked 7 Oct 2026

The company

Founded
1999checked 28 Sep 2026

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