Hi:
I am wanting to pre-integrate a lot of packages (like the MATE Desktop, certain versions of Apache2, a couple of games, etc.) into my installation media so they show up as choices to install on a new machine. Is there away to get all of these additional packages downloaded then integrated into my install media without having to download them all one at a time?
Any help would be greatly appreciated
If your installation media has only the NET iso burned to it, it will be nice and small, because you downloaded nothing you don’t need. Then when you boot, you’ll have access to everything you want, and will download nothing you don’t. This should take less time overall than building a custom installation media and then using it.
You have lots of choices depending on the number of machines you want to automate installation and setup and however you want to weigh effort vs return.
So,
If you want to create completely unattended installation and setup, AutoYaST is recommended. It requires the most work, but results in the least amount of work you will need to do on each install
https://doc.opensuse.org/projects/autoyast/
If you support a very large network and many machines, you can also consider the standard distro-agnostic solutions like Puppet and Chef.
For a smaller shop like what I usually work with,
I create install scripts which are run after standard installations.
So, for instance in your situation a standard DVD or NET install might be done with minimal instruction like “Select the Generic Desktop and Enter your own Username/Password, everything else should be default”
Then, the person would run a script that does everything after initial installation that installs everything else including adding the Mate Desktop, any applications and apply configuration settings. The script can be made unattended or with minimal interaction.
This approach isn’t “zero administration” but it’s less complex than AutoYaST and can usually be made to work on all versions of openSUSE with minimal or no modifications… and also becomes a nice Disaster Recovery option.
If you like the idea of building generic install and setup scripts, I’ve written a number of Wiki articles about useful commands and posted some examples.
My Wiki
https://en.opensuse.org/User:Tsu2
Some specific articles
https://en.opensuse.org/User:Tsu2/Scripts_and_Scriplets
Examples of more complex install scripts
Devstackhttps://en.opensuse.org/User:Tsu2/openstack-install
lc0 Chess project, setting up a C build environment, then launching the project’s build from source
https://github.com/putztzu/lc0/blob/master/openSUSE_install.md
https://github.com/putztzu/lc0/blob/master/install_openSUSE_lc0.sh
And, of course you can build your own install ISO using something like Kiwi
https://doc.opensuse.org/projects/kiwi/doc/
Further questions and posts about a specific solution would probably be best posted in a Development forum…
https://forums.opensuse.org/forumdisplay.php/797-Development
TSU
Thanks for the reply thee. I’ll look at these as options. What I’m after is integrating the desired add-on packages directly into the initial installation thus I have a “master installation” of sorts thus I can prepare the machine/VM with it’s specific options offline (no network required) and then ship it. Or I can ship a blank machine and the end customer can just use the initial YaST install to configure their own options as some of my customers will be isolating their machines from the public internet so shipping a master install media and letting them choose what to install at their end point is the most optimal.
Hi
You can also use Studio Express to create your own install image, an iso image etc…
https://studioexpress.opensuse.org/
Or look at using Kiwi locally…
I’m going to play with Studio Express tonight and report back here. Thanks for the insight
Hi
Your welcome 
You might want to look at this for insights: Show openSUSE:Leap:15.1:Images - openSUSE Build Service
Or look at the whole set of image repositories on OBS here Public Projects - openSUSE Build Service and type images in the search box top right hand side.