diff --git a/.drone.jsonnet b/.drone.jsonnet
index 0f16af831..f0cfb2a29 100644
--- a/.drone.jsonnet
+++ b/.drone.jsonnet
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ local talos = Step("talos", depends_on=[installer], environment={"REGISTRY": loc
 local lint = Step("lint", depends_on=[check_dirty]);
 local talosctl_cni_bundle = Step('talosctl-cni-bundle', depends_on=[lint]);
 local images = Step("images", depends_on=[installer], environment={"REGISTRY": local_registry});
+local iso = Step('iso', depends_on=[images], environment={"REGISTRY": local_registry});
 local unit_tests = Step("unit-tests", depends_on=[initramfs]);
 local unit_tests_race = Step("unit-tests-race", depends_on=[initramfs]);
 local e2e_docker = Step("e2e-docker-short", depends_on=[talos, talosctl_linux, unit_tests, unit_tests_race], target="e2e-docker", environment={"SHORT_INTEGRATION_TEST": "yes", "REGISTRY": local_registry});
@@ -299,6 +300,7 @@ local default_steps = [
   lint,
   talosctl_cni_bundle,
   images,
+  iso,
   unit_tests,
   unit_tests_race,
   coverage,
@@ -489,6 +491,7 @@ local release = {
       '_out/gcp.tar.gz',
       '_out/initramfs-amd64.xz',
       '_out/initramfs-arm64.xz',
+      '_out/talos-amd64.iso',
       '_out/talosctl-cni-bundle-amd64.tar.gz',
       '_out/talosctl-cni-bundle-arm64.tar.gz',
       '_out/talosctl-darwin-amd64',
@@ -504,7 +507,7 @@ local release = {
   when: {
     event: ['tag'],
   },
-  depends_on: [kernel.name, boot.name, talosctl_cni_bundle.name, images.name, push.name, release_notes.name]
+  depends_on: [kernel.name, iso.name, boot.name, talosctl_cni_bundle.name, images.name, push.name, release_notes.name]
 };
 
 local release_steps = default_steps + [
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index dc6e43867..c3602cd04 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -447,16 +447,22 @@ WORKDIR /src/cmd/installer
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/.cache/go-build go build -ldflags "-s -w -X ${VERSION_PKG}.Name=Talos -X ${VERSION_PKG}.SHA=${SHA} -X ${VERSION_PKG}.Tag=${TAG} -X ${VERSION_PKG}.PkgsVersion=${PKGS} -X ${VERSION_PKG}.ExtrasVersion=${EXTRAS} -X ${IMAGES_PKGS}.Username=${USERNAME} -X ${IMAGES_PKGS}.Registry=${REGISTRY}" -o /installer
 RUN chmod +x /installer
 
+FROM alpine:3.11 AS unicode-pf2
+RUN apk add --no-cache --update grub
+
 FROM alpine:3.11 AS installer
 RUN apk add --no-cache --update \
     bash \
     ca-certificates \
-    cdrkit \
     efibootmgr \
+    mtools \
     qemu-img \
     util-linux \
-    xfsprogs
+    xfsprogs \
+    xorriso \
+    xz
 COPY --from=pkg-grub / /
+COPY --from=unicode-pf2 /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2
 ARG TARGETARCH
 COPY --from=kernel /vmlinuz-${TARGETARCH} /usr/install/vmlinuz
 COPY --from=initramfs /initramfs-${TARGETARCH}.xz /usr/install/initramfs.xz
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f2f6a81c5..ee2cb8c60 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -175,6 +175,10 @@ image-%: ## Builds the specified image. Valid options are aws, azure, digital-oc
 
 images: image-aws image-azure image-digital-ocean image-gcp image-vmware ## Builds all known images (AWS, Azure, Digital Ocean, GCP, and VMware).
 
+.PHONY: iso
+iso: ## Builds the ISO and outputs it to the artifact directory.
+	@docker run --rm -i -v $(PWD)/$(ARTIFACTS):/out $(REGISTRY)/$(USERNAME)/installer:$(TAG) iso
+
 .PHONY: boot
 boot: ## Creates a compressed tarball that includes vmlinuz-{amd64,arm64} and initramfs-{amd64,arm64}.xz. Note that these files must already be present in the artifacts directory.
 	@for platform in $(subst $(,),$(space),$(PLATFORM)); do \
diff --git a/cmd/installer/cmd/iso.go b/cmd/installer/cmd/iso.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a6d87ca5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/installer/cmd/iso.go
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+// This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+// License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+// file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+
+	"github.com/talos-systems/talos/cmd/installer/pkg"
+)
+
+var cfg = []byte(`set default=0
+set timeout=0
+
+insmod all_video
+
+terminal_input console
+terminal_output console
+
+menuentry "Talos Interactive Installer" {
+	set gfxmode=auto
+	set gfxpayload=text
+	linux /boot/vmlinuz page_poison=1 slab_nomerge slub_debug=P pti=on panic=0 consoleblank=0 earlyprintk=ttyS0 console=tty0 console=ttyS0 talos.platform=metal
+	initrd /boot/initramfs.xz
+}`)
+
+// isoCmd represents the iso command.
+var isoCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "iso",
+	Short: "",
+	Long:  ``,
+	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		if err := runISOCmd(); err != nil {
+			log.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	},
+}
+
+func init() {
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(isoCmd)
+}
+
+// nolint: gocyclo
+func runISOCmd() error {
+	files := map[string]string{
+		"/usr/install/vmlinuz":      "/mnt/boot/vmlinuz",
+		"/usr/install/initramfs.xz": "/mnt/boot/initramfs.xz",
+	}
+
+	for src, dest := range files {
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(dest), 0o755); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		log.Printf("copying %s to %s", src, dest)
+
+		from, err := os.Open(src)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		// nolint: errcheck
+		defer from.Close()
+
+		to, err := os.OpenFile(dest, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE, 0o666)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		// nolint: errcheck
+		defer to.Close()
+
+		_, err = io.Copy(to, from)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	log.Println("creating grub.cfg")
+
+	cfgPath := "/mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg"
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(cfgPath), 0o755); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(cfgPath, cfg, 0o666); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	log.Println("creating ISO")
+
+	out := fmt.Sprintf("/tmp/talos-%s.iso", runtime.GOARCH)
+
+	if err := pkg.CreateISO(out, "/mnt"); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	from, err := os.Open(out)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// nolint: errcheck
+	defer from.Close()
+
+	to, err := os.OpenFile(filepath.Join(outputArg, filepath.Base(out)), os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE, 0o666)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// nolint: errcheck
+	defer to.Close()
+
+	_, err = io.Copy(to, from)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/installer/pkg/iso.go b/cmd/installer/pkg/iso.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bb31f4429
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/installer/pkg/iso.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+// This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+// License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+// file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+
+package pkg
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/talos-systems/talos/pkg/cmd"
+)
+
+// CreateISO creates an iso by invoking the `grub-mkrescue` command.
+func CreateISO(iso, dir string) (err error) {
+	_, err = cmd.Run(
+		"grub-mkrescue",
+		"--compress=xz",
+		"--output="+iso,
+		dir,
+	)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create ISO: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/app/machined/internal/install/install.go b/internal/app/machined/internal/install/install.go
index 744429eea..d52f1ef2a 100644
--- a/internal/app/machined/internal/install/install.go
+++ b/internal/app/machined/internal/install/install.go
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ func RunInstallerContainer(disk, platform, ref string, reg config.Registries, op
 	// platform name, this should be determined in the installer container.
 	var config *string
 	if config = procfs.ProcCmdline().Get(constants.KernelParamConfig).First(); config == nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("no config option was found")
+		c := "none"
+		config = &c
 	}
 
 	upgrade := strconv.FormatBool(options.Upgrade)
diff --git a/internal/app/machined/pkg/runtime/v1alpha1/platform/vmware/vmware_amd64.go b/internal/app/machined/pkg/runtime/v1alpha1/platform/vmware/vmware_amd64.go
index 32d8411a7..ff3b85979 100644
--- a/internal/app/machined/pkg/runtime/v1alpha1/platform/vmware/vmware_amd64.go
+++ b/internal/app/machined/pkg/runtime/v1alpha1/platform/vmware/vmware_amd64.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func (v *VMware) Name() string {
 func (v *VMware) Configuration(context.Context) ([]byte, error) {
 	var option *string
 	if option = procfs.ProcCmdline().Get(constants.KernelParamConfig).First(); option == nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no config option was found")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s not found", constants.KernelParamConfig)
 	}
 
 	if *option == constants.ConfigGuestInfo {