7 grml-live - build framework based on FAI for generating a grml and Debian based
8 Linux Live system (CD/ISO)
13 grml-live [-c <classe[s]>] [-g <grml_name>] [-i <iso_name> ] [-o
14 <output_directory>] [-r <release_name>] [-s <suite>] [-t <template_directory>]
15 [-v <version_number>] [-FVh]
17 *******************************************************************************
18 Important! This document is growing as requested. If you have questions which
19 aren't answered by this document yet please let me know: <mika@grml.org>!
20 This document currently applies to grml-live 0.0.4/0.0.5
21 *******************************************************************************
26 grml-live provides the build system for creating a grml and Debian based Linux
27 Live-CD. The build system is based on
28 link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI] (Fully Automatic
29 Installation). grml-live uses the "fai dirinstall" feature to generate a chroot
30 system based on the class concept of FAI (see later sections for further
31 details) and provides the framework to be able to generate a full-featured ISO.
32 It does not use all the FAI features by default though and you don't have to
33 know FAI to be able to use it.
35 The use of FAI gives you the flexibility to choose the packages you would like
36 to include on your very own Linux Live-CD without having to deal with all the
37 details of a build process.
39 CAUTION: grml-live does **not** use /etc/fai for configuration but instead
40 provides and uses /etc/grml/fai. This ensures that it does not clash with
41 default FAI configuration and packages, so you can use grml-live and FAI
42 completely independent at the same time!
46 Please notice that you should have a fast network connection as all the Debian
47 packages will be downloaded and installed via network. If you want to use a
48 local mirror (strongly recommended if you plan to use grml-live more than once)
49 checkout mkdebmirror (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/mkdebmirror),
50 debmirror(1), reprepro(1) (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/reprepro/ for a
51 sample configuration), apt-cacher(1) and approx(8). To avoid downloading the
52 base system again and again check out FAI's NFSROOT (see FAQ of this document
60 Specify the CLASSES to be used for building the ISO via FAI. By default only
61 the classes GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL and I386 are assumed, resulting in a small base
62 system (being about ~150MB total ISO size). If using a non-I386 system (like
63 amd64) you should specify the appropriate architecture as well. Additionally you
64 can specify a class providing a grml-kernel (see
65 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/ for a full list). So instead of GRML_SMALL
66 you can also use GRML_MEDIUM and GRML_FULL instead.
70 Force execution and do not prompt for acknowledgment of configuration.
74 Set the grml flavour name. Common usage examples: grml, grml-small, grml64.
78 Display short usage information and exit.
82 Specify name of ISO which will be available inside $OUTPUT_DIRECTORY/grml_isos
85 -o **OUTPUT_DIRECTORY**::
87 Main output directory of the build process of FAI. Some directories are created
88 inside this target directory, being: grml_cd (where the files for creating the
89 ISO are located, including the compressed squashfs file), grml_chroot (the
90 chroot system) and grml_isos (where the resulting ISO is stored).
94 Specify name of the release.
98 Specify the Debian suite you want to use for your live-system. Defaults to
99 "etch" (being current Debian/stable). Supported values are: etch, lenny, sid.
101 -t **TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY**::
103 Specify place of the templates used for building the ISO. By default
104 (and if not manually specified) this is /usr/share/grml-live/templates/.
106 -v **VERSION_NUMBER**::
108 Specify version number of the release.
112 Increase verbosity in the build process.
117 To get a small, Debian-stable and grml-based Live-CD using /grml/grml-live
118 as build and output directory just run:
122 To get a small Debian-unstable and grml-small based Live-CD using
123 /home/mika/grml-live as build and output directory just use:
125 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 -o /home/mika/grml-live
127 To get a small, Debian-unstable and grml-based Live-CD using /tmp as build and
128 output directory and use grml_0.0-3.iso as ISO name (placed inside
129 /tmp/grml_isos) just invoke:
131 # grml-live -o /tmp -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 -s sid -i grml_0.0-3.iso
135 If you have about 700MB of free space inside /dev/shm (being a tmpfs, usually
136 you should have >=1GB of RAM) just run "mount -o remount,suid,dev,rw /dev/shm"
137 and use /dev/shm as build and output directory - resulting in very fast build
138 process. But please be aware of the fact that rebooting your system will result
139 in an empty /dev/shm, so please another directory for $CHROOT_OUTPUT,
140 $BUILD_OUTPUT and $ISO_OUTPUT if you plan to create more persistent output. :)
142 Main features of grml-live
143 --------------------------
145 * create a grml-/Debian-based Linux Live-CD with one single command
147 * class based concept, providing a maximum of flexibility
149 * supports integration of own hooks, scripts and configuration
151 * supports use and integration of own Software and/or Kernels via simple use of
154 * native support of FAI features
156 * multi-arch support (work in progress)
161 grml-live uses FAI and its class based concept for adjusting configuration and
162 setup according to your needs. This gives you flexibility and strength without
163 losing the simplicity in the build process.
165 The main and base class provided by grml-live is named GRMLBASE. It's strongly
166 recommended to **always** use the class GRMLBASE when building an ISO using
167 grml-live, as well as the architecture dependent class which provides the kernel
168 (being 'I386' for x86_32 and 'AMD64' for x86_64) and a GRML_* class (like
169 GRML_SMALL, GRML_MEDIUM or GRML_FULL). The following files and directories are
170 relevant for class GRMLBASE by default:
172 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/GRMLBASE/
173 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/GRMLBASE
174 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/GRMLBASE.var
175 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/instsoft.GRMLBASE
176 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/GRMLBASE
178 Take a look at the next section for information about the concept of those
181 If you want to use your own configuration, extend an existing configuration
182 and/or add additional packages to your ISO just invent a new class (or extend an
183 existing one). For example if you want to use your own class named "FOOBAR" just
184 extend CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386" inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf to
185 CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR" or invoke grml-live using the classes
186 option: "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...".
188 More details regarding the class concept can be found in the documentation of
189 FAI itself (being available at /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/).
199 Notice that grml-live ships FAI configuration files that do not use the same
200 namespace as the FAI packages itself. This ensures that grml-live does not clash
201 with your usual FAI configuration, so instead of /etc/fai/fai.conf (package
202 fai-client) grml uses /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf instead. For more details see
203 below. To get an idea how another configuration or example files could look like
204 check out /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/examples/simple/ (provided by Debian package
205 fai-doc). Furthermore /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/fai-guide.html/ch-config.html
206 provides documentation regarding configuration possibilities.
210 Script for the main build process. Requires root permissions for execution.
212 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
214 Main configuration file for grml-live. All the important steps can be configured
217 /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf
219 Main configuration file for FAI which specifies where all the configuration
220 files and scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default it is set to
221 FAI_CONFIGDIR=/etc/grml/fai/config, a directory shipped by grml-live
222 out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this file.
224 /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
226 This file is used by make-fai-nfsroot(8) only. Usually you don't have to change
227 anything inside this file. If you want to modify NFSROOT though you can adjust
230 /etc/grml/fai/NFSROOT
232 This file specifies the package list for creating the NFSROOT.
234 /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
236 This file specifies which mirrors should be used for retreiving the Debian
237 packages used for creating the main chroot (including all the software you would
238 like to see included). If you want to use a local mirror you either have to
239 adjust this file or use the GRML_LIVE_SOURCES variable inside
240 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf which modifies /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
243 /etc/grml/fai/config/
245 The main directory for configuration of FAI/grml-live. More details below.
247 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/
249 This directory contains files which specify main configuration variables for the
252 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/
254 This directory provides the files for preseeding/configuration of debconf
257 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/
259 This directory provides files for customising the build process through hooks.
260 Hooks are user defined programs or scripts, which are called during the
261 installation process.
263 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/
265 Directory with lists of software packages to be installed or removed. The
266 different classes describe what should find its way to your ISO. When running
267 "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 ..." only the configuration of GRMLBASE,
268 GRML_SMALL and and I386 will be taken. If you use 'grml-live -c
269 GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...' then the files of GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL,
270 I386 **plus** the files from FOOBAR will be taken. So just create a new class to
271 adjust the package selection according to your needs. Please notice that the
272 directory GRMLBASE contains a package list defining a minimum but still
273 reasonable package configuration.
275 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/
277 Scripts for customising the ISO within the build process.
281 This directory provides files used inside the scripts of
282 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/*. For a full documentation what happens with the
283 files please refer to the source of the scripts.
285 /etc/grml/fai/live-initramfs/
287 This directory provides the files used for building the initramfs/initrd via
290 Requirements for the build system
291 ---------------------------------
293 * any Debian based system should be sufficient (if not it's a bug, so please
294 send us a bug report then) [a usual link:http://grml.org/grml2hd/[grml2hd]
295 harddisk installation ships all you need]
297 * enough free disk space; at least 800MB are required for a minimal grml-live
298 run (\~400MB for the chroot [$CHROOT_OUTPUT], \~150MB for the build target
299 [$BUILD_OUTPUT] and \~150MB for the resulting ISO [$ISO_OUTPUT] plus some
300 temporary files), if you plan to use GRML_FULL you should have at least 4GB of
301 total free disk space
303 * fast network access for retreiving the Debian packages used for creating the
304 chroot (check out "local mirror" and "NFSROOT" to workaround this problem as far
310 Help, I'm using Debian etch and I don't have FAI version >3.2
311 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
313 wget http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/download/etch/fai-client_3.2.1_all.deb \
314 http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/download/etch/fai-server_3.2.1_all.deb
315 dpkg -i fai-client_3.2.1_all.deb fai-server_3.2.1_all.deb
317 or check out the link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI-homepage] for
320 I've problems with the build process. How to start debugging?
321 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
323 Check out the logs inside /var/log/fai/dirinstall/... If you don't have the time
324 to debug the problem in further detail or don't know how to proceed just send a
325 copy of your config, logs and the commandline with a short problem description
328 # history | grep grml-live > /etc/grml/grml_live.cmdline
329 # tar zcf grml_live_problem.tar.gz /etc/grml/grml-live.conf \
330 /var/log/fai/dirinstall /etc/grml/fai
332 Can I use my own (local) Debian mirror?
333 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
335 Sure. Just adjust the variables GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP (if not
336 already using NFSROOT's base.tgz) inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf according to
337 your needs. Please don't forget that you should use the grml servers as well
338 (see default configuration) so all the grml packages can be downloaded as well.
340 If you want to use a local (for example NFS mount) mirror additionally, just
341 adjust MIRROR_DIRECTORY and MIRROR_SOURCES insede /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as
344 Unless you specify GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and/or FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP the default from
345 /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list and /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf will be
346 taken. If you customise the variables in /etc/grml/grml-live.conf then the two
347 files will be adjusted during runtime automatically.
349 If MIRROR_DIRECTORY and MIRROR_SOURCES are specified the local mirror will be
350 taken as first entry in the generated sources.list so it's prefered over
351 non-local mirrors. Using a fallback mirror (via providing several mirrors in
352 GRML_LIVE_SOURCES as used by default) is a recommended setting.
354 How do I add additional Debian package(s) to my CD/ISO?
355 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
357 Just create a new class (using the package_config directory):
359 # cat > /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/MIKA << EOF
363 another_name_of_a_debian_package
367 and specify it when invoking grml-live then:
369 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,MIKA
371 I fscked up my grml-live configuration. How do I reset it to the defaults?
372 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
374 Notice: this deletes all your grml-live configuration files. If that's really
375 what you are searching for just run:
377 rm -rf /etc/grml/fai /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
378 dpkg -i --force-confnew --force-confmiss /path/to/grml-live_..._all.deb
382 If you don't control your /etc using a version control system (VCS) yet it's a
383 good chance to start using it now. Check out
384 link:http://michael-prokop.at/blog/2007/03/14/maintain-etc-with-mercurial-on-debian/[http://michael-prokop.at/blog/2007/03/14/maintain-etc-with-mercurial-on-debian/]
385 for more details how to maintain /etc using the mercurial VCS.
387 How do I create a base.tgz for use as NFSROOT?
388 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
390 First of all build the chroot system:
392 mkdir /tmp/nfsroot && cd /tmp/nfsroot
393 debootstrap etch /tmp/nfsroot/ http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian
396 Then check out where your NFSROOT is located:
398 # grep '^NFSROOT' /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
399 NFSROOT=/grml/fai/nfsroot
401 So as /grml/fai/nfsroot is your NFSROOT place the file under
402 /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/:
404 mv base.tgz /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz
406 Now running "grml-live ..." will use this file as main system instead of
407 executing debootstrap. Check out the output for the following lines:
410 Calling task_extrbase
411 Unpacking Debian base archive
412 Extracting /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz
418 Notice that you can also use /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/$CLASSNAME.tar.gz if
419 you prefer to use /etc as the main configuration directory instead of
420 /path/to/nfsroot/.... (Thanks to Thomas Lange for the tip.)
422 Set up apt-cacher for use with grml-live
423 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
425 Make sure /etc/grml/grml-live.conf provides according GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and
428 # cat /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
431 deb http://localhost:3142/deb.grml.org grml-stable main
432 deb http://localhost:3142/deb.grml.org grml-testing main
433 deb http://localhost:3142/ftp.de.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free
436 FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="etch http://localhost:3142/ftp.de.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free"
438 Make sure apt-cacher is running (/etc/init.d/apt-cacher restart). That's it.
439 All downloaded files will be cached in /var/cache/apt-cacher/ now.
441 Set up approx for use with grml-live
442 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
444 Make sure /etc/grml/grml-live.conf provides according GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and
447 # cat /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
450 deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-stable main
451 deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-testing main
452 deb http://localhost:9999/debian etch main contrib non-free
454 FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="etch http://localhost:9999/debian"
458 # cat /etc/approx/approx.conf
460 debian http://ftp.at.debian.org/debian
461 grml http://deb.grml.org/
463 Don't forget to restart approx (/etc/init.d/approx restart). That's it.
464 All downloaded files will be cached in /var/cache/approx now.
466 I've a question which isn't answered by this document
467 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
469 Don't hesitate to ask on IRC (channel #grml on irc.freenode.org) or just drop me
470 a mail: <mika@grml.org>
472 Download / install grml-live as a Debian package
473 ------------------------------------------------
475 Debian packages are available through the grml-repository at
476 link:http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/g/grml-live/[deb.grml.org]. If you want to
477 build a Debian package on your own (using for example a specific version or the
478 current development tree), just execute:
480 hg clone http://hg.grml.org/grml-live
487 The source of grml-live is available at
488 link:http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/[http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/]
493 Check out link:http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml-live[grml-live@grml-wiki]
499 Please report feedback, link:http://grml.org/bugs/[bugreports] and wishes
500 link:http://grml.org/contact/[to the grml-team]!
504 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
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