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29 <h1 align="center">FAQ for grml</h1>
31 <p><strong>Up2date:</strong> applies to Grml releases version 2011.12</p>
33 <p><a name="toc"></a><strong>Index:</strong></p>
35 <p class="toc"><a href="#general">General:</a></p>
37 <li><a href="#whatis">What is Grml?</a></li>
38 <li><a href="#flavours">What are grml32 / grml64 and grml96?</a></li>
39 <li><a href="#get">Where do I get Grml?</a></li>
40 <li><a href="#whatmeans">What does Grml mean?</a></li>
41 <li><a href="#releasename">What about the release name?</a></li>
42 <li><a href="#requirements">Requirements for running Grml</a></li>
43 <li><a href="#bootoptions">Which bootoptions does Grml support?</a></li>
44 <li><a href="#known_issues">Are there any known issues with this release? How about reporting bugs?</a></li>
47 <p class="toc"><a href="#features">Features</a>:</p>
49 <li><a href="#usbboot">How do I boot Grml from a USB stick?</a></li>
50 <li><a href="#persistency">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></li>
51 <li><a href="#password">What are the passwords of users on Grml?</a></li>
52 <li><a href="#version">How do I find out the version of Grml</a></li>
53 <li><a href="#language">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></li>
54 <li><a href="#wms">Which window managers can I use?</a></li>
55 <li><a href="#lvm">Where are my LVM devices?</a></li>
56 <li><a href="#swraid">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></li>
57 <li><a href="#booting">Which ways exist to boot Grml?</a></li>
58 <li><a href="#timezone">How do I configure timezone on my Grml system?</a></li>
59 <li><a href="#hdinstall">Is it possible to install Grml to harddisk?</a></li>
62 <p class="toc"><a href="#software">Software:</a></p>
64 <li><a href="#sw_version">Which package(s) and which version is available?</a></li>
65 <li><a href="#zsh">Why is Zsh the default shell?</a></li>
69 <p class="toc"><a href="#stuff">Support / Unanswered stuff:</a></p>
71 <li><a href="#questions">Further questions?</a></li>
72 <li><a href="#support">Commercial Support</a></li>
75 <h2><a name="general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h2>
77 <h3><a name="whatis"></a><a href="#toc">What is Grml?</a></h3>
79 <p>Grml is a bootable CD (Live-CD) based
80 on <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. It is not
81 necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Grml includes a
82 collection of GNU/Linux software especially for system
83 administrators. It specializes on administrative tasks like
84 installation, deployment and system rescue.</p>
86 <h3><a name="flavours"></a><a href="#doc">What are grml32 / grml64 and grml96?</a></h3>
89 <li>grml32: 32bit version (kernel and userspace)</li>
90 <li>grml64: 64bit version (kernel and userspace)</li>
91 <li>grml96: multi boot version (featuring grml32 and grml64 on one ISO)</li>
94 <p>Unless you've a good reason to really choose the 32bit flavour we
95 strongly encourage you to use either the grml64 or the grml96
98 <p>Please notice that this schema was introduced starting with Grml
99 release 2011.12. Until then grml96 didn't exist and grml32 was known as
102 <h3><a name="get"></a><a href="#toc">Where do I get Grml?</a></h3>
104 <p>Grml is open source, you can download it from the mirrors
105 listed at <a href="/download">grml.org/download/</a>.</p>
107 <h3><a name="whatmeans"></a><a href="#toc">What does Grml mean?</a></h3>
109 <p>Grml comes close to 'argl' or 'grrr' in English. People use
110 this when they want to express their dissatisfaction with
111 software (amongst other things).</p>
113 <h3><a name="releasename"></a><a href="#toc">What about the release name?</a></h3>
115 <p>Codename of Grml 2011.12 is "Knecht Rootrecht". It's a wordplay on
116 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companions_of_Saint_Nicholas">Knecht
117 Ruprecht</a>, which translates as Farmhand Ruprecht or Servant
120 <h3><a name="requirements"></a><a href="#toc">Requirements for running Grml</a></h3>
124 <li>Intel-compatible CPU (i586 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher)</li>
126 <li>>=128MB of RAM (>=256MB recommended)</p>
128 <li>either a bootable CD-/DVD-ROM drive,
129 a <a href="#usbboot">USB-boot capable system</a> or a
130 network card for booting via network/PXE (check
131 out <a href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a>)</li>
135 <h3><a name="accessibility"></a><a href="#toc">What does accessibility at Grml mean?</a></h3>
137 <p>The Grml kernel includes support for speakup. For software,
138 brltty and espeakup are included.</p>
140 <h3><a name="bootoptions"></a><a href="#toc">Which bootoptions does Grml support?</a></h3>
143 href="http://git.grml.org/?p=grml-live.git;a=blob_plain;f=templates/GRML/grml-cheatcodes.txt;hb=HEAD">grml-cheatcodes
144 file</a> (also available via <a href="http://grml.org/cheatcodes/">grml.org/cheatcodes/</a>). Of
146 href="http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt">kernel-parameters.txt</a>
147 of the Linux kernel applies to Grml as well.</p>
149 <a name="release"></a> <!-- old anchor -->
150 <a name="bugreport"></a> <!-- old anchor -->
151 <h3><a name="known_issues"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any known issues? How about reporting bugs?</a></h3>
153 <p>Please visit the <a href="/bugs/">bug webpage</a>.</p>
155 <h2><a name="features"></a><a href="#toc">Features</a></h2>
157 <!-- TODO: needs to be improved! -->
158 <h3><a name="usbboot"></a><a href="#toc">How do I boot Grml from a USB stick?</a></h3>
161 out <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb#grml2usb">grml2usb</a>
163 <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb webpage in the
166 <h3><a name="store"></a><a name="persistency"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></h3>
169 a <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency">persistency
172 <h3><a name="password"></a><a href="#toc">What are the passwords of users on Grml?</a></h3>
174 <p>There are no default passwords - all accounts are locked by
175 default for security reasons. Even local logins are not
176 possible (unless you set a password or create new user
177 accounts as root). You can create valid passwords using "sudo
178 passwd [username]" from the shell individually. To set a password
179 for the Grml user and enable SSH login you can use the 'ssh'
180 boot option, like 'ssh=yourpassword'.</p>
182 <h3><a name="version"></a><a href="#toc">How do I find out the version of Grml</a></h3>
184 <p>Run 'grml-version' or use the following command:</p>
187 $ cat /etc/grml_version</pre>
189 <h3><a name="language"></a><a href="#toc">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></h3>
191 <p>By default Grml uses english settings. But it is possible to
192 change the settings via using either the bootparam(s) lang,
193 keyboard and xkeyboard or via executing grml-lang when Grml is
194 already running. Usage examples:</p>
197 grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
198 # german keyboard layout and german $LANG, $LC_ALL,
200 grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
201 # and you will get german keyboard and austrian
203 % grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
204 # and $LANG settings in a running Grml system
207 <p>Note: run grml-setlang to get a dialog based frontend for
208 /etc/default/locale. Run grml-setkeyboard to get a dialog
209 based frontend for /etc/sysconfig/keyboard.</p>
212 <h3><a name="wms"></a><a href="#toc">Which window managers can I use?</a></h3>
214 <p>Starting with the 2011.12 release Grml provides <a
215 href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">Fluxbox</a> as window manager.</p>
217 <h3><a name="lvm"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my LVM devices?</a></h3>
219 <p>LVM (Logival Volumes) is <strong>not</strong> started by default to
220 avoid any possible damage to your data. To get access to present LVM
221 devices just execute:</p>
224 # /etc/init.d/lvm2 start
227 <p>If you want to enable LVM by default just boot using the 'lvm'
228 bootoption which automatically enables LVM.</p>
230 <h3><a name="swraid"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></h3>
232 <p>Software-RAID (usually known as the mdadm stuff) is
233 <strong>not</strong> started by default to avoid any possible damage to
234 your data. To get access to present SW-RAID devices just execute:</p>
237 # /etc/init.d/mdadm-raid start
240 <p>If you want to enable SW-RAID by default just boot using
241 the 'swraid' bootoption which enables automatic assembling of
242 software raid arrays.</p>
244 <a name="terminalserver"></a>
245 <h3><a name="booting"></a><a href="#toc">Which ways exist to boot Grml?</a></h3>
247 <!-- TODO: needs rework -->
249 <p>Of course running from CD/DVD is a common way to boot
250 Grml. But Grml provides many more ways to boot:</p>
252 <p>It is possible to boot Grml via USB (e.g. USB stick or
253 harddisk), firewire, or running from a Compact Flash disk. It
254 works out of the box; you don't need to modify anything. Check
255 out <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">the usb
256 webpage in the grml-wiki</a> for more details.</p>
258 <p>Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a
259 floppy disk? Take a look
260 at <a href="http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/">btmgr</a>, <a href="http://ubcd4win.com/faq.htm#floppy">ubcd4win</a>
261 or <a href="http://linux.simple.be/tools/sbm">sbm</a>. They
262 provide support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy
265 <p>grml-terminalserver makes it possible to boot your system
267 using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment">PXE</a>
268 (Preboot Execution Environment). If your network card does not
269 provide support for booting via PXE you can still boot it
270 either using the provided grub image by grml-terminalserver
271 (for example via floppy drive) or
272 using <a href="http://etherboot.org/wiki/index.php">gPXE</a>.
273 For more information, refer to
274 the <a href="/terminalserver/">grml-terminalserver
277 <h3><a name="timezone"></a><a href="#toc">How do I configure
278 timezone on my Grml system?</a></h3>
280 <p>Available bootoptions relevant in live-cd mode:</p>
283 <li>utc: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT)
284 <li>gmt: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT) [like bootoption utc]
285 <li>tz=$option: set timezone to corresponding $option, usage example:
289 <p>Further information: manpages hwclock(8), tzselect(1) and tzconfig(8); <a
290 href="http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/system-administrator/ch-sysadmin-time.html">Debian
291 GNU/Linux System Administrator's Manual Chapter 16 - Time</a> and <a
292 href="http://wiki.debian.org/TimeZoneChanges">TimeZoneChanges in the
295 <h3><a name="hdinstall"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to install Grml to harddisk?</a></h3>
297 <p>Short anwer: No.</p>
299 <p>If you want to get a plain Debian system take a look at <a
300 href="/grml-debootstrap/">grml-debootstrap</a>.</p>
302 <p>Long(er) answer: yes it's possible to install Grml. But it's not
303 supported and you'll be on your own. That's why we decided to make it
304 not-so-obvious. If you really know what you're doing you'll find out on
305 your own. Reminder: use <a
306 href="/grml-debootstrap/">grml-debootstrap</a> or <a
307 href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian Installer</a> instead.</p>
309 <h2><a name="software"></a><a href="#toc">Software</a></h2>
311 <h3><a name="sw_version"></a><a href="#toc">Which package(s) and which
312 version is available?</a></h3>
314 <p>If you want to get details about the provided packages and the
315 package versions without booting the Grml ISO check out the dpkg_...
316 files in the <a href="/files/#debian">Debian-Information section on
317 grml.org/files/</a>.</p>
319 <h3><a name="zsh"></a><a href="#toc">Why is Zsh the default shell?</a></h3>
321 <p>Short answer: because <a href="/zsh/">Zsh rocks</a>, really!</p>
323 <p>Long(er) answer: If you don't know Zsh take a look the <a
324 href="/zsh/">Grml Zsh reference card</a>.</p>
326 <p>If you are a Bash user and don't know Zsh yet, don't be
327 afraid. Bash is largely a subset of Zsh and you don't have to
328 throw away your knowledge about shell stuff.</p>
330 <h2><a name="stuff"></a><a href="#toc">Support / Unanswered stuff</a></h2>
332 <h3><a name="questions"></a><a href="#toc">Further questions</a></h3>
334 <p>Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or
335 in the provided <a href="/docs/">documentation</a> (execute
336 "grml-info" on your Grml system for offline
337 documentation)? Also check out 'grml-tips $KEYWORD' on your
338 Grml system. Take a look at
339 <a href="/">the Grml website</a> and <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the
340 grml-wiki</a>. A good place to become part of the community is the <a
341 href="/mailinglist/">Grml mailinglist</a>.</p>
343 <h3><a name="support"></a><a href="#toc">Commercial Support</a></h3>
345 <p>You want to deploy Grml in your data center, use it as part of your
346 business or have an emergency case? You're happy with Grml but would
347 like to get your very own live cd (providing your favourite software
348 selection, special configuration, setup and your bootsplash)?
349 Please get in <a href="/contact/">touch with us</a>.</p>
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