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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="#get">Where do I get Grml?</a></li>
39 <li><a href="#whatmeans">What does Grml mean?</a></li>
40 <li><a href="#releasename">What about the release name?</a></li>
41 <li><a href="#requirements">Requirements for running Grml</a></li>
42 <li><a href="#bootoptions">Which bootoptions does Grml support?</a></li>
43 <li><a href="#known_issues">Are there any known issues with this release? How about reporting bugs?</a></li>
46 <p class="toc"><a href="#features">Features</a>:</p>
48 <li><a href="#usbboot">How do I boot Grml from a USB stick?</a></li>
49 <li><a href="#persistency">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></li>
50 <li><a href="#password">What are the passwords of users on Grml?</a></li>
51 <li><a href="#version">How do I find out the version of Grml</a></li>
52 <li><a href="#language">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></li>
53 <li><a href="#wms">Which window managers can I use?</a></li>
54 <li><a href="#lvm">Where are my LVM devices?</a></li>
55 <li><a href="#swraid">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></li>
56 <li><a href="#booting">Which ways exist to boot Grml?</a></li>
57 <li><a href="#timezone">How do I configure timezone on my Grml system?</a></li>
58 <li><a href="#hdinstall">Is it possible to install Grml to harddisk?</a></li>
61 <p class="toc"><a href="#software">Software:</a></p>
63 <li><a href="#sw_version">Which package(s) and which version is available?</a></li>
64 <li><a href="#zsh">Why is Zsh the default shell?</a></li>
68 <p class="toc"><a href="#stuff">Support / Unanswered stuff:</a></p>
70 <li><a href="#questions">Further questions?</a></li>
71 <li><a href="#support">Commercial Support</a></li>
74 <h2><a name="general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h2>
76 <h3><a name="whatis"></a><a href="#toc">What is Grml?</a></h3>
78 <p>Grml is a bootable CD (Live-CD) based
79 on <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. It is not
80 necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Grml includes a
81 collection of GNU/Linux software especially for system
82 administrators. It specializes on administrative tasks like
83 installation, deployment and system rescue.</p>
85 <h3><a name="get"></a><a href="#toc">Where do I get Grml?</a></h3>
87 <p>Grml is open source, you can download it from the mirrors
88 listed at <a href="/download">grml.org/download/</a>.</p>
90 <h3><a name="whatmeans"></a><a href="#toc">What does Grml mean?</a></h3>
92 <p>Grml comes close to 'argl' or 'grrr' in English. People use
93 this when they want to express their dissatisfaction with
94 software (amongst other things).</p>
96 <h3><a name="releasename"></a><a href="#toc">What about the release name?</a></h3>
98 <p>Codename of Grml 2011.12 is "Knetch Rootrecht". It's a wordplay on
99 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companions_of_Saint_Nicholas">Knecht
100 Ruprecht</a>, which translates as Farmhand Ruprecht or Servant
103 <h3><a name="requirements"></a><a href="#toc">Requirements for running Grml</a></h3>
107 <li>Intel-compatible CPU (i586 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher)</li>
109 <li>>=128MB of RAM (>=256MB recommended)</p>
111 <li>either a bootable CD-/DVD-ROM drive,
112 a <a href="#usbboot">USB-boot capable system</a> or a
113 network card for booting via network/PXE (check
114 out <a href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a>)</li>
118 <h3><a name="accessibility"></a><a href="#toc">What does accessibility at Grml mean?</a></h3>
120 <p>The Grml kernel includes support for speakup. For software,
121 brltty and espeakup are included.</p>
123 <h3><a name="bootoptions"></a><a href="#toc">Which bootoptions does Grml support?</a></h3>
126 href="http://git.grml.org/?p=grml-live.git;a=blob_plain;f=templates/GRML/grml-cheatcodes.txt;hb=HEAD">grml-cheatcodes
127 file</a> (also available via <a href="http://grml.org/cheatcodes/">grml.org/cheatcodes/</a>). Of
129 href="http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt">kernel-parameters.txt</a>
130 of the Linux kernel applies to Grml as well.</p>
132 <a name="release"></a> <!-- old anchor -->
133 <a name="bugreport"></a> <!-- old anchor -->
134 <h3><a name="known_issues"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any known issues? How about reporting bugs?</a></h3>
136 <p>Please visit the <a href="/bugs/">bug webpage</a>.</p>
138 <h2><a name="features"></a><a href="#toc">Features</a></h2>
140 <!-- TODO: needs to be improved! -->
141 <h3><a name="usbboot"></a><a href="#toc">How do I boot Grml from a USB stick?</a></h3>
144 out <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb#grml2usb">grml2usb</a>
146 <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb webpage in the
149 <h3><a name="store"></a><a name="persistency"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></h3>
152 a <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency">persistency
155 <h3><a name="password"></a><a href="#toc">What are the passwords of users on Grml?</a></h3>
157 <p>There are no default passwords - all accounts are locked by
158 default for security reasons. Even local logins are not
159 possible (unless you set a password or create new user
160 accounts as root). You can create valid passwords using "sudo
161 passwd [username]" from the shell individually.</p>
163 <h3><a name="version"></a><a href="#toc">How do I find out the version of Grml</a></h3>
165 <p>Run 'grml-version' or use the following command:</p>
168 $ cat /etc/grml_version</pre>
170 <h3><a name="language"></a><a href="#toc">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></h3>
172 <p>By default Grml uses english settings. But it is possible to
173 change the settings via using either the bootparam(s) lang,
174 keyboard and xkeyboard or via executing grml-lang when Grml is
175 already running. Usage examples:</p>
178 grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
179 # german keyboard layout and german $LANG, $LC_ALL,
181 grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
182 # and you will get german keyboard and austrian
184 % grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
185 # and $LANG settings in a running Grml system
188 <p>Note: run grml-setlang to get a dialog based frontend for
189 /etc/default/locale. Run grml-setkeyboard to get a dialog
190 based frontend for /etc/sysconfig/keyboard.</p>
193 <h3><a name="wms"></a><a href="#toc">Which window managers can I use?</a></h3>
195 <p>Starting with the 2011.12 release Grml provides <a
196 href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">Fluxbox</a> as window manager.</p>
198 <h3><a name="lvm"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my LVM devices?</a></h3>
200 <p>LVM (Logival Volumes) is <strong>not</strong> started by default to
201 avoid any possible damage to your data. To get access to present LVM
202 devices just execute:</p>
205 # /etc/init.d/lvm2 start
208 <p>If you want to enable LVM by default just boot using the 'lvm'
209 bootoption which automatically enables LVM.</p>
211 <h3><a name="swraid"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></h3>
213 <p>Software-RAID (usually known as the mdadm stuff) is
214 <strong>not</strong> started by default to avoid any possible damage to
215 your data. To get access to present SW-RAID devices just execute:</p>
218 # /etc/init.d/mdadm-raid start
221 <p>If you want to enable SW-RAID by default just boot using
222 the 'swraid' bootoption which enables automatic assembling of
223 software raid arrays.</p>
225 <a name="terminalserver"></a>
226 <h3><a name="booting"></a><a href="#toc">Which ways exist to boot Grml?</a></h3>
228 <!-- TODO: needs rework -->
230 <p>Of course running from CD/DVD is a common way to boot
231 Grml. But Grml provides many more ways to boot:</p>
233 <p>It is possible to boot Grml via USB (e.g. USB stick or
234 harddisk), firewire, or running from a Compact Flash disk. It
235 works out of the box; you don't need to modify anything. Check
236 out <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">the usb
237 webpage in the grml-wiki</a> for more details.</p>
239 <p>Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a
240 floppy disk? Take a look
241 at <a href="http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/">btmgr</a>, <a href="http://ubcd4win.com/faq.htm#floppy">ubcd4win</a>
242 or <a href="http://linux.simple.be/tools/sbm">sbm</a>. They
243 provide support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy
246 <p>grml-terminalserver makes it possible to boot your system
248 using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment">PXE</a>
249 (Preboot Execution Environment). If your network card does not
250 provide support for booting via PXE you can still boot it
251 either using the provided grub image by grml-terminalserver
252 (for example via floppy drive) or
253 using <a href="http://etherboot.org/wiki/index.php">gPXE</a>.
254 For more information, refer to
255 the <a href="/terminalserver/">grml-terminalserver
258 <h3><a name="timezone"></a><a href="#toc">How do I configure
259 timezone on my Grml system?</a></h3>
261 <p>Available bootoptions relevant in live-cd mode:</p>
264 <li>utc: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT)
265 <li>gmt: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT) [like bootoption utc]
266 <li>tz=$option: set timezone to corresponding $option, usage example:
270 <p>Further information: manpages hwclock(8), tzselect(1) and tzconfig(8); <a
271 href="http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/system-administrator/ch-sysadmin-time.html">Debian
272 GNU/Linux System Administrator's Manual Chapter 16 - Time</a> and <a
273 href="http://wiki.debian.org/TimeZoneChanges">TimeZoneChanges in the
276 <h3><a name="hdinstall"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to install Grml to harddisk?</a></h3>
278 <p>Short anwer: No.</p>
280 <p>If you want to get a plain Debian system take a look at <a
281 href="/grml-debootstrap/">grml-debootstrap</a>.</p>
283 <p>Long(er) answer: yes it's possible to install Grml. But it's not
284 supported and you'll be on your own. That's why we decided to make it
285 not-so-obvious. If you really know what you're doing you'll find out on
286 your own. Reminder: use <a
287 href="/grml-debootstrap/">grml-debootstrap</a> or <a
288 href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian Installer</a> instead.</p>
290 <h2><a name="software"></a><a href="#toc">Software</a></h2>
292 <h3><a name="sw_version"></a><a href="#toc">Which package(s) and which
293 version is available?</a></h3>
295 <p>If you want to get details about the provided packages and the
296 package versions without booting the Grml ISO check out the dpkg_...
297 files in the <a href="/files/#debian">Debian-Information section on
298 grml.org/files/</a>.</p>
300 <h3><a name="zsh"></a><a href="#toc">Why is Zsh the default shell?</a></h3>
302 <p>Short answer: because <a href="/zsh/">Zsh rocks</a>, really!</p>
304 <p>Long(er) answer: If you don't know Zsh take a look the <a
305 href="/zsh/">Grml Zsh reference card</a>.</p>
307 <p>If you are a Bash user and don't know Zsh yet, don't be
308 afraid. Bash is largely a subset of Zsh and you don't have to
309 throw away your knowledge about shell stuff.</p>
311 <h2><a name="stuff"></a><a href="#toc">Support / Unanswered stuff</a></h2>
313 <h3><a name="questions"></a><a href="#toc">Further questions</a></h3>
315 <p>Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or
316 in the provided <a href="/docs/">documentation</a> (execute
317 "grml-info" on your Grml system for offline
318 documentation)? Also check out 'grml-tips $KEYWORD' on your
319 Grml system. Take a look at
320 <a href="/">the Grml website</a> and <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the
321 grml-wiki</a>. A good place to become part of the community is the <a
322 href="/mailinglist/">Grml mailinglist</a>.</p>
324 <h3><a name="support"></a><a href="#toc">Commercial Support</a></h3>
326 <p>You want to deploy Grml in your data center, use it as part of your
327 business or have an emergency case? You're happy with Grml but would
328 like to get your very own live cd (providing your favourite software
329 selection, special configuration, setup and your bootsplash)?
330 Please get in <a href="/contact/">touch with us</a>.</p>
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