6 grml-debootstrap - wrapper around debootstrap for installing plain Debian
10 grml-debootstrap [ _options_ ]
12 image:images/screenshot.png[Screenshot]
17 grml-debootstrap is a wrapper suite around debootstrap (and cdebootstrap if you
18 want) for installing a plain Debian system very fast and easy.
20 All you have to do is adjust a few variables in the configuration file
21 /etc/debootstrap/config or specify some command line options and invoke
22 grml-debootstrap. If invoked without any configuration modifications or command
23 line options a dialog based frontend will be available to control some basic
24 configuration options.
26 A plain and base Debian system will be installed on the given device, directory
27 or virtual image file then. Customization of this process is possible as well.
29 CAUTION: The Grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!
31 Options and environment variables
32 ---------------------------------
34 *--arch* _architecture_::
36 Set target architecture you want to install. Defaults to the architecture
37 you are currently running. If you're running an amd64 kernel and want to
38 deploy an i386 system use this option. Note: deploying amd64 from an i386
39 kernel does *not* work. Example: "_--arch i386_"
43 Enable Debian's Backports repository (http://backports.debian.org/) via the
44 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list configuration file. This provides the
45 option to install Debian packages from Debian's backports repository.
47 *--bootappend* _appendline-for-the-kernel_::
49 Specify appendline for the kernel.
52 *-c*, *--config* _file_::
54 Use specified configuration file, defaults to /etc/debootstrap/config.
56 *--chroot-scripts* _directory_::
58 Execute chroot scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation
59 of the chroot setup, the executable script(s) present in the given directory
60 are executed at the end of the chroot procedure.
61 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/chroot-scripts/
63 *-d*, *--confdir* _path_::
65 Place of configuration files for debootstrap, defaults to /etc/debootstrap.
69 Use specified file for preseeding Debian packages instead of using
70 the default <confdir>/debconf-selections.
74 Extra parameters passed to the debootstrap command.
78 Execute in very verbose way. Useful for debugging possible problems
79 with grml-debootstrap or identify what's actually executed.
81 *--filesystem* _filesystem_::
83 Filesystem that should be created when installing to a partition.
84 If unset defaults to ext4. Valid values are all filesystems that
85 can be created through mkfs._filesystem_.
89 Skip user acknowledgement and do not prompt for user input.
93 Enable Grml.org's Debian repository (http://deb.grml.org/) via the
94 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grml.list configuration file. This provides the
95 option to install Debian packages from Grml's repository.
99 Device where grub should be installed to. Note that only the MBR (master
100 boot record) can be used (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...). Partitions (like
101 /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb2,...) are NOT supported because grub2 doesn't support
102 installation into the PBR (partition boot record) anymore. Usage example:
103 '--grub /dev/sda'. Note: just do not set this option to avoid installation
108 Show summary of options and exit.
110 *--hostname* _hostname_::
112 Use specified hostname instead of the default (being $HOSTNAME or if unset 'grml').
114 *-i*, *--iso* _/mntpoint_::
116 Specify mount point where you have a Debian ISO mounted loopback.
117 Using this option instead of the mirror option gives you the possibility
118 to install the base-system without network access. Make sure you
119 mounted the according Debian-ISO to the given _/mntpoint_. See section
120 'Usage examples' for a demonstration.
124 Do not overwrite user provided /etc/apt/sources.list.
126 *-m*, *--mirror* _URL_::
128 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude.
129 Corresponding with configuration variable MIRROR.
133 Skip debootstrap, only do configuration to the target.
137 Do not copy /etc/network/interfaces from host system to the target.
138 This option is automatically enabled when using --vm or --vmfile.
142 Skip installation of default kernel images. This option might be
143 interesting for you if you want a Debian system which doesn't
144 need to provide regular boot, e.g. a system which provides
145 ISOs for booting via GRUB using grml-rescueboot.
149 Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.
153 Do not prompt for the root password. Note: Use the '--password' option if
154 you want to set the root password during an automatic installation but don't
155 want to use the interactive dialog.
157 *-p*, *--mntpoint* _/mntpoint_::
159 Specify mount point that should be used for mounting the target system.
160 Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.
161 Note: this option has no effect if option -t is given and represents a
164 *--packages* _file_::
166 Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of
167 the default package list file <confdir>/packages.
169 *--password* _password_::
171 Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
172 command line might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
173 It's meant for automatic installation only.
175 *-r*, *--release* _releasename_::
177 Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny,
178 squeeze, wheezy (note: requires current version of debootstrap) and sid.
179 Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.
181 *--pre-scripts* _directory_::
183 Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot
184 script. This allows customisation of the system before the chroot has
185 been set up. The environment variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the
186 scripts for direct access of the chroot.
187 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/
189 *--scripts* _directory_::
191 Execute scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of
192 the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment variable
193 $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
194 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/scripts/
196 *-t*, *--target* _target_::
198 Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
207 Set up a Virtual Machine on an existing block device, which will be
209 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
210 combined with the --target option.
211 Usage example: --vm --target /dev/mapper/your-vm-disk
215 Set up a Virtual Machine instead of installing to a partition or directory.
216 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
217 combined with the --target option.
218 Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
222 Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it
223 defaults to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage
224 qemu-img(1) for details.
225 Usage example: --vmsize 3G
229 Show version of program and exit.
231 WARNING: the command line parsing of grml-debootstrap usually does not validate
232 the provided arguments for the command line options. Please be careful and check
233 docs and /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.
238 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda
240 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager
241 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition.
243 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid
245 Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6, install bootmanager Grub in MBR
246 (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda6 as system partition.
248 mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
249 grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot
251 Install default Debian release (wheezy) in directory /data/chroot (without
254 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
256 Install default debian release (wheezy) in a Virtual Machine file with
257 3GB disk size (including Grub as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):
259 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
260 grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
262 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
263 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
264 Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.
266 mount -o loop /mnt/sda6/debian-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
267 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/
269 Install Debian on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
270 for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
271 /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition. Please notice, that the chroot
272 system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the
278 /etc/debootstrap/config
280 Main configuration file. Adjust it according to your needs if you want to
281 execute grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without any special command
284 /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script
286 The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system
287 has been installed via [c]debootstrap.
289 /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen
291 Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.
293 /etc/debootstrap/packages
295 Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new
296 Debian system by default.
298 /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages/
300 Debian Packages dropped in this directory will be installed into the new Debian
301 system by default (Control variable: EXTRAPACKAGES)
306 You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
307 /etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
308 variables via command line. The packages which should be installed in the new
309 Debian system can be defined via the file /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you
310 want to put existing files to the new Debian system you can place them into the
311 (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and var in
312 /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian
313 system then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available
314 via the Grml or Debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and
315 make sure that EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".
317 Automatic installation
318 ----------------------
320 If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a
321 full automatic mode. While this mode isn't really useful for interactive
322 execution (just configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant
323 variables on the command line instead) it is meant for use via boot option
324 debian2hd on the Grml live system. The boot option debian2hd (more precise: the
325 kernelname at the bootprompt) supports the following boot options (they
326 correspond with the command line options mentioned above):
330 The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
335 Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda
339 Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian wheezy. Supported
340 relases: lenny, squeeze, wheezy and sid. Usage example: release=sid
344 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
345 of the default one (http://http.debian.net/debian).
346 Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
350 Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given
351 argument. Usage example: password=AiTh5ahn
353 Usage example for automatic installation
354 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
356 debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
358 You have to enter this command line at the bootprompt of the Grml live system.
359 Please make sure that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to
360 install your new Debian system.
363 Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via
364 setting environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
365 /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant
366 boot options for grml-debootstrap.
371 include::releasetable.txt[]
375 ================================================================================
376 [1] Please notice that lenny is an unsupported release within Debian nowadays.
377 grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not use lenny
378 anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose Debian 6.0 (squeeze)
379 or Debian 7.0 (wheezy) instead.
381 Notice that you need to specify a mirror providing the lenny release, the
382 default (http://http.debian.net/debian) doesn't provide it any longer nowadays.
383 Set the mirror to e.g. http://archive.debian.org/debian/ if you don't have
384 your own lenny mirror.
386 When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata
387 format version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has
388 the advantage of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.
389 ================================================================================
392 .unstable and testing releases
393 ================================================================================
394 [2] Please notice that jessie (Debian/testing) and sid (Debian/unstable) might
395 not be always installable due to their nature. What _might_ work instead is
396 deploying a stable release and upgrade it after installation finished.
397 ================================================================================
402 Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
407 debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).
411 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>