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 (e.g. via Grml) very fast and easy.
20 All you have to do is adjust a few variables in configuration file
21 /etc/debootstrap/config (or specify some variables via command line) and invoke
22 grml-debootstrap without any further options then.
24 A plain and base Debian system will be installed on the given device (or
25 directory) then. Customization of this process is possible as well.
27 CAUTION: The Grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!
29 Options and environment variables
30 ---------------------------------
32 *--arch* _architecture_::
34 Set target architecture you want to install. Defaults to the architecture
35 you are currently running. If you're running an amd64 kernel and want to
36 deploy an i386 system use this option. Note: deploying amd64 from an i386
37 kernel does *not* work. Example: "_--arch i386_"
39 *--bootappend* _appendline-for-the-kernel_::
41 Specify appendline for the kernel.
44 *-c*, *--config* _file_::
46 Use specified configuration file, defaults to /etc/debootstrap/config.
48 *--chroot-scripts* _directory_::
50 Execute chroot scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation
51 of the chroot setup, the executable script(s) present in the given directory
52 are executed at the end of the chroot procedure.
53 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/chroot-scripts/
55 *-d*, *--confdir* _path_::
57 Place of configuration files for debootstrap, defaults to /etc/debootstrap.
61 Use specified file for preseeding Debian packages instead of using
62 the default <confdir>/debconf-selections.
66 Extra parameters passed to the debootstrap command.
68 *--filesystem* _filesystem_::
70 Filesystem that should be created when installing to a partition.
71 If unset defaults to ext3. Valid values are all filesystems that
72 can be created through mkfs._filesystem_.
76 Skip user acknowledgement and do not prompt for user input.
80 Enable Grml.org's Debian repository (http://deb.grml.org/) via the
81 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grml.list configuration file. This provides the
82 option to install Debian packages from Grml's repository.
86 Device where grub should be installed to. Note that only the MBR (master
87 boot record) can be used (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...). Partitions (like
88 /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb2,...) are NOT supported because grub2 doesn't support
89 installation into the PBR (partition boot record) anymore. Usage example:
90 '--grub /dev/sda'. Note: just do not set this option to avoid installation
95 Show summary of options and exit.
97 *--hostname* _hostname_::
99 Use specified hostname instead of the default (being 'grml').
101 *-i*, *--iso* _/mntpoint_::
103 Specify mount point where you have a Debian ISO mounted loopback.
104 Using this option instead of the mirror option gives you the possibility
105 to install the base-system without network access. Make sure you
106 mounted the according Debian-ISO to the given _/mntpoint_. See section
107 'Usage examples' for a demonstration.
111 Do not download and check signatures for retrieved Release files.
115 Do not overwrite user provided /etc/apt/sources.list.
117 *-m*, *--mirror* _URL_::
119 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude.
120 Corresponding with configuration variable MIRROR.
124 Skip debootstrap, only do configuration to the target.
128 Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.
132 Do not prompt for the root password. Note: Use the '--password' option if
133 you want to set the root password during an automatic installation but don't
134 want to use the interactive dialog.
136 *-p*, *--mntpoint* _/mntpoint_::
138 Specify mount point that should be used for mounting the target system.
139 Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.
140 Note: this option has no effect if option -t is given and represents a
143 *--packages* _file_::
145 Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of
146 the default package list file <confdir>/packages.
148 *--password* _password_::
150 Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
151 command line might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
152 It's meant for automatic installation only.
154 *-r*, *--release* _releasename_::
156 Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny,
157 squeeze, wheezy (note: requires current version of debootstrap) and sid.
158 Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.
160 *--pre-scripts* _directory_::
162 Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot
163 script. This allows customisation of the system before the chroot has
164 been set up. The environment variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the
165 scripts for direct access of the chroot.
166 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/
168 *--scripts* _directory_::
170 Execute scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of
171 the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment variable
172 $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
173 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/scripts/
175 *-t*, *--target* _target_::
176 Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
177 beginning). To install grub using *--grub* make sure to use a _device_
178 instead of a directory as _target_ (installation of grub as bootloader when
179 using directories is NOT supported).
185 Set up a Virtual Machine instead of installing to a partition or directory.
186 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
187 combined with the --target option.
188 Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
191 Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it
192 defaults to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage
193 qemu-img(1) for details.
194 Usage example: --vmsize 3G
197 Show version of program and exit.
199 WARNING: the command line parsing of grml-debootstrap does not validate the provided
200 arguments for the command line options. Please be careful and check docs and
201 /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.
206 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda
208 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager
209 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition.
211 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid
213 Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6, install bootmanager Grub in MBR
214 (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda6 as system partition.
216 mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
217 grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot
219 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) in directory /data/chroot (without
222 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
224 Install default debian release (stable/squeeze) in a Virtual Machine file with
225 3GB disk size (including Grub as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):
227 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
228 grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
230 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
231 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
232 Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.
234 mount -o loop /mnt/sda6/debian-40r0-i386-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
235 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/
237 Install Debian stable/squeeze on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
238 for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
239 /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition. Please notice, that the chroot
240 system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the
246 /etc/debootstrap/config
248 Main configuration file. You have to adjust it according to your needs
249 if you want to execute grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without
250 any special command line arguments.
252 /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script
254 The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system
255 has been installed via [c]debootstrap.
257 /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen
259 Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.
261 /etc/debootstrap/packages
263 Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new
264 Debian system by default.
266 /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages/
268 Debian Packages dropped in this directory will be installed into the new Debian
269 system by default (Control variable: EXTRAPACKAGES)
271 /etc/debootstrap/stages/
273 The default directory for storing information about executed stages. Every
274 single function of grml-debootstrap will write 'done' to the stages directory
275 into a file named as the function itself if it has been executed successfully.
276 You can adjust the location of the directory via configuration variable STAGES
277 via /etc/debootstrap/config. Please notice that you have to remove the stages
278 directory on your own if you want to re-execute grml-debootstrap after running it
279 successfully once. This should avoid recurrent execution by error of
280 grml-debootstrap (which might delete present data).
285 You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
286 /etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
287 variables via command line. The packages which should be installed in the new
288 Debian system can be defined via the file /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you
289 want to put existing files to the new Debian system you can place them into the
290 (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and var in
291 /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian
292 system then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available
293 via the Grml or Debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and
294 make sure that EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".
296 Automatic installation
297 ----------------------
299 If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a
300 full automatic mode. While this mode isn't really useful for interactive
301 execution (just configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant
302 variables on the command line instead) it is meant for use via boot option
303 debian2hd. The boot option debian2hd (more precise: the kernelname on bootprompt)
304 supports the following boot options (they correspond with the command line options
309 The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
314 Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda
318 Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian squeeze. Supported
319 relases: lenny, squeeze, wheezy and sid. Usage example: release=sid
323 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
324 of the default one (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian).
325 Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
329 Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given
330 argument. Usage example: password=AiTh5ahn
332 Usage example for automatic installation:
333 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
335 debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
337 You have to enter this command line at the bootprompt of the Grml live system.
338 Please make sure that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to
339 install your new Debian system.
342 Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via
343 setting environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
344 /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant
345 boot options for grml-debootstrap.
350 include::releasetable.txt[]
354 ================================================================================
355 [1] Please notice that lenny is the current old-stable release within Debian.
356 grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not use lenny
357 anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose stable (squeeze)
360 When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata
361 format version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has
362 the advantage of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.
363 ================================================================================
367 ================================================================================
368 [2] Please notice that sid is Debian/unstable and due to its nature might not be
369 always installable. What _might_ work instead is deploying stable (squeeze) or
370 testing (wheezy) and upgrade it after installation finished.
371 ================================================================================
376 Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
381 debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).
385 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>