To make it easier to track problems this section documents current state of
grml-live playing together with squashfs-tools / squashfs-lzma-tools (for
building the compressed file) and the kernel version. Documentation of this
-section is up2date by 04nd of august 2009, please report any bugs you
+section is up2date by 7rd of september 2009, please report any bugs you
encounter.
+Difference between squashfs-lzma-tools and squashfs-tools
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Whereas the ZLIB compression is much faster in the build process, the LZMA
+compression provides a smaller resulting ISO. If you're wondering: the official
+Grml builds use the LZMA compression.
+
+Squashfs-tools was introduced in Debian and once provided support for LZMA
+compression. Sadly LZMA compression within squashfs-tools became unsupported and
+therefore squashfs-lzma-tools had to be introduced by the Grml team. Different
+kernel versions provide different squashfs file formats (version 3.x for kernel
+versions until 2.6.28-grml[64], since kernel 2.6.31-grml[64] it's the 4.x
+format).
+
+If you're wondering which package supports what, here's a short overview:
+
+* squashfs-tools 1:4.0-1: ZLIB as default, no LZMA support/options, file format
+version 4
+
+* squashfs-tools 1:3.3-7: ZLIB as default, no LZMA support/options, file format
+version 3
+
+* squashfs-tools 1:3.2r2-9exp1: LZMA as default, ZLIB support via -nolzma
+option, file format version 3
+
+* squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2: ZLIB as default, LZMA support via -lzma option,
+file format version 4
+
+* squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1: LZMA as default, ZLIB support via -nolzma option,
+file format version 3
+
+Depending on the kernel version you want to use you need different versions
+squashfs-tools/squashfs-lzma-tools. Yes, that's pretty a mess (don't ask how
+much this sucks for us developers) - though this is supposed to calm down with
+the recent integration of squashfs file format 4 in the mainline kernel. Support
+for LZMA is pending and should dramatically simplify the situation for
+developers as well as users as soon as it's available mainline.
+
+Using squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2 on the build system
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2 is available via the grml repositories. It provides
+the mksquashfs-lzma and unsquashfs-lzma binaries. The package does NOT conflict
+with Debian's squashfs-tools package (you can install both of them at the same
+time).
+
+The packages can be downloaded from
+link:http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/s/squashfs-lzma-tools/[http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/s/squashfs-lzma-tools/]
+
+It provides support for the new squashfs file format version 4 and therefore
+requires kernel versions newer than 2.6.28-grml[64]. It supports LZMA as well as
+ZLIB compression. Just use the defaults for enabling LZMA or use grml-live's
+'-z' option if you want to use ZLIB instead.
+
+* Kernel 2.6.23-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.26-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.28-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.31-grml[64]: works
+
+[NOTE]
+
+Please use squashfs-lzma-tools >=4.0-2 from Grml if you want to remaster any
+grml release being MORE RECENT than 2009.05.
+
+Using squashfs-tools 1:4.0-1 on the build system
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+squashfs-tools 1:4.0-1 is available in Debian/unstable and Debian/testing. It
+provides the mksquashfs and unsquashfs binaries. The package does NOT
+conflict with the squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2 package (you can install both of
+them at the same time).
+
+The packages can be downloaded from
+link:ftp://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/s/squashfs/[ftp://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/s/squashfs/]
+
+It provides support for the new squashfs file format version 4 and therefore
+requires kernel versions newer than 2.6.28-grml[64].
+
+It does NOT support LZMA compression. If you need LZMA support please use
+Grml's squashfs-lzma-tools (see section above) instead.
+
+* Kernel 2.6.23-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.26-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.28-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.31-grml[64]: works
+
+[NOTE]
+Please use squashfs-tools 1:4.0-1 only if you want to remaster grml releases
+MORE RECENT than 2009.05 using the ZLIB compression.
+
Using squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1 on the build system
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-squashfs-lzma-tools from the grml repository supports kernel 2.6.26-grml[64] and
-2.6.28-grml[64] using both lzma and zlib (-nolzma) compression. It's the
-recommended package for building ISOs with grml-live currently!
+squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1 from the grml repository supports kernel
+2.6.26-grml[64] and 2.6.28-grml[64] using both LZMA and ZLIB (-nolzma)
+compression. It's the recommended package for building ISOs with grml-live
+currently!
The packages can be downloaded from
link:http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/s/squashfs-lzma/[http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/s/squashfs-lzma/].
Using squashfs-tools 1:3.3-7 on the build system
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-squashfs-tools 1:3.3-7 is available via the official Debian/unstable and
-Debian/testing (Lenny) pool running:
-
- # aptitude install squashfs-tools=1:3.3-7
-
-or directly via downloading the files
+squashfs-tools 1:3.3-7 is available through
http://grml.org/squashfs/squashfs-tools_3.3-7_i386.deb (for x86) or
http://grml.org/squashfs/squashfs-tools_3.3-7_amd64.deb (for amd64) [both build
on and for Debian/etch but working with testing and unstable as well].
Using with LZMA compression:
* Kernel 2.6.23-grml: works
-* Kernel 2.6.26-grml: does NOT work, please use zlib mode instead or switch
- to Debian package squashfs-lzma-tools (see section above).
-* Kernel 2.6.28-grml: does NOT work, please use zlib mode instead or switch
- to Debian package squashfs-lzma-tools (see section above).
+* Kernel 2.6.26-grml: does NOT work, please use ZLIB mode instead or switch
+ to Debian package squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1 (see section above).
+* Kernel 2.6.28-grml: does NOT work, please use ZLIB mode instead or switch
+ to Debian package squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1 (see section above).
[[faq]]
FAQ
mkdir -p /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/
mv base.tgz /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/I386.tar.gz
- # install relevant tools:
+ # install relevant tools
+ # please check out http://grml.org/grml-live/#current_state when encountering problems!
apt-get -o APT::Install-Recommends=false install grml-live squashfs-lzma-tools
# adjust grml-live configuration for our needs:
cat > /etc/grml/grml-live.local << EOF
- # consider using lzma only for space reasons (resulting in longer
+ # consider using LZMA only for space reasons (resulting in longer
# build time but smaller ISO):
SQUASHFS_OPTIONS="-nolzma"
# install local files into the chroot
grml-live you can get commercial support via
link:http://grml-solutions.com/[Grml Solutions].
+[[lzma-vs-zlib]]
+How much is the difference between LZMA and ZLIB compression?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+ISO size (bs = blocksize):
+
+[width="45%",cols="3,^2,^2,^2"]
+|============================================================
+|ISO |LZMA (256kB bs) |LZMA (128kB bs)|ZLIB
+|grml_sid |666M | WIP | 771M
+|grml_squeeze |659M | WIP | 761M
+|grml_lenny |624M | WIP | 723M
+|grml64_sid |677M | WIP | 791M
+|grml64_squeeze |671M | WIP | 785M
+|grml64_lenny |639M | WIP | 745M
+|grml-medium_sid |208M | WIP | 236M
+|grml-medium_squeeze |206M | WIP | 234M
+|grml-medium_lenny |193M | WIP | 220M
+|grml64-medium_sid |213M | WIP | 245M
+|grml64-medium_squeeze |213M | WIP | 244M
+|grml64-medium_lenny |201M | WIP | 231M
+|grml-small_sid |102M | WIP | 118M
+|grml-small_squeeze |101M | WIP | 117M
+|grml-small_lenny |97M | WIP | 112M
+|grml64-small_sid |103M | WIP | 120M
+|grml64-small_squeeze |103M | WIP | 120M
+|grml64-small_lenny |99M | WIP | 116M
+|============================================================
+
+Build time of grml-medium's squashfs file (depends on your system, though just
+to get the ratio between the different options):
+
+* 10 minutes and 4 seconds with LZMA default blocksize (128k)
+* 7 minutes 27 seconds with LZMA and blocksize 256k
+* 6 minutes and 8 seconds with LZMA blocksize 512k
+* 1 minute and 40 seconds with ZLIB
+
[[install-local-files]]
How to I install further files into the chroot/ISO?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've a question which isn't answered by this document
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Don't hesitate to ask on IRC (channel #grml on irc.freenode.org) or just drop me
-a mail: <mika@grml.org>
+Don't hesitate to contact the author: <mika@grml.org>
[[download]]
Download / install grml-live as a Debian package