/etc/grml/grml-live.local for configuration stuff used inside
/etc/grml/fai/config.
+ -d **DATE**::
+
+Use specified date as build date information on the ISO instead of the default.
+The default is the date when grml-live is being executed (retrieved via
+executing 'date +%Y-%m-%d'). The information is stored inside the file
+/GRML/grml-version on the ISO, /etc/grml_version in the squashfs file and in all
+the bootsplash related files. This option is useful if you want to provide an
+ISO with release information for a specific date but have to build it in
+advance. Usage example: '-d 2009-10-30'
+
-F::
Force execution and do not prompt for acknowledgment of configuration.
/etc/grml/fai/fai.conf
Main configuration file for FAI which specifies where all the configuration
-files and scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default it is set to
-FAI_CONFIGDIR=/etc/grml/fai/config, a directory shipped by grml-live
-out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this file.
+files and scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default the configuration
+variables are FAI_CONFIG_SRC=file:///etc/grml/fai/config and
+FAI_CONFIGDIR=/etc/grml/fai/config - both pointing to a directory shipped by
+grml-live out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this
+file.
/etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
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 03nd of september 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
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. Different kernel versions
-provide different squashfs file formats (version 3.x for kernel versions until
-2.6.28-grml[64], newer kernel versions use the 4.x format).
+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 which option, here's a short
-overview:
+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 1:3.2r2-9exp1: 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
-* squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-1: LZMA as default, no ZLIB support/options, file format 4
-
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.
+developers as well as users as soon as it's available mainline.
-Using squashfs-tools 1:4.0-1 on the build system
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Using squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2 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 and the package does NOT
-conflict with the squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-1 package (you can install both of
-them at the same time).
+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).
-It provides support for the new squashfs file format version 4 and therefore
-requires kernel versions newer than 2.6.28-grml[64].
+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 does NOT support LZMA compression. If you need LZMA support please use
-squashfs-lzma-tools instead.
+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]: work in progress
+* Kernel 2.6.31-grml[64]: works
[NOTE]
-Please use squashfs-tools 1:4.0-1 if you want to remaster grml releases
-MORE RECENT than 2009.05 using the ZLIB compression.
-Using squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-1 on the build system
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+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).
-squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-1 is available via the grml repositories. It provides
-the mksquashfs-lzma and unsquashfs-lzma binaries and the package does NOT
-conflict with the squashfs-tools 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 provide support for ZLIB compression. If you need ZLIB support
-please use squashfs-tools 1:4.0-1 instead and use the '-z' option of grml-live
-or set "SQUASHFS_OPTIONS='-nolzma'" in the grml-live configuration file.
+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]: work in progress
+* Kernel 2.6.31-grml[64]: works
[NOTE]
-Please use squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-1 if you want to remaster grml releases
-MORE RECENT than 2009.05 using the LZMA compression.
+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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# grml stable repository:
deb http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable main
- deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable main
+ # deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable main
# grml testing/development repository:
deb http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main
- deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main
+ # deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main
EOF
# adjust apt-pinning (only prefer squashfs stuff from grml):
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:
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"]
+|============================================================
+|ISO |LZMA (256kB bs) |ZLIB
+|grml_sid |666M | 771M
+|grml_squeeze |659M | 761M
+|grml_lenny |624M | 723M
+|grml64_sid |677M | 791M
+|grml64_squeeze |671M | 785M
+|grml64_lenny |639M | 745M
+|grml-medium_sid |208M | 236M
+|grml-medium_squeeze |206M | 234M
+|grml-medium_lenny |193M | 220M
+|grml64-medium_sid |213M | 245M
+|grml64-medium_squeeze |213M | 244M
+|grml64-medium_lenny |201M | 231M
+|grml-small_sid |102M | 118M
+|grml-small_squeeze |101M | 117M
+|grml-small_lenny |97M | 112M
+|grml64-small_sid |103M | 120M
+|grml64-small_squeeze |103M | 120M
+|grml64-small_lenny |99M | 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