grml-live [-a <architecture>] [-c <classe[s]>] [-C <configfile>] [-g
<grml_name>] [-i <iso_name> ] [-o <output_directory>] [-r <release_name>] [-s
-<suite>] [-t <template_directory>] [-v <version_number>] [-bBFhquVz]
+<suite>] [-t <template_directory>] [-v <version_number>] [-bBFnNquVz]
CAUTION: Please check out <<current_state,the 'Current state of grml-live with
squashfs-tools and kernel' section>> for details about current state of involved
details of a build process.
CAUTION: grml-live does **not** use /etc/fai for configuration but instead
-provides and uses /etc/grml/fai. This ensures that it does not clash with
-default FAI configuration and packages, so you can use grml-live and FAI
+provides and uses ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG} which is pointing to /etc/grml/fai by default
+(unless overriden using the ''-D'' option). This ensures that it does not clash
+with default FAI configuration and packages, so you can use grml-live and FAI
completely independent at the same time!
[NOTE]
of grml-live, so please make sure you use /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as a base for
your own configuration file (usually /etc/grml/grml-live.local). Please also
notice that the configuration file specified via this option is **not** (yet)
-supported inside the scripts/hooks/classes at /etc/grml/fai/config. Instead use
+supported inside the scripts/hooks/classes at ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config. Instead use
/etc/grml/grml-live.local for configuration stuff used inside
-/etc/grml/fai/config.
+${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config.
-d **DATE**::
ISO with release information for a specific date but have to build it in
advance. Usage example: '-d 2009-10-30'
+ -D **CONFIGURATION_DIRECTORY**::
+
+The specified directory is used as configuration directory for grml-live and its
+FAI. By default /etc/grml/fai is used as default configuration directory. If
+you want to have different configuration scripts, package definitions, etc. with
+without messing with the global configuration under /etc/grml/fai provided by
+grml-live this option provides you the option to use your own configuration
+directory. This directory is what's being referred to as ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}
+throughout this documentation.
+
-F::
Force execution and do not prompt for acknowledgment of configuration.
Skip creation of the ISO file. This option is useful if you want to build/update
the chroot and/or recreate the squashfs file without building an ISO file.
+ -N::
+
+Bootstrap the chroot without building bootloader, squashfs, or finalizing the
+ISO. Use this option if installation of some packages fails, you want to run
+custom commands or similar.
+The main use of this option is to save time by skipping stages which aren't
+necessary for bootstrapping the chroot and which would get executed more than
+once when iterating through the initial bootstrapping.
+Alternatively, use this option as a test run of grml-live. Once you are
+satisfied with the state of your grml_chroot, use grml-live **-u** to build the
+remaining stages and finalize the ISO.
+
-o **OUTPUT_DIRECTORY**::
Main output directory of the build process of FAI. Some directories are created
-s **SUITE**::
Specify the Debian suite you want to use for your live-system. Defaults to
-"lenny" (being current Debian/stable). Supported values are: etch, lenny, sid.
-Debian "squeeze" (current Debian/testing) requires base.tgz
-(/etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/$CLASSNAME.tar.gz) or a recent version of
+"squeeze" (being current Debian/stable). Supported values are: etch, lenny,
+squeeze, sid. Debian "squeeze" requires a recent base.tgz
+(${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/basefiles/$CLASSNAME.tar.gz) or a recent version of
debootstrap.
-t **TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY**::
-z::
-Use ZLIB instead of LZMA compression in mksquashfs part of the build process.
+Use ZLIB instead of LZMA/XZ compression in mksquashfs part of the build process.
[[usage-examples]]
Usage examples
GRML_SMALL, GRML_MEDIUM or GRML_FULL). The following files and directories are
relevant for class GRMLBASE by default:
- /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/GRMLBASE/
- /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/GRMLBASE
- /etc/grml/fai/config/class/GRMLBASE.var
- /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/instsoft.GRMLBASE
- /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/GRMLBASE
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/scripts/GRMLBASE/
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/debconf/GRMLBASE
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/class/GRMLBASE.var
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/hooks/instsoft.GRMLBASE
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/package_config/GRMLBASE
Take a look at the next section for information about the concept of those
files/directories.
-----------------
The package selection part of the classes can be found in
-/etc/grml/fai/config/package_config whereas some further classes are defined for
-example in /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/ so specific feature sets can be
+${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/package_config whereas some further classes are defined for
+example in ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/scripts/ so specific feature sets can be
selected. The following classes are predefined:
* DEBORPHAN: get rid of all packages listed in output of Deborphan
Notice that grml-live ships FAI configuration files that do not use the same
namespace as the FAI packages itself. This ensures that grml-live does not clash
with your usual FAI configuration, so instead of /etc/fai/fai.conf (package
-fai-client) grml uses /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf instead. For more details see
+fai-client) grml uses ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/fai.conf instead. For more details see
below. To get an idea how another configuration or example files could look like
check out /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/examples/simple/ (provided by Debian package
fai-doc). Furthermore /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/fai-guide.html/ch-config.html
from /etc/grml/grml-live.local as well you have to specify them on the grml-live
commandline.
- /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/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 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_FAI_CONFIG=/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
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
This file is used by make-fai-nfsroot(8) only. Usually you don't have to change
anything inside this file. If you want to modify NFSROOT though you can adjust
it there.
- /etc/grml/fai/NFSROOT
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/NFSROOT
This file specifies the package list for creating the NFSROOT.
- /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/apt/sources.list
This file specifies which mirrors should be considered for retrieving the Debian
packages when creating the main chroot (including all the software you would
like to see included). Important: this file should *not* be adjusted manually!
Instead use the GRML_LIVE_SOURCES variable inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf or
-/etc/grml/grml-live.local which modifies /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
+/etc/grml/grml-live.local which modifies ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/apt/sources.list
on-the-fly via grml-live then. If you want to generally adjust apt configuration
-use FAI's fcopy command with /etc/grml/fai/config/files instead.
+use FAI's fcopy command with ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/files instead.
- /etc/grml/fai/config/
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/
The main directory for configuration of FAI/grml-live. More details below.
- /etc/grml/fai/config/class/
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/class/
This directory contains files which specify main configuration variables for the
FAI classes.
- /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/debconf/
This directory provides the files for preseeding/configuration of debconf
through files.
- /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/hooks/
This directory provides files for customising the build process through hooks.
Hooks are user defined programs or scripts, which are called during the
installation process.
- /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/package_config/
Directory with lists of software packages to be installed or removed. The
different classes describe what should find its way to your ISO. When running
directory GRMLBASE contains a package list defining a minimum but still
reasonable package configuration.
- /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/scripts/
Scripts for customising the ISO within the build process.
- /etc/grml/fai/live-initramfs/
+ ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/live-initramfs/
This directory provides the files used for building the initramfs/initrd via
live-initramfs(8).
Current state of grml-live with squashfs-tools and kernel
---------------------------------------------------------
-To make it easier to track problems this section documents current state of
-grml-live playing together with squashfs-tools / squashfs-lzma-tools /
-squashfs-lzma-tools4 (for building the compressed file) and the kernel version.
-Documentation of this section is up2date by 1st of september 2010, please report
-any bugs you encounter.
+Use squashfs-tools >=4.2-1 (available from Grml repositories as well as from
+Debian/unstable) to build Grml (based) ISOs featuring kernel version
+2.6.38-grml[64].
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Difference between squashfs-lzma-tools, squashfs-lzma-tools4 and squashfs-tools
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
version 4, package maintained and available from Debian, recommended only for
ZLIB-only builds of any grml-live builds with kernel versions >=2.6.31-grml[64]
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Outdated, JFTR:
* squashfs-tools 1:3.3-7: ZLIB as default, no LZMA support/options, file format
* squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1: LZMA as default, ZLIB support via '-nolzma' option,
file format version 3
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Now, depending on the kernel version you want to use you need different versions
of squashfs-tools/squashfs-lzma-tools[4]. Yes, that's a mess (don't ask how much
* Kernel 2.6.31-grml[64]: works with ZLIB compression, fails with LZMA
* Kernel 2.6.33-grml[64]: works with ZLIB compression, fails with LZMA
* Kernel 2.6.35-grml[64]: works with ZLIB *and* LZMA compression
+* Kernel 2.6.36-grml[64]: works with ZLIB *and* LZMA compression
[NOTE]
-squashfs-lzma-tools4 is the recommended package for building up2date ISOs with
-grml-live! Please use other squashfs-* packages only if you want to build live
-systems providing kernel versions older than 2.6.35-grml*. Use
-squashfs-lzma-tools4 from Grml if you want to remaster any Grml releases MORE
-RECENT than 2010.04.
+squashfs-tools >=4.1-1 and/or squashfs-lzma-tools4 are the recommended package
+for building up2date ISOs with grml-live! Please use other squashfs-* packages
+only if you want to build live systems providing kernel versions older than
+2.6.35-grml*. Use squashfs-tools >=4.1-1 or squashfs-lzma-tools4 from Grml if
+you want to remaster any Grml releases MORE RECENT than 2010.04.
Using squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2 on the build system
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Kernel 2.6.31-grml[64]: works (ZLIB only)
* Kernel 2.6.33-grml[64]: works (ZLIB only)
* Kernel 2.6.35-grml[64]: works (ZLIB only)
+* Kernel 2.6.36-grml[64]: works (ZLIB only)
[NOTE]
-Please use squashfs-tools >=1:4.0-1 only if you want to remaster Grml releases
-starting with 2009.10 using the ZLIB compression, please use squashfs-lzma-tools
-/ squashfs-lzma-tools4 otherwise instead.
+Please use squashfs-tools between 4.0-1 and 4.1-1 only if you want to remaster
+Grml releases starting with 2009.10 using the ZLIB compression, please use other
+squashfs packages otherwise instead.
-//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Outdated, JFTR:
Using squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1 on the build system
Pin: origin deb.grml.org
Pin-Priority: 1
- Package: squashfs-lzma-tools
- Pin: origin deb.grml.org
- Pin-Priority: 996
-
- Package: squashfs-lzma-tools4
+ Package: squashfs-tools
Pin: origin deb.grml.org
Pin-Priority: 996
EOF
# 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 squashfs-lzma-tools4
+ apt-get -o APT::Install-Recommends=false install grml-live squashfs-tools
# adjust grml-live configuration for our needs:
cat > /etc/grml/grml-live.local << EOF
## want a faster build process and don't need smaller ISOs?
- ## if so use zlib compression, for kernels >=2.6.35-grml* and squashfs-lzma-tools4:
+ ## if so use zlib compression
# SQUASHFS_OPTIONS="-comp gzip -b 256k"
- ## ... or for kernels <=2.6.33-grml* and squashfs-lzma-tools:
- # SQUASHFS_OPTIONS="-nolzma -b 256k"
## want to use a specific squashfs binary?
# SQUASHFS_BINARY='/usr/bin/mksquashfs'
# install local files into the chroot
and the ISO can be found inside /grml-live/grml-live/grml_isos/ then.
-[[fai-on-etch]]
-Help, I'm using Debian etch and I don't have FAI version >3.2
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- wget http://fai-project.org/download/etch/fai-client_3.2.8_all.deb \
- http://fai-project.org/download/etch/fai-server_3.2.8_all.deb \
- http://fai-project.org/download/etch/fai-doc_3.2.8_all.deb
- dpkg -i fai-client_3.2.8_all.deb fai-server_3.2.8_all.deb fai-doc_3.2.8_all.deb
+[[grml_fai_config_variable]]
+What is $GRML_FAI_CONFIG?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-or check out the link:http://fai-project.org/[FAI-homepage] for
-further details.
+The variable '$GRML_FAI_CONFIG' is pointing to the directory /etc/grml/fai by
+default. To provide you a maximum of flexibility you can set up your own
+configuration directory (e.g. based on /etc/grml/fai) and use this directory
+running grml-live with the '-D <config_dir>' option. Now '$GRML_FAI_CONFIG'
+points to the specified directory instead of using /etc/grml/fai and all the
+configuration files, scripts and hooks will be taken from your
+'$GRML_FAI_CONFIG' directory.
[[how-to-debug]]
I've problems with the build process. How to start debugging?
* 1 minute and 40 seconds with ZLIB
[[install-local-files]]
-How to I install further files into the chroot/ISO?
+How do I install further files into the chroot/ISO?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just point the configuration variable CHROOT_INSTALL to the directory which
well.
Unless you specify GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and/or FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP the default from
-/etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list and /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf will be
+${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/apt/sources.list and ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/make-fai-nfsroot.conf will be
taken. If you customise the variables in /etc/grml/grml-live.conf then the two
files will be adjusted during runtime automatically.
First of all build the chroot system:
mkdir /tmp/nfsroot && cd /tmp/nfsroot
- debootstrap lenny /tmp/nfsroot/ http://cdn.debian.net/debian
+ debootstrap squeeze /tmp/nfsroot/ http://cdn.debian.net/debian
tar zcf base.tgz ./
Then check out where your NFSROOT is located:
GRML_LIVE_SOURCES="
deb http://localhost:3142/deb.grml.org grml-stable main
deb http://localhost:3142/deb.grml.org grml-testing main
- deb http://localhost:3142/cdn.debian.net/debian lenny main contrib non-free
+ deb http://localhost:3142/cdn.debian.net/debian squeeze main contrib non-free
"
[...]
- FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="lenny http://localhost:3142/cdn.debian.net/debian lenny main contrib non-free"
+ FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="squeeze http://localhost:3142/cdn.debian.net/debian squeeze main contrib non-free"
Make sure apt-cacher / apt-cacher-ng is running ('/etc/init.d/apt-cacher
restart' or '/etc/init.d/apt-cacher-ng restart'). That's it. All downloaded
GRML_LIVE_SOURCES="
deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-stable main
deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-testing main
- deb http://localhost:9999/debian lenny main contrib non-free
+ deb http://localhost:9999/debian squeeze main contrib non-free
"
- FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="lenny http://localhost:9999/debian"
+ FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="squeeze http://localhost:9999/debian"
Configure approx:
Don't forget to restart approx (/etc/init.d/approx restart). That's it.
All downloaded files will be cached in /var/cache/approx now.
+[[revert_manifold]]
+How do I revert the manifold feature from an ISO?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The so called manifold feature Grml ISOs use by default allows one to use the same
+ISO for CD boot and USB boot. If you notice any problems when booting just
+revert the manifold feature running:
+
+ % dd if=/dev/zero of=grml.iso bs=512 count=1 conv=notrunc
+
+To switch from manifold to isohybrid mode (an alternative approach provided by
+syslinux) then just execute:
+
+ % isohybrid grml.iso
+
+[[basetgz]]
+How do I create a base tar.gz (I386.tar.gz or AMD64.tar.gz)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Execute the following commands (requires root):
+
+ ARCH='amd64' # replace with i386 if necessary
+ SUITE='squeeze' # using the current stable release should always work
+ debootstrap --arch "$ARCH" --exclude=info,tasksel,tasksel-data "$SUITE" "$ARCH" http://debian.netcologne.de/debian
+ cd "$ARCH"
+ rm var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb
+ tar zcf ../"${ARCH}".tar.gz *
+
+And finally place the generated tarball in /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/ (note
+that it needs to be uppercase letters matching the class names, so: AMD64.tar.gz
+for amd64 and I386.tar.gz for i386).
+
+[[autobuild]]
+How do I set up an autobuild environment?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+If you want to set up a system like link:http://daily.grml.org/[daily.grml.org]
+the Debian package grml-live-buildd provides all you need to start. Start with
+figuring out the cron job script /usr/share/grml-live/buildd/cronjob.sh.
+
+If you want to automatically update the grml-live Debian package on your build
+system based on the git tree of grml-live (so you get bleeding edge of
+development which might is interesting for services like daily.grml.org) the
+provided release_helper.sh script provides everything you need. Execute as root:
+
+ echo "deb file:/home/grml-live-git/grml-live.build-area/ ./" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grml-live.list
+ adduser --disabled-login --disabled-password grml-live-git
+
+Execute 'visudo' to update sudo configuration and add the following line:
+
+ grml-live-git ALL=NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/apt-get
+
+Switch to user grml-live-git and configure the rest:
+
+ su - grml-live-git
+ mkdir grml-live.build-area
+ git clone git://git.grml.org/grml-live.git
+ git config --global user.name "Grml-Live Git Autobuild"
+ git config --global user.email "grml-live-git@$(hostname)"
+
+Finally install a cron job (as user grml-live-git) like:
+
+ 30 00 * * * cd /home/grml-live-git/grml-live.git/ && env AUTOBUILD=1 scripts/release_helper.sh >/home/grml-live-git/grml-live-build.log
+
+Tip: To find out the build date of the installed grml-live package just execute:
+
+ % apt-cache policy grml-live | grep 'Installed.*autobuild'
+ Installed: 0.13.1~autobuild1300450381
+
+and run "date -ud @$STRING" where $STRING is the number behind the "autobuild",
+like:
+
+ % date -ud @1300450081
+ Fri Mar 18 12:08:01 UTC 2011
+
[[question]]
I've a question which isn't answered by this document
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~