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+ <p><img style="float: right" src="/img/clanbomber.png" alt="*" /></p>
+
+ <h1 align="center">FAQ for grml</h1>
+
+ <p><strong>Up2date:</strong> 2010-12-31 - applies to Grml releases version 2010.12</p>
+
+ <p><a name="toc"></a><strong>Index:</strong></p>
+
+ <p class="toc"><a href="#general">General:</a></p>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#whatis">What is grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#get">Where do I get grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#whatmeans">What does grml mean?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#pronounce">How do you pronounce grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#releasename">What about the release name?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#requirements">Requirements for running grml</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#why">Why another Linux distribution?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#license">What's the license of grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#difference">What's the difference between grml and $OTHER-DISTRIBUTION? What are the main goals?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#knoppix">What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#accessibility">What does accessibility at grml mean?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#bootoptions">Which bootoptions does grml support?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#emulation">Is it possible to run grml with $EMULATOR?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#usbboot">How do I boot grml from a USB stick?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#store">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#persistency">Is a persistency feature available?</a></li>
+ </ol>
+
+ <p class="toc"><a href="#grmlmedium">grml-medium</a> / <a
+ href="#grmlsmall">grml-small</a> / <a
+ href="#grml64">grml64</a>:</p>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#whatismedium">What is grml-medium?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#whatissmall">What is grml-small?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#whatisgrml64">What is grml64?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#whatismedium64">What is grml64-medium?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#whatissmall64">What is grml64-small?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#grml64vsnormal">What is the difference between 32 bit grml and 64 bit grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#smallvsnormal">What is the difference between 'normal' grml and grml-small?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#grmlvsdsl">What is the difference between grml-small and DSL?</a></li>
+ </ol>
+
+ <p class="toc"><a href="#problems">Problems</a>:</p>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#known_issues">Are there any known issues with this release?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#hardware">I have problems with my hardware!</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#boot">grml does not boot on my computer!</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#fbprobs">I don't see anything when booting grml?!</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#utf8">I have problems with UTF-8 / Unicode</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#grml2hdhang">grml2hd seems to hang?!</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#cifsshare">Booting grml-small via PXE using a CIFS share fails</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#missingfiles">I noticed some files are missing on grml</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#bugreport">Bugreport</a></li>
+ </ol>
+
+ <p class="toc"><a href="#system">System</a>:</p>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#isolinux">Where's the old bootsplash?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#configure">Which tools exist to configure grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#password">What are the passwords of users on grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#version">How do I find out the version of grml</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#remove_cd">Is it possible to run LiveCD and eject CD-ROM?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#language">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#kde_and_foo">KDE, Gnome, $FOO and $BAR</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#wms">Which window managers can I use?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#usbmount">How do I mount a USB device / USB stick?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#lvm">Where are my LVM devices?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#swraid">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="libata">Why doesn't grml find my disks / doesn't boot?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#booting">Which ways exist to boot grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#timezone">How do I configure timezone on my grml system?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#hdinstall">Is it possible to install grml to harddisk?</a></li>
+ </ol>
+
+ <p class="toc"><a href="#kernel">Kernel</a>:</p>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#kernelconfig">Where can I find the configuration for the kernel used on grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#kernelpatches">Are there any special components/patches in the kernel used on grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#platform">For which platforms is the grml kernel optimized?</a></li>
+ </ol>
+
+ <p class="toc"><a href="#software">Software:</a></p>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#sw_general">General</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#sw_version">Which package(s) and which version is available?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#init">Init-System</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#zsh">Why is zsh the default shell?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#zsh_binsh">Wasn't zsh the /bin/sh interpreter?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#bash">Is a bash available?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#configuration">Where can I find the configuration of zsh, GNU screen,...?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#truecrypt">Why isn't Truecrypt available within grml?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#grub">grub does not work on my system?!</a></li>
+ </ol>
+
+ <p class="toc"><a href="#xserver">X-Server</a></p>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#xstart">How do I start the X server?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#xproblem">X does not start on my box?!</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#xresolution">I don't like the resolution of X!</a></li>
+ </ol>
+
+ <p class="toc"><a href="#stuff">Support / Unanswered stuff</a></p>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#questions">Further questions?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#support">Commercial Support</a></li>
+ </ol>
+
+ <h2><a name="general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h2>
+
+ <h3><a name="whatis"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Grml is a bootable CD (Live-CD) based on <a
+ href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. Grml includes a collection of
+ GNU/Linux software especially for system administrators and users of
+ texttools. Grml provides automatic hardware detection. You can use grml
+ as a rescue system, for analyzing systems/networks, or as a working
+ environment. It is not necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Due
+ to on-the-fly decompression grml includes more than 2GB of software and
+ documentation on the CD.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="get"></a><a href="#toc">Where do I get grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Grml is open source, you can download it from the mirrors listed at
+ <a href="/download">grml.org/download/</a>. If you want to get an
+ original grml-CD including <a href="/files/#covers">the grml-cover</a>,
+ need a special amount of CDs or want your own special grml-CD (including
+ your logo, your software and/or special settings) <a
+ href="/contact/">please don't hesitate to contact us</a>. Take a look at
+ <a href="http://grml-solutions.com/">Grml Solutions</a> if you're
+ interested in commercial support.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="whatmeans"></a><a href="#toc">What does grml mean?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Grml comes close to 'argl' or 'grrr' in English. People use this when
+ they want to express their dissatisfaction/discontentedness with
+ software (amongst other things):</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+$ grep -ch grml .centericq/**/history | xargs echo | \
+ sed 's/[0-9]*/& + /g' | sed 's/+ $//g' | bc -l
+3746</pre>
+
+ <h3><a name="pronounce"></a><a href="#toc">How do you pronounce grml?</a></h3>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+% flite -o play -t gremel</pre>
+<!--
+ $ echo 'ghroummel' | festival \-\-tts
+-->
+
+ <h3><a name="releasename"></a><a href="#toc">What about the release name?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Codename of Grml 2010.12 is Gebrüder Grml. It's a german wordplay
+ on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm">Brothers Grimm</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="requirements"></a><a href="#toc">Requirements for running grml</a></h3>
+
+ <ul>
+
+ <li>Intel-compatible CPU (i586 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher)</li>
+
+ <li>grml/grml-medium: at least 64MB of RAM (for stable use with
+ ramdisks for aufs and udev and when running X window system we
+ recommend at least 128MB)</li>
+
+ <li>grml-small: at least 32MB RAM should be available</li>
+
+ <li>either a bootable CD-ROM drive or <a href="#usbboot">USB-boot
+ capable system</a> (for booting via network/PXE check out <a
+ href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a>)</li>
+
+ </ul>
+
+ <h3><a name="why"></a><a href="#toc">Why another Linux distribution?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>There already exist "<a
+ href="http://www.distrowatch.com/">some</a>" distributions. We
+ decided to base our work on the existing infrastructure of <a
+ href="http://debian.org/">Debian</a> because we don't want to reinvent
+ the wheel. Some admins already use their own rescue CD, Knoppix works
+ but does not bring that many important tools for admins and users of
+ texttools out of the box. Therefor we decided to share our work with
+ others and provide the swiss army knife for sysadmins and texttool
+ fans.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="license"></a><a href="#toc">What's the license of grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Anything written by the grml team is published under the GPL (<a
+ href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU General Public
+ License</a>). You don't have to pay anything for using grml. If you want
+ a special Live-CD or need commercial support, take a look at <a
+ href="http://grml-solutions.com/">Grml Solutions</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="difference"></a><a href="#toc">What's the difference between grml and
+ $OTHER-DISTRIBUTION? What are the main goals?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>The main goal of grml is to be a distribution well suited for
+ sysadmins and users of texttools. Grml includes all the tools for
+ admin's daily work (lvm, mdadm, dd/ddrescue,...) as well as many
+ important texttools (of course awk, sed, grep, ... but also zsh,
+ mutt[ng], slrn, vim and many others). Grml uses the existing
+ infrastructure of <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. Grml was
+ once based on <a href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a> (see
+ '<a href="#knoppix">What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?</a>'
+ for more details). We are also merging useful things from other
+ distributions/live-cds to provide a perfect environment.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="knoppix"></a><a href="#toc">What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Grml comes with a vastly different set of software. Missing KDE and
+ OpenOffice provides the opportunity of shipping more than 800 packages
+ which Knoppix does not provide on its CD version. Grml boots a recent
+ 2.6 kernel but no X by default for faster startup. Knoppix is based on
+ Debian/testing-experimental (using apt-pinning), but grml is basically
+ based on plain Debian/unstable providing more current versions of
+ software. Grml was once based on Knoppix but nowadays has nothing in
+ common with Knoppix:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+# locate knoppix
+# find / -iname \*knoppix\*
+#</pre>
+
+ <p>We consider Knoppix as a brand name for live-cds nowadays and provide
+ most of Knoppix' features as well. Grml uses (mostly) the same <a
+ href="http://git.grml.org/?p=grml-live.git;a=blob_plain;f=templates/GRML/grml-cheatcodes.txt;hb=HEAD">cheatcodes</a>
+ for booting as Knoppix and even provides some extra ones. So if you are
+ used to the basic Knoppix features you usually find them on the
+ grml system as well.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="accessibility"></a><a href="#toc">What does accessibility at grml mean?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>The Grml kernel includes <a href="/kernel/#speakup">support for
+ speakup</a> and provides software like brltty (using bootoption 'grml
+ blind brltty=type,port,tbl') and flite.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="bootoptions"></a><a href="#toc">Which bootoptions does Grml support?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Check out the <a
+ href="http://git.grml.org/?p=grml-live.git;a=blob_plain;f=templates/GRML/grml-cheatcodes.txt;hb=HEAD">grml-cheatcodes
+ file</a> (also available via <a href="http://grml.org/cheatcodes/">grml.org/cheatcodes/</a>). Of
+ course <a
+ href="http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt">kernel-parameters.txt</a>
+ of the Linux kernel applies to Grml as well.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="emulation"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to run Grml with $EMULATOR?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Sure, Grml works with(in) several emulators and virtual environments,
+ like e.g.
+ <a href="http://www.linux-kvm.org/">KVM</a>,
+ <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/">MS Virtual PC</a>,
+ <a href="http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/">QEMU</a>
+ <a href="http://www.virtualbox.org/">Virtualbox</a> and
+ <a href="http://www.vmware.com/">VMware</a>.
+ </p>
+
+ <h3><a name="usbboot"></a><a href="#toc">How do I boot Grml from a USB stick?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Check out <a
+ href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb#grml2usb">grml2usb</a> at the
+ <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb webpage in the
+ grml-wiki.</a></p>
+
+ <h3><a name="store"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Yes. Grml provides a config framework, check out <a
+ href="/config/">grml.org/config/</a>, <a
+ href="file:///usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html">/usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html</a>
+ and 'man grml-autoconfig save-config restore-config mkpersistenthome' for more
+ details. Starting with release 2009.05 a <a
+ href="#persistency">persistency option</a> is
+ available.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="persistency"></a><a href="#doc">Is a persistency feature available?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Starting with release 2009.05 a persistency feature is available. Use
+ <a
+ href="http://grml.org/online-docs/live-snapshot.en.1.html">live-snapshot</a>
+ (man live-snapshot) and the bootoption 'persistent' for enabling
+ persistency.</p>
+
+ <a name="grmlmedium"></a><a name="grmlsmall"></a><a name="grml64"></a>
+ <h2></a><a href="#toc">grml-medium / grml-small / grml64?</a></h2>
+
+ <h3><a name="whatismedium"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml-medium?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>grml-medium is a grml-flavour which tries to close the gap between <a
+ href="#whatissmall">grml-small</a> and <a
+ href="#whatis">normal/large/full version of grml</a>. grml-medium is an
+ ISO with a size of ~200MB providing the most important packages a
+ sysadmin usually needs. It provides the same <a href="/kernel/">kernel
+ version</a> as normal grml does so you can easily integrate and use some
+ further existing external modules as well. The X.org server is shipped
+ as well as the window manager fluxbox. Take a look at the <a
+ href="/files/">'Debian-Information'-section</a> if you are searching for
+ the package list. <a
+ href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=accessibility">accessibility
+ features</a> are <strong>NOT</strong> available/supported on grml-medium
+ though.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="whatissmall"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml-small?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Whereas grml provides about 2.3GB of software on a 700 MB ISO,
+ grml-small is a flavor with about 100 MB ISO-size (~275 MB
+ uncompressed). It does not provide a lot of software (for example no
+ X.org and no man pages) but the essential stuff for being a rescue
+ system on a business card CD-ROM or a small USB device. You can use the
+ Debian package management system to install software on the fly
+ (assuming you have network access to a Debian mirror). It provides the
+ same <a href="/kernel/">kernel version</a> as normal grml does so you
+ can easily integrate and use some further existing external modules as
+ well. Take a look at the <a
+ href="/files/">'Debian-Information'-section</a> if you are searching for
+ the package list.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="whatisgrml64"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml64?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>grml64 is a 64bit-version of grml, based on <a
+ href="http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/">the amd64 port of
+ Debian</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="whatismedium64"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml64-medium?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>grml64-medium is the 64bit version of <a href="#whatismedium">grml-medium</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="whatissmall64">What is grml64-small?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>grml64-small is the 64bit version of <a href="#whatissmall">grml-small</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="grml64vsnormal"></a><a href="#toc">What is the difference between 32 bit grml and 64 bit grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>The main difference of course is that grml64 is a 64bit-version
+ whereas (normal) grml is 32bit-only. grml64 provides a 64bit kernel
+ which supports 32bit userspace applications. grml64 also provides
+ libc6-i386 and libc6-dev-i386. Due to space reasons and because some
+ packages aren't available for amd64 (yet) some few packages are missing on
+ grml64 compared to (normal, 32bit) grml.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="smallvsnormal"></a><a href="#toc">What is the
+ difference between 'normal' grml and grml-small?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>The 700MB-grml brings more than 2500 software packages. grml-small
+ includes about 300 software packages, lacks documentation and manpages
+ on the ISO. <a href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a> and <a
+ href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=accessibility">accessibility
+ features</a> are <strong>not</strong> available/supported on
+ grml-small.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="grmlvsdsl"></a><a href="#toc">What is the
+ difference between grml-small and DSL?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>DSL (Damns Small Linux) and grml-small have different target
+ audiences. <a href="http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/">Damn Small Linux</a>
+ (DSL) uses kernel version 2.4 whereas grml-small provides a recent
+ version of kernel version 2.6. DSL provides the X window system which
+ grml-small does not. grml-small on the other hand provides the most
+ important packages for sysadmins and ships the original Debian package
+ management which allows you to install packages of the Debian pool with
+ no modifications.</p>
+
+ <h2><a name="problems"></a><a href="#toc">Problems</a></h2>
+
+ <a name="release"></a> <!-- old anchor -->
+ <h3><a name="known_issues"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any known issues with this release?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>We won't hide anything. Therefore, we do provide all known
+ issues/bugs publicly available: <a
+ href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml_2010.12">issues regarding
+ grml 2010.12</a> in <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the
+ grml-wiki</a>.</p>
+
+ <p>If you find another bug, or consider something a problem not yet
+ mentioned <a href="#bugreport">please it</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="hardware"></a><a href="#toc">I have problems with my hardware!</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Take a look at the script grml-hwinfo. This script generates a file
+ named info.tar.bz2 which contains important information about your
+ hardware. If you think we might help, please run grml-hwinfo and <a
+ href="/contact/">send us the file</a> with additional, relevant
+ information regarding your problem.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="boot"></a><a href="#toc">grml does not boot on my computer!</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Please take a look at <a
+ href="http://git.grml.org/?p=grml-live.git;a=blob_plain;f=templates/GRML/grml-cheatcodes.txt;hb=HEAD">the
+ available bootparamters and cheatcodes</a> and '<a href="#booting">Which
+ ways exist to boot grml?</a>'. Especially booting with 'acpi=off noapm
+ noapic' might help. The bootparameter 'failsafe' provides minimal
+ hardware detection using some special bootoptions (please do NOT boot
+ with 'grml failsafe' but with 'failsafe' as first word of the boot
+ commandline) . If booting hangs during stage "Waiting for /dev to
+ be fully populated" please try booting with 'grml noudev'. If you
+ don't even see the bootsplash of the grml-ISO your BIOS might be broken
+ (pretty common especially on old hardware). Please consider using <a
+ href="http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/">btmgr</a> then for booting your
+ system. Also check out the <a
+ href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=problems">problems webpage</a> in
+ <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the grml-wiki</a>. You still have
+ problems? Feel free to <a href="/contact/">contact us</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="fbprobs"></a><a href="#toc">I don't see anything when booting grml?!</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Likely, this is a problem with the vesafb framebuffer. Try to boot
+ with the 'Disable Framebuffer' menuentry (available behind the submenu
+ 'Boot options for ...') or manually ad 'vga=normal' to the kernel
+ command line (press TAB to edit a menu entry and add 'vga=normal'
+ to it then).</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="utf8"></a><a href="#toc">I have problems with UTF-8 / Unicode</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Check out <a
+ href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=utf8">UTF8-webpage in the
+ grml-wiki</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="grml2hdhang"></a><a href="#toc">grml2hd seems to hang?!</a></h3>
+
+ <p>grml2hd seems to hang? Switch to tty12 and take a look at the syslog output.
+ If you see something like:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+SQUASHFS error: zlib_fs returned unexpected result 0x........
+SQUASHFS error: Unable to read cache block [.....]
+SQUASHFS error: Unable to read inode [.....]</pre>
+
+ <p>your ISO/CD-ROM <em>very</em> probably is NOT ok. Verify it via
+ booting with grml testcd if that works, or even better check your CD
+ low-level via running:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+# readcd -c2scan dev=/dev/cdrom</pre>
+
+ <p>If the medium really is ok and it still fails try to boot with
+ DMA deactivated via 'grml nodma ide=nodma libata.dma=0' at the bootprompt.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="cifsshare"></a><a href="#toc">Booting grml-small via PXE using a CIFS share fails</a></h3>
+
+ <p>When trying to boot grml-small[64] via PXE (network boot) using a
+ CIFS share this will fail because grml-small[64] lacks cifs-utils.
+ cifs-utils would consume >14MB of additional disk space - that's why
+ it isn't part of the release. But there's a simple workaround: you can
+ take the initrd and kernel from the regular grml flavour and use just
+ the squashfs from grml-small[64].</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="missingfiles"></a><a href="#toc">I noticed some files are missing on grml</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Yes, output of 'debsums -a 1>/dev/null' might output some
+ failures. The reason is pretty simple: some few modification have been
+ done either because they are required for the provided environment or
+ because of space limitiations on the ISO. The failures are nothing to
+ really care about, but as we don't hide anything we thought it might be
+ worth mentioning.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="bugreport"></a><a href="#toc">Bugreport</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Searching for a bug? Want to report a bug? Take a look at the <a
+ href="/bugs/">bugs webpage</a>.</p>
+
+ <h2><a name="system"></a><a href="#toc">System</a></h2>
+
+ <h3><a name="isolinux"></a><a href="#toc">Where's the old bootsplash?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Starting with release 2009.10 Grml provides a menu based bootsplash.
+ To adjust boot options just press the TAB-key. To directly switch to the
+ old-style isolinux cmdline just press the escape key within 30 seconds. If you
+ still need access to the old bootsplash layout (including the f2, f3,...
+ pages with further information regarding available bootoptions)
+ select the entry 'Isolinux prompt' in the menu based bootsplash (just
+ press 'i' and ENTER for direct access to it). The timeout until either
+ the selected entry is booted (if specified) or until the system will
+ restore from the cmdline to the menu based bootsplash is 30 seconds.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="configure"></a><a href="#toc">Which tools exist to configure grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Grml provides several scripts and tools which should make life
+ easier. See 'dpkg -L grml-scripts' to get an overview of some main
+ scripts. Run 'grml-config' to get a dialog interface for the most
+ important scripts and tasks. Or just type 'grml-' and press tab-key to
+ get a completion menu in the shell.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="password"></a><a href="#toc">What are the passwords of users on grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>There are no default passwords - all accounts are locked by default
+ for security reasons. Even local logins are not possible (unless you set
+ a password or create new user accounts as root). You can create valid
+ passwords using "sudo passwd [username]" from the shell
+ individually.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="version"></a><a href="#toc">How do I find out the version of grml</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Run 'grml-version' or use the following command:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+$ cat /etc/grml_version</pre>
+
+ <h3><a name="remove_cd"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to run LiveCD and eject CD-ROM?</a></h3>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+% sudo umount -l /live/image
+% sudo eject /dev/cdrom # now don't run any new programs unless you booted using 'toram'
+% mount /dev/cdrom # mount it again if needed
+</pre>
+
+ <h3><a name="language"></a><a href="#toc">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>By default grml uses english settings. But it is possible to
+ change the settings via using either the bootparam(s) lang,
+ keyboard and xkeyboard or via executing grml-lang when grml is
+ already running. Usage examples:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
+ # german keyboard layout and german $LANG, $LC_ALL,
+ # $LANGUAGE...
+grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
+ # and you will get german keyboard and austrian
+ # language variables
+% grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
+ # and $LANG settings in a running grml-system
+</pre>
+
+ <p>If you are running grml from harddisk (using <a
+ href="#hdinstall">grml2hd</a>) you have several options how to set
+ language options:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+
+ <li>adjust /etc/default/locale to configure global language and
+ environment settings</li>
+
+ <li>set environment variables like $LC_ALL, $LANG, $LANGUAGE in your
+ personal configuration files (like ~/.zshrc.local, see <a
+ href="/zsh/">grml zsh reference card</a> for details)
+ if you do not want to use them system wide/global</li>
+
+ <li>adjust /etc/sysconfig/keyboard to configure keyboard layout
+ on console, or run 'loadkeys $KEYTABLE' manually</li>
+
+ <li>add "setxkbmap $LANGUAGE" to the keybindings section in
+ your ~/.xinitrc to configure keyboard setup for the X window system
+ (deactivate the xmodmap lines if necessary)</li>
+
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>Note: run grml-setlang to get a dialog based frontend for
+ /etc/default/locale. Run grml-setkeyboard to get a dialog based frontend
+ for /etc/sysconfig/keyboard.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="kde_and_foo"></a><a href="#toc">KDE, Gnome, $FOO and $BAR</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Why isn't KDE, Gnome, $FOO or $BAR part of grml? grml is a
+ distribution for users of texttools and sysadmins. If you would like to
+ run KDE with Debian use e.g. <a href="http://sidux.com/">Sidux</a> or <a
+ href="http://www.kubuntu.org/">Kubuntu</a>. Gnome users might find <a
+ href="http://www.ubuntulinux.org/">Ubuntu</a> useful. If you would like
+ to see a specific (software) package added to grml please <a
+ href="/report/">report it to us</a>!</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="wms"></a><a href="#toc">Which window managers can I use?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Grml is shipped with a few selected window managers which are
+ lightweight and fast - so well suited for a live system. At the moment,
+ Grml provides the following window managers:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="http://awesome.naquadah.org/">awesome</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">fluxbox</a>
+ <li><a href="http://i3.zekjur.net/">i3</a>
+ <li><a href="http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/Main_Page">openbox</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.suckless.org/wiki/wmii">wmii</a>
+ </ul>
+
+<!--
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="http://awesome.naquadah.org/">awesome</a>
+ <li><a href="http://wmii.de/dwm/">dwm</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.6809.org.uk/evilwm/">evilwm</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">fluxbox</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.fvwm.org/">fvwm</a>
+ <li><a href="http://fvwm-crystal.org/">fvwm-crystal</a>
+ <li><a href="http://joewing.net/programs/jwm/index.shtml">jwm</a>
+ <li><a href="http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/Main_Page">openbox</a>
+ <li><a href="http://pekwm.org/">pekwm</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/">ratpoison</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.plig.org/xwinman/vtwm.html">twm</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.grassouille.org/code/w9wm/README">w9wm</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.nickgravgaard.com/windowlab/">windowlab</a>
+ <li><a href="http://www.suckless.org/wiki/wmii">wmii</a>
+ </ul>
+-->
+
+ <p>Tip: If you are new to grml and/or prefer an easy-to-use-desktop run 'grml-x
+ wm-ng' for starting fluxbox with idesk and gkrellm.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="usbmount"></a><a href="#toc">How do I mount a USB device / USB stick?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Run 'mount /mnt/usb-sda1' for example if you want to mount /dev/sda1.
+ Udev on Grml does multiplexing for USB block devices, so /dev/usb-sda1
+ (device for mountpoint /mnt/usb-sda1) is a symlink to /dev/sda1.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="lvm"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my LVM devices?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>LVM (Logival Volumes) is <strong>not</strong> started by default to
+ avoid any possible damage to your data. To get access to present LVM
+ devices just execute:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+# /etc/init.d/lvm2 start
+
+or use the shorter version:
+
+# Start lvm2
+</pre>
+
+ <p>If you want to enable LVM by default just boot using the 'lvm'
+ bootoption which automatically enables LVM.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="swraid"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Software-RAID (usually known as the mdadm stuff) is
+ <strong>not</strong> started by default to avoid any possible damage to
+ your data. To get access to present SW-RAID devices just execute:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+# /etc/init.d/mdadm-raid start
+
+or use the shorter version:
+
+# Start mdadm-raid
+</pre>
+
+ <p>If you want to enable SW-RAID by default just boot using the 'swraid'
+ bootoption which enables automatic assembling of software raid arrays.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="libata"></a><a href="#toc">Why doesn't grml find my disks / doesn't boot?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Since release 2008.11 grml uses <a
+ href="http://linux-ata.org/faq.html">libata</a> exclusively (so no
+ longer any old IDE code). Sadly some few (usually pretty old) systems
+ don't boot with libata-only kernels anymore. If you think you've such a
+ system please provide output of 'lspci' <a href="/contact/">to
+ us</a>.</p>
+
+ <a name="terminalserver"></a>
+ <h3><a name="booting"></a><a href="#toc">Which ways exist to boot grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>The most common way to boot grml is, of course, running from
+ CD-ROM, but grml provides many more ways to boot grml:</p>
+
+ <p>It is possible to boot grml via USB (e.g. USB stick or harddisk),
+ firewire, or running from a Compact Flash disk. It works out of the box;
+ you don't need to modify anything. Check out <a
+ href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">the usb webpage in the
+ grml-wiki</a> for more details.</p>
+
+ <p>Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a floppy
+ disk? Take a look at <a
+ href="http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/">btmgr</a>, <a
+ href="http://ubcd4win.com/faq.htm#floppy">ubcd4win</a> or <a
+ href="http://linux.simple.be/tools/sbm">sbm</a>. They provide
+ support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy disk.</p>
+
+ <p>grml-terminalserver makes it possible to boot your system via network
+ using <a
+ href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment">PXE</a>
+ (Preboot Execution Environment). If your network card does not provide
+ support for booting via PXE you can still boot it either using the
+ provided grub image by grml-terminalserver (for example via floppy
+ drive) or using <a href="http://etherboot.org/wiki/index.php">gPXE</a>.
+ For more information, refer to the <a
+ href="/terminalserver/">grml-terminalserver webpage</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="timezone"></a><a href="#toc">How do I configure
+ timezone on my grml system?</a></h3>
+
+ <h4>Available bootoptions relevant in live-cd mode:</h4>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>utc: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT)
+ <li>gmt: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT) [like bootoption utc]
+ <li>tz=$option: set timezone to corresponding $option, usage example:
+ tz=Europe/Vienna
+ </ul>
+
+ <h4>Configuration options relevant on harddisk installation:</h4>
+
+ <p>Run:
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+# dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
+</pre>
+
+ <p>to adjust /etc/timezone and /etc/localtime according to the
+ provided information.</p>
+
+ <p><strong>/etc/default/rcS:</strong> set variable UTC according
+ to your needs, whether your system clock is set to UTC
+ (UTC='yes') or not (UTC='no')</p>
+
+ <p><strong>/etc/localtime:</strong> adjust zoneinfo according to
+ your needs:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+# ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/$WHATEVER_YOU_WANT /etc/localtime
+</pre>
+
+ <p>The zoneinfo directory contains the time zone files that were
+ compiled by zic. The files contain information such as rules
+ about DST. They allow the kernel to convert UTC UNIX time into
+ appropriate local dates and times. Use the zdump utility to
+ print current time and date (in the specified time zone).</p>
+
+ <p><strong>/etc/adjtime:</strong> This file is used e.g. by the
+ adjtimex function, which can smoothly adjust system time while
+ the system runs.</p>
+
+ <p>If you change the time (using 'date --set ...', ntpdate,...)
+ it is worth setting also the hardware clock to the correct
+ time:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+# hwclock --systohc [--utc]
+</pre>
+
+ <p>Remember to add the --utc -option if the hardware clock is set to
+ UTC!</p>
+
+ <h4>Still problems?</h4>
+
+ <p>Check your current settings via:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+cat /etc/timezone
+zdump /etc/localtime
+echo $TZ
+hwclock --show
+grep hwclock /etc/runlevel.conf
+grep '^UTC' /etc/default/rc
+</pre>
+
+ <h4>Further information:</h4>
+
+ <p>Manpages: hwclock(8) tzselect(1) tzconfig(8); <a
+ href="http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/system-administrator/ch-sysadmin-time.html">Debian
+ GNU/Linux System Administrator's Manual Chapter 16 - Time</a> and <a
+ href="http://wiki.debian.org/TimeZoneChanges">TimeZoneChanges in the
+ Debian-Wiki</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="hdinstall"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to install grml to harddisk?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Yes. Grml provides a tool called <a href="/grml2hd/">grml2hd</a> (see
+ '<a href="/grml2hd/grml2hd.html">man grml2hd</a>'). grml is developed
+ on a box running the grml-system itself, and we - the grml-developers -
+ especially like grml2hd because it gives us a working Linux box within
+ 10 to 30 minutes. grml2hd is perfect for prototyping: test hardware
+ support of Linux, test a specific setup, ... You can even use grml2hd in
+ a fully automatic mode without any further interaction.</p>
+
+ <p>But <strong>please note</strong>: grml2hd does <strong>NOT</strong>
+ provide a Linux distribution for newbies and should be installed to hard
+ disk only if really know what you are doing (or don't care about
+ maintainability, seriously). Please install grml using grml2hd only if
+ can answer all of the following questions with 'sure, YES':</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>Are you used to work with Debian/unstable?
+ <li>Do you know how to report bugs to Debian?
+ <li>Are you aware of the differences between plain Debian and grml?
+ </ul>
+
+ <p><strong>Tip</strong>: If you want to get a plain Debian system take
+ a look at <a href="/grml-debootstrap/">grml-debootstrap</a>.</p>
+
+ <p><strong>Note:</strong> If you are using grml in a production
+ environment and/or use a grml2hd installation, we strongly recommend you
+ subscribe to <a href="/mailinglist/">the grml user mailinglist</a>!</p>
+
+ <h2><a name="kernel"></a><a href="#toc">Kernel</a></h2>
+
+ <h3><a name="kernelconfig"></a><a href="#toc">Where can I find the configuration for the kernel used on
+ grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>See /boot/config-`uname -r` and on <a href="/kernel/">the kernel-webpage</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="kernelpatches"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any special components/patches in the kernel
+ used on grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Grml uses the most current stable vanilla Linux kernel from <a
+ href="http://www.kernel.org/">www.kernel.org</a> with some
+ additional patches. More information and an all-in-one patch is
+ available on the <a
+ href="/kernel/">kernel-page</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="platform"></a><a href="#toc">For which platforms is the grml kernel optimized?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Plain i586 compatibility-mode with SMP enabled. (Note: of course it
+ works for uniprocessor systems as well)</p>
+
+ <h2><a name="software"></a><a href="#toc">Software</a></h2>
+
+ <h3><a name="sw_general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Want to run a program as root? Just use "sudo $PROGRAM". To get a
+ root-shell run "sudo -i".</p>
+
+ <p>Problems with a specific package? Please try "dpkg-reconfigure $foo".
+ Still encountering difficulties? Please send us a <a
+ href="/bugs/">bugreport</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="sw_version"></a><a href="#toc">Which package(s) and which
+ version is available?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>If you want to get details about the provided packages and the
+ package versions without booting the grml ISO check out the dpkg_...
+ files in the <a href="/files/#debian">Debian-Information section on
+ grml.org/files/</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="init"></a><a href="#toc">Init-System</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Why is grml using runlevel 2 as default? Because runlevel 2 is 'the
+ textonly one' and it is Debian's default.</p>
+
+ <p>Where are all the /etc/rc#.d-directories? grml doesn't use sysv-rc
+ but <a href="http://packages.debian.org/sid/file-rc">file-rc</a>. This
+ means you can configure the init system in one single file named
+ /etc/runlevel.conf with your favourite editor. No symlink-hell
+ anymore.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="zsh"></a><a href="#toc">Why is zsh the default shell?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Short answer: because <a href="/zsh/">Zsh rocks</a>, really!</p>
+
+ <p>Longer answer taken from <a
+ href="http://zsh.sunsite.dk/FAQ/zshfaq01.html#l3">ZSH FAQ: 1.2: What is
+ it?</a>:</p>
+
+ <cite> Zsh is a UNIX command interpreter (shell) which of the standard shells most
+ resembles the Korn shell (ksh); its compatibility with the 1988 Korn shell has been
+ gradually increasing. It includes enhancements of many types, notably in the
+ command-line editor, options for customising its behaviour, filename globbing, features
+ to make C-shell (csh) users feel more at home and extra features drawn from tcsh
+ (another `custom' shell).</cite>
+
+ <p>If you don't know zsh take a look at <a
+ href="http://zsh.sunsite.dk/FAQ/zshfaq02.html#l9">ZSH FAQ: How does zsh
+ differ from ...?</a>, 'man zsh | less -p COMPATIBILITY', the <a
+ href="/zsh/">grml zsh reference card</a> and '<a
+ href="/zsh/">man zsh-lovers</a>'.</p>
+
+ <p>If you are a bash user and don't know zsh yet, don't be afraid. bash
+ is largely a subset of zsh and you don't have to throw away your
+ knowledge about shell stuff.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="zsh_binsh"></a><a href="#toc">Wasn't zsh the /bin/sh interpreter?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Yes, until Grml 0.6 zsh was the interpreter for /bin/sh. Starting
+ with release 0.7 Grml used /bin/bash as /bin/sh and nowadays /bin/dash
+ is used for /bin/sh (that's what Debian does as well). The reason?
+ Using zsh as default /bin/sh interpreter leads to some problems,
+ especially since Debian does not care to support zsh as /bin/sh overall.
+ Take a look at <a
+ href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=329288">#329288</a>
+ and <a
+ href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=340058">#340058</a>
+ for example.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="bash"></a><a href="#toc">Is a bash available?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Grml uses <a href="#zsh">zsh</a> as the default interactive shell
+ but, of course, a current version of bash (and many other shells as
+ well) is provided by grml.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="configuration"></a><a href="#toc">Where can I find the configuration of zsh, GNU screen,...?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Check out <a
+ href="http://michael-prokop.at/blog/2007/12/22/make-console-work-comfortable/">'Make
+ console work comfortable'</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="truecrypt">Why isn't Truecrypt available within grml?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Because Truecrypt is licensed under a specific license named
+ 'TrueCrypt License' which doesn't permit us to distribute Truecrypt (since at least
+ license version 2.6).
+ See <a href="http://www.truecrypt.org/legal/license">section VI/4 of the
+ license</a> for details. The Ubuntu version from <a
+ href="http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads">truecrypt.org/downloads</a> is
+ known to work under Grml.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="grub"></a><a href="#toc">grub does not work on my system?!</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Looks like you used mkfs.ext3 from grml but are using an old grub
+ version. Notice that older versions of grub do not support 256 byte
+ inodes on ext3, being the default in recent versions of mkfs/e2fsprogs.
+ More information is available at <a
+ href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=463236">#463236</a>
+ in the Debian bug tracking system.</p>
+
+ <h2><a name="xserver"></a><a href="#toc">X-Server</a></h2>
+
+ <h3><a name="xstart"></a><a href="#toc">How do I start the X server?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Please use 'grml-x' as user grml for starting X on the live-cd. It
+ generates the config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf and lets you start commands on
+ startup (see ~/.xinitrc). Use it, for example, via switching to TTY4 (press
+ Alt+F4) and run the following command to start wm-ng (window manager fluxbox
+ with idesk and gkrellm):</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+grml-x wm-ng</pre>
+
+ <p>If you have /etc/X11/xorg.conf already you can use 'startx' instead of
+ grml-x of course. Adjust ~/.xinitrc to your needs.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="xproblem"></a><a href="#toc">X does not start on my box?!</a></h3>
+
+ <p>grml-x supports several options. If you want to set some special options
+ please take a look at the grml-x manpage (man grml-x). Some usage examples:</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+grml-x --module vesa fluxbox # start fluxbox and use vesa module
+grml-x --mode '800x600' fluxbox # set resolution to 800x600 and start fluxbox
+grml-x --display 8 fluxbox # start fluxbox on display 8
+grml-x --force --nostart fluxbox # force creation of xconfig file and don't start X server
+grml-x --hsync 60 fluxbox # set horizontal frequency and start fluxbox
+grml-x --hsync 60 --vsync 40 fluxbox # set horizontal and vertical sync frequencies and start fluxbox
+</pre>
+
+ <h3><a name="xresolution"></a><a href="#toc">I don't like the resolution of X!</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Just run xrandr to switch the resolution during runtime of X. For
+ example: 'xrandr -s 1024x768'.</p>
+
+ <h2><a name="stuff"></a><a href="#toc">Support / Unanswered stuff</a></h2>
+
+ <h3><a name="questions"></a><a href="#toc">Further questions</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or in the
+ provided <a href="/docs/">documentation</a> (execute
+ "grml-info" on your grml-system for offline documentation)?
+ Also check out 'grml-tips $KEYWORD' on your grml-system. Take a look at
+ <a href="/">the grml website</a> and <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the
+ grml-wiki</a>. A good place to become part of the community is the <a
+ href="/mailinglist/">grml mailinglist</a>. Please don't hesitate to <a
+ href="/contact/">contact us</a>.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="support"></a><a href="#toc">Commercial Support</a></h3>
+
+ <p>You want to deploy Grml in your data center, use it as part of your
+ business or have an emergency case? You're happy with Grml but would
+ like to get your very own live cd (providing your favourite software
+ selection, special configuration, setup and your bootsplash)? As part of
+ our business we do provide commercial support, feel free to <a
+ href="http://grml-solutions.com/">contact us at Grml
+ Solutions</a>.</p>
+
+ </div>
+
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projects / grml.org.git / blobdiff