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<h1 align="center">FAQ for grml</h1>
- <p><strong>Up2date:</strong> applies to Grml version 2018.12</p>
+ <p><strong>Up2date:</strong> applies to Grml version 2021.07</p>
<p><a name="toc"></a><strong>Index:</strong></p>
<li><a href="#whatmeans">What does Grml mean?</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="#bootoptions">Which bootoptions does Grml support?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#bootoptions">Which boot options does Grml support?</a></li>
<li><a href="#systemd">Why is Grml using systemd?</a></li>
<li><a href="#known_issues">Are there any known issues with this release? How about reporting bugs?</a></li>
</ol>
<h3><a name="releasename"></a><a href="#toc">What about the release name?</a></h3>
- <p>Codename of Grml 2018.12 is "Gnackwatschn", which is
- an austrian and bavarian word, meaning "hit in the neck".
- We consider this an alternative to a facepalm.
+ <p>Codename of Grml 2021.07 is "JauKerl".
+ <em>Jau</em> is german colloquial for <em>yes</em>, and <em>kerl</em> is german for <em>guy</em>,
+ while just <em>Jaukerl</em> is an austrian word for an injection.</p>
+
+ <p>Codename of Grml 2022.11 is "MalGuckes".
+ This is a wordplay on 'mal gucken' (german for 'we'll wait and see what happens), which we used to have with Sven Guckes, a friend of many of us and a long time contributor to Grml,
+ who sadly passed away way too early. The Grml team dedicates this release to Sven, RIP.</p>
<h3><a name="requirements"></a><a href="#toc">Requirements for running Grml</a></h3>
<p>The Grml kernel includes support for speakup. For software,
brltty and espeakup are included.</p>
- <h3><a name="bootoptions"></a><a href="#toc">Which bootoptions does Grml support?</a></h3>
+ <h3><a name="bootoptions"></a><a href="#toc">Which boot options 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>
+ href="https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.html">the command-line parameters</a>
of the Linux kernel applies to Grml as well.</p>
<h3><a name="systemd"></a><a href="#toc">Why is Grml using systemd?</a></h3>
tracking new features/services, but also solve any possible issues
around it - duplicating efforts and wasting developers time
unnecessarily. Lately we also started to see problems that no one else
- seemed to have (or care about enough), for example with multiple network
+ seemed to have (or cared about enough), for example with multiple network
cards we ran into race-conditions with resolvconf. Problems like that
turned out to be release stoppers for us.</p>
get a fast boot procedure) and identifying failed service startups with
sysvinit/file-rc was always hard, unreliable or even impossible under
certain conditions. bootlogd was unreliable (while `journalctl -b` is
- available out-of-the-box with systemd), bootchart not nicely integrated
+ available out-of-the-box with systemd), bootchart was not nicely integrated
(while systemd-analyze blame/critical-chain works out-of-the-box) and we
- aren't aware of any equivalence for e.g. `systemctl --failed`.</p>
+ aren't aware of any equivalence for e.g.
+ `systemctl --failed`.</p>
- <p>While migrating our stack to systemd is <em>not</em> fully finished
- yet, its switch - at least so far - was easier than expected. It also
- turns out that it gives users who want to remaster Grml (or build their
- very own ISOs from scratch using grml-live) more flexibility and control
+ <p>It also turned out that it gives users who want to remaster Grml (or
+ build their very own ISOs from scratch using grml-live) more flexibility
+ and control
over the startup process. systemd's override.conf mechanism and preset
feature provides the flexibility to overwrite unwanted behavior, without
losing the option to use existing defaults.</p>
- <p>Last but not least we think it's good that systemd is actively
+ <p>We think it's good that systemd is actively
maintained and receives attention. The sysvinit/file-rc ecosystem was
- stagnating/non-existend for too many years. Grml used its own initrd
+ stagnating/non-existent for too many years. Grml used its own initrd
implementation in its very beginnings, until a more broadly available
- initramfs-tools/ live-boot solution appeared, broadening the user base,
+ initramfs-tools / live-boot solution appeared, broadening the user base,
sharing goals amongst different (live) distributions. Back in the days
Grml - like many other live distributions - had to implement hardware
- recognition on its own. While udev received lots of complaints back
- then, its integration actually solved all the hardware recognition for
- the good. systemd's vision of stateless systems is something which helps
- building live systems like Grml.</p>
+ recognition on its own. While udev received lots of complaints back
+ then, its integration actually solved all the hardware recognition
+ problems for the good. systemd's vision of stateless systems is
+ something which helps building live systems like Grml.</p>
<p>While we don't claim that systemd is perfect and doesn't have its
issues and drawbacks (like any software), we're happy about its
<!-- TODO: needs to be improved! -->
<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>
+ <p>Check out the <a href="/grml2usb/">grml2usb manpage</a>
+ and the grml-wiki page
+ "<a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">Boot Grml from usb-stick/firewire-device</a>".</p>
<h3><a name="store"></a><a name="persistency"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></h3>
<p>Yes, using the
- a <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency">persistency
+ <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency">persistency
feature</a>.</p>
<h3><a name="password"></a><a href="#toc">What are the passwords of users on Grml?</a></h3>
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. To set a password
- for users 'root' and 'grml' and enable SSH login you can use the 'ssh'
- boot option, like 'ssh=yourpassword'.</p>
+ passwd [username]" from the shell individually.
+ With the <a href="#bootoptions">boot option</a> 'ssh' a password for the
+ users 'root' and 'grml' is and SSH login is enabled.</p>
<h3><a name="version"></a><a href="#toc">How do I find out the version of Grml</a></h3>
<pre class="rahmen">
$ cat /etc/grml_version</pre>
- <h3><a name="language"></a><a href="#toc">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></h3>
+ <h3><a name="language"></a><a href="#toc">How do I change the language/keyboard layout?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>The default language of the Grml system is English (en_US.UTF-8).
+ All other locales are removed by default.
+ But it is possible to change the keyboard layout via either using 'grml-quickconfig',
+ the <a href="#bootoptions">boot option(s)</a> 'lang', 'keyboard' and 'xkeyboard'
+ or via executing grml-lang when Grml is already running.</p>
- <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>
+ <p>Boot option examples:</p>
<pre class="rahmen">
grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
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 $LANG settings in a running Grml system
</pre>
- <p>Note: run grml-setlang to get a dialog based frontend for
- /etc/default/locale. Run grml-setkeyboard to get a dialog
- based frontend for /etc/sysconfig/keyboard.</p>
+ <p>'grml-lang' example:</p>
+<pre class="rahmen">
+% grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
+</pre>
+
+ <p>Note: Run 'grml-setlang' to get a dialog based frontend for '/etc/default/locale'.</p>
<h3><a name="wms"></a><a href="#toc">Which window managers can I use?</a></h3>
<h3><a name="lvm"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my LVM devices?</a></h3>
<p>LVM (Logival Volumes) is <strong>not</strong> started by default to
- avoid any possible damage to your data. To get access to present LVM
+ avoid any possible damage to your data. To activate present LVM
devices execute (replace "$name" with the name of the PV):</p>
<pre class="rahmen">
# Start lvm2-pvscan@$name
</pre>
- <p>or if you don't know its name, use:</p>
+ <p>or if you don't know its name and to enable all present ones, use:</p>
<pre class="rahmen">
-# Start lvm2-lvmetad
# vgchange -ay
</pre>
<p>If you want to enable LVM by default just boot using the 'lvm'
- bootoption which automatically enables LVM.</p>
+ <a href="#bootoptions">boot option</a> which automatically enables LVM.</p>
<h3><a name="swraid"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></h3>
</pre>
<p>If you want to enable SW-RAID by default just boot using
- the 'swraid' bootoption which enables automatic assembling of
+ the 'swraid' <a href="#bootoptions">boot option</a> which enables automatic assembling of
software raid arrays.</p>
<a name="terminalserver"></a>
<h3><a name="timezone"></a><a href="#toc">How do I configure
timezone on my Grml system?</a></h3>
- <p>Available bootoptions relevant in live mode:</p>
+ <p>Availabe boot options:</p>
- <ul>
- <li>utc: set UTC, if your system/hardware clock is set to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)
- <li>localtime: Hardware Clock is set to local time (LOCAL), this is the default
- <li>tz=$option: set timezone to corresponding $option, usage example: tz=Europe/Vienna, defaults to UTC if unset
- </ul>
+<pre class="rahmen">
+grml utc # set UTC, if your system/hardware clock is set to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)
+grml localtime # Hardware Clock is set to local time (LOCAL), this is the default
+grml tz=$option # set timezone to corresponding $option, usage example: tz=Europe/Vienna, defaults to UTC if unset
+</pre>
<p>Further information: manpages hwclock(8), tzselect(1) and tzconfig(8); <a
href="http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/system-administrator/ch-sysadmin-time.html">Debian
<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)?
+ like to get your very own live system (providing your favourite software
+ selection, special configuration, setup and a custom bootsplash)?
Please get in <a href="/contact/">touch with us</a>.</p>
</div>