6 grml-debootstrap - wrapper around debootstrap for installing plain Debian
10 grml-debootstrap [ _options_ ]
12 image:images/screenshot.png[Screenshot]
17 grml-debootstrap is a wrapper suite around debootstrap (and cdebootstrap if you
18 want) for installing a plain Debian system very fast and easy.
20 All you have to do is adjust a few variables in the configuration file
21 /etc/debootstrap/config or specify some command line options and invoke
22 grml-debootstrap. If invoked without any configuration modifications or command
23 line options a dialog based frontend will be available to control some basic
24 configuration options.
26 A plain and base Debian system will be installed on the given device, directory
27 or virtual image file then. Customization of this process is possible as well.
29 CAUTION: The Grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!
31 Options and environment variables
32 ---------------------------------
34 *--arch* _architecture_::
36 Set target architecture you want to install. Defaults to the architecture
37 you are currently running. If you're running an amd64 kernel and want to
38 deploy an i386 system use this option. Note: deploying amd64 from an i386
39 kernel does *not* work. Example: "_--arch i386_"
43 Enable Debian's Backports repository (http://backports.debian.org/) via the
44 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list configuration file. This provides the
45 option to install Debian packages from Debian's backports repository.
47 *--bootappend* _appendline-for-the-kernel_::
49 Specify appendline for the kernel.
52 *-c*, *--config* _file_::
54 Use specified configuration file, defaults to /etc/debootstrap/config.
56 *--chroot-scripts* _directory_::
58 Execute chroot scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation
59 of the chroot setup, the executable script(s) present in the given directory
60 are executed at the end of the chroot procedure.
61 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/chroot-scripts/
63 *-d*, *--confdir* _path_::
65 Place of configuration files for debootstrap, defaults to /etc/debootstrap.
69 Use specified file for preseeding Debian packages instead of using
70 the default <confdir>/debconf-selections.
74 Extra parameters passed to the debootstrap command.
78 Execute in very verbose way. Useful for debugging possible problems
79 with grml-debootstrap or identify what's actually executed.
81 *--filesystem* _filesystem_::
83 Filesystem that should be created when installing to a partition.
84 If unset defaults to ext4. Valid values are all filesystems that
85 can be created through mkfs._filesystem_.
89 Skip user acknowledgement and do not prompt for user input.
93 Enable Grml.org's Debian repository (http://deb.grml.org/) via the
94 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grml.list configuration file. This provides the
95 option to install Debian packages from Grml's repository.
99 Device where grub should be installed to. Note that only the MBR (master
100 boot record) can be used (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...). Partitions (like
101 /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb2,...) are NOT supported because grub2 doesn't support
102 installation into the PBR (partition boot record) anymore. Usage example:
103 '--grub /dev/sda'. Note: just do not set this option to avoid installation
108 Show summary of options and exit.
110 *--hostname* _hostname_::
112 Use specified hostname instead of the default (being $HOSTNAME or if unset 'grml').
114 *-i*, *--iso* _/mntpoint_::
116 Specify mount point where you have a Debian ISO mounted loopback.
117 Using this option instead of the mirror option gives you the possibility
118 to install the base-system without network access. Make sure you
119 mounted the according Debian-ISO to the given _/mntpoint_. See section
120 'Usage examples' for a demonstration.
124 Do not overwrite user provided /etc/apt/sources.list.
126 *-m*, *--mirror* _URL_::
128 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude.
129 Corresponding with configuration variable MIRROR.
133 Skip debootstrap, only do configuration to the target.
137 Do not copy /etc/network/interfaces from host system to the target.
138 This option is automatically enabled when using --vmfile.
142 Skip installation of default kernel images. This option might be
143 interesting for you if you want a Debian system which doesn't
144 need to provide regular boot, e.g. a system which provides
145 ISOs for booting via GRUB using grml-rescueboot.
149 Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.
153 Do not prompt for the root password. Note: Use the '--password' option if
154 you want to set the root password during an automatic installation but don't
155 want to use the interactive dialog.
157 *-p*, *--mntpoint* _/mntpoint_::
159 Specify mount point that should be used for mounting the target system.
160 Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.
161 Note: this option has no effect if option -t is given and represents a
164 *--packages* _file_::
166 Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of
167 the default package list file <confdir>/packages.
169 *--password* _password_::
171 Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
172 command line might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
173 It's meant for automatic installation only.
175 *-r*, *--release* _releasename_::
177 Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny,
178 squeeze, wheezy (note: requires current version of debootstrap) and sid.
179 Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.
181 *--pre-scripts* _directory_::
183 Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot
184 script. This allows customisation of the system before the chroot has
185 been set up. The environment variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the
186 scripts for direct access of the chroot.
187 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/
189 *--scripts* _directory_::
191 Execute scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of
192 the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment variable
193 $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
194 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/scripts/
196 *-t*, *--target* _target_::
198 Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
207 Set up a Virtual Machine instead of installing to a partition or directory.
208 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
209 combined with the --target option.
210 Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
214 Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it
215 defaults to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage
216 qemu-img(1) for details.
217 Usage example: --vmsize 3G
221 Show version of program and exit.
223 WARNING: the command line parsing of grml-debootstrap usually does not validate
224 the provided arguments for the command line options. Please be careful and check
225 docs and /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.
230 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda
232 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager
233 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition.
235 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid
237 Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6, install bootmanager Grub in MBR
238 (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda6 as system partition.
240 mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
241 grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot
243 Install default Debian release (wheezy) in directory /data/chroot (without
246 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
248 Install default debian release (wheezy) in a Virtual Machine file with
249 3GB disk size (including Grub as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):
251 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
252 grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
254 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
255 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
256 Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.
258 mount -o loop /mnt/sda6/debian-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
259 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/
261 Install Debian on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
262 for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
263 /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition. Please notice, that the chroot
264 system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the
270 /etc/debootstrap/config
272 Main configuration file. Adjust it according to your needs if you want to
273 execute grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without any special command
276 /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script
278 The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system
279 has been installed via [c]debootstrap.
281 /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen
283 Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.
285 /etc/debootstrap/packages
287 Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new
288 Debian system by default.
290 /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages/
292 Debian Packages dropped in this directory will be installed into the new Debian
293 system by default (Control variable: EXTRAPACKAGES)
298 You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
299 /etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
300 variables via command line. The packages which should be installed in the new
301 Debian system can be defined via the file /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you
302 want to put existing files to the new Debian system you can place them into the
303 (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and var in
304 /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian
305 system then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available
306 via the Grml or Debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and
307 make sure that EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".
309 Automatic installation
310 ----------------------
312 If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a
313 full automatic mode. While this mode isn't really useful for interactive
314 execution (just configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant
315 variables on the command line instead) it is meant for use via boot option
316 debian2hd on the Grml live system. The boot option debian2hd (more precise: the
317 kernelname at the bootprompt) supports the following boot options (they
318 correspond with the command line options mentioned above):
322 The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
327 Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda
331 Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian wheezy. Supported
332 relases: lenny, squeeze, wheezy and sid. Usage example: release=sid
336 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
337 of the default one (http://http.debian.net/debian).
338 Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
342 Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given
343 argument. Usage example: password=AiTh5ahn
345 Usage example for automatic installation
346 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
348 debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
350 You have to enter this command line at the bootprompt of the Grml live system.
351 Please make sure that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to
352 install your new Debian system.
355 Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via
356 setting environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
357 /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant
358 boot options for grml-debootstrap.
363 include::releasetable.txt[]
367 ================================================================================
368 [1] Please notice that lenny is an unsupported release within Debian nowadays.
369 grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not use lenny
370 anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose Debian 6.0 (squeeze)
371 or Debian 7.0 (wheezy) instead.
373 Notice that you need to specify a mirror providing the lenny release, the
374 default (http://http.debian.net/debian) doesn't provide it any longer nowadays.
375 Set the mirror to e.g. http://archive.debian.org/debian/ if you don't have
376 your own lenny mirror.
378 When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata
379 format version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has
380 the advantage of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.
381 ================================================================================
384 .unstable and testing releases
385 ================================================================================
386 [2] Please notice that jessie (Debian/testing) and sid (Debian/unstable) might
387 not be always installable due to their nature. What _might_ work instead is
388 deploying a stable release and upgrade it after installation finished.
389 ================================================================================
394 Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
399 debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).
403 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>