6 grml-live - build process script for generating a (grml based) Linux Live-ISO
10 grml-live [-c <classe[s]>] [-t <target_directory>] [-F] [-h|--help]
12 *******************************************************************************
13 Important! grml-live is under heavy construction, though your feedback is highly
14 appreciated. This document is growing as requested. If you have questions which
15 aren't answered by this document yet please let me (mika@grml.org) know!
16 *******************************************************************************
21 grml-live provides the build system for creating (a grml based) live-cd. The
22 build system is based on link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI]
23 (Fully Automatic Installation).
25 FAI uses a class based system. This gives you the flexibility to choose the
26 packages you would like to include on your very own Linux live-cd without having
27 to deal with all the details of a build process.
29 CAUTION: grml-live does not use /etc/fai for configuration but instead provides
30 and uses /etc/grml/fai. This ensures that it does not clash with default FAI
31 configuration and packages, so you can use grml-live and FAI completely
36 Please notice that you should have a fast network connection as all the Debian
37 packages will be installed via network. If you want to use a local mirror
38 (strongly recommended!) checkout mkdebmirror (see
39 /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/mkdebmirror), debmirror(1), reprepro(1) (see
40 /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/reprepro/ for a sample configuration) and
41 approx(8). To avoid downloading of the base system check out FAI's NFSROOT (check
42 docs for ../fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz).
49 Specify the CLASSES to be used for building the ISO via fai. By default only
50 the classes GRMLBASE and I386 are assumed, resulting in a small base system
51 (being about ~150MB ISO size).
55 Specify the Debian suite you want to use for your live-system. Defaults to
56 "etch"; support values are: etch, lenny, sid, stable, testing, unstable.
58 -t **TARGET_DIRECTORY**::
60 Output directory of the build process of FAI - being the chroot
61 used for building the ISO.
65 Force execution and do not prompt for / display summary of configuration
70 Display short usage information and exit.
74 Increase verbosity in the build process.
76 How to get your own live-cd - the easy, fast and simple way
77 -----------------------------------------------------------
79 To get a small, Debian-stable and grml based live-cd using /dev/shm/
80 as build and output directory:
84 To get a small Debian-unstable and grml-small based live-cd using /grml as build
87 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 -t /grml
91 If you have about 700MB of free space inside /dev/shm (being a tmpfs, usually
92 you have >=1GB of RAM) just run "mount -o remount,suid,dev,rw /dev/shm" and use
93 /dev/shm as build and output directory - resulting in very fast build process.
94 But please be aware of the fact that rebooting your system will result in an
95 empty /dev/shm, so please another directory for $CHROOT_TARGET, $BUILD_TARGET
96 and $ISO_TARGET if you plan to create more persistent output. :)
101 * create a grml-/Debian-based Linux Live-CD with one single command
103 * class based concept, providing a maximum of flexibility
105 * supports integration of own hooks, scripts and configuration
107 * supports use and integration of own Software and/or Kernels via use of Debian
110 * native support of FAI features
112 * multi-arch support (work in progress)
117 grml-live uses FAI and its class based concept for adjusting configuration
118 according to your needs. This gives you flexibility and strength without losing
119 the simplicity in the build process.
121 The main and base class provided by grml-live is named GRMLBASE. It's strongly
122 recommended to **always** use the class GRMLBASE when building an ISO using
123 grml-live as well as the architecture dependend class (being 'I386' for x86_32
124 currently only). The following files and directories are relevant for class GRML
127 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/GRMLBASE/
128 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/GRMLBASE
129 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/GRMLBASE.var
130 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/instsoft.GRMLBASE
131 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/GRMLBASE
133 Take a look at the next section for information about the concept of those
136 If you want to use your own configuration, extend an existing configuration
137 and/or add additional packages to your ISO just invent a new class. For example
138 if you want to use your own class named "FOOBAR" just extend CLASSES="GRMLBASE"
139 inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf to CLASSES="GRMLBASE,FOOBAR" or invoke grml-live
140 using the classes option: "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,FOOBAR ...".
142 More details regarding the class concept can be found in the documentation of
143 FAI (available at /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/).
148 Notice that grml-live ships FAI configuration files that do not use the same
149 namespace as the FAI packages itself. This ensures that grml-live does not
150 clash with your usual FAI configuration, so instead of /etc/fai/fai.conf
151 (package fai-client) grml uses /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf instead. For more details
152 see below. To get an idea how another configuration or example files could look
153 like check out /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/examples/simple/ (provided by Debian package
154 fai-doc). /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/fai-guide.html/ch-config.html also provides
155 documentation regarding configuration possibilities.
159 Script for the main build process (being a wrapper around FAI currently).
160 Requires root permissions for execution.
162 /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf
164 Main configuration file which specifies where all the configuration files and
165 scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default it is
166 FAI_CONFIGDIR=/etc/grml/fai/config, a directory shipped by grml-live
167 out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this file.
169 /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
173 /etc/grml/fai/NFSROOT
177 /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
179 This file specifies which mirrors should be used for retreiving the Debian
180 packages used for creating the ISO. If you want to use a local mirror you have
183 /etc/grml/fai/config/
185 The main directory for configuration of FAI/grml-live. More details below.
187 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/
189 This directory contains files which specify main configuration variables for the
192 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/
194 This directory provides the files for preseeding/configuration of debconf
197 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/
199 This directory provides files for customizing the build process through hooks.
200 Hooks are user defined programs or scripts, which are called during the
201 installation process.
203 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/
205 File with lists of software packages to be installed or removed. The different
206 classes describe what should find its way to your ISO. When running 'fai -v -C
207 /etc/grml/fai -cGRMLBASE dirinstall ...' only the files from the directory GRML/
208 will be taken, if you use 'fai -v -C /etc/grml/fai -cGRMLBASE,FOOBAR dirinstall
209 ...' then the files of GRML/ **plus** the files from FOOBAR/ will be taken. So
210 just create a new class to adjust it to your needs. Please notice that the
211 directory GRML contains a package list defining a minimum but still reasonable
212 package configuration.
214 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/
216 Scripts for customising the ISO within build process.
220 This directory provides files used inside the scripts of
221 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/*. For a full documentation what happens with the
222 files please refer to the source of the scripts.
224 /etc/grml/fai/live-initramfs/
226 This directory provides the files used for building the initramfs/initrd via
229 Requirements for the build system
230 ---------------------------------
232 * any Debian based system should be sufficient (if not please send a bug
233 report), for example a grml2hd harddisk installation ships all you need
235 * enough free disk space; at least 800MB are required for a minimal grml-live
236 run (\~400MB for the chroot [$CHROOT_TARGET], \~150MB for the build target
237 [$BUILD_TARGET] and \~150MB for the resulting ISO [$ISO_TARGET] plus some
240 * fast network access for retreiving the Debian packages used for creating the
241 chroot (check out "local mirror" and "NFSROOT" to workaround this problem as far
247 * make sure the suite-target adjusts the mirror definitions according (working
250 * do not use /dev/shm/ als default target directory (which one do we want to use
253 * add support for amd64 [gebi?] + ppc [formorer?] (and identify all packages
254 that are arch specific so we have a clean package list in all classes)
256 * support different grml-flavours through classes right out-of-the-box (being:
257 grml, grml64, grml-small (in progress) for at least x86, amd64 and ppc)
259 * support signed apt repositories (currently it's deactivated via FAI's
260 FAI_ALLOW_UNSIGNED=1 for some packages in the toolchain)
262 * explain (and provide configuration for) use of NFSROOT
264 * support setting stuff like ISO name, version,... on-the-fly (especially for
265 stuff inside boot/isolinux/*)
267 * support "final builds" (including stuff like generating md5sums, gpg,...)
269 * the grml-live class(es) should send output as used inside FAI as well (so it's
270 not as verbose unless you specify it, make it configurable)
272 * provide possibility for cleanup of all created build directories and
273 a smart summary of the buildprocess (including "took ... minutes/seconds to
276 * support hooks to allow further customisation of the build process
278 * test the package on non-grml systems (and maybe even non-Debian) as well
283 Debian packages will be available through the grml-repository at
284 link:http://deb.grml.org/[http://deb.grml.org/] as soon as the grml-team
285 considers grml-live as stable enough. In the meantime just build the package on
288 hg clone http://hg.grml.org/grml-live
295 The source of grml-live is available at
296 link:http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/[http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/]
301 Please report feedback, link:http://grml.org/bugs/[bugreports] and wishes
302 link:http://grml.org/contact/[to the grml-team]!
306 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
308 /////////////////////////////////////
309 // vim:ai tw=80 ft=asciidoc expandtab
310 /////////////////////////////////////