Name
----
-grml-live - generate a grml (based) live-cd
+grml-live - build process script for generating a (grml based) Linux Live-ISO
Synopsis
--------
-grml-live [ todo...]
+grml-live [-c <classe[s]>] [-t <target_directory>] [-F] [-h|--help]
*******************************************************************************
-Important! grml-live is under heavy construction and everything but ready yet.
+Important! grml-live is under heavy construction, your feedback is highly
+appreciated. This document is growing as requested. If you have questions which
+aren't answered by this document yet please let me (mika@grml.org) know!
*******************************************************************************
-Introduction
-------------
+Description
+-----------
-grml-live provides the build system for creating a grml (based) live-cd. The
+grml-live provides the build system for creating (a grml based) live-cd. The
build system is based on link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI]
-(Fully Automatic Installation). If you are familiar with FAI already it is very
-easy to get a live-cd, if you don't know FAI yet don't despair: it's still very
-easy. :)
+(Fully Automatic Installation).
FAI uses a class based system. This gives you the flexibility to choose the
-packages you would like to include on your very own live-cd without having to
-deal with all the details in the core of the system.
+packages you would like to include on your very own Linux live-cd without having
+to deal with all the 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 completely
+independent!
+
+[NOTE]
Please notice that you should have a fast network connection as all the Debian
packages will be installed via network. If you want to use a local mirror
-checkout
-link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/download/mkdebmirror[mkdebmirror]
-and debmirror.
+(strongly recommended!) checkout
+mkdebmirror (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/mkdebmirror)
+debmirro(1) and reprepro(1) (check out
+/usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/reprepro/ for a sample configuration).
+To avoid downloading of the base system check out FAI's
+NFSROOT (check docs for ../fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz).
+
+Options
+-------
+
+ -c **CLASSES**::
+
+Specify the CLASSES to be used for building the ISO via fai.
+By default only the class GRML is assumed, resulting in a small base system (being
+about ~170MB ISO size).
+
+ -t **TARGET_DIRECTORY**::
+
+Output directory of the build process of FAI - being the chroot
+used for building the ISO.
+
+ -F::
+
+Force execution and do not display summary of configuration details.
+
+ -h|--help::
+
+Display short usage information and exit.
+
+ additional_arguments_for_fai::
+
+Any additional argument(s) to grml-live will be given to the FAI commandline
+(being basically "fai dirinstall ...). This might become a temporary solution
+(due to security reasons), if you need an option please let us know so we can
+implement it.
How to get your own live-cd - the easy, fast and simple way
-----------------------------------------------------------
To get a small, Debian-stable and grml based live-cd:
- # export LANG=C ; export LC_MESSAGES=C
- # TARGET="/grml/chroot/grml_uncompressed"
- # CDDIR="/grml/chroot/grml_cd"
- # mkdir -p $TARGET
-
- # fai -v -C /etc/grml/fai -cGRML dirinstall $TARGET
+ # TARGET="/grml/grml_uncompressed"
+ # CDDIR="/grml/grml_cd"
+ # grml-live -c GRML -t $TARGET
# mksquashfs $TARGET/* $CDDIR/live/grml.squashfs -noappend
# cd $CDDIR
# mkisofs -V "my personal grml" -l -r -J -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 \
-boot-info-table -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat \
-b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -o /grml/grml.iso .
-(TODO: provide the contenct of /grml/chroot/grml_cd through the package
-grml-live, in the meanwhil get the content from a current grml-ISO)
+(TODO: provide the content of /grml/chroot/grml_cd through the package
+grml-live, in the meanwhile get the content from a current grml-ISO)
+
+The class concept
+-----------------
+
+grml-live uses FAI and its class based concept for adjusting configuration
+according to your needs. This gives you flexibility and strength without losing
+the simplicity in the build process.
+
+The main and base class provided by grml-live is named GRML. It's strongly
+recommended to **always** use the class GRML when building an ISO using
+grml-live. The following files and directories are relevant for class GRML by
+default:
+
+ /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/GRML/
+ /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/GRML
+ /etc/grml/fai/config/class/GRML.var
+ /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/instsoft.GRML
+ /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/GRML
+
+Take a look at the next section for information about the concept of those
+files/directories.
+
+If you want to use your own configuration, extend an existing configuration
+and/or add additional packages to your ISO just invent a new class. For example
+if you want to use your own class named "FOOBAR" just extend CLASSES="GRML" inside
+/etc/grml/grml-live.conf to CLASSES="GRML,FOOBAR" or invoke grml-live using
+the classes option: "grml-live -c GRML,FOOBAR ...".
+
+More details regarding the class concept can be found in the documentation of
+FAI (available at /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/).
Files
-----
fai-doc). /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/fai-guide.html/ch-config.html also provides
documentation regarding configuration possibilities.
+ /usr/sbin/grml-live
+
+Script for the main build process (being a wrapper around FAI currently).
+Requires root permissions for execution.
+
/etc/grml/fai/fai.conf
Main configuration file which specifies where all the configuration files and
This directory provides the files used for building the initramfs/initrd via
live-initramfs(8).
-TODO
-----
+Requirements for the build system
+---------------------------------
+
+* any Debian based system should be sufficient (if not please send a bug
+report), for example a grml2hd harddisk installation ships all you need
+
+* enough free disk space, at least 1GB are required for a minimal grml-live run
+
+* fast network access for retreiving the Debian packages used for creating the
+chroot (check out "local mirror" and "NFSROOT" to workaround this problem as far
+as possiblbe)
+
+Known TODOs
+-----------
+
+* extend the grml-live wrapper script so it runs all the necessary command in a
+single run (boot/isolinux, mksquashfs and mkisofs stuff is missing currently)
-* provide a wrapper script which runs all the necessary command in a single run
-(named grml-live plus configuration file /etc/grml/grml-live.conf)
+* really support signed apt repositories
-* replace 192.168.... inside the configuration files for the Debian mirro with
-something generic and make it configurable
+* explain (and provide configuration for) the use of NFSROOT
-* provide buildprocess for boot/isolinux stuff
+* support setting stuff like ISO name, version,...
-* explain and provide configuration for use of NFSROOT
+* support different flavours and architectures of Debian (currently it defaults
+to Debian/stable x86_32)
Bugs
----
projects / grml-live.git / blobdiff