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29 <h1 align="center">FAQ for grml</h1>
31 <p><strong>Up2date:</strong> 2011-12-09 - applies to Grml releases version 2011.12</p>
33 <p><a name="toc"></a><strong>Index:</strong></p>
35 <p class="toc"><a href="#general">General:</a></p>
37 <li><a href="#whatis">What is Grml?</a></li>
38 <li><a href="#get">Where do I get Grml?</a></li>
39 <li><a href="#whatmeans">What does Grml mean?</a></li>
40 <li><a href="#releasename">What about the release name?</a></li>
41 <li><a href="#requirements">Requirements for running Grml</a></li>
42 <li><a href="#bootoptions">Which bootoptions does Grml support?</a></li>
45 <p class="toc"><a href="#features">Features</a>:</p>
47 <li><a href="#usbboot">How do I boot Grml from a USB stick?</a></li>
48 <li><a href="#persistency">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></li>
49 <li><a href="#known_issues">Are there any known issues with this release? How about reporting bugs?</a></li>
50 <li><a href="#password">What are the passwords of users on Grml?</a></li>
51 <li><a href="#version">How do I find out the version of Grml</a></li>
52 <li><a href="#language">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></li>
53 <li><a href="#wms">Which window managers can I use?</a></li>
54 <li><a href="#lvm">Where are my LVM devices?</a></li>
55 <li><a href="#swraid">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></li>
56 <li><a href="#booting">Which ways exist to boot Grml?</a></li>
57 <li><a href="#timezone">How do I configure timezone on my Grml system?</a></li>
58 <li><a href="#hdinstall">Is it possible to install Grml to harddisk?</a></li>
61 <p class="toc"><a href="#software">Software:</a></p>
63 <li><a href="#sw_version">Which package(s) and which version is available?</a></li>
64 <li><a href="#zsh">Why is Zsh the default shell?</a></li>
68 <p class="toc"><a href="#stuff">Support / Unanswered stuff</a></p>
70 <li><a href="#questions">Further questions?</a></li>
71 <li><a href="#support">Commercial Support</a></li>
74 <h2><a name="general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h2>
76 <h3><a name="whatis"></a><a href="#toc">What is Grml?</a></h3>
78 <p>Grml is a bootable CD (Live-CD) based
79 on <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. It is not
80 necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Grml includes a
81 collection of GNU/Linux software especially for system
82 administrators. It specializes on administrative tasks like
83 installation, deployment and system rescue.</p>
85 <h3><a name="get"></a><a href="#toc">Where do I get Grml?</a></h3>
87 <p>Grml is open source, you can download it from the mirrors
88 listed at <a href="/download">grml.org/download/</a>.</p>
90 <h3><a name="whatmeans"></a><a href="#toc">What does Grml mean?</a></h3>
92 <p>Grml comes close to 'argl' or 'grrr' in English. People use
93 this when they want to express their dissatisfaction with
94 software (amongst other things).</p>
96 <h3><a name="releasename"></a><a href="#toc">What about the release name?</a></h3>
98 <p>Codename of Grml 2011.12 is "Knetch Rootrecht". It's a wordplay on
99 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companions_of_Saint_Nicholas">Knecht
100 Ruprecht</a>, which translates as Farmhand Ruprecht or Servant
103 <h3><a name="requirements"></a><a href="#toc">Requirements for running Grml</a></h3>
107 <li>Intel-compatible CPU (i586 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher)</li>
109 <li>>=128MB of RAM (>=256MB recommended)</p>
111 <li>either a bootable CD-/DVD-ROM drive,
112 a <a href="#usbboot">USB-boot capable system</a> or a
113 network card for booting via network/PXE (check
114 out <a href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a>)</li>
118 <h3><a name="accessibility"></a><a href="#toc">What does accessibility at Grml mean?</a></h3>
120 <p>The Grml kernel includes support for speakup and software
121 like brltty (using bootoption 'grml blind
122 brltty=type,port,tbl') and espeakup.</p>
124 <h3><a name="bootoptions"></a><a href="#toc">Which bootoptions does Grml support?</a></h3>
127 href="http://git.grml.org/?p=grml-live.git;a=blob_plain;f=templates/GRML/grml-cheatcodes.txt;hb=HEAD">grml-cheatcodes
128 file</a> (also available via <a href="http://grml.org/cheatcodes/">grml.org/cheatcodes/</a>). Of
130 href="http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt">kernel-parameters.txt</a>
131 of the Linux kernel applies to Grml as well.</p>
133 <h3><a name="usbboot"></a><a href="#toc">How do I boot Grml from a USB stick?</a></h3>
135 <!-- TODO: needs to be improved! -->
138 out <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb#grml2usb">grml2usb</a>
140 <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb webpage in the
143 <h3><a name="store"></a><a name="persistency"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></h3>
146 a <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency">persistency
149 <h2><a name="problems"></a><a href="#toc">Problems</a></h2>
151 <a name="release"></a> <!-- old anchor -->
152 <a name="bugreport"></a> <!-- old anchor -->
153 <h3><a name="known_issues"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any known issues? How about reporting bugs?</a></h3>
155 <p>Please visit the <a href="/bugs/">bug webpage</a>.</p>
157 <h3><a name="password"></a><a href="#toc">What are the passwords of users on Grml?</a></h3>
159 <p>There are no default passwords - all accounts are locked by
160 default for security reasons. Even local logins are not
161 possible (unless you set a password or create new user
162 accounts as root). You can create valid passwords using "sudo
163 passwd [username]" from the shell individually.</p>
165 <h3><a name="version"></a><a href="#toc">How do I find out the version of Grml</a></h3>
167 <p>Run 'grml-version' or use the following command:</p>
170 $ cat /etc/grml_version</pre>
172 <h3><a name="language"></a><a href="#toc">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></h3>
174 <p>By default Grml uses english settings. But it is possible to
175 change the settings via using either the bootparam(s) lang,
176 keyboard and xkeyboard or via executing grml-lang when Grml is
177 already running. Usage examples:</p>
180 grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
181 # german keyboard layout and german $LANG, $LC_ALL,
183 grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
184 # and you will get german keyboard and austrian
186 % grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
187 # and $LANG settings in a running Grml system
190 <p>Note: run grml-setlang to get a dialog based frontend for
191 /etc/default/locale. Run grml-setkeyboard to get a dialog
192 based frontend for /etc/sysconfig/keyboard.</p>
195 <h3><a name="wms"></a><a href="#toc">Which window managers can I use?</a></h3>
197 <p>Starting with the 2011.12 release Grml provides just
198 the <a href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">Fluxbox</a> window
202 <h3><a name="lvm"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my LVM devices?</a></h3>
204 <p>LVM (Logival Volumes) is <strong>not</strong> started by default to
205 avoid any possible damage to your data. To get access to present LVM
206 devices just execute:</p>
209 # /etc/init.d/lvm2 start
211 or use the shorter version:
216 <p>If you want to enable LVM by default just boot using the 'lvm'
217 bootoption which automatically enables LVM.</p>
219 <h3><a name="swraid"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></h3>
221 <p>Software-RAID (usually known as the mdadm stuff) is
222 <strong>not</strong> started by default to avoid any possible damage to
223 your data. To get access to present SW-RAID devices just execute:</p>
226 # /etc/init.d/mdadm-raid start
228 or use the shorter version:
233 <p>If you want to enable SW-RAID by default just boot using
234 the 'swraid' bootoption which enables automatic assembling of
235 software raid arrays.</p>
237 <a name="terminalserver"></a>
238 <h3><a name="booting"></a><a href="#toc">Which ways exist to boot Grml?</a></h3>
240 <!-- TODO: needs rework -->
242 <p>Of course running from CD/DVD is a common way to boot
243 Grml. But Grml provides many more ways to boot:</p>
245 <p>It is possible to boot Grml via USB (e.g. USB stick or
246 harddisk), firewire, or running from a Compact Flash disk. It
247 works out of the box; you don't need to modify anything. Check
248 out <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">the usb
249 webpage in the grml-wiki</a> for more details.</p>
251 <p>Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a
252 floppy disk? Take a look
253 at <a href="http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/">btmgr</a>, <a href="http://ubcd4win.com/faq.htm#floppy">ubcd4win</a>
254 or <a href="http://linux.simple.be/tools/sbm">sbm</a>. They
255 provide support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy
258 <p>grml-terminalserver makes it possible to boot your system
260 using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment">PXE</a>
261 (Preboot Execution Environment). If your network card does not
262 provide support for booting via PXE you can still boot it
263 either using the provided grub image by grml-terminalserver
264 (for example via floppy drive) or
265 using <a href="http://etherboot.org/wiki/index.php">gPXE</a>.
266 For more information, refer to
267 the <a href="/terminalserver/">grml-terminalserver
270 <h3><a name="timezone"></a><a href="#toc">How do I configure
271 timezone on my Grml system?</a></h3>
273 <h4>Available bootoptions relevant in live-cd mode:</h4>
276 <li>utc: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT)
277 <li>gmt: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT) [like bootoption utc]
278 <li>tz=$option: set timezone to corresponding $option, usage example:
282 <h4>Further information:</h4>
284 <p>Manpages: hwclock(8) tzselect(1) tzconfig(8); <a
285 href="http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/system-administrator/ch-sysadmin-time.html">Debian
286 GNU/Linux System Administrator's Manual Chapter 16 - Time</a> and <a
287 href="http://wiki.debian.org/TimeZoneChanges">TimeZoneChanges in the
290 <h3><a name="hdinstall"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to install Grml to harddisk?</a></h3>
292 <p>Short anwer: No.</p>
294 <p><strong>ProTip</strong>: If you want to get a plain Debian
296 at <a href="/grml-debootstrap/">grml-debootstrap</a>.</p>
298 <h2><a name="software"></a><a href="#toc">Software</a></h2>
300 <h3><a name="sw_version"></a><a href="#toc">Which package(s) and which
301 version is available?</a></h3>
303 <p>If you want to get details about the provided packages and the
304 package versions without booting the Grml ISO check out the dpkg_...
305 files in the <a href="/files/#debian">Debian-Information section on
306 grml.org/files/</a>.</p>
308 <h3><a name="zsh"></a><a href="#toc">Why is Zsh the default shell?</a></h3>
310 <p>Short answer: because <a href="/zsh/">Zsh rocks</a>, really!</p>
312 <p>Longer answer taken
313 from <a href="http://zsh.sourceforge.net/FAQ/zshfaq01.html#l3">ZSH
314 FAQ: 1.2: What is it?</a>:</p>
316 <cite> Zsh is a UNIX command interpreter (shell) which of the
317 standard shells most resembles the Korn shell (ksh); its
318 compatibility with the 1988 Korn shell has been gradually
319 increasing. It includes enhancements of many types, notably in
320 the command-line editor, options for customising its
321 behaviour, filename globbing, features to make C-shell (csh)
322 users feel more at home and extra features drawn from tcsh
323 (another `custom' shell).</cite>
325 <p>If you don't know Zsh take a look
326 at <a href="http://zsh.sourceforge.net/FAQ/zshfaq02.html#l9">ZSH
327 FAQ: How does zsh differ from ...?</a>, 'man zsh | less -p
328 COMPATIBILITY', the <a href="/zsh/">Grml Zsh reference
329 card</a> and '<a href="/zsh/">man zsh-lovers</a>'.</p>
331 <p>If you are a bash user and don't know Zsh yet, don't be
332 afraid. Bash is largely a subset of Zsh and you don't have to
333 throw away your knowledge about shell stuff.</p>
335 <h2><a name="stuff"></a><a href="#toc">Support / Unanswered stuff</a></h2>
337 <h3><a name="questions"></a><a href="#toc">Further questions</a></h3>
339 <p>Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or
340 in the provided <a href="/docs/">documentation</a> (execute
341 "grml-info" on your Grml system for offline
342 documentation)? Also check out 'grml-tips $KEYWORD' on your
343 Grml system. Take a look at
344 <a href="/">the Grml website</a> and <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the
345 grml-wiki</a>. A good place to become part of the community is the <a
346 href="/mailinglist/">Grml mailinglist</a>.</p>
348 <h3><a name="support"></a><a href="#toc">Commercial Support</a></h3>
350 <p>You want to deploy Grml in your data center, use it as part of your
351 business or have an emergency case? You're happy with Grml but would
352 like to get your very own live cd (providing your favourite software
353 selection, special configuration, setup and your bootsplash)?
354 Please get in <a href="/contact/">touch with us</a>.</p>
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