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<h1 align="center">FAQ for grml</h1>
- <p><strong>Up2date:</strong> applies to Grml releases version 2011.12</p>
+ <p><strong>Up2date:</strong> applies to Grml version 2024.02</p>
<p><a name="toc"></a><strong>Index:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><a href="#whatis">What is Grml?</a></li>
<li><a href="#flavours">What are grml32 / grml64 and grml96?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#grmlsmall">What is the difference between grml-full and grml-small?</a></li>
<li><a href="#get">Where do I get Grml?</a></li>
<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="whatis"></a><a href="#toc">What is Grml?</a></h3>
- <p>Grml is a bootable CD (Live-CD) based
+ <p>Grml is a bootable live system (Live-CD) based
on <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. It is not
necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Grml includes a
collection of GNU/Linux software especially for system
administrators. It specializes on administrative tasks like
installation, deployment and system rescue.</p>
- <h3><a name="flavours"></a><a href="#doc">What are grml32 / grml64 and grml96?</a></h3>
+ <h3><a name="flavours"></a><a href="#toc">What are grml32 / grml64 and grml96?</a></h3>
<ul>
- <li>grml32: 32bit version (kernel and userspace)</li>
- <li>grml64: 64bit version (kernel and userspace)</li>
- <li>grml96: multi boot version (featuring grml32 and grml64 on one ISO)</li>
+ <li>grml32-full: 32bit version (kernel and userspace)</li>
+ <li>grml64-full: 64bit version (kernel and userspace)</li>
+ <li>grml96-full: multi boot version (featuring the grml32-full and grml64-full ISOs combined on one ISO)</li>
</ul>
- <p>Unless you've a good reason to really choose the 32bit flavour we
- strongly encourage you to use either the grml64 or the grml96
- flavour.</p>
+
<p>Unless you've a good reason to really choose the 32bit flavour we
+ <em>strongly</em> encourage you to use either the grml64 or the grml96
+ flavour.</p>
- <p>Please notice that this schema was introduced starting with Grml
- release 2011.12. Until then grml96 didn't exist and grml32 was known as
- just 'grml'.</p>
+ <h3><a name="grmlsmall"></a><a href="#toc">What is the difference between grml-full and grml-small?</a></h3>
+
+ <p>grml-small provides a reduced set of available software compared to
+ grml-full. It provides the same Linux kernel image as grml-full and is
+ fully binary compatible. Choose the grml-small flavour if size - for
+ whatever reason - really matters to you.</p>
<h3><a name="get"></a><a href="#toc">Where do I get Grml?</a></h3>
<h3><a name="releasename"></a><a href="#toc">What about the release name?</a></h3>
- <p>Codename of Grml 2011.12 is "Knecht Rootrecht". It's a wordplay on
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companions_of_Saint_Nicholas">Knecht
- Ruprecht</a>, which translates as Farmhand Ruprecht or Servant
- Ruprecht.</p>
+ <p>Codename of Grml 2024.02 is "Glumpad".
+ This is an austrian word for odds and ends, bits and pieces, useless stuff.
+ Related words in Austrian are "Klumpert" and "Krimskrams", though the 'glum' and 'pad' might make the pronunciation more interesting.</p>
<h3><a name="requirements"></a><a href="#toc">Requirements for running Grml</a></h3>
<ul>
- <li>Intel-compatible CPU (i586 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher)</li>
+ <li>Intel-compatible CPU (i686 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher; although some i586 processors e.g. the 'AMD Geode' are still supported)</li>
- <li>>=128MB of RAM (>=256MB recommended)</p>
+ <li>>=576MB of RAM (>=1GB recommended)</p>
<li>either a bootable CD-/DVD-ROM drive,
a <a href="#usbboot">USB-boot capable system</a> or a
<h3><a name="accessibility"></a><a href="#toc">What does accessibility at Grml mean?</a></h3>
- <p>The Grml kernel includes support for speakup. For software,
- brltty and espeakup are included.</p>
+
<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>
+
+ <p>The switch from file-rc to systemd happened for various reasons.
+ Grml used file-rc for many years, mainly because it provided a better
+ way to control startup behavior via its /etc/runlevel.conf configuration
+ than with using sysvinit. Though for us Grml developers this also meant
+ that whenever there have been any changes in Debian's startup
+ configuration we had to compare our /etc/runlevel.conf setup with what a
+ normal Debian system would give us. Users who wanted to remaster Grml
+ with a custom startup procedure as well had to practically fork
+ maintenance of the /etc/runlevel.conf file. This didn't only mean
+ 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 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>
+
+ <p>systemd on the other hand provides great documentation, service
+ supervision, takes care of parallel service startup and is the default
+ init system on most Linux distributions nowadays. This means more users,
+ better testing and integration. Logging, startup time investigation (to
+ 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 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>
+
+ <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>We think it's good that systemd is actively
+ maintained and receives attention. The sysvinit/file-rc ecosystem was
+ 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,
+ 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
+ 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
+ existence and more than happy about development and support by Debian's
+ systemd folks.</p>
+
<a name="release"></a> <!-- old anchor -->
<a name="bugreport"></a> <!-- old anchor -->
<h3><a name="known_issues"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any known issues? How about reporting bugs?</a></h3>
<!-- 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>
<p>There are no default passwords - all accounts are locked by
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.</p>
+ accounts as root). You can create valid passwords using "sudo
+ 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 $LANG settings in a running Grml system
</pre>
- <p>Note: run grml-setlang to get a dialog based frontend for
- /etc/default/locale. Run grml-setkeyboard to get a dialog
- based frontend for /etc/sysconfig/keyboard.</p>
+ <p>'grml-lang' example:</p>
+<pre class="rahmen">
+% grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
+</pre>
+
+ <p>Note: Run 'grml-setlang' to get a dialog based frontend for '/etc/default/locale'.</p>
<h3><a name="wms"></a><a href="#toc">Which window managers can I use?</a></h3>
- <p>Starting with the 2011.12 release Grml provides <a
- href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">Fluxbox</a> as window manager.</p>
+
<p>Starting with the 2011.12 release Grml provides <a
+ href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">Fluxbox</a> as window manager.</p>
<h3><a name="lvm"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my LVM devices?</a></h3>
<p>LVM (Logival Volumes) is <strong>not</strong> started by default to
- avoid any possible damage to your data. To get access to present LVM
- devices just execute:</p>
+ avoid any possible damage to your data. To activate present LVM
+ devices execute (replace "$name" with the name of the PV):</p>
+
+<pre class="rahmen">
+# Start lvm2-pvscan@$name
+</pre>
+
+ <p>or if you don't know its name and to enable all present ones, use:</p>
<pre class="rahmen">
-# /etc/init.d/lvm2 start
+# vgchange -ay
</pre>
<p>If you want to enable LVM by default just boot using the 'lvm'
- bootoption which automatically enables LVM.</p>
+ <a href="#bootoptions">boot option</a> which automatically enables LVM.</p>
<h3><a name="swraid"></a><a href="#toc">Where are my Software-RAID devices?</a></h3>
your data. To get access to present SW-RAID devices just execute:</p>
<pre class="rahmen">
-# /etc/init.d/mdadm-raid start
+# mdadm --asssemble --scan
</pre>
<p>If you want to enable SW-RAID by default just boot using
- the 'swraid' bootoption which enables automatic assembling of
+ the 'swraid' <a href="#bootoptions">boot option</a> which enables automatic assembling of
software raid arrays.</p>
<a name="terminalserver"></a>
<h3><a name="timezone"></a><a href="#toc">How do I configure
timezone on my Grml system?</a></h3>
- <p>Available bootoptions relevant in live-cd mode:</p>
+ <p>Availabe boot options:</p>
- <ul>
- <li>utc: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT)
- <li>gmt: set UTC, if your system clock is set to UTC (GMT) [like bootoption utc]
- <li>tz=$option: set timezone to corresponding $option, usage example:
- tz=Europe/Vienna
- </ul>
+<pre class="rahmen">
+grml utc # set UTC, if your system/hardware clock is set to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)
+grml localtime # Hardware Clock is set to local time (LOCAL), this is the default
+grml tz=$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
<h3><a name="hdinstall"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to install Grml to harddisk?</a></h3>
- <p>Short anwer: No.</p>
-
- <p>If you want to get a plain Debian system take a look at <a
- href="/grml-debootstrap/">grml-debootstrap</a>.</p>
-
- <p>Long(er) answer: yes it's possible to install Grml. But it's not
- supported and you'll be on your own. That's why we decided to make it
- not-so-obvious. If you really know what you're doing you'll find out on
- your own. Reminder: use <a
- href="/grml-debootstrap/">grml-debootstrap</a> or <a
- href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian Installer</a> instead.</p>
+ <p>No. If you want to get a Debian system take a look at <a
+ href="/grml-debootstrap/">grml-debootstrap</a> (or use the <a
+ href="https://www.debian.org/">Debian Installer</a> instead).</p>
<h2><a name="software"></a><a href="#toc">Software</a></h2>
<p>Short answer: because <a href="/zsh/">Zsh rocks</a>, really!</p>
- <p>Long(er) answer: If you don't know Zsh take a look the <a
- href="/zsh/">Grml Zsh reference card</a>.</p>
+
<p>Long(er) answer: If you don't know Zsh take a look the <a
+ href="/zsh/">Grml Zsh reference card</a>.</p>
<p>If you are a Bash user and don't know Zsh yet, don't be
afraid. Bash is largely a subset of Zsh and you don't have to
<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>
projects / grml.org.git / blobdiff