7 grml-live - build framework based on FAI for generating a grml and Debian based
8 Linux Live system (CD/ISO)
13 grml-live [-a <architecture>] [-c <classe[s]>] [-g <grml_name>] [-i <iso_name> ]
14 [-o <output_directory>] [-r <release_name>] [-s <suite>] [-t
15 <template_directory>] [-v <version_number>] [-FVhu]
17 *******************************************************************************
18 Important! This document is growing as requested. If you have questions which
19 aren't answered by this document yet please let me know: <mika@grml.org>!
20 This document currently applies to grml-live version 0.0.6.
21 *******************************************************************************
26 grml-live provides the build system for creating a grml and Debian based Linux
27 Live-CD. The build system is based on
28 link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI] (Fully Automatic
29 Installation). grml-live uses the "fai dirinstall" feature to generate a chroot
30 system based on the class concept of FAI (see later sections for further
31 details) and provides the framework to be able to generate a full-featured ISO.
32 It does not use all the FAI features by default though and you don't have to
33 know FAI to be able to use it.
35 The use of FAI gives you the flexibility to choose the packages you would like
36 to include on your very own Linux Live-CD without having to deal with all the
37 details of a build process.
39 CAUTION: grml-live does **not** use /etc/fai for configuration but instead
40 provides and uses /etc/grml/fai. This ensures that it does not clash with
41 default FAI configuration and packages, so you can use grml-live and FAI
42 completely independent at the same time!
46 Please notice that you should have a fast network connection as all the Debian
47 packages will be downloaded and installed via network. If you want to use a
48 local mirror (strongly recommended if you plan to use grml-live more than once)
49 checkout mkdebmirror (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/mkdebmirror),
50 debmirror(1), reprepro(1) (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/reprepro/ for a
51 sample configuration), apt-cacher(1) and approx(8). To avoid downloading the
52 base system again and again check out FAI's NFSROOT (see FAQ of this document
60 Use the specified architecture instead of the currently running one. This
61 allows building a 32bit system on a 64bit host. Please notice that real
62 crosscompiling (like building a ppc system on x86) isn't possible due to the
63 nature and the need of working in a chroot.
67 Specify the CLASSES to be used for building the ISO via FAI. By default only
68 the classes GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL and I386 are assumed, resulting in a small base
69 system (being about ~150MB total ISO size). If using a non-I386 system (like
70 amd64) you should specify the appropriate architecture as well. Additionally you
71 can specify a class providing a grml-kernel (see
72 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/ for a full list). So instead of GRML_SMALL
73 you can also use GRML_MEDIUM and GRML_FULL instead.
77 Force execution and do not prompt for acknowledgment of configuration.
81 Set the grml flavour name. Common usage examples: grml, grml-small, grml64.
85 Display short usage information and exit.
89 Specify name of ISO which will be available inside $OUTPUT_DIRECTORY/grml_isos
92 -o **OUTPUT_DIRECTORY**::
94 Main output directory of the build process of FAI. Some directories are created
95 inside this target directory, being: grml_cd (where the files for creating the
96 ISO are located, including the compressed squashfs file), grml_chroot (the
97 chroot system) and grml_isos (where the resulting ISO is stored).
101 Specify name of the release.
105 Specify the Debian suite you want to use for your live-system. Defaults to
106 "etch" (being current Debian/stable). Supported values are: etch, lenny, sid.
108 -t **TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY**::
110 Specify place of the templates used for building the ISO. By default
111 (and if not manually specified) this is /usr/share/grml-live/templates/.
115 Update existing chroot instead of rebuilding it from scratch. This option is
116 based on the softupdate feature of FAI.
118 -v **VERSION_NUMBER**::
120 Specify version number of the release.
124 Increase verbosity in the build process.
129 To get a small, Debian-stable and grml-based Live-CD using /grml/grml-live
130 as build and output directory just run:
134 To get a small Debian-unstable and grml-small based Live-CD using
135 /home/mika/grml-live as build and output directory just use:
137 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 -o /home/mika/grml-live
139 To get a small, Debian-unstable and grml-based Live-CD using /tmp as build and
140 output directory and use grml_0.0-3.iso as ISO name (placed inside
141 /tmp/grml_isos) just invoke:
143 # grml-live -o /tmp -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 -s sid -i grml_0.0-3.iso
147 If you have about 700MB of free space inside /dev/shm (being a tmpfs, usually
148 you should have >=1GB of RAM) just run "mount -o remount,suid,dev,rw /dev/shm"
149 and use /dev/shm as build and output directory - resulting in very fast build
150 process. But please be aware of the fact that rebooting your system will result
151 in an empty /dev/shm, so please another directory for $CHROOT_OUTPUT,
152 $BUILD_OUTPUT and $ISO_OUTPUT if you plan to create more persistent output. :)
154 Main features of grml-live
155 --------------------------
157 * create a grml-/Debian-based Linux Live-CD with one single command
159 * class based concept, providing a maximum of flexibility
161 * supports integration of own hooks, scripts and configuration
163 * supports use and integration of own Software and/or Kernels via simple use of
166 * native support of FAI features
168 * multi-arch support (work in progress)
173 grml-live uses FAI and its class based concept for adjusting configuration and
174 setup according to your needs. This gives you flexibility and strength without
175 losing the simplicity in the build process.
177 The main and base class provided by grml-live is named GRMLBASE. It's strongly
178 recommended to **always** use the class GRMLBASE when building an ISO using
179 grml-live, as well as the architecture dependent class which provides the kernel
180 (being 'I386' for x86_32 and 'AMD64' for x86_64) and a GRML_* class (like
181 GRML_SMALL, GRML_MEDIUM or GRML_FULL). The following files and directories are
182 relevant for class GRMLBASE by default:
184 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/GRMLBASE/
185 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/GRMLBASE
186 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/GRMLBASE.var
187 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/instsoft.GRMLBASE
188 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/GRMLBASE
190 Take a look at the next section for information about the concept of those
193 If you want to use your own configuration, extend an existing configuration
194 and/or add additional packages to your ISO just invent a new class (or extend an
195 existing one). For example if you want to use your own class named "FOOBAR" just
196 extend CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386" inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf to
197 CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR" or invoke grml-live using the classes
198 option: "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...".
200 More details regarding the class concept can be found in the documentation of
201 FAI itself (being available at /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/).
206 Documentation to be done...
211 Notice that grml-live ships FAI configuration files that do not use the same
212 namespace as the FAI packages itself. This ensures that grml-live does not clash
213 with your usual FAI configuration, so instead of /etc/fai/fai.conf (package
214 fai-client) grml uses /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf instead. For more details see
215 below. To get an idea how another configuration or example files could look like
216 check out /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/examples/simple/ (provided by Debian package
217 fai-doc). Furthermore /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/fai-guide.html/ch-config.html
218 provides documentation regarding configuration possibilities.
222 Script for the main build process. Requires root permissions for execution.
224 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
226 Main configuration file for grml-live. All the important steps can be configured
229 /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf
231 Main configuration file for FAI which specifies where all the configuration
232 files and scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default it is set to
233 FAI_CONFIGDIR=/etc/grml/fai/config, a directory shipped by grml-live
234 out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this file.
236 /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
238 This file is used by make-fai-nfsroot(8) only. Usually you don't have to change
239 anything inside this file. If you want to modify NFSROOT though you can adjust
242 /etc/grml/fai/NFSROOT
244 This file specifies the package list for creating the NFSROOT.
246 /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
248 This file specifies which mirrors should be used for retreiving the Debian
249 packages used for creating the main chroot (including all the software you would
250 like to see included). If you want to use a local mirror you either have to
251 adjust this file or use the GRML_LIVE_SOURCES variable inside
252 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf which modifies /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
255 /etc/grml/fai/config/
257 The main directory for configuration of FAI/grml-live. More details below.
259 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/
261 This directory contains files which specify main configuration variables for the
264 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/
266 This directory provides the files for preseeding/configuration of debconf
269 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/
271 This directory provides files for customising the build process through hooks.
272 Hooks are user defined programs or scripts, which are called during the
273 installation process.
275 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/
277 Directory with lists of software packages to be installed or removed. The
278 different classes describe what should find its way to your ISO. When running
279 "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 ..." only the configuration of GRMLBASE,
280 GRML_SMALL and and I386 will be taken. If you use 'grml-live -c
281 GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...' then the files of GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL,
282 I386 **plus** the files from FOOBAR will be taken. So just create a new class to
283 adjust the package selection according to your needs. Please notice that the
284 directory GRMLBASE contains a package list defining a minimum but still
285 reasonable package configuration.
287 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/
289 Scripts for customising the ISO within the build process.
293 This directory provides files used inside the scripts of
294 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/*. For a full documentation what happens with the
295 files please refer to the source of the scripts.
297 /etc/grml/fai/live-initramfs/
299 This directory provides the files used for building the initramfs/initrd via
305 grml-live itself logs to /var/log/grml-live.log. Unless you set ZERO_LOGFILE in
306 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf the output is appended to the file. If you set the
307 ZERO_LOGFILE configuration option the logfile will be truncated on a new
308 invocation of grml-live.
310 The FAI part of grml-live logs to /var/log/fai/dirinstall/$HOSTNAME - so the
311 default being /var/log/fai/dirinstall/grml.
313 If you are using the update option of grml-live (option -u) the logs are
314 available at /var/log/fai/current.
316 If you are using the grml-live buildd you will find the logs of the grml-live
317 run at /var/log/grml-buildd.stdout and /var/log/grml-buildd.stderr.
319 Requirements for the build system
320 ---------------------------------
322 * any Debian based system should be sufficient (if not it's a bug, so please
323 send us a bug report then) [a usual link:http://grml.org/grml2hd/[grml2hd]
324 harddisk installation ships all you need]
326 * enough free disk space; at least 800MB are required for a minimal grml-live
327 run (\~400MB for the chroot [$CHROOT_OUTPUT], \~150MB for the build target
328 [$BUILD_OUTPUT] and \~150MB for the resulting ISO [$ISO_OUTPUT] plus some
329 temporary files), if you plan to use GRML_FULL you should have at least 4GB of
330 total free disk space
332 * fast network access for retreiving the Debian packages used for creating the
333 chroot (check out "local mirror" and "NFSROOT" to workaround this problem as far
339 Help, I'm using Debian etch and I don't have FAI version >3.2
340 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
342 wget http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/download/etch/fai-client_3.2.1_all.deb \
343 http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/download/etch/fai-server_3.2.1_all.deb
344 dpkg -i fai-client_3.2.1_all.deb fai-server_3.2.1_all.deb
346 or check out the link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI-homepage] for
349 I've problems with the build process. How to start debugging?
350 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
352 Check out the logs inside /var/log/fai/dirinstall/... If you don't have the time
353 to debug the problem in further detail or don't know how to proceed just send a
354 copy of your config, logs and the commandline with a short problem description
357 # history | grep grml-live > /etc/grml/grml_live.cmdline
358 # tar zcf grml_live_problem.tar.gz /etc/grml/grml-live.conf \
359 /var/log/fai/dirinstall /etc/grml/fai
361 Can I use my own (local) Debian mirror?
362 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
364 Sure. Just adjust the variables GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP (if not
365 already using NFSROOT's base.tgz) inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf according to
366 your needs. Please don't forget that you should use the grml servers as well
367 (see default configuration) so all the grml packages can be downloaded as well.
369 If you want to use a local (for example NFS mount) mirror additionally, just
370 adjust MIRROR_DIRECTORY and MIRROR_SOURCES insede /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as
373 Unless you specify GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and/or FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP the default from
374 /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list and /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf will be
375 taken. If you customise the variables in /etc/grml/grml-live.conf then the two
376 files will be adjusted during runtime automatically.
378 If MIRROR_DIRECTORY and MIRROR_SOURCES are specified the local mirror will be
379 taken as first entry in the generated sources.list so it's prefered over
380 non-local mirrors. Using a fallback mirror (via providing several mirrors in
381 GRML_LIVE_SOURCES as used by default) is a recommended setting.
383 How do I add additional Debian package(s) to my CD/ISO?
384 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
386 Just create a new class (using the package_config directory):
388 # cat > /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/MIKA << EOF
392 another_name_of_a_debian_package
396 and specify it when invoking grml-live then:
398 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,MIKA
400 I fscked up my grml-live configuration. How do I reset it to the defaults?
401 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
403 Notice: this deletes all your grml-live configuration files. If that's really
404 what you are searching for just run:
406 rm -rf /etc/grml/fai /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
407 dpkg -i --force-confnew --force-confmiss /path/to/grml-live_..._all.deb
411 If you don't control your /etc using a version control system (VCS) yet it's a
412 good chance to start using it now. Check out
413 link:http://michael-prokop.at/blog/2007/03/14/maintain-etc-with-mercurial-on-debian/[http://michael-prokop.at/blog/2007/03/14/maintain-etc-with-mercurial-on-debian/]
414 for more details how to maintain /etc using the mercurial VCS.
416 How do I create a base.tgz for use as NFSROOT?
417 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
419 First of all build the chroot system:
421 mkdir /tmp/nfsroot && cd /tmp/nfsroot
422 debootstrap etch /tmp/nfsroot/ http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian
425 Then check out where your NFSROOT is located:
427 # grep '^NFSROOT' /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
428 NFSROOT=/grml/fai/nfsroot
430 So as /grml/fai/nfsroot is your NFSROOT place the file under
431 /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/:
433 mv base.tgz /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz
435 or even better use /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/$CLASSNAME.tar.gz instead.
436 Use I386 as $CLASSNAME for i386 builds and AMD64 for amd64 builds.
438 Now running "grml-live ..." will use this file as main system instead of
439 executing debootstrap. Check out the output for the following lines if using
443 Calling task_extrbase
444 Unpacking Debian base archive
445 Extracting /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz
449 or if using /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/$CLASSNAME.tar.gz for:
452 ftar: extracting /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles///AMD64.tar.gz to
453 /grml-live/grml-live_20071029.22138/grml_chroot//
456 Set up apt-cacher for use with grml-live
457 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
459 Make sure /etc/grml/grml-live.conf provides according GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and
462 # cat /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
465 deb http://localhost:3142/deb.grml.org grml-stable main
466 deb http://localhost:3142/deb.grml.org grml-testing main
467 deb http://localhost:3142/ftp.de.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free
470 FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="etch http://localhost:3142/ftp.de.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free"
472 Make sure apt-cacher is running (/etc/init.d/apt-cacher restart). That's it.
473 All downloaded files will be cached in /var/cache/apt-cacher/ now.
475 Set up approx for use with grml-live
476 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
478 Make sure /etc/grml/grml-live.conf provides according GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and
481 # cat /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
484 deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-stable main
485 deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-testing main
486 deb http://localhost:9999/debian etch main contrib non-free
488 FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="etch http://localhost:9999/debian"
492 # cat /etc/approx/approx.conf
494 debian http://ftp.at.debian.org/debian
495 grml http://deb.grml.org/
497 Don't forget to restart approx (/etc/init.d/approx restart). That's it.
498 All downloaded files will be cached in /var/cache/approx now.
500 I've a question which isn't answered by this document
501 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
503 Don't hesitate to ask on IRC (channel #grml on irc.freenode.org) or just drop me
504 a mail: <mika@grml.org>
506 Download / install grml-live as a Debian package
507 ------------------------------------------------
509 Debian packages are available through the grml-repository at
510 link:http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/g/grml-live/[deb.grml.org]. If you want to
511 build a Debian package on your own (using for example a specific version or the
512 current development tree), just execute:
514 hg clone http://hg.grml.org/grml-live
521 The source of grml-live is available at
522 link:http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/[http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/]
527 Check out link:http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml-live[grml-live@grml-wiki]
533 Please report feedback, link:http://grml.org/bugs/[bugreports] and wishes
534 link:http://grml.org/contact/[to the grml-team]!
538 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
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