7 grml-live - build framework based on FAI for generating a grml and Debian based
8 Linux Live system (CD/ISO)
13 grml-live [-c <classe[s]>] [-g <grml_name>] [-i <iso_name> ] [-o
14 <output_directory>] [-r <release_name>] [-s <suite>] [-t <template_directory>]
15 [-v <version_number>] [-FVh]
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 *******************************************************************************
25 grml-live provides the build system for creating a grml and Debian based Linux
26 Live-CD. The build system is based on
27 link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI] (Fully Automatic
28 Installation). grml-live uses the "fai dirinstall" feature to generate a chroot
29 system based on the class concept of FAI (see later sections for further
30 details) and provides the framework to be able to generate a full-featured ISO.
31 It does not use all the FAI features by default though and you don't have to
32 know FAI to be able to use it.
34 The use of FAI gives you the flexibility to choose the packages you would like
35 to include on your very own Linux Live-CD without having to deal with all the
36 details of a build process.
38 CAUTION: grml-live does **not** use /etc/fai for configuration but instead
39 provides and uses /etc/grml/fai. This ensures that it does not clash with
40 default FAI configuration and packages, so you can use grml-live and FAI
41 completely independent at the same time!
45 Please notice that you should have a fast network connection as all the Debian
46 packages will be downloaded and installed via network. If you want to use a
47 local mirror (strongly recommended if you plan to use grml-live more than once)
48 checkout mkdebmirror (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/mkdebmirror),
49 debmirror(1), reprepro(1) (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/reprepro/ for a
50 sample configuration) and approx(8). To avoid downloading the base system again
51 and again check out FAI's NFSROOT (see FAQ of this document for details).
58 Specify the CLASSES to be used for building the ISO via FAI. By default only
59 the classes GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL and I386 are assumed, resulting in a small base
60 system (being about ~150MB total ISO size). If using a non-I386 system (like
61 amd64) you should specify the appropriate architecture as well. Additionally you
62 can specify a class providing a grml-kernel (see
63 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/ for a full list). So instead of GRML_SMALL
64 you can also use GRML_MEDIUM and GRML_FULL instead.
68 Force execution and do not prompt for acknowledgment of configuration.
72 Set the grml flavour name. Common usage examples: grml, grml-small, grml64.
76 Display short usage information and exit.
80 Specify name of ISO which will be available inside $OUTPUT_DIRECTORY/grml_isos
83 -o **OUTPUT_DIRECTORY**::
85 Main output directory of the build process of FAI. Some directories are created
86 inside this target directory, being: grml_cd (where the files for creating the
87 ISO are located, including the compressed squashfs file), grml_chroot (the
88 chroot system) and grml_isos (where the resulting ISO is stored).
92 Specify name of the release.
96 Specify the Debian suite you want to use for your live-system. Defaults to
97 "etch" (being current Debian/stable). Supported values are: etch, lenny, sid.
99 -t **TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY**::
101 Specify place of the templates used for building the ISO. By default
102 (and if not manually specified) this is /usr/share/grml-live/templates/.
104 -v **VERSION_NUMBER**::
106 Specify version number of the release.
110 Increase verbosity in the build process.
115 To get a small, Debian-stable and grml-based Live-CD using /grml/grml-live
116 as build and output directory just run:
120 To get a small Debian-unstable and grml-small based Live-CD using
121 /home/mika/grml-live as build and output directory just use:
123 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 -o /home/mika/grml-live
125 To get a small, Debian-unstable and grml-based Live-CD using /tmp as build and
126 output directory and use grml_0.0-3.iso as ISO name (placed inside
127 /tmp/grml_isos) just invoke:
129 # grml-live -o /tmp -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 -s sid -i grml_0.0-3.iso
133 If you have about 700MB of free space inside /dev/shm (being a tmpfs, usually
134 you should have >=1GB of RAM) just run "mount -o remount,suid,dev,rw /dev/shm"
135 and use /dev/shm as build and output directory - resulting in very fast build
136 process. But please be aware of the fact that rebooting your system will result
137 in an empty /dev/shm, so please another directory for $CHROOT_OUTPUT,
138 $BUILD_OUTPUT and $ISO_OUTPUT if you plan to create more persistent output. :)
140 Main features of grml-live
141 --------------------------
143 * create a grml-/Debian-based Linux Live-CD with one single command
145 * class based concept, providing a maximum of flexibility
147 * supports integration of own hooks, scripts and configuration
149 * supports use and integration of own Software and/or Kernels via simple use of
152 * native support of FAI features
154 * multi-arch support (work in progress)
159 grml-live uses FAI and its class based concept for adjusting configuration and
160 setup according to your needs. This gives you flexibility and strength without
161 losing the simplicity in the build process.
163 The main and base class provided by grml-live is named GRMLBASE. It's strongly
164 recommended to **always** use the class GRMLBASE when building an ISO using
165 grml-live, as well as the architecture dependent class which provides the kernel
166 (being 'I386' for x86_32 and 'AMD64' for x86_64) and a GRML_* class (like
167 GRML_SMALL, GRML_MEDIUM or GRML_FULL). The following files and directories are
168 relevant for class GRMLBASE by default:
170 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/GRMLBASE/
171 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/GRMLBASE
172 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/GRMLBASE.var
173 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/instsoft.GRMLBASE
174 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/GRMLBASE
176 Take a look at the next section for information about the concept of those
179 If you want to use your own configuration, extend an existing configuration
180 and/or add additional packages to your ISO just invent a new class (or extend an
181 existing one). For example if you want to use your own class named "FOOBAR" just
182 extend CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386" inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf to
183 CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR" or invoke grml-live using the classes
184 option: "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...".
186 More details regarding the class concept can be found in the documentation of
187 FAI itself (being available at /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/).
192 Notice that grml-live ships FAI configuration files that do not use the same
193 namespace as the FAI packages itself. This ensures that grml-live does not clash
194 with your usual FAI configuration, so instead of /etc/fai/fai.conf (package
195 fai-client) grml uses /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf instead. For more details see
196 below. To get an idea how another configuration or example files could look like
197 check out /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/examples/simple/ (provided by Debian package
198 fai-doc). Furthermore /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/fai-guide.html/ch-config.html
199 provides documentation regarding configuration possibilities.
203 Script for the main build process. Requires root permissions for execution.
205 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
207 Main configuration file for grml-live. All the important steps can be configured
210 /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf
212 Main configuration file for FAI which specifies where all the configuration
213 files and scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default it is set to
214 FAI_CONFIGDIR=/etc/grml/fai/config, a directory shipped by grml-live
215 out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this file.
217 /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
219 This file is used by make-fai-nfsroot(8) only. Usually you don't have to change
220 anything inside this file. If you want to modify NFSROOT though you can adjust
223 /etc/grml/fai/NFSROOT
225 This file specifies the package list for creating the NFSROOT.
227 /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
229 This file specifies which mirrors should be used for retreiving the Debian
230 packages used for creating the main chroot (including all the software you would
231 like to see included). If you want to use a local mirror you either have to
232 adjust this file or use the GRML_LIVE_SOURCES variable inside
233 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf which modifies /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
236 /etc/grml/fai/config/
238 The main directory for configuration of FAI/grml-live. More details below.
240 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/
242 This directory contains files which specify main configuration variables for the
245 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/
247 This directory provides the files for preseeding/configuration of debconf
250 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/
252 This directory provides files for customising the build process through hooks.
253 Hooks are user defined programs or scripts, which are called during the
254 installation process.
256 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/
258 Directory with lists of software packages to be installed or removed. The
259 different classes describe what should find its way to your ISO. When running
260 "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 ..." only the configuration of GRMLBASE,
261 GRML_SMALL and and I386 will be taken. If you use 'grml-live -c
262 GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...' then the files of GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL,
263 I386 **plus** the files from FOOBAR will be taken. So just create a new class to
264 adjust the package selection according to your needs. Please notice that the
265 directory GRMLBASE contains a package list defining a minimum but still
266 reasonable package configuration.
268 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/
270 Scripts for customising the ISO within the build process.
274 This directory provides files used inside the scripts of
275 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/*. For a full documentation what happens with the
276 files please refer to the source of the scripts.
278 /etc/grml/fai/live-initramfs/
280 This directory provides the files used for building the initramfs/initrd via
283 Requirements for the build system
284 ---------------------------------
286 * any Debian based system should be sufficient (if not it's a bug, so please
287 send us a bug report then) [a usual link:http://grml.org/grml2hd/[grml2hd]
288 harddisk installation ships all you need]
290 * enough free disk space; at least 800MB are required for a minimal grml-live
291 run (\~400MB for the chroot [$CHROOT_OUTPUT], \~150MB for the build target
292 [$BUILD_OUTPUT] and \~150MB for the resulting ISO [$ISO_OUTPUT] plus some
293 temporary files), if you plan to use GRML_FULL you should have at least 4GB of
294 total free disk space
296 * fast network access for retreiving the Debian packages used for creating the
297 chroot (check out "local mirror" and "NFSROOT" to workaround this problem as far
303 Help, I'm using Debian etch and I don't have FAI version >3.2
304 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
306 wget http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/download/etch/fai-client_3.2.1_all.deb \
307 http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/download/etch/fai-server_3.2.1_all.deb
308 dpkg -i fai-client_3.2.1_all.deb fai-server_3.2.1_all.deb
310 or check out the link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI-homepage] for
313 I've problems with the build process. How to start debugging?
314 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
316 Check out the logs inside /var/log/fai/dirinstall/... If you don't have the time
317 to debug the problem in further detail or don't know how to proceed just send a
318 copy of your config, logs and the commandline with a short problem description
321 # history | grep grml-live > /etc/grml/grml_live.cmdline
322 # tar zcf grml_live_problem.tar.gz /etc/grml/grml-live.conf \
323 /var/log/fai/dirinstall /etc/grml/fai
325 Can I use my own (local) Debian mirror?
326 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
328 Sure. Just adjust the variables GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP (if not
329 already using NFSROOT's base.tgz) inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf according to
330 your needs. Please don't forget that you should use the grml servers as well
331 (see default configuration) so all the grml packages can be downloaded as well.
333 If you want to use a local (for example NFS mount) mirror additionally, just
334 adjust MIRROR_DIRECTORY and MIRROR_SOURCES insede /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as
337 Unless you specify GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and/or FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP the default from
338 /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list and /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf will be
339 taken. If you customise the variables in /etc/grml/grml-live.conf then the two
340 files will be adjusted during runtime automatically.
342 If MIRROR_DIRECTORY and MIRROR_SOURCES are specified the local mirror will be
343 taken as first entry in the generated sources.list so it's prefered over
344 non-local mirrors. Using a fallback mirror (via providing several mirrors in
345 GRML_LIVE_SOURCES as used by default) is a recommended setting.
347 How do I add additional Debian package(s) to my CD/ISO?
348 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
350 Just create a new class (using the package_config directory):
352 # cat > /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/MIKA << EOF
356 another_name_of_a_debian_package
360 and specify it when invoking grml-live then:
362 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,MIKA
364 I fscked up my grml-live configuration. How do I reset it to the defaults?
365 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
367 Notice: this deletes all your grml-live configuration files. If that's really
368 what you are searching for just run:
370 rm -rf /etc/grml/fai /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
371 dpkg -i --force-confnew --force-confmiss /path/to/grml-live_..._all.deb
375 If you don't control your /etc using a version control system (VCS) yet it's a
376 good chance to start using it now. Check out
377 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/]
378 for more details how to maintain /etc using the mercurial VCS.
380 How do I create a base.tgz for use as NFSROOT?
381 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
383 First of all build the chroot system:
385 mkdir /tmp/nfsroot && cd /tmp/nfsroot
386 debootstrap etch /tmp/nfsroot/ http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian
389 Then check out where your NFSROOT is located:
391 # grep '^NFSROOT' /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
392 NFSROOT=/grml/fai/nfsroot
394 So as /grml/fai/nfsroot is your NFSROOT place the file under
395 /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/:
397 mv base.tgz /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz
399 Now running "grml-live ..." will use this file as main system instead of
400 executing debootstrap. Check out the output for the following lines:
403 Calling task_extrbase
404 Unpacking Debian base archive
405 Extracting /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz
409 Set up approx for use with grml-live
410 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
412 Make sure /etc/grml/grml-live.conf provides according GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and
415 # cat /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
418 deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-stable main
419 deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-testing main
420 deb http://localhost:9999/debian etch main contrib non-free
422 FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="etch http://localhost:9999/debian"
426 # cat /etc/approx/approx.conf
428 debian http://ftp.at.debian.org/debian
429 grml http://deb.grml.org/
431 Don't forget to restart approx (/etc/init.d/approx restart). That's it.
432 All downloaded files will be cached in /var/cache/approx now.
434 I've a question which isn't answered by this document
435 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
437 Don't hesitate to ask on IRC (channel #grml on irc.freenode.org) or just drop me
438 a mail: <mika@grml.org>
440 Download / install grml-live as a Debian package
441 ------------------------------------------------
443 Debian packages are available through the grml-repository at
444 link:http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/g/grml-live/[deb.grml.org]. If you want to
445 build a Debian package on your own (using for example a specific version or the
446 current development tree), just execute:
448 hg clone http://hg.grml.org/grml-live
455 The source of grml-live is available at
456 link:http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/[http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/]
461 Check out link:http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml-live[grml-live@grml-wiki]
467 Please report feedback, link:http://grml.org/bugs/[bugreports] and wishes
468 link:http://grml.org/contact/[to the grml-team]!
472 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
474 /////////////////////////////////////
475 // vim:ai tw=80 ft=asciidoc expandtab
476 /////////////////////////////////////