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]>] [-C <configfile>] [
14 -e <extract_iso_name>] [-g <grml_name>] [-i <iso_name>] [
15 -o <output_directory>] [-r <release_name>] [-s <suite>] [
16 -t <template_directory>] [-v <version_number>] [-U <username>] [
17 -w <date>] [-AbBFnNqQuVz]
22 grml-live provides the build system for creating a Grml and Debian based Linux
23 Live-CD. The build system is based on
24 link:http://fai-project.org/[FAI] (Fully Automatic
25 Installation). grml-live uses the "fai dirinstall" feature to generate a chroot
26 system based on the class concept of FAI (see later sections for further
27 details) and provides the framework to be able to generate a full-featured ISO.
28 It does not use all the FAI features by default though and you don't have to
29 know FAI to be able to use it.
31 The use of FAI gives you the flexibility to choose the packages you would like
32 to include on your very own Linux Live-CD without having to deal with all the
33 details of a build process.
35 CAUTION: grml-live does **not** use /etc/fai for configuration but instead
36 provides and uses ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG} which is pointing to /etc/grml/fai by default
37 (unless overridden using the ''-D'' option). This ensures that it does not clash
38 with default FAI configuration and packages, so you can use grml-live and FAI
39 completely independent at the same time!
43 Please notice that you should have a fast network connection as all the Debian
44 packages will be downloaded and installed via network. If you want to use a
45 local mirror (strongly recommended if you plan to use grml-live more than once)
46 checkout debmirror(1), reprepro(1) (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/reprepro/ for a
47 sample configuration), apt-cacher(1) and approx(8). To avoid downloading the
48 base system again and again check out <<create-a-base-tgz,the base tar.gz
56 Clean up all output directories before running the build process. After finishing,
57 clean up the Chroot target and Build target directories.
61 Use the specified architecture instead of the currently running one. This
62 allows building a 32bit system on a 64bit host (though you can't build a 64bit
63 system on a 32bit system/kernel of course). Please notice that real
64 crosscompiling (like building a ppc system on x86) isn't possible due to the
65 nature and the need of working in a chroot. Currently supported values: i386
70 Build the ISO without updating the chroot via FAI. This option is useful for
71 example when working on stable releases: if you have a working base
72 system/chroot and do not want to execute any further updates (via "-u" option)
73 but intend to only build the ISO.
77 Build the ISO without touching the chroot at all. This option is useful if
78 you modified anything that FAI or grml-live might adjust via Grml's FAI
79 scripts. It's like the '-b' option but even more advanced. Use only if you
80 really know that you do not want to update the chroot.
84 Specify the CLASSES to be used for building the ISO via FAI. By default only
85 the classes GRMLBASE, GRML_FULL and I386/AMD64 (depending on system
86 architecture) are assumed. Additionally you can specify a class providing a
87 (grml-)kernel (see <<classes,the 'CLASSES' section in this document>> for
88 details about available classes). So instead of GRML_FULL you can also use e.g.
92 All class names should be written in uppercase letters. Do not use a dash, use
93 an underscore. So do not use "amd64" but "AMD64", do not use "FOO BAR" but
97 -C **CONFIGURATION_FILE**::
99 The specified file is used as configuration file for grml-live. By default
100 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf is used as default configuration. If a file named
101 /etc/grml/grml-live.local exists it is used as well (sourced after reading
102 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf meant as main file for local configuration). As a last
103 option the specified configuration file is sourced so it is possible to override
104 settings of /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as well as of /etc/grml/grml-live.local.
105 Please notice that all configuration files have to be adjusted during execution
106 of grml-live, so please make sure you use /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as a base for
107 your own configuration file (usually /etc/grml/grml-live.local). Please also
108 notice that the configuration file specified via this option is **not** (yet)
109 supported inside the scripts/hooks/classes at ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config. Instead use
110 /etc/grml/grml-live.local for configuration stuff used inside
111 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config.
115 Use specified date as build date information on the ISO instead of the default.
116 The default is the date when grml-live is being executed (retrieved via
117 executing 'date +%Y-%m-%d'). The information is stored inside the file
118 /GRML/grml-version on the ISO, /etc/grml_version in the squashfs file and in all
119 the bootsplash related files. This option is useful if you want to provide an
120 ISO with release information for a specific date but have to build it in
121 advance. Usage example: '-d 2009-10-30'
123 -D **CONFIGURATION_DIRECTORY**::
125 The specified directory is used as configuration directory for grml-live and its
126 FAI. By default /etc/grml/fai is used as default configuration directory. If
127 you want to have different configuration scripts, package definitions, etc. with
128 without messing with the global configuration under /etc/grml/fai provided by
129 grml-live this option provides you the option to use your own configuration
130 directory. This directory is what's being referred to as ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}
131 throughout this documentation.
133 -e **EXTRACT_ISO_NAME**::
135 The squashfs inside the specified ISO will be extracted and used as the chroot.
136 This option is useful for remastering, in combination with -A and -b or -u.
140 Force execution and do not prompt for acknowledgment of configuration.
144 Set the grml flavour name. Common usage examples: grml, grml-small, grml64.
145 Please do NOT use blanks and any special characters like '/', ';' inside
146 GRML_NAME, otherwise you might notice problems while booting.
150 Display short usage information and exit.
154 Specify name of ISO which will be available inside $OUTPUT_DIRECTORY/grml_isos
157 -I **CHROOT_INSTALL**::
159 Specify name of source directory which provides files that should become part of
160 the chroot/ISO. Not enabled by default. Note: the files are installed under '/'
161 in the chroot so you have to create the rootfs structure on your own.
165 Skip creation of the ISO file. This option is useful if you want to build/update
166 the chroot and/or recreate the squashfs file without building an ISO file.
170 Bootstrap the chroot without building bootloader, squashfs, or finalizing the
171 ISO. Use this option if installation of some packages fails, you want to run
172 custom commands or similar.
173 The main use of this option is to save time by skipping stages which aren't
174 necessary for bootstrapping the chroot and which would get executed more than
175 once when iterating through the initial bootstrapping.
176 Alternatively, use this option as a test run of grml-live. Once you are
177 satisfied with the state of your grml_chroot, use grml-live **-u** to build the
178 remaining stages and finalize the ISO.
180 -o **OUTPUT_DIRECTORY**::
182 Main output directory of the build process of FAI. Some directories are created
183 inside this target directory, being: grml_cd (where the files for creating the
184 ISO are located, including the compressed squashfs file), grml_chroot (the
185 chroot system) and grml_isos (where the resulting ISO is stored).
189 Build the ISO without (re-)creating the squashfs compressed file using mksquashfs.
190 This option is useful if you just want to update parts outside the chroot in the ISO.
191 Consider combining this option with the build-only option '-b'.
195 Build the ISO without generating a netboot package.
199 Specify name of the release.
203 Specify the Debian suite you want to use for your live-system. If unset defaults
204 to "testing". Supported values are: stable, testing, unstable (or their
205 corresponding release names like "stretch"). Please be aware that recent Debian
206 suites might require a recent base.tgz
207 (${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/basefiles/$CLASSNAME.tar.gz) or a recent version of
210 -t **TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY**::
212 Specify place of the templates used for building the ISO. By default
213 (and if not manually specified) this is /usr/share/grml-live/templates/.
217 Update existing chroot instead of rebuilding it from scratch. This option is
218 based on the softupdate feature of FAI.
222 Sets ownership of all build output files to specified username before exiting.
224 -v **VERSION_NUMBER**::
226 Specify version number of the release.
230 Increase verbosity in the build process.
234 The wayback machine. Build the system using Debian archives from the specified
235 date. Valid date formats are yyyymmddThhmmssZ or simply yyyymmdd. To learn
236 which snapshots exist, i.e. which date strings are valid, simply browse the
237 lists on http://snapshot.debian.org/. If there is no import at the exact time
238 you specified you will get the latest available timestamp which is before the
240 This option is useful especially for release and debugging builds - for example
241 if you know that the Debian archive was in a good state on a specific date but
242 you want to build it on another day in the future, where the archive might not
243 be as needed anymore. Please be aware that this is restricted to the plain
244 Debian repositories only, as referred to in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
245 (so neither the Grml repositories nor any further custom ones are affected by
246 the wayback machine).
250 Use ZLIB instead of LZMA/XZ compression in mksquashfs part of the build process.
256 To get a Debian-stable and Grml-based Live-CD using ./grml
257 as build and output directory just run:
261 To get a 64bit Debian-testing and grml-small based Live-CD using /srv/grml-live
262 as build and output directory use the following command line on your amd64
265 # grml-live -s testing -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,AMD64 -o /srv/grml-live
269 If you have enough RAM, just run "mount -t tmpfs none /media/ramdisk" to get a
270 tmpfs ("RAMDISK"), and use /media/ramdisk as build and output directory - this
271 results in a very fast build process. Note that these files will be gone when
275 Main features of grml-live
276 --------------------------
278 * create a Grml-/Debian-based Linux Live-CD with one single command
280 * class based concept, providing a maximum of flexibility
282 * supports integration of own hooks, scripts and configuration
284 * supports use and integration of own Software and/or Kernels via simple use of
287 * native support of FAI features
293 grml-live uses FAI and its class based concept for adjusting configuration and
294 setup according to your needs. This gives you flexibility and strength without
295 losing the simplicity in the build process.
297 The main and base class provided by grml-live is named GRMLBASE. It's strongly
298 recommended to **always** use the class GRMLBASE when building an ISO using
299 grml-live, as well as the architecture dependent class which provides the kernel
300 (being 'I386' for x86_32 and 'AMD64' for x86_64) and a GRML_* class (like
301 GRML_SMALL or GRML_FULL). The following files and directories are
302 relevant for class GRMLBASE by default:
304 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/scripts/GRMLBASE/
305 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/debconf/GRMLBASE
306 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/class/GRMLBASE.var
307 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/hooks/instsoft.GRMLBASE
308 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/package_config/GRMLBASE
310 Take a look at the next section for information about the concept of those
313 If you want to use your own configuration, extend an existing configuration
314 and/or add additional packages to your ISO just invent a new class (or extend an
315 existing one). For example if you want to use your own class named "FOOBAR" just
316 set CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,AMD64,FOOBAR" inside /etc/grml/grml-live.local
317 or invoke grml-live using the classes option: "grml-live -c
318 GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,AMD64,FOOBAR ...".
320 More details regarding the class concept can be found in the documentation of
321 FAI itself (being available at /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/).
328 The package selection part of the classes can be found in
329 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/package_config whereas some further classes are defined for
330 example in ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/scripts/ so specific feature sets can be
331 selected. The following classes are predefined:
333 * DEBORPHAN: get rid of all packages listed in output of deborphan
335 * FILE_RC: instead of using systemd as init system use file-rc instead. file-rc
336 was the init system used by Grml until and including stable release 2014.11,
337 starting with beginning of 2016 Grml switched to systemd instead. If you want to
338 build a live system in the old style using file-rc instead of systemd then enable
339 this class. Please notice that support for file-rc is no longer being actively
340 maintained (the Grml team happily accepts patches though) and file-rc (upstream
341 wise) might disappear too.
343 * FRESHCLAM: execute freshclam (if it's present) to update clamav definitions
344 (increases resulting ISO size ~70MB). By default it's skipped to avoid bigger
347 * GRMLBASE: the main class responsible for getting a minimal subset of what's
348 defining a Grml system. Important parts of the buildprocess are specified in
349 this class as well, so unless you have a really good reason you should always
350 use this class. Please be aware that using *just* the GRMLBASE class won't be
351 enough, because the kernel packages (e.g. linux-image-i386-grml +
352 linux-image-amd64-grml) are chosen in further GRML_* classes (to provide maximum
353 flexibility with kernel selection). If you don't want to use the existing
354 GRML_FULL or GRML_SMALL classes, define your own CLASS file choosing the kernel
355 package you want to use (and don't forget to include your CLASS in the arguments
356 of grml-live's -c... command line option).
358 * GRML_FULL: full featured Grml, also known as the "normal", full grml as
359 introduced in December 2011 (~600MB ISO size).
361 * GRML_SMALL: minimum sized Grml version, known as grml-small (~300MB ISO
364 * LATEX: LaTeX(-related) packages like auctex, texlive,...
365 (which used to be shipped by grml before the LaTeX removal)
367 * LATEX_CLEANUP: get rid of several very large LaTeX directories
368 (like some /usr/share/doc/texlive-*, /usr/share/doc/texmf,...)
370 * LOCALES: use full featured locales setup (see /etc/locale.gen.grml). This
371 avoids to get rid of /usr/share/locale - which happens by default otherwise - as
374 * NO_ONLINE: do not run scripts during the chroot build process which require a
377 * RELEASE: run some specific scripts and commands to provide the workflow for an
378 official grml release
380 * REMOVE_DOCS: get rid of documentation directories (like /usr/share/doc,
381 /usr/share/man/, /usr/share/info,...)
383 * SOURCES: retrieve Debian source packages after installation. Files will be
384 placed in the output directory under grml_sources.
386 * XORG: providing important packages for use with a base grml-featured X.org
393 Notice that grml-live ships FAI configuration files that do not use the same
394 namespace as the FAI packages itself. This ensures that grml-live does not clash
395 with your usual FAI configuration, so instead of /etc/fai/fai.conf (package
396 fai-client) grml uses ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/fai.conf instead. For more details see
397 below. To get an idea how another configuration or example files could look like
398 check out /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/examples/simple/ (provided by Debian package
399 fai-doc). Furthermore /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/fai-guide.html/ch-config.html
400 provides documentation regarding configuration possibilities.
404 Script for the main build process. Requires root permissions for execution.
406 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
408 Main configuration file for grml-live which should be considered as a reference
409 configuration file only. Please use /etc/grml/grml-live.local for local
410 configuration instead.
412 /etc/grml/grml-live.local
414 All the local configuration should go to this file. This file overrides any
415 defaults of grml-live. Configurations via /etc/grml/grml-live.local are preferred
416 over the ones from /etc/grml/grml-live.conf. If you want to override settings
417 from /etc/grml/grml-live.local as well you have to specify them on the grml-live
420 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/fai.conf
422 Main configuration file for FAI which specifies where all the configuration
423 files and scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default the configuration
424 variables are FAI_CONFIG_SRC=file:///etc/grml/fai/config and
425 GRML_FAI_CONFIG=/etc/grml/fai/config - both pointing to a directory shipped by
426 grml-live out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this
429 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/
431 The main directory for configuration of FAI/grml-live. More details below.
433 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/class/
435 This directory contains files which specify main configuration variables for the
438 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/debconf/
440 This directory provides the files for preseeding/configuration of debconf
443 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/hooks/
445 This directory provides files for customising the build process through hooks.
446 Hooks are user defined programs or scripts, which are called during the
447 installation process.
449 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/package_config/
451 Directory with lists of software packages to be installed or removed. The
452 different classes describe what should find its way to your ISO. When running
453 "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,AMD64 ..." only the configuration of GRMLBASE,
454 GRML_SMALL and AMD64 will be taken. If you use 'grml-live -c
455 GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,AMD64,FOOBAR ...' then the files of GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL,
456 AMD64 **plus** the files from FOOBAR will be taken. So just create a new class to
457 adjust the package selection according to your needs. Please notice that the
458 directory GRMLBASE contains a package list defining a minimum but still
459 reasonable package configuration.
461 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/scripts/
463 Scripts for customising the ISO within the build process.
465 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/live-initramfs/
467 This directory provides the files used for building the initramfs/initrd via
474 Starting with grml-live version 0.17.0 you should find log files in a directory
475 named 'grml_logs' in the output directory (next to grml_isos, grml_chroot,...).
477 grml-live versions before 0.17.0 used to log into /var/log/grml-live.log
478 and /var/log/fai/grml.
481 Requirements for the build system
482 ---------------------------------
484 * any Debian based system should be sufficient (if it doesn't work it's a bug,
485 please send us a bug report then). Check out <<deploy-on-debian,How do I deploy
486 grml-live on a plain Debian installation>> for details how to set up grml-live
487 on a plain, original Debian system.
489 * enough free disk space; at least 1.5GB are required for a minimal grml-live
490 run (\~850MB for the chroot [$CHROOT_OUTPUT], \~300MB for the build target
491 [$BUILD_OUTPUT], \~30MB for the netboot files and \~300MB for the resulting ISO
492 [$ISO_OUTPUT] plus some temporary files), if you plan to use GRML_FULL you
493 should have at least 4GB of total free disk space
495 * fast network access for retrieving the Debian packages used for creating the
496 chroot (check out "local mirror" to workaround this problem as far as possible)
498 For further information see next section.
502 Current state of grml-live with squashfs-tools and kernel
503 ---------------------------------------------------------
505 Use squashfs-tools >=4.2-1 to build Grml (based) ISOs featuring kernel version
506 2.6.38-grml[64] or newer.
513 How do I deploy grml-live on a plain Debian installation?
514 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
516 The easiest way to get a running grml-live setup is to just use Grml.
517 Of course using grml-live on a plain, original Debian installation is supported
518 as well. So there we go.
520 What we have: plain, original Debian stretch (9.x).
522 What we want: build a Grml ISO based on Debian/stretch for the amd64 architecture
528 # adjust sources.list:
529 cat >> /etc/apt/sources.list << EOF
531 # grml stable repository:
532 deb http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable main
533 # deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable main
535 # grml testing/development repository:
536 deb http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main
537 # deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main
540 # get keyring for apt:
542 apt-get --allow-unauthenticated install grml-debian-keyring
544 # optionally(!) install basefile so we don't have to build basic
545 # chroot from scratch, grab from http://daily.grml.org/
546 # mkdir -p /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/
547 # mv I386.tar.gz /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/
548 # mv AMD64.tar.gz /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/
550 # install relevant tools
551 apt-get --no-install-recommends install grml-live
553 # adjust grml-live configuration for our needs:
554 cat > /etc/grml/grml-live.local << EOF
555 ## want a faster build process and don't need smaller ISOs?
556 ## if so use zlib compression
557 # SQUASHFS_OPTIONS="-comp gzip -b 256k"
558 ## want to use a specific squashfs binary?
559 # SQUASHFS_BINARY='/usr/bin/mksquashfs'
560 ## install local files into the chroot
561 # CHROOT_INSTALL="/etc/grml/fai/chroot_install"
562 ## adjust if necessary (defaults to ./grml/):
563 ## OUTPUT="/srv/grml-live"
564 FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="stretch http://ftp.debian.org/debian/"
566 CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_FULL,AMD64"
569 # just optional(!) - upgrade FAI to latest available version:
570 cat >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/fai.list << EOF
571 deb http://jenkins.grml.org/debian fai main
572 deb-src http://jenkins.grml.org/debian fai main
575 # get gpg key of FAI repos and install current FAI version:
576 wget -O - http://jenkins.grml.org/debian/C525F56752D4A654.asc | sudo apt-key add -
578 apt-get install fai-client fai-server fai-doc
580 That's it. Now invoking 'grml-live -V' should build the ISO. If everything
581 worked as expected the last line of the shell output should look like:
583 [*] Successfully finished execution of grml-live [running 687 seconds]
585 and the ISO can be found inside /grml-live/grml-live/grml_isos/ then.
587 [[grml_fai_config_variable]]
588 What is $GRML_FAI_CONFIG?
589 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
591 The variable '$GRML_FAI_CONFIG' is pointing to the directory /etc/grml/fai by
592 default. To provide you a maximum of flexibility you can set up your own
593 configuration directory (e.g. based on /etc/grml/fai) and use this directory
594 running grml-live with the '-D <config_dir>' option. Now '$GRML_FAI_CONFIG'
595 points to the specified directory instead of using /etc/grml/fai and all the
596 configuration files, scripts and hooks will be taken from your
597 '$GRML_FAI_CONFIG' directory.
600 I've problems with the build process. How to start debugging?
601 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
603 Check out the logs inside the directory 'grml_logs' next to your grml_chroot,
604 grml_isos,... directories.
606 If you need help with grml-live or would like to see new features as part of
607 grml-live you can get commercial support via
608 link:http://grml-solutions.com/[Grml Solutions].
610 [[install-local-files]]
611 How do I install further files into the chroot/ISO?
612 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
614 Just point the configuration variable CHROOT_INSTALL to the directory which
615 provides the files you would like to install. Note that the files are installed
616 under '/' in the chroot - so you have to create the rootfs structure on your
619 echo "CHROOT_INSTALL=\$GRML_FAI_CONFIG/chroot_install" >> /etc/grml/grml-live.local
620 mkdir -p /etc/grml/fai/chroot_install/usr/src/
621 wget example.org/foo.tar.gz
622 mv foo.tar.gz /etc/grml/fai/chroot_install/usr/src/
625 [[local-debian-mirror]]
626 Can I use my own (local) Debian mirror?
627 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
629 Yes. Set up an according sources.list configuration as class file in
630 ${GRML_FAI_CONFIG}/config/files/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ and adjust the variable
631 FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP (if not already using a base.tgz) inside
632 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf[.local]. If you're setting up your own class file don't
633 forget to include the class name in the class list (grml-live -c ...).
635 If you want to use a local (for example NFS mount) mirror additionally then
636 adjust MIRROR_DIRECTORY in /etc/grml/grml-live.conf[.local] as well.
638 If you want to use a HTTP Proxy (like apt-cacher-ng), set APT_PROXY. Example:
640 APT_PROXY="http://localhost:3142/"
642 [[add-additional-debian-packages]]
643 How do I add additional Debian package(s) to my CD/ISO?
644 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
646 Just create a new class (using the package_config directory):
648 # cat > /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/MIKA << EOF
652 another_name_of_a_debian_package
656 and specify it when invoking grml-live then:
658 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,AMD64,MIKA
660 [[reset-grml-live-configuration]]
661 I fscked up my grml-live configuration. How do I reset it to the defaults?
662 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
664 Notice: this deletes all your grml-live configuration files. If that's really
665 what you are searching for just run:
667 rm -rf /etc/grml/fai /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
668 dpkg -i --force-confnew --force-confmiss /path/to/grml-live_..._all.deb
671 Set up apt-cacher-ng for use with grml-live
672 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
674 Make sure /etc/grml/grml-live.local provides according APT_PROXY and
677 # cat /etc/grml/grml-live.local
679 APT_PROXY="http://localhost:3142/"
681 FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="stretch http://localhost:3142/ftp.debian.org/debian stretch main contrib non-free"
683 Make sure apt-cacher-ng is running ('/etc/init.d/apt-cacher-ng restart').
684 That's it. All downloaded files will be cached in /var/cache/apt-cacher-ng then.
687 How do I revert the manifold feature from an ISO?
688 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
690 The so called manifold feature Grml ISOs use by default allows one to use the same
691 ISO for CD boot and USB boot. If you notice any problems when booting just
692 revert the manifold feature running:
694 % dd if=/dev/zero of=grml.iso bs=512 count=1 conv=notrunc
696 To switch from manifold to isohybrid mode (an alternative approach provided by
697 syslinux) then just execute:
701 [[create-a-base-tgz]]
702 How do I create a base tar.gz (I386.tar.gz or AMD64.tar.gz)
703 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
706 First of all create the chroot using debootstrap (requires root):
708 BASECHROOT='/tmp/basefile' # path where the chroot gets generated
709 SUITE='stretch' # using the current stable release should always work
710 debootstrap --exclude=info,tasksel,tasksel-data "$SUITE" "$BASECHROOT" http://ftp.debian.org/debian
711 tar -C "$BASECHROOT" --exclude='var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb' -zcf "${SUITE}".tar.gz ./
714 By default debootstrap builds a chroot matching the architecture of the running
715 host system. If you're using an amd64 system and want to build an i386 base.tgz
716 then invoke debootstrap using the '--arch i386' option. Disclaimer: building an
717 AMD64 base.tgz won't work if you are using a 32bit kernel system of course.
719 Finally place the generated tarball in /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/ (note
720 that it needs to be uppercase letters matching the class names, so: e.g.
721 AMD64.tar.gz for amd64 and I386.tar.gz for i386).
723 Then executing grml-live should use this file as base system instead of executing
724 debootstrap. Check out the output for something like:
727 ftar: extracting //etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles///AMD64.tar.gz to /srv/grml64_testing/grml_chroot//
731 How to use your own local repository
732 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
734 Let's assume you have Debian package(s) in your filesystem inside
735 `/home/foobar/local-packages` and want to provide them to your grml-live build.
736 This can be achieved either 1) through a bind mount (using the MIRROR_DIRECTORY
737 configuration) or 2) by serving a repository via HTTP.
739 Serving via bind mount / MIRROR_DIRECTORY
740 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
742 Make sure to create an according sources.list configuration file, e.g. using
743 your own class name `CUSTOM`:
745 # cat > /etc/grml/fai/config/files/etc/apt/sources.list.d/local-packages.list/CUSTOM << EOF
746 deb file:///home/foobar/local-packages ./
749 Add the according MIRROR_DIRECTORY configuration to your grml-live configuration:
751 # echo "MIRROR_DIRECTORY='/home/foobar/packages'" >> /etc/grml/grml-live.local
753 Make sure the local directory looks like a mirror:
755 % cd /home/foobar/packages
756 % dpkg-scanpackages . /dev/null | gzip > Packages.gz
758 Finally invoke grml-live with your class name (`CUSTOM` in this example) added
759 to the list of classes on the command line (see grml-live option `-c`).
761 Serving a repository via HTTP
762 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
764 Make sure to create an according sources.list configuration file, e.g. using
765 your own class name `CUSTOM`:
767 # cat > /etc/grml/fai/config/files/etc/apt/sources.list.d/local-packages.list/CUSTOM << EOF
768 deb http://127.0.0.1:8000/ ./
771 Make sure the local directory is served via HTTP on the according IP address and
772 port. For the `http://127.0.0.1:8000/` example from above it should be enough to
775 % cd /home/foobar/packages
776 % dpkg-scanpackages . /dev/null | gzip > Packages.gz
777 % python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8000
780 Of course you can also use a real Debian repository setup using tools like
781 reprepro(1) and/or using a real web server, though for quick debugging sessions
782 python's SimpleHTTPServer in combination with dpkg-scanpackages from package
783 dpkg-dev is a simple and easy approach.
785 Finally invoke grml-live with your class name (`CUSTOM` in this example) added
786 to the list of classes on the command line (see grml-live option `-c`).
789 Download / install grml-live as a Debian package
790 ------------------------------------------------
792 Stable Debian packages are available through the grml-repository at
793 link:http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/g/grml-live/[deb.grml.org] and the latest
794 Git commits are available as Debian packages from
795 link:http://jenkins.grml.org/job/grml-live-binaries/[jenkins.grml.org].
796 If you want to build a Debian package on your own (using for example a specific
797 version or the current development tree), just execute:
799 git clone git://git.grml.org/grml-live
804 Run grml-live directly from git
805 -------------------------------
807 In case you want to run grml-live directly from the git repository checkout
808 (after making sure all dependencies are installed), you should set
809 `GRML_FAI_CONFIG` so that a) it finds the according FAI configuration files and
810 b) does not use the config files of an possibly installed `grml-live` package.
813 # export GRML_FAI_CONFIG=$(pwd)/etc/grml/fai
814 # export SCRIPTS_DIRECTORY=$(pwd)/scripts
815 # ./grml-live -s sid -a amd64 -c GRMLBASE,GRML_FULL,AMD64
821 The source of grml-live is available at
822 link:https://github.com/grml/grml-live/[https://github.com/grml/grml-live/]
828 Please report feedback, link:http://grml.org/bugs/[bugreports] and wishes
829 link:http://grml.org/contact/[to the Grml team]!
835 The most recent grml-live documentation is available online at
836 http://grml.org/grml-live/ and for offline reading also available
837 in different formats:
839 * http://grml.org/grml-live/grml-live.epub
840 * http://grml.org/grml-live/grml-live.pdf
845 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>
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