6 grml-debootstrap - wrapper around debootstrap for installing plain Debian
10 grml-debootstrap [ _options_ ]
12 image:images/screenshot.png[Screenshot]
17 grml-debootstrap is a wrapper suite around debootstrap (and cdebootstrap if you
18 want) for installing a plain Debian system (e.g. via Grml) very fast and easy.
20 All you have to do is adjust a few variables in the configuration file
21 /etc/debootstrap/config or specify some command line options and invoke
22 grml-debootstrap. If invoked without any configuration modifications or command
23 line options a dialog based frontend will be available to control some basic
24 configuration options.
26 A plain and base Debian system will be installed on the given device, directory
27 or virtual image file then. Customization of this process is possible as well.
29 CAUTION: The Grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!
31 Options and environment variables
32 ---------------------------------
34 *--arch* _architecture_::
36 Set target architecture you want to install. Defaults to the architecture
37 you are currently running. If you're running an amd64 kernel and want to
38 deploy an i386 system use this option. Note: deploying amd64 from an i386
39 kernel does *not* work. Example: "_--arch i386_"
43 Enable Debian's Backports repository (http://backports.debian.org/) via the
44 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list configuration file. This provides the
45 option to install Debian packages from Debian's backports repository.
47 *--bootappend* _appendline-for-the-kernel_::
49 Specify appendline for the kernel.
52 *-c*, *--config* _file_::
54 Use specified configuration file, defaults to /etc/debootstrap/config.
56 *--chroot-scripts* _directory_::
58 Execute chroot scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation
59 of the chroot setup, the executable script(s) present in the given directory
60 are executed at the end of the chroot procedure.
61 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/chroot-scripts/
63 *-d*, *--confdir* _path_::
65 Place of configuration files for debootstrap, defaults to /etc/debootstrap.
69 Use specified file for preseeding Debian packages instead of using
70 the default <confdir>/debconf-selections.
74 Extra parameters passed to the debootstrap command.
78 Execute in very verbose way. Useful for debugging possible problems
79 with grml-debootstrap or identify what's actually executed.
81 *--filesystem* _filesystem_::
83 Filesystem that should be created when installing to a partition.
84 If unset defaults to ext4. Valid values are all filesystems that
85 can be created through mkfs._filesystem_.
89 Skip user acknowledgement and do not prompt for user input.
93 Enable Grml.org's Debian repository (http://deb.grml.org/) via the
94 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grml.list configuration file. This provides the
95 option to install Debian packages from Grml's repository.
99 Device where grub should be installed to. Note that only the MBR (master
100 boot record) can be used (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...). Partitions (like
101 /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb2,...) are NOT supported because grub2 doesn't support
102 installation into the PBR (partition boot record) anymore. Usage example:
103 '--grub /dev/sda'. Note: just do not set this option to avoid installation
108 Show summary of options and exit.
110 *--hostname* _hostname_::
112 Use specified hostname instead of the default (being 'grml').
114 *-i*, *--iso* _/mntpoint_::
116 Specify mount point where you have a Debian ISO mounted loopback.
117 Using this option instead of the mirror option gives you the possibility
118 to install the base-system without network access. Make sure you
119 mounted the according Debian-ISO to the given _/mntpoint_. See section
120 'Usage examples' for a demonstration.
124 Do not overwrite user provided /etc/apt/sources.list.
126 *-m*, *--mirror* _URL_::
128 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude.
129 Corresponding with configuration variable MIRROR.
133 Skip debootstrap, only do configuration to the target.
137 Do not copy /etc/network/interfaces from host system to the target.
138 This option is automatically enabled when using --vmfile.
142 Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.
146 Do not prompt for the root password. Note: Use the '--password' option if
147 you want to set the root password during an automatic installation but don't
148 want to use the interactive dialog.
150 *-p*, *--mntpoint* _/mntpoint_::
152 Specify mount point that should be used for mounting the target system.
153 Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.
154 Note: this option has no effect if option -t is given and represents a
157 *--packages* _file_::
159 Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of
160 the default package list file <confdir>/packages.
162 *--password* _password_::
164 Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
165 command line might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
166 It's meant for automatic installation only.
168 *-r*, *--release* _releasename_::
170 Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny,
171 squeeze, wheezy (note: requires current version of debootstrap) and sid.
172 Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.
174 *--pre-scripts* _directory_::
176 Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot
177 script. This allows customisation of the system before the chroot has
178 been set up. The environment variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the
179 scripts for direct access of the chroot.
180 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/
182 *--scripts* _directory_::
184 Execute scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of
185 the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment variable
186 $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
187 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/scripts/
189 *-t*, *--target* _target_::
190 Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
197 Set up a Virtual Machine instead of installing to a partition or directory.
198 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
199 combined with the --target option.
200 Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
203 Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it
204 defaults to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage
205 qemu-img(1) for details.
206 Usage example: --vmsize 3G
209 Show version of program and exit.
211 WARNING: the command line parsing of grml-debootstrap does not validate the provided
212 arguments for the command line options. Please be careful and check docs and
213 /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.
218 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda
220 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager
221 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition.
223 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid
225 Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6, install bootmanager Grub in MBR
226 (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda6 as system partition.
228 mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
229 grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot
231 Install default Debian release (wheezy) in directory /data/chroot (without
234 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
236 Install default debian release (wheezy) in a Virtual Machine file with
237 3GB disk size (including Grub as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):
239 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
240 grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
242 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
243 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
244 Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.
246 mount -o loop /mnt/sda6/debian-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
247 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/
249 Install Debian on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
250 for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
251 /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition. Please notice, that the chroot
252 system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the
258 /etc/debootstrap/config
260 Main configuration file. You have to adjust it according to your needs
261 if you want to execute grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without
262 any special command line arguments.
264 /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script
266 The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system
267 has been installed via [c]debootstrap.
269 /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen
271 Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.
273 /etc/debootstrap/packages
275 Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new
276 Debian system by default.
278 /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages/
280 Debian Packages dropped in this directory will be installed into the new Debian
281 system by default (Control variable: EXTRAPACKAGES)
283 /etc/debootstrap/stages/
285 The default directory for storing information about executed stages. Every
286 single function of grml-debootstrap will write 'done' to the stages directory
287 into a file named as the function itself if it has been executed successfully.
288 You can adjust the location of the directory via configuration variable STAGES
289 via /etc/debootstrap/config. Please notice that you have to remove the stages
290 directory on your own if you want to re-execute grml-debootstrap after running it
291 successfully once. This should avoid recurrent execution by error of
292 grml-debootstrap (which might delete present data).
297 You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
298 /etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
299 variables via command line. The packages which should be installed in the new
300 Debian system can be defined via the file /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you
301 want to put existing files to the new Debian system you can place them into the
302 (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and var in
303 /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian
304 system then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available
305 via the Grml or Debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and
306 make sure that EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".
308 Automatic installation
309 ----------------------
311 If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a
312 full automatic mode. While this mode isn't really useful for interactive
313 execution (just configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant
314 variables on the command line instead) it is meant for use via boot option
315 debian2hd on the Grml live system. The boot option debian2hd (more precise: the
316 kernelname at the bootprompt) supports the following boot options (they
317 correspond with the command line options mentioned above):
321 The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
326 Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda
330 Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian wheezy. Supported
331 relases: lenny, squeeze, wheezy and sid. Usage example: release=sid
335 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
336 of the default one (http://http.debian.net/debian).
337 Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
341 Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given
342 argument. Usage example: password=AiTh5ahn
344 Usage example for automatic installation:
345 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
347 debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
349 You have to enter this command line at the bootprompt of the Grml live system.
350 Please make sure that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to
351 install your new Debian system.
354 Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via
355 setting environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
356 /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant
357 boot options for grml-debootstrap.
362 include::releasetable.txt[]
366 ================================================================================
367 [1] Please notice that lenny is the current old-stable release within Debian.
368 grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not use lenny
369 anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose Debian 6.0 (squeeze)
370 or Debian 7.0 (wheezy) instead.
372 Notice that you need to specify a mirror providing the lenny release, the
373 default (http://http.debian.net/debian) doesn't provide it any longer nowadays.
374 Set the mirror to e.g. http://archive.debian.org/debian/ if you don't have
375 your own lenny mirror.
377 When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata
378 format version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has
379 the advantage of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.
380 ================================================================================
384 ================================================================================
385 [2] Please notice that sid is Debian/unstable and due to its nature might not be
386 always installable. What _might_ work instead is deploying a stable or testing
387 release and upgrade it after installation finished.
388 ================================================================================
393 Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
398 debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).
402 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>