6 grml-debootstrap - wrapper around debootstrap for installing plain Debian via grml
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 via grml very fast and easy.
20 All you have to do is adjust a few variables in configuration file
21 /etc/debootstrap/config (or specify some variables via commandline) and invoke
22 grml-debootstrap without any further options then.
24 A plain and base Debian system will be installed on the given device (or
25 directory) then. Customization of this process is possible as well.
27 CAUTION: The grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!
29 Options and environment variables
30 ---------------------------------
32 *--arch* <_architecture_>::
34 Architecture you want to bootstrap. Currently only i386 is supported.
35 Defaults to the architecture that is currently running on your system. If
36 you're running an amd64 system and want to deploy a i386 system use this option.
37 Note: deploying amd64 from a i386 system won't work.
39 *--bootappend* <_appendline for the kernel_>::
41 Specify appendline for the kernel.
44 *-c*, *--config* <_file_>::
46 Use specified configuration file, defaults to /etc/debootstrap/config.
48 *--chroot-scripts* <_directory_>::
50 Execute chroot scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation
51 of the chroot setup, the executable script(s) present in the given directory
52 are executed at the end of the chroot procedure.
53 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/chroot-scripts/
55 *-d*, *--confdir* <_path_>::
57 Place of configuration files for debootstrap, defaults to /etc/debootstrap.
59 *--debconf* <_file_>::
61 Use specified file for preseeding Debian packages instead of using
62 the default <confdir>/debconf-selections.
64 *--debopt* <_params_>::
66 Extra parameters passed to the debootstrap command.
68 *--filesystem* <_filesystem_>::
70 Filesystem that should be created when installing to a partition.
71 If unset defaults to ext3. Valid values are all filesystems that
72 can be created through mkfs.<filesystem>.
76 Skip user acknowledgement and do not prompt for user input.
80 Device where grub should be installed to. Note that only the MBR (master
81 boot record) can be used (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...). Partitions (like
82 /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb2,...) are NOT supported because grub2 doesn't support
83 installation into the PBR (partition boot record) anymore. Usage example:
84 '--grub /dev/sda'. Note: just do not set this option to avoid installation
89 Show summary of options and exit.
91 *--hostname* <_hostname_>::
93 Use specified hostname instead of the default (being 'grml').
95 *-i*, *--iso* <_/mntpoint_>::
97 Specify mountpoint where you have a Debian ISO mounted loopback.
98 Using this option instead of the mirror option gives you the possibility
99 to install the base-system without network access. Make sure you
100 mounted the according Debian-ISO to the given <_/mntpoint_>. See section
101 'Usage examples' for a demonstration.
105 Do not overwrite user provided /etc/apt/sources.list.
107 *-m*, *--mirror* <_URL_>::
109 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude.
110 Corresponding with configuration variable MIRROR.
114 Skip debootstrap, only do configuration to the target.
118 Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.
122 Do not download and check signatures for retrieved Release files.
124 *-p*, *--mntpoint* <_/mntpoint_>::
126 Specify mountpoint that should be used for mounting the target system.
127 Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.
128 Note: this option has no effect if option -t is given and represents a
131 *--packages* <_file_>::
133 Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of
134 the default package list file <confdir>/packages.
136 *--password* <_password_>::
138 Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
139 commandline might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
140 It's meant for automatic installation only.
142 *-r*, *--release* <_releasename_>::
144 Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny,
145 squeeze, wheezy (note: requires current version of debootstrap) and sid.
146 Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.
148 *--pre-scripts* <_directory_>::
150 Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot
151 script. This allows customisation of the system before the chroot has
152 been set up. The environment variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the
153 scripts for direct access of the chroot.
154 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/
156 *--scripts* <_directory_>::
158 Execute scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of
159 the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment variable
160 $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
161 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/scripts/
163 *-t*, *--target* <_target_>::
164 Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
165 beginning). To install grub using *--grub* make sure to use a _device_
166 instead of a directory as _target_ (installation of grub as bootloader when
167 using directories is NOT supported).
173 Set up a Virtual Machine instead of installing to a partition or directory.
174 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
175 combined with the --target option.
176 Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
178 *--vmsize* <_size_>::
179 Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it
180 defaults to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage
181 qemu-img(1) for details.
182 Usage example: --vmsize 3G
185 Show version of program and exit.
187 WARNING: the commandline parsing of grml-debootstrap does not validate the provided
188 arguments for the commandline options. Please be careful and check docs and
189 /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.
194 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda
196 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager
197 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition.
199 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid
201 Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6, install bootmanager Grub in MBR
202 (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda6 as system partition.
204 mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
205 grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot
207 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) in directory /data/chroot (without
210 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
212 Install default debian release (stable/squeeze) in a Virtual Machine file with
213 3GB disk size (including Grub as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):
215 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
216 grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
218 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
219 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
220 Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.
222 mount -o loop /mnt/sda6/debian-40r0-i386-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
223 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/
225 Install Debian stable/squeeze on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
226 for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
227 /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition. Please notice, that the chroot
228 system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the
234 /etc/debootstrap/config
236 Main configuration file. You have to adjust it according to your needs
237 if you want to execute grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without
238 any special command line arguments.
240 /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script
242 The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system
243 has been installed via [c]debootstrap.
245 /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen
247 Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.
249 /etc/debootstrap/packages
251 Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new
252 Debian system by default.
254 /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages
256 Debian Packages dropped here will be installed into the new Debian system by
257 default (Controlvariable: EXTRAPACKAGES)
259 /etc/debootstrap/stages/
261 The default directory for storing information about executed stages. Every
262 single function of grml-debootstrap will write 'done' to the stages directory
263 into a file named as the function itself if it has been executed successfully.
264 You can adjust the location of the directory via configuration variable STAGES
265 via /etc/debootstrap/config. Please notice that you have to remove the stages
266 directory on your own if you want to re-execute grml-debootstrap after running it
267 successfully once. This should avoid recurrent execution by error of
268 grml-debootstrap (which might delete present data).
273 You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
274 /etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
275 variables via commandline. The packages which should be installed in the new
276 Debian system can be defined via the file /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you
277 want to put existing files to the new Debian system you can place them into the
278 (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and var in
279 /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian
280 system then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available
281 via the grml or debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and
282 make sure that EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".
284 Automatic installation
285 ----------------------
287 If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a
288 full automatic mode. While this mode isn't really useful for interactive
289 execution (just configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant
290 variables on the commandline instead) it is meant for use via bootoption
291 debian2hd. The bootoption debian2hd (more precise: the kernelname on bootprompt)
292 supports the following bootoptions (they correspond with the commandline options
297 The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
302 Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda
306 Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian squeeze. Supported
307 relases: lenny, squeeze, wheezy and sid. Usage example: release=sid
311 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
312 of the default one (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian).
313 Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
317 Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given
318 argument. Usage example: password=AiTh5ahn
320 Usage example for automatic installation:
321 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
323 debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
325 You have to enter this commandline at the bootprompt of grml. Please make sure
326 that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to install your new Debian
330 Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via
331 setting environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
332 /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant
333 bootoptions for grml-debootstrap.
338 include::releasetable.txt[]
342 ================================================================================
343 [1] Please notice that Etch is the current old-stable within Debian.
344 grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not use Etch
345 anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose Lenny or
347 ================================================================================
351 ================================================================================
352 When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata
353 format version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has
354 the advantage of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.
355 ================================================================================
360 Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
365 debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).
369 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>