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 configuration file
21 /etc/debootstrap/config (or specify some variables via command line) 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 Set target architecture you want to install. Defaults to the architecture
35 you are currently running. If you're running an amd64 kernel and want to
36 deploy an i386 system use this option. Note: deploying amd64 from an i386
37 kernel does *not* work. Example: "_--arch i386_"
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.
61 Use specified file for preseeding Debian packages instead of using
62 the default <confdir>/debconf-selections.
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 Enable Grml.org's Debian repository (http://deb.grml.org/) via the
81 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grml.list configuration file. This provides the
82 option to install Debian packages from Grml's repository.
86 Device where grub should be installed to. Note that only the MBR (master
87 boot record) can be used (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...). Partitions (like
88 /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb2,...) are NOT supported because grub2 doesn't support
89 installation into the PBR (partition boot record) anymore. Usage example:
90 '--grub /dev/sda'. Note: just do not set this option to avoid installation
95 Show summary of options and exit.
97 *--hostname* _hostname_::
99 Use specified hostname instead of the default (being 'grml').
101 *-i*, *--iso* _/mntpoint_::
103 Specify mount point where you have a Debian ISO mounted loopback.
104 Using this option instead of the mirror option gives you the possibility
105 to install the base-system without network access. Make sure you
106 mounted the according Debian-ISO to the given _/mntpoint_. See section
107 'Usage examples' for a demonstration.
111 Do not overwrite user provided /etc/apt/sources.list.
113 *-m*, *--mirror* _URL_::
115 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude.
116 Corresponding with configuration variable MIRROR.
120 Skip debootstrap, only do configuration to the target.
124 Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.
128 Do not prompt for the root password. Note: Use the '--password' option if
129 you want to set the root password during an automatic installation but don't
130 want to use the interactive dialog.
132 *-p*, *--mntpoint* _/mntpoint_::
134 Specify mount point that should be used for mounting the target system.
135 Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.
136 Note: this option has no effect if option -t is given and represents a
139 *--packages* _file_::
141 Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of
142 the default package list file <confdir>/packages.
144 *--password* _password_::
146 Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
147 command line might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
148 It's meant for automatic installation only.
150 *-r*, *--release* _releasename_::
152 Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny,
153 squeeze, wheezy (note: requires current version of debootstrap) and sid.
154 Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.
156 *--pre-scripts* _directory_::
158 Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot
159 script. This allows customisation of the system before the chroot has
160 been set up. The environment variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the
161 scripts for direct access of the chroot.
162 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/
164 *--scripts* _directory_::
166 Execute scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of
167 the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment variable
168 $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
169 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/scripts/
171 *-t*, *--target* _target_::
172 Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
173 beginning). To install grub using *--grub* make sure to use a _device_
174 instead of a directory as _target_ (installation of grub as bootloader when
175 using directories is NOT supported).
181 Set up a Virtual Machine instead of installing to a partition or directory.
182 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
183 combined with the --target option.
184 Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
187 Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it
188 defaults to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage
189 qemu-img(1) for details.
190 Usage example: --vmsize 3G
193 Show version of program and exit.
195 WARNING: the command line parsing of grml-debootstrap does not validate the provided
196 arguments for the command line options. Please be careful and check docs and
197 /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.
202 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda
204 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager
205 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition.
207 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid
209 Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6, install bootmanager Grub in MBR
210 (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda6 as system partition.
212 mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
213 grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot
215 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) in directory /data/chroot (without
218 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
220 Install default debian release (stable/squeeze) in a Virtual Machine file with
221 3GB disk size (including Grub as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):
223 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
224 grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
226 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
227 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
228 Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.
230 mount -o loop /mnt/sda6/debian-40r0-i386-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
231 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/
233 Install Debian stable/squeeze on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
234 for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
235 /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition. Please notice, that the chroot
236 system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the
242 /etc/debootstrap/config
244 Main configuration file. You have to adjust it according to your needs
245 if you want to execute grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without
246 any special command line arguments.
248 /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script
250 The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system
251 has been installed via [c]debootstrap.
253 /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen
255 Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.
257 /etc/debootstrap/packages
259 Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new
260 Debian system by default.
262 /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages/
264 Debian Packages dropped in this directory will be installed into the new Debian
265 system by default (Control variable: EXTRAPACKAGES)
267 /etc/debootstrap/stages/
269 The default directory for storing information about executed stages. Every
270 single function of grml-debootstrap will write 'done' to the stages directory
271 into a file named as the function itself if it has been executed successfully.
272 You can adjust the location of the directory via configuration variable STAGES
273 via /etc/debootstrap/config. Please notice that you have to remove the stages
274 directory on your own if you want to re-execute grml-debootstrap after running it
275 successfully once. This should avoid recurrent execution by error of
276 grml-debootstrap (which might delete present data).
281 You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
282 /etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
283 variables via command line. The packages which should be installed in the new
284 Debian system can be defined via the file /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you
285 want to put existing files to the new Debian system you can place them into the
286 (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and var in
287 /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian
288 system then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available
289 via the Grml or Debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and
290 make sure that EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".
292 Automatic installation
293 ----------------------
295 If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a
296 full automatic mode. While this mode isn't really useful for interactive
297 execution (just configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant
298 variables on the command line instead) it is meant for use via boot option
299 debian2hd. The boot option debian2hd (more precise: the kernelname on bootprompt)
300 supports the following boot options (they correspond with the command line options
305 The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
310 Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda
314 Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian squeeze. Supported
315 relases: lenny, squeeze, wheezy and sid. Usage example: release=sid
319 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
320 of the default one (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian).
321 Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
325 Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given
326 argument. Usage example: password=AiTh5ahn
328 Usage example for automatic installation:
329 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
331 debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
333 You have to enter this command line at the bootprompt of the Grml live system.
334 Please make sure that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to
335 install your new Debian system.
338 Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via
339 setting environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
340 /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant
341 boot options for grml-debootstrap.
346 include::releasetable.txt[]
350 ================================================================================
351 [1] Please notice that lenny is the current old-stable release within Debian.
352 grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not use lenny
353 anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose stable (squeeze)
356 Notice that you need to specify a mirror providing the lenny release, the
357 default (http://cdn.debian.net/debian) doesn't provide it any longer nowadays.
358 Set the mirror to e.g. http://archive.debian.org/debian/ if you don't have
359 your own lenny mirror.
361 When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata
362 format version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has
363 the advantage of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.
364 ================================================================================
368 ================================================================================
369 [2] Please notice that sid is Debian/unstable and due to its nature might not be
370 always installable. What _might_ work instead is deploying stable (squeeze) or
371 testing (wheezy) and upgrade it after installation finished.
372 ================================================================================
377 Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
382 debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).
386 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>