Name
----
-grml2usb - install grml ISO(s) on usb device for booting
+grml2usb - install Grml ISO(s) on usb device for booting
Synopsis
--------
grml2usb [ options ] <ISO[s]> <device>
*******************************************************************************
-Important! The grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!
+Important! The Grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!
*******************************************************************************
[[introduction]]
Introduction
------------
-grml2usb installs grml on a given partition of your usb device and makes it
-bootable. It provides multi-iso support, meaning you can specify several grml
-ISOs on the command line at once and select the grml flavour you would like to
-boot on the bootprompt then. Note that the *first* ISO specified on the grml2usb
-command line will become the default one (that's the one that will boot when
-just pressing enter on the bootprompt or wait until the boot timeout matches).
+grml2usb installs Grml on a given partition of your usb device and makes
+it bootable. It provides multiboot ISO support, meaning you can specify
+several Grml ISOs on the command line at once and select the Grml
+flavour you would like to boot on the bootprompt then. Note that the
+*first* ISO specified on the grml2usb command line will become the
+default one (that's the one that will boot when just pressing enter on
+the bootprompt or wait until the boot timeout matches).
[IMPORTANT]
By default a compatible master boot record (MBR) is installed on the device
Options
-------
-The ISO[s] should be the path to one or multiple grml-ISOs and/or the path to
-the currently running live-system (being /live/image).
+ISO[s] should be the path to one or multiple grml-ISOs and/or the path to
+the currently running live-system (being /lib/live/mount/medium).
The device either might be a device name like /dev/sdX1 or a directory. When
specifying a device name the device is mounted automatically. When specifying a
Avoid executing commands, instead show what would be executed.
Warning: please notice that the ISO has to be mounted anyway, otherwise
-identifying the grml flavour would not be possible.
+identifying the Grml flavour would not be possible.
*\--fat16*::
Remove specified bootoption (could be a regex) from existing boot options. Use
multiple entries for removing different bootoptions at once.
+ *\--skip-bootflag*::
+
+Do not check for presence of bootflag on target device.
+
*\--skip-grub-config*::
Skip generation of grub configuration files. By default the configuration
files for syslinux *and* grub will be written so you've a working configuration
file no matter whether you're using grub or syslinux as bootloader.
+ *\--skip-usb-check*::
+
+Skip check to verify whether given device is a removable device.
+Some USB devices are known to report wrong information, when using
+such a device you can skip grml2usb's removable device check.
+
*\--syslinux*::
This option is deprecated and is being left only for backwards compatibility
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
*\--uninstall*::
-Uninstall grml ISO files.
+Uninstall Grml ISO files.
[Notice: not implemented yet.]
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
grml/
|-- grml2usb.txt [not yet implemented]
- |-- grml-cheatcodes.txt [list of bootoptions for grml]
+ |-- grml-cheatcodes.txt [list of bootoptions for Grml]
|-- grml-version.txt [file containing information about grml-version]
|-- LICENSE.txt [license information]
|-- md5sums [md5sums of original ISO]
Finally create a filesystem and execute grml2usb as needed:
# mkfs.vfat /dev/loop1
- # grml2usb --bootloader-only /grml/isos/grml-small_2009.10.iso /dev/loop1
+ # grml2usb --bootloader-only /grml/isos/grml-small_2013.01.iso /dev/loop1
[[performance-tracing]]
Performance tracing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# blktrace -d /dev/sdX -o - | blkparse -i -
- # grml2usb grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
[[troubleshooting]]
Troubleshooting and Pitfalls when booting
files provided either via the Debian package, the git tree or the file
grml2usb.tgz.
-[[grml2hd-vs-grml2usb]]
-What's the difference between grml2hd and grml2usb?
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-grml2hd installs a running grml system to a harddisk. When rebooting the
-harddisk installation can be modified and changes will find their way to the
-harddisk immediately. grml2usb copies just the compressed chroot filesystem
-(being the squashfs file), some further informational files and a bootloader to
-your device. This way you don't need as much space as with a harddisk
-installation (just a USB device with >=ISO size) and when rebooting the system
-your changes will be lost (unless you are using the persistency feature, see
-link:http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency[http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency]).
-Think of using a better CD version: booting is (usually) faster, you don't need
-to burn a new CD when a new ISO version arrives (just install the new ISO using
-grml2usb) and you can carry additional files on a writable medium with yourself.
-
[[dd]]
Why can't I just dd the ISO to a USB device?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Well, you can. :) Starting with grml 2009.10 the ISOs are dd-able straight out-of-the-box.
+Well, you can. :) Starting with Grml 2009.10 the ISOs are dd-able straight out-of-the-box.
[IMPORTANT]
Note that ANY existing data on your USB device will be destroyed when
using the dd approach.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-Grab a recent grml ISO and use
+Grab a recent Grml ISO and use
link:http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/Doc/isolinux#HYBRID_CD-ROM.2FHARD_DISK_MODE[isohybrid
from the syslinux project]:
link:http://www.chrysocome.net/rawwrite[rawwrite] if you've just a Windows
system available) running:
- % dd if=grml_2009.10.iso of=/dev/sdX
+ % dd if=grml_2013.01.iso of=/dev/sdX
where /dev/sdX is your USB device. Of course this doesn't provide such a
flexible system like with grml2usb (no multi-ISO setup, no additional default
Usage examples
--------------
- # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1.
- # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2009.10.iso /home/grml/grml_small_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /home/grml/grml_small_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISOs on device /dev/sdX1 for multibooting ISOs.
- # grml2usb /live/image /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb /lib/live/mount/medium /dev/sdX1
-Install currently running grml live system on device /dev/sdX1.
+Install currently running Grml live system on device /dev/sdX1.
- # grml2usb /live/image /home/grml/grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb /lib/live/mount/medium /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
-Install currently running grml live system and the specified
+Install currently running Grml live system and the specified
ISO on device /dev/sdX1 for multibooting.
- # grml2usb --fat16 /home/grml/grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --fat16 /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 and format partition /dev/sdX1 with
FAT16 filesystem.
- # grml2usb --grub --grub-mbr /home/grml/grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --grub --grub-mbr /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 and use grub as bootloader (instead of
syslinux being the default) and install a master boot record (MBR) to the MBR of
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
# grml2usb --kernel=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-grml --initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-grml \
- /home/grml/grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 but use given kernel and initrd
instead of the ones provided by the ISO.
# grml2usb --squashfs=/grml/grml-live/grml_cd/live/grml.squashfs \
- /home/grml/grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 but use given squashfs
file instead of the one provided by the ISO.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de ssh=mysecret" grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
- # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de" --bootoptions="ssh=mysecret" grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de ssh=mysecret" grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de" --bootoptions="ssh=mysecret" grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 and use "lang=de ssh=mysecret" as
default bootoptions.
- # grml2usb --remove-bootoption="vga=791" --remove-bootoption="quiet" grml_2009.10.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --remove-bootoption="vga=791" --remove-bootoption="nomce" grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
-Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 remove vga=791 and quiet from existing bootoptions.
+Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 remove vga=791 and nomce from existing bootoptions.
# grml2usb --bootoptions="persistent-path=%flavour_name" grml64_2010.04.iso grml_2010.04.iso /dev/sdX1
-Install specified Isos on device /dev/sdx and add parameter persisten-path
+Install specified ISOs on device /dev/sdx and add parameter persistent-path
to every menu entry. %flavour_name will be expanded to the flavour of the specific
iso, e.g. grml64 and grml.