grml is a bootable CD (Live-CD) based on Knoppix and Debian. grml includes a collection of - GNU/Linux software especially for users of texttools and system - administrators. grml provides automatic hardware detection. You can use grml - as a rescue system, for analyzing systems/networks or as a working - environment. It is not necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Due to - on-the-fly decompression grml includes about 2.1 GiB of software and - documentation on the CD.

- -

Where do I get grml?

- -

You can download grml of course: take a look at grml.org/download/. If you want - to get an original grml-CD including the grml-cover, need a - special amount of CDs or want your own special grml-CD (including - your logo, your software and/or special settings) please don't hesitate to contact - us! Take a look at grml-solutions for more - information regarding our offers.

- -

What does grml mean?

- -

grml is short for 'grummel' and comes close to 'argl' or 'grrr' in english. People - use this when they want to express their dissatisfaction/discontentedness with software - (amongst other things):

- -

-$ grep -ch grml .centericq/**/history | xargs echo | \
-  sed 's/[0-9]*/& + /g' | sed 's/+ $//g' | bc -l
-3746

- -

How to pronounce grml?

- -

-$ echo 'ghroummel' | festival --tts
-$ flite -o play -t gremel

- -

What about the release name?

- -

Codename of grml 0.6 is Winterschlapfn. This is austrian slang for the - german word Winterreifen which stands for 'snow tyre'.

- -

Codename of grml-small 0.2 is Corry. Corry is the nickname of Michael Gebetsroither's girlfriend.

- -

Requirements for running grml

- -

Intel-compatible CPU (i586 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher)
at least 64MB of RAM (for stable use with ramdisks for unionfs and udev and running X window system - we recommend at least 128MB)
grml-small: at least 32MB RAM should be available
bootable CD-ROM drive (or a boot floppy and standard CD-ROM [IDE/ATAPI - or SCSI]) [or network - see grml-terminalserver]

- -

Why another Linux distribution?

- -

There already exist "some" distributions. We decided - to base our work on the existing infrastructure of Debian and Knoppix because we don't want to reinvent - the wheel. Some admins already use their own rescue-CD and Knoppix works but - does not bring that many important tools for admins and users of texttools - out of the box so we decided to share our work with others.

- -

What's the license of grml?

- -

Anything written by the grml team is published under the GPL (GNU General Public License). - You don't have to pay anything for running grml. Donations and feedback are - welcome of course. If you want to get a special LiveCD or need support take a - look at grml-solutions.

- -

What's the difference between grml and - $OTHER-DISTRIBUTION? What are your main goals?

- -

The main goal of grml is to be a distribution well suited for - users of texttools and sysadmins. grml includes many important - texttools (of course awk, sed, grep,... but also zsh, mutt[ng], - slrn, vim and many other stuff) and useful programs for admin's - daily work too. grml uses the existing infrastructure of Debian. grml was once based on Knoppix (see 'What's the difference between grml and - Knoppix?' for more details). We are merging - useful things also from other distributions/live-cds to provide a - perfect environment.

- -

What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?

- -

grml comes with a vastly different set of software. Missing KDE - and OpenOffice provides the opportunity of shipping more than 800 - packages which Knoppix does not provide on it's CD version. grml - boots a 2.6.x kernel but no X for faster startup. Knoppix is based - on Debian/testing-experimental (using apt-pinning), but grml is - basically based on plain Debian/unstable providing more current - versions of software and less painfull upgrades. grml was once - based on Knoppix but has nowadays (except of a similar initial - ramdisk) nothing in common with Knoppix anymore:

- -

-# locate knoppix
-# find / -iname \*knoppix\*
-#

- -

We consider Knoppix as a brand name for live-cds nowadays and - provide most of Knoppix features as well. grml uses (mostly) the - same cheatcodes for booting as Knoppix and provides even some extra - ones. So if you are used to the basic Knoppix features you might - find them on the grml-system as well. Ripping out the Knoppix - stuff provides the possibility to create a grml system out of a - Debian system and vice versa. Running 'apt-get install grml' on a - Debian box will be officially supported in an upcoming version of - grml.

- -

What does accessibility at grml mean?

- -

The grml kernel includes support for - speakup and provides software like brltty (using bootoption 'grml blind - brltty=type,port,tbl'), emacspeak and flite.

- -

Is it possible to run grml with $EMULATOR?

- -

VMWare should work without any - problems. It's also possible to run grml with QEMU, an emulator for various - CPUs which works on Linux, Windows, FreeBSD and Mac OS X. Running grml with - QEMU has been tested successful on Windows and Linux, take a look at the QEMU-grml-webpage.

- -

Is it possible to store my settings?

- -

Yes. grml provides a powerfull config framework. See grml.org/config/, /usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html - and 'man save-config restore-config mkpersistenthome' for more - details.

- -

grml-small?

- -

What is grml-small?

- -

Whereas grml provides about 2.1GiB of software on a 700MB-ISO, grml-small - is a flavor with online ~55MB ISO-size (~200MB uncompressed). It does not - provide a lot of software but the essential stuff for being a rescue system - on a business card CD-ROM or a small usb device. You can use the debian - package management system to install software on the fly (assuming you have - network access to a debian mirror). Take a look at the 'Debian-Information'-section if you are - searching for the package list.

- -

What is the - difference between 'normal' grml and grml-small?

- -

The 700MB-grml brings more than 2370 packages of software and a full-featured kernel. grml-small includes - about 215 software-packages, lacks documentation and manpages on the ISO and - has a stripped-down kernel (but still - provides hardware recognition of course). grml-terminalserver is not - available/supported on grml-small.

- -

How do I boot grml from an USB stick?

- -

Take a look at the script grml2usb. For more details take a - look at the usb-webpage in the - grml-wiki.

- -

System

- -

Which tools exist to configure grml?

- -

grml provides several scripts and tools which should make life easier. See 'dpkg -L grml-scripts' to get an - overview about some main scripts. Run 'grml-config' to get a dialog interface for the most important scripts - and tasks.

- -

What are the passwords of users on grml?

- -

There are no default passwords. All accounts are locked by - default. Even local logins are not possible (unless you set a - password or create new user accounts as root). You can create - valid passwords using "sudo passwd [username]" from the shell, - individually.

- -

How to find out the version of grml

- -

Run 'grml-version' or use the following command:

- -

-$ cat /etc/grml_version

- -

Is it possible to run LiveCD and eject CD-ROM?

- -

-$ sudo umount -l /cdrom
-$ sudo eject /dev/cdrom # now don't run any new programs ;)
-$ mount /dev/cdrom      # mount it again if needed ;)
-

- -

How do I change the language/keyboard settings?

- -

By default grml uses english settings. But it is possible to - change the settings via using either the bootparam(s) lang, - keyboard and xkeyboard or via running grml-lang when grml is - running already. Usage examples:

- -

-grml lang=de      # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
-                  # german keyboard layout and german $LANG, $LC_ALL,
-                  # $LANGUAGE...
-grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
-                  # and you will get german keyboard and austrian
-                  # language variables
-$ grml-lang de    # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
-                  # and $LANG settings in a running grml-system
-

- -

If you are running grml from harddisk (using grml2hd) you have several options how to set - language options:

- -

adjust /etc/sysconfig/i18n to configure global language - settings
set $LC_ALL, $LANG $LANGUAGE in your ~/.xinitrc (before the - 'exec $WINDOWMANAGER line' of course) to configure - language behaviour of programs
adjust /etc/sysconfig/keyboard to configure keyboard layout - on console or run 'loadkeys $KEYTABLE' manually
add 'setxkbmap $LANGUAGE' to the 'keybindings' section in - your ~/.xinitrc to configure keyboard setup in X window system - (deactivate the xmodmap lines if necessary)

- -

KDE, Gnome, $FOO and $BAR

- -

Why isn't KDE, Gnome, $FOO or $BAR part of grml? grml is a distribution - for users of texttools and sysadmins. If you would like to run KDE with - Debian use e.g. Knoppix, Munjoy-Linux, Kanotix or Kubuntu. Gnome users might find Ubuntu useful. If you would like to - see a special (software) package inside grml please report it to us!

- -

Which window managers can I use?

- -

grml is shipped only with window managers which are lightweight and - fast - so well suited for a live-cd. At the moment grml provides the window managers: - evilwm, - fluxbox, - ion3, - jwm, - pekwm, - ratpoison, - twm, - w9wm, - windowlab, - wmi and wmii.

- -

If you are new to grml and/or prefer an easy-to-use-desktop run 'grml-x - wm-ng' for starting fluxbox with idesk and gkrellm.

- - -

Which ways exist to boot grml?

- -

The most common way to boot grml is of course via running from - CD-ROM. But grml provides many more ways to boot grml:

- -

It is possible to boot grml via USB (e.g. usb stick or harddisk), - firewire or running from a compact flash disk. It works out of the - box, you don't need to modify anything. If accessing the device - fails use the 'scandelay' cheatcode on bootprompt. So boot with - 'grml scandelay'. If the timeout is still not long enough add the - time to wait in seconds as parameter: 'grml scandelay=15'. See usb-webpage in the - grml-wiki for more details.

- -

Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a floppy - disk? Take a look at btmgr, ubcd4win or sbm. They provide - support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy disk.

- -

grml-terminalserver provides the possibility to boot your system - via network. If you have a floppy drive you can even boot your - system over network when your network card does not provide - PXE-support! For more information refer to the grml-terminalserver-webpage.

- -

Bugreport

- -

Report bugs via the tool reportbug which is part of the package - grml-reportbug and provided with the grml system. If you don't know - how to handle reportbug either take a look at the bugs-webpage in - the grml-wiki or you can send us your bug report via the bugs-webpage.

- -

Is it possible to install grml to harddisk?

- -

Yes. grml provides a tool called grml2hd (see 'man grml2hd'). grml - is developed on a box running the grml-system itself and we - the - grml-developers - especially like grml2hd because it gives us a - working Linux box within 10 to 30 minutes! grml2hd is perfect for - prototyping: test hardware support of Linux, test a specific - setup,... You can use grml2hd even in a full automatic mode without - any further interaction. More information is available on grml.org/grml2hd/ and man grml2hd.

- -

I have problems with my hardware!

- -

Take a look at the script grml-hwinfo. This scripts generates a - file namend info.tar.bz2 which contains important information about - your hardware. If you think we might help you please run - grml-hwinfo and send us the file with additional, relevant - information regarding your problem.

- -

grml does not boot on my computer!

- -

Please take a look at the available - bootparamters and cheatcodes and 'Which ways - exist to boot grml?'. Especially booting with 'acpi=off noapm - noapic' might help. Bootparameter 'failsafe' provides a minimal - hardware recognition. You still have problems? Please contact us!

- -

Kernel

- -

Where can I find the configuration for the kernel used on - grml?

- -

See /boot/config-`uname -r` and on the kernel-webpage.

- -

Are there any special components/patches in the kernel - used on grml?

- -

grml uses the currentmost stable vanilla Linux kernel from www.kernel.org with some - additional patches. More information and an all-in-one patch is - available on the kernel-page.

- -

Which platforms is the grml kernel optimized - for?

- -

Plain i586 compatibility-mode with SMP deactivated to avoid problems with - specific systems and drivers. (Notice: grml-small provides a kernel with SMP - support.)

- -

Software

- -

General

- -

Want to run a program as root? Just use 'sudo $PROGRAM'. To get a - root-shell run 'sudo su'.

- -

Problems with a specific package? Please try 'dpkg-reconfigure $foo'. - Still encountering difficulties? Please send us a bugreport!

- -

What version of $PACKAGE is - available?

Take a look at the dpkg_...-files in the Debian-Information section on - grml.org/files/.

- -

Init-System

- -

Why is grml using runlevel 2 as default? Because runlevel 2 is 'the - textonly one' and it's debian's default.

- -

Where are all the /etc/rc#.d-directories? grml doesn't use - sysv-rc but file-rc. This means you can configure the init system - in one single file namend /etc/runlevel.conf with your favourite - editor. No symlink-hell anymore.

- -

Why is zsh the default shell (/bin/sh)?

- -

Short answer: because zsh rocks.

- -

Longer answer taken from ZSH - FAQ: 1.2: What is it?:

- - Zsh is a UNIX command interpreter (shell) which of the standard shells most - resembles the Korn shell (ksh); its compatibility with the 1988 Korn shell has been - gradually increasing. It includes enhancements of many types, notably in the - command-line editor, options for customising its behaviour, filename globbing, features - to make C-shell (csh) users feel more at home and extra features drawn from tcsh - (another `custom' shell). - -

If you don't know zsh take a look at ZSH FAQ: How does zsh - differ from...?, 'man zsh | less -p COMPATIBILITY' and 'man zsh-lovers'.

- -

If you are a bash-user and don't know the zsh yet don't be afraid. bash is largely a - subset of zsh and you don't have to throw away your knowledge about shell-stuff.

- -

Is a bash available?

- -

grml uses the zsh as the default shell but of - course a current version of the bash (as many other shells as well) - is provided by grml anyway.

- -

setuid/SUID

- -

If you set a programm SUID (setuid/mode 4755) unprivileged users on your system will - be able to run it. This could be a potentially security hole so by default the - packages are configured not to install binaries with setuid. If you want to use the - binaries with setuid please run 'dpkg-reconfigure $packagename' or 'chmod 4755 - =programm'. The following packages are well known to have a programm with not-set - setuid:

- -

hddtemp
pconsole
pdsh
prospect
rssh
scponly
sing

- -

aide

- -

Before AIDE can be used, you will have to initialize a database. In order to do - this, simply run the following command:

- -

-/usr/sbin/aideinit

- -

bitchx

- -

Why isn't bitchx part of grml? bitchx - sucks. Please use a better alternative like irssi or weechat - which are part of grml.

- -

ispell

- -

You don't want to use the preselected default for ispell? Run - 'select-default-ispell' for changing it.

- -

LaTeX

- -

auctex and preview-latex are loaded by default in emacs. If you want to load - auctex based on your personal settings put the string "(require 'tex-site)" in your - ~/.emacs, for preview-latex use the string '(load "preview-latex")'.
- To change this run 'dpkg-reconfigure auctex' and/or 'dpkg-reconfigure - preview-latex'.

- -

slapd

The password for the admin entry in the LDAP directory is 'grml'.

- -

tripwire

- -

The site-key pass-phrase and the local key pass-phrase for tripwire are 'grml'.

- -

Release related issues

- -

Are there any known issues with this release?

- -

We won't hide anything. Therefor we do provide all known - issues/bugs publicly available:

- -

bugs.grml.org (BTS)
issues regarding - grml 0.6 and issues regarding - grml-small 0.2 in the - grml-wiki

- -

If you found another bug or consider any problems not yet - mentioned please report it to us!

- -

Using IPW driver with DHCP

- -

The ipw-drivers in grml already contain special fixes for fixing - problems with ipw and kernel >=2.6.13. But you might have to run - 'iwlist $DEVICE scanning' (adjust $DEVICE with the corresponding - network device) anyway to get an associated connection to the access - point.

- -

Using WPA with >=2.6.13-grml

- -

Vanilla kernel include - wireless extensions now (starting with 2.6.13: version 18 - [12.3.05]). The ipw2200 module uses the wireless extensions - instead of custom ioctl()s now. As a result you have to use - '-Dwext' for wpa_supplicant to use the wireless extensions when - wpa_supplicant is running. Adjust $OPTIONS in - /etc/default/wpasupplicant, for example using:

- -

-OPTIONS="-Dwext -i eth1 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf"

- -

Why isn't /proc/bus/usb mounted anymore?

- -

Starting with kernel 2.6.14 /dev/bus/usb replaces usbfs. - Current versions of libusb check for /dev/bus/usb's existence and - /proc/bus/usb is not necessary anymore (see #336596). - Of course 'mount /proc/bus/usb' still works, it is just not mounted - by default anymore. If you consider any problems please report them.

- -

X-Server

- -

How do I start the X server?

- -

Please use 'grml-x' as user grml for starting X. It generates - the config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf and lets you start commands on - startup (see ~/.xinitrc). Use it for example via switching to TTY4 - (press Alt+F4) and run the following command to start window - manager fluxbox:

- -

-grml-x fluxbox

- -

X does not start on my box?!

- -

grml-x supports several options. If you want to set some special options - please take a look at the grml-x manpage (man grml-x)! Some usage examples:

- -

-grml-x -display 8 fluxbox          # start fluxbox on display 8
-grml-x -force -nostart             # force creation of xconfig file and don't start X server
-grml-x -hsync 60 fluxbox           # set horizontal frequency and start fluxbox
-grml-x -hsync 60 -vsync 40 fluxbox # set horizontal and vertical sync frequencies and start fluxbox
-grml-x -mode '800x600' fluxbox     # set resolution to 800x600 and start ion3
-grml-x -module vesa fluxbox        # start fluxbox and use vesa module
-

- -

I don't like the resolution of X!

- -

Just run xrandr to switch the resolution. For example: 'xrandr -s - 1024x768'.

- -

Framebuffer

- -

The boot option video does not work as - expected anymore?!

- -

grml versions 0.4 and 0.5 provided vesafb-tng instead of - normal vesafb. Starting with grml 0.6 and grml-small 0.2 vesafb-tng - is not part of the grml-kernel anymore because it caused too many - problems. Therefor you can use the 'normal' vga=... option - again.

- -

I don't see anything when booting grml?!

- -

Probably this is a problem with vesafb framebuffer. Try to boot - with bootoption 'nofb' or 'grml vga=normal'.

- -

Further questions

- -

Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or in - the provided documentation - (also run 'grml-info' on your grml-system)? Run 'grml-tips - $KEYWORD' on your grml-system. Take a look at the grml-website and the grml-wiki. Please don't - hesitate to contact us, a - good place to start is the grml mailinglist.

- -