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 Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.
141 Do not prompt for the root password. Note: Use the '--password' option if
142 you want to set the root password during an automatic installation but don't
143 want to use the interactive dialog.
145 *-p*, *--mntpoint* _/mntpoint_::
147 Specify mount point that should be used for mounting the target system.
148 Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.
149 Note: this option has no effect if option -t is given and represents a
152 *--packages* _file_::
154 Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of
155 the default package list file <confdir>/packages.
157 *--password* _password_::
159 Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
160 command line might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
161 It's meant for automatic installation only.
163 *-r*, *--release* _releasename_::
165 Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny,
166 squeeze, wheezy (note: requires current version of debootstrap) and sid.
167 Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.
169 *--pre-scripts* _directory_::
171 Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot
172 script. This allows customisation of the system before the chroot has
173 been set up. The environment variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the
174 scripts for direct access of the chroot.
175 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/
177 *--scripts* _directory_::
179 Execute scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of
180 the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment variable
181 $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
182 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/scripts/
184 *-t*, *--target* _target_::
185 Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
192 Set up a Virtual Machine instead of installing to a partition or directory.
193 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
194 combined with the --target option.
195 Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
198 Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it
199 defaults to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage
200 qemu-img(1) for details.
201 Usage example: --vmsize 3G
204 Show version of program and exit.
206 WARNING: the command line parsing of grml-debootstrap does not validate the provided
207 arguments for the command line options. Please be careful and check docs and
208 /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.
213 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda
215 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager
216 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition.
218 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid
220 Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6, install bootmanager Grub in MBR
221 (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda6 as system partition.
223 mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
224 grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot
226 Install default Debian release (wheezy) in directory /data/chroot (without
229 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
231 Install default debian release (wheezy) in a Virtual Machine file with
232 3GB disk size (including Grub as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):
234 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
235 grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
237 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
238 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
239 Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.
241 mount -o loop /mnt/sda6/debian-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
242 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/
244 Install Debian on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
245 for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
246 /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition. Please notice, that the chroot
247 system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the
253 /etc/debootstrap/config
255 Main configuration file. You have to adjust it according to your needs
256 if you want to execute grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without
257 any special command line arguments.
259 /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script
261 The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system
262 has been installed via [c]debootstrap.
264 /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen
266 Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.
268 /etc/debootstrap/packages
270 Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new
271 Debian system by default.
273 /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages/
275 Debian Packages dropped in this directory will be installed into the new Debian
276 system by default (Control variable: EXTRAPACKAGES)
278 /etc/debootstrap/stages/
280 The default directory for storing information about executed stages. Every
281 single function of grml-debootstrap will write 'done' to the stages directory
282 into a file named as the function itself if it has been executed successfully.
283 You can adjust the location of the directory via configuration variable STAGES
284 via /etc/debootstrap/config. Please notice that you have to remove the stages
285 directory on your own if you want to re-execute grml-debootstrap after running it
286 successfully once. This should avoid recurrent execution by error of
287 grml-debootstrap (which might delete present data).
292 You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
293 /etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
294 variables via command line. The packages which should be installed in the new
295 Debian system can be defined via the file /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you
296 want to put existing files to the new Debian system you can place them into the
297 (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and var in
298 /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian
299 system then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available
300 via the Grml or Debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and
301 make sure that EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".
303 Automatic installation
304 ----------------------
306 If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a
307 full automatic mode. While this mode isn't really useful for interactive
308 execution (just configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant
309 variables on the command line instead) it is meant for use via boot option
310 debian2hd on the Grml live system. The boot option debian2hd (more precise: the
311 kernelname at the bootprompt) supports the following boot options (they
312 correspond with the command line options mentioned above):
316 The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
321 Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda
325 Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian wheezy. Supported
326 relases: lenny, squeeze, wheezy and sid. Usage example: release=sid
330 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
331 of the default one (http://http.debian.net/debian).
332 Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
336 Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given
337 argument. Usage example: password=AiTh5ahn
339 Usage example for automatic installation:
340 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
342 debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
344 You have to enter this command line at the bootprompt of the Grml live system.
345 Please make sure that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to
346 install your new Debian system.
349 Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via
350 setting environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
351 /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant
352 boot options for grml-debootstrap.
357 include::releasetable.txt[]
361 ================================================================================
362 [1] Please notice that lenny is the current old-stable release within Debian.
363 grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not use lenny
364 anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose Debian 6.0 (squeeze)
365 or Debian 7.0 (wheezy) instead.
367 Notice that you need to specify a mirror providing the lenny release, the
368 default (http://http.debian.net/debian) doesn't provide it any longer nowadays.
369 Set the mirror to e.g. http://archive.debian.org/debian/ if you don't have
370 your own lenny mirror.
372 When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata
373 format version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has
374 the advantage of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.
375 ================================================================================
379 ================================================================================
380 [2] Please notice that sid is Debian/unstable and due to its nature might not be
381 always installable. What _might_ work instead is deploying a stable or testing
382 release and upgrade it after installation finished.
383 ================================================================================
388 Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
393 debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).
397 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>