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_"
41 *--bootappend* _appendline-for-the-kernel_::
43 Specify appendline for the kernel.
46 *-c*, *--config* _file_::
48 Use specified configuration file, defaults to /etc/debootstrap/config.
50 *--chroot-scripts* _directory_::
52 Execute chroot scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation
53 of the chroot setup, the executable script(s) present in the given directory
54 are executed at the end of the chroot procedure.
55 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/chroot-scripts/
57 *-d*, *--confdir* _path_::
59 Place of configuration files for debootstrap, defaults to /etc/debootstrap.
63 Use specified file for preseeding Debian packages instead of using
64 the default <confdir>/debconf-selections.
68 Extra parameters passed to the debootstrap command.
70 *--filesystem* _filesystem_::
72 Filesystem that should be created when installing to a partition.
73 If unset defaults to ext3. Valid values are all filesystems that
74 can be created through mkfs._filesystem_.
78 Skip user acknowledgement and do not prompt for user input.
82 Enable Grml.org's Debian repository (http://deb.grml.org/) via the
83 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grml.list configuration file. This provides the
84 option to install Debian packages from Grml's repository.
88 Device where grub should be installed to. Note that only the MBR (master
89 boot record) can be used (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...). Partitions (like
90 /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb2,...) are NOT supported because grub2 doesn't support
91 installation into the PBR (partition boot record) anymore. Usage example:
92 '--grub /dev/sda'. Note: just do not set this option to avoid installation
97 Show summary of options and exit.
99 *--hostname* _hostname_::
101 Use specified hostname instead of the default (being 'grml').
103 *-i*, *--iso* _/mntpoint_::
105 Specify mount point where you have a Debian ISO mounted loopback.
106 Using this option instead of the mirror option gives you the possibility
107 to install the base-system without network access. Make sure you
108 mounted the according Debian-ISO to the given _/mntpoint_. See section
109 'Usage examples' for a demonstration.
113 Do not overwrite user provided /etc/apt/sources.list.
115 *-m*, *--mirror* _URL_::
117 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude.
118 Corresponding with configuration variable MIRROR.
122 Skip debootstrap, only do configuration to the target.
126 Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.
130 Do not prompt for the root password. Note: Use the '--password' option if
131 you want to set the root password during an automatic installation but don't
132 want to use the interactive dialog.
134 *-p*, *--mntpoint* _/mntpoint_::
136 Specify mount point that should be used for mounting the target system.
137 Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.
138 Note: this option has no effect if option -t is given and represents a
141 *--packages* _file_::
143 Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of
144 the default package list file <confdir>/packages.
146 *--password* _password_::
148 Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
149 command line might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
150 It's meant for automatic installation only.
152 *-r*, *--release* _releasename_::
154 Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny,
155 squeeze, wheezy (note: requires current version of debootstrap) and sid.
156 Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.
158 *--pre-scripts* _directory_::
160 Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot
161 script. This allows customisation of the system before the chroot has
162 been set up. The environment variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the
163 scripts for direct access of the chroot.
164 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/
166 *--scripts* _directory_::
168 Execute scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of
169 the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment variable
170 $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
171 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/scripts/
173 *-t*, *--target* _target_::
174 Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
175 beginning). To install grub using *--grub* make sure to use a _device_
176 instead of a directory as _target_ (installation of grub as bootloader when
177 using directories is NOT supported).
183 Set up a Virtual Machine instead of installing to a partition or directory.
184 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
185 combined with the --target option.
186 Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
189 Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it
190 defaults to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage
191 qemu-img(1) for details.
192 Usage example: --vmsize 3G
195 Show version of program and exit.
197 WARNING: the command line parsing of grml-debootstrap does not validate the provided
198 arguments for the command line options. Please be careful and check docs and
199 /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.
204 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda
206 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager
207 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition.
209 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid
211 Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6, install bootmanager Grub in MBR
212 (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda6 as system partition.
214 mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
215 grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot
217 Install default Debian release (wheezy) in directory /data/chroot (without
220 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
222 Install default debian release (wheezy) in a Virtual Machine file with
223 3GB disk size (including Grub as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):
225 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
226 grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
228 Install default Debian release (wheezy) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
229 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
230 Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.
232 mount -o loop /mnt/sda6/debian-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
233 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/
235 Install Debian on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
236 for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
237 /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition. Please notice, that the chroot
238 system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the
244 /etc/debootstrap/config
246 Main configuration file. You have to adjust it according to your needs
247 if you want to execute grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without
248 any special command line arguments.
250 /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script
252 The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system
253 has been installed via [c]debootstrap.
255 /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen
257 Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.
259 /etc/debootstrap/packages
261 Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new
262 Debian system by default.
264 /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages/
266 Debian Packages dropped in this directory will be installed into the new Debian
267 system by default (Control variable: EXTRAPACKAGES)
269 /etc/debootstrap/stages/
271 The default directory for storing information about executed stages. Every
272 single function of grml-debootstrap will write 'done' to the stages directory
273 into a file named as the function itself if it has been executed successfully.
274 You can adjust the location of the directory via configuration variable STAGES
275 via /etc/debootstrap/config. Please notice that you have to remove the stages
276 directory on your own if you want to re-execute grml-debootstrap after running it
277 successfully once. This should avoid recurrent execution by error of
278 grml-debootstrap (which might delete present data).
283 You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
284 /etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
285 variables via command line. The packages which should be installed in the new
286 Debian system can be defined via the file /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you
287 want to put existing files to the new Debian system you can place them into the
288 (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and var in
289 /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian
290 system then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available
291 via the Grml or Debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and
292 make sure that EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".
294 Automatic installation
295 ----------------------
297 If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a
298 full automatic mode. While this mode isn't really useful for interactive
299 execution (just configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant
300 variables on the command line instead) it is meant for use via boot option
301 debian2hd on the Grml live system. The boot option debian2hd (more precise: the
302 kernelname at the bootprompt) supports the following boot options (they
303 correspond with the command line options mentioned above):
307 The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
312 Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda
316 Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian wheezy. Supported
317 relases: lenny, squeeze, wheezy and sid. Usage example: release=sid
321 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
322 of the default one (http://http.debian.net/debian).
323 Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
327 Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given
328 argument. Usage example: password=AiTh5ahn
330 Usage example for automatic installation:
331 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
333 debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
335 You have to enter this command line at the bootprompt of the Grml live system.
336 Please make sure that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to
337 install your new Debian system.
340 Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via
341 setting environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
342 /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant
343 boot options for grml-debootstrap.
348 include::releasetable.txt[]
352 ================================================================================
353 [1] Please notice that lenny is the current old-stable release within Debian.
354 grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not use lenny
355 anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose Debian 6.0 (squeeze)
356 or Debian 7.0 (wheezy) instead.
358 Notice that you need to specify a mirror providing the lenny release, the
359 default (http://http.debian.net/debian) doesn't provide it any longer nowadays.
360 Set the mirror to e.g. http://archive.debian.org/debian/ if you don't have
361 your own lenny mirror.
363 When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata
364 format version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has
365 the advantage of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.
366 ================================================================================
370 ================================================================================
371 [2] Please notice that sid is Debian/unstable and due to its nature might not be
372 always installable. What _might_ work instead is deploying a stable or testing
373 release and upgrade it after installation finished.
374 ================================================================================
379 Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
384 debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).
388 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>