6 grml-debootstrap - wrapper around debootstrap for installing plain Debian via grml
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 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 commandline) 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 Architecture you want to bootstrap. Currently only i386 is supported.
35 Defaults to the architecture that is currently running on your system. If
36 you're running an amd64 system and want to deploy a i386 system use this option.
37 Note: deploying amd64 from a i386 system won't work.
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.
59 *--debconf* <_file_>::
61 Use specified file for preseeding Debian packages instead of using
62 the default <confdir>/debconf-selections.
64 *--debopt* <_params_>::
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 Device where grub should be installed to. Note that only the MBR (master
77 boot record) can be used (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...). Partitions (like
78 /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb2,...) are NOT supported because grub2 doesn't support
79 installation into the PBR (partition boot record) anymore. Usage example:
80 '--grub /dev/sda'. Note: just do not set this option to avoid installation
85 Show summary of options and exit.
87 *--hostname* <_hostname_>::
89 Use specified hostname instead of the default (being 'grml').
91 *-i*, *--iso* <_/mntpoint_>::
93 Specify mountpoint where you have a Debian ISO mounted loopback.
94 Using this option instead of the mirror option gives you the possibility
95 to install the base-system without network access. Make sure you
96 mounted the according Debian-ISO to the given <_/mntpoint_>. See section
97 'Usage examples' for a demonstration.
101 Do not overwrite user provided /etc/apt/sources.list.
103 *-m*, *--mirror* <_URL_>::
105 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude.
106 Corresponding with configuration variable MIRROR.
110 Skip debootstrap, only do configuration to the target.
114 Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.
118 Do not download and check signatures for retrieved Release files.
120 *-p*, *--mntpoint* <_/mntpoint_>::
122 Specify mountpoint that should be used for mounting the target system.
123 Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.
124 Note: this option has no effect if option -t is given and represents a
127 *--packages* <_file_>::
129 Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of
130 the default package list file <confdir>/packages.
132 *--password* <_password_>::
134 Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
135 commandline might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
136 It's meant for automatic installation only.
138 *-r*, *--release* <_releasename_>::
140 Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny,
141 squeeze, wheezy (note: requires current version of debootstrap) and sid.
142 Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.
144 *--pre-scripts* <_directory_>::
146 Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot
147 script. This allows customisation of the system before the chroot has
148 been set up. The environment variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the
149 scripts for direct access of the chroot.
150 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/
152 *--scripts* <_directory_>::
154 Execute scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of
155 the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment variable
156 $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
157 Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/scripts/
159 *-t*, *--target* <_target_>::
160 Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
161 beginning). To install grub using *--grub* make sure to use a _device_
162 instead of a directory as _target_ (installation of grub as bootloader when
163 using directories is NOT supported).
169 Set up a Virtual Machine instead of installing to a partition or directory.
170 This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be
171 combined with the --target option.
172 Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
174 *--vmsize* <_size_>::
175 Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it
176 defaults to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage
177 qemu-img(1) for details.
178 Usage example: --vmsize 3G
181 Show version of program and exit.
183 WARNING: the commandline parsing of grml-debootstrap does not validate the provided
184 arguments for the commandline options. Please be careful and check docs and
185 /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.
190 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda
192 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager
193 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition.
195 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid
197 Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6, install bootmanager Grub in MBR
198 (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda6 as system partition.
200 mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
201 grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot
203 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) in directory /data/chroot (without
206 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
208 Install default debian release (stable/squeeze) in a Virtual Machine file with
209 3GB disk size (including Grub as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):
211 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
212 grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img
214 Install default Debian release (stable/squeeze) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
215 Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
216 Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.
218 mount -o loop /mnt/sda6/debian-40r0-i386-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
219 grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/
221 Install Debian stable/squeeze on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
222 for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
223 /dev/sda and use /dev/sda1 as system partition. Please notice, that the chroot
224 system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the
230 /etc/debootstrap/config
232 Main configuration file. You have to adjust it according to your needs
233 if you want to execute grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without
234 any special command line arguments.
236 /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script
238 The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system
239 has been installed via [c]debootstrap.
241 /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen
243 Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.
245 /etc/debootstrap/packages
247 Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new
248 Debian system by default.
250 /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages
252 Debian Packages dropped here will be installed into the new Debian system by
253 default (Controlvariable: EXTRAPACKAGES)
255 /etc/debootstrap/stages/
257 The default directory for storing information about executed stages. Every
258 single function of grml-debootstrap will write 'done' to the stages directory
259 into a file named as the function itself if it has been executed successfully.
260 You can adjust the location of the directory via configuration variable STAGES
261 via /etc/debootstrap/config. Please notice that you have to remove the stages
262 directory on your own if you want to re-execute grml-debootstrap after running it
263 successfully once. This should avoid recurrent execution by error of
264 grml-debootstrap (which might delete present data).
269 You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
270 /etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
271 variables via commandline. The packages which should be installed in the new
272 Debian system can be defined via the file /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you
273 want to put existing files to the new Debian system you can place them into the
274 (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and var in
275 /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian
276 system then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available
277 via the grml or debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and
278 make sure that EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".
280 Automatic installation
281 ----------------------
283 If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a
284 full automatic mode. While this mode isn't really useful for interactive
285 execution (just configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant
286 variables on the commandline instead) it is meant for use via bootoption
287 debian2hd. The bootoption debian2hd (more precise: the kernelname on bootprompt)
288 supports the following bootoptions (they correspond with the commandline options
293 The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
298 Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda
302 Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian squeeze. Supported
303 relases: lenny, squeeze, wheezy and sid. Usage example: release=sid
307 Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
308 of the default one (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian).
309 Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
313 Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given
314 argument. Usage example: password=AiTh5ahn
316 Usage example for automatic installation:
317 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
319 debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
321 You have to enter this commandline at the bootprompt of grml. Please make sure
322 that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to install your new Debian
326 Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via
327 setting environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
328 /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant
329 bootoptions for grml-debootstrap.
334 include::releasetable.txt[]
338 ================================================================================
339 [1] Please notice that Etch is the current old-stable within Debian.
340 grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not use Etch
341 anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose Lenny or
343 ================================================================================
347 ================================================================================
348 When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata
349 format version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has
350 the advantage of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.
351 ================================================================================
356 Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
361 debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).
365 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>