7 grml-live - build framework based on FAI for generating a grml and Debian based
8 Linux Live system (CD/ISO)
13 grml-live [-c <classe[s]>] [-g <grml_name>] [-i <iso_name> ] [-r <release_name>]
14 [-s <suite>] [-t <target_directory>] [-v <version_number>] [-FVh]
16 *******************************************************************************
17 Important! This document is growing as requested. If you have questions which
18 aren't answered by this document yet please let me know: <mika@grml.org>!
19 *******************************************************************************
24 grml-live provides the build system for creating a grml and Debian based Linux
25 Live-CD. The build system is based on
26 link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI] (Fully Automatic
27 Installation). grml-live uses the "fai dirinstall" feature to generate a chroot
28 system based on the class concept of FAI (see later sections for further
29 details) and provides the framework to be able to generate a full-featured ISO.
30 It does not use all the FAI features by default though and you don't have to
31 know FAI to be able to use it.
33 The use of FAI gives you the flexibility to choose the packages you would like
34 to include on your very own Linux Live-CD without having to deal with all the
35 details of a build process.
37 CAUTION: grml-live does **not** use /etc/fai for configuration but instead
38 provides and uses /etc/grml/fai. This ensures that it does not clash with
39 default FAI configuration and packages, so you can use grml-live and FAI
40 completely independent at the same time!
44 Please notice that you should have a fast network connection as all the Debian
45 packages will be downloaded and installed via network. If you want to use a
46 local mirror (strongly recommended if you plan to use grml-live more than once)
47 checkout mkdebmirror (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/mkdebmirror),
48 debmirror(1), reprepro(1) (see /usr/share/doc/grml-live/examples/reprepro/ for a
49 sample configuration) and approx(8). To avoid downloading the base system again
50 and again check out FAI's NFSROOT (see FAQ of this document for details).
57 Specify the CLASSES to be used for building the ISO via FAI. By default only
58 the classes GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL and I386 are assumed, resulting in a small base
59 system (being about ~150MB total ISO size). If using a non-I386 system (like
60 amd64) you should specify the appropriate architecture as well. Additionally you
61 can specify a class providing a grml-kernel (see
62 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/ for a full list). So instead of GRML_SMALL
63 you can also use GRML_MEDIUM and GRML_FULL instead.
67 Force execution and do not prompt for acknowledgment of configuration.
71 Set the grml flavour name. Common usage examples: grml, grml-small, grml64.
75 Display short usage information and exit.
79 Specify name of ISO which will be available inside $TARGET_DIRECTORY/grml_isos
84 Specify name of the release.
88 Specify the Debian suite you want to use for your live-system. Defaults to
89 "etch" (being current Debian/stable). Supported values are: etch, lenny, sid.
91 -t **TARGET_DIRECTORY**::
93 Main output directory of the build process of FAI. Some directories are created
94 inside this target directory, being: grml_cd (where the files for creating the
95 ISO are located, including the compressed squashfs file), grml_chroot (the
96 chroot system) and grml_isos (where the resulting ISO is stored).
98 -v **VERSION_NUMBER**::
100 Specify version number of the release.
104 Increase verbosity in the build process.
109 To get a small, Debian-stable and grml-based Live-CD using /grml/grml-live
110 as build and output directory just run:
114 To get a small Debian-unstable and grml-small based Live-CD using
115 /home/mika/grml-live as build and output directory just use:
117 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 -t /home/mika/grml-live
119 To get a small, Debian-unstable and grml-based Live-CD using /tmp as build and
120 output directory and use grml_0.0-3.iso as ISO name (placed inside
121 /tmp/grml_isos) just invoke:
123 # grml-live -t /tmp -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 -s sid -i grml_0.0-3.iso
127 If you have about 700MB of free space inside /dev/shm (being a tmpfs, usually
128 you should have >=1GB of RAM) just run "mount -o remount,suid,dev,rw /dev/shm"
129 and use /dev/shm as build and output directory - resulting in very fast build
130 process. But please be aware of the fact that rebooting your system will result
131 in an empty /dev/shm, so please another directory for $CHROOT_TARGET,
132 $BUILD_TARGET and $ISO_TARGET if you plan to create more persistent output. :)
134 Main features of grml-live
135 --------------------------
137 * create a grml-/Debian-based Linux Live-CD with one single command
139 * class based concept, providing a maximum of flexibility
141 * supports integration of own hooks, scripts and configuration
143 * supports use and integration of own Software and/or Kernels via simple use of
146 * native support of FAI features
148 * multi-arch support (work in progress)
153 grml-live uses FAI and its class based concept for adjusting configuration and
154 setup according to your needs. This gives you flexibility and strength without
155 losing the simplicity in the build process.
157 The main and base class provided by grml-live is named GRMLBASE. It's strongly
158 recommended to **always** use the class GRMLBASE when building an ISO using
159 grml-live, as well as the architecture dependent class which provides the kernel
160 (being 'I386' for x86_32 and 'AMD64' for x86_64) and a GRML_* class (like
161 GRML_SMALL, GRML_MEDIUM or GRML_FULL). The following files and directories are
162 relevant for class GRMLBASE by default:
164 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/GRMLBASE/
165 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/GRMLBASE
166 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/GRMLBASE.var
167 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/instsoft.GRMLBASE
168 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/GRMLBASE
170 Take a look at the next section for information about the concept of those
173 If you want to use your own configuration, extend an existing configuration
174 and/or add additional packages to your ISO just invent a new class (or extend an
175 existing one). For example if you want to use your own class named "FOOBAR" just
176 extend CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386" inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf to
177 CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR" or invoke grml-live using the classes
178 option: "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...".
180 More details regarding the class concept can be found in the documentation of
181 FAI itself (being available at /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/).
186 Notice that grml-live ships FAI configuration files that do not use the same
187 namespace as the FAI packages itself. This ensures that grml-live does not clash
188 with your usual FAI configuration, so instead of /etc/fai/fai.conf (package
189 fai-client) grml uses /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf instead. For more details see
190 below. To get an idea how another configuration or example files could look like
191 check out /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/examples/simple/ (provided by Debian package
192 fai-doc). Furthermore /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/fai-guide.html/ch-config.html
193 provides documentation regarding configuration possibilities.
197 Script for the main build process. Requires root permissions for execution.
199 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
201 Main configuration file for grml-live. All the important steps can be configured
204 /etc/grml/fai/fai.conf
206 Main configuration file for FAI which specifies where all the configuration
207 files and scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default it is set to
208 FAI_CONFIGDIR=/etc/grml/fai/config, a directory shipped by grml-live
209 out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this file.
211 /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
213 This file is used by make-fai-nfsroot(8) only. Usually you don't have to change
214 anything inside this file. If you want to modify NFSROOT though you can adjust
217 /etc/grml/fai/NFSROOT
219 This file specifies the package list for creating the NFSROOT.
221 /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
223 This file specifies which mirrors should be used for retreiving the Debian
224 packages used for creating the main chroot (including all the software you would
225 like to see included). If you want to use a local mirror you either have to
226 adjust this file or use the GRML_LIVE_SOURCES variable inside
227 /etc/grml/grml-live.conf which modifies /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list
230 /etc/grml/fai/config/
232 The main directory for configuration of FAI/grml-live. More details below.
234 /etc/grml/fai/config/class/
236 This directory contains files which specify main configuration variables for the
239 /etc/grml/fai/config/debconf/
241 This directory provides the files for preseeding/configuration of debconf
244 /etc/grml/fai/config/hooks/
246 This directory provides files for customising the build process through hooks.
247 Hooks are user defined programs or scripts, which are called during the
248 installation process.
250 /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/
252 Directory with lists of software packages to be installed or removed. The
253 different classes describe what should find its way to your ISO. When running
254 "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386 ..." only the configuration of GRMLBASE,
255 GRML_SMALL and and I386 will be taken. If you use 'grml-live -c
256 GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...' then the files of GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL,
257 I386 **plus** the files from FOOBAR will be taken. So just create a new class to
258 adjust the package selection according to your needs. Please notice that the
259 directory GRMLBASE contains a package list defining a minimum but still
260 reasonable package configuration.
262 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/
264 Scripts for customising the ISO within the build process.
268 This directory provides files used inside the scripts of
269 /etc/grml/fai/config/scripts/*. For a full documentation what happens with the
270 files please refer to the source of the scripts.
272 /etc/grml/fai/live-initramfs/
274 This directory provides the files used for building the initramfs/initrd via
277 Requirements for the build system
278 ---------------------------------
280 * any Debian based system should be sufficient (if not it's a bug, so please
281 send us a bug report then) [a usual link:http://grml.org/grml2hd/[grml2hd]
282 harddisk installation ships all you need]
284 * enough free disk space; at least 800MB are required for a minimal grml-live
285 run (\~400MB for the chroot [$CHROOT_TARGET], \~150MB for the build target
286 [$BUILD_TARGET] and \~150MB for the resulting ISO [$ISO_TARGET] plus some
287 temporary files), if you plan to use GRML_FULL you should have at least 4GB of
288 total free disk space
290 * fast network access for retreiving the Debian packages used for creating the
291 chroot (check out "local mirror" and "NFSROOT" to workaround this problem as far
297 Help, I'm using Debian etch and I don't have FAI version >3.2
298 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
300 wget http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/download/etch/fai-client_3.2.1_all.deb \
301 http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/download/etch/fai-server_3.2.1_all.deb
302 dpkg -i fai-client_3.2.1_all.deb fai-server_3.2.1_all.deb
304 or check out the link:http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/[FAI-homepage] for
307 I've problems with the build process. How to start debugging?
308 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
310 Check out the logs inside /var/log/fai/dirinstall/... If you don't have the time
311 to debug the problem in further detail or don't know how to proceed just send a
312 copy of your config, logs and the commandline with a short problem description
315 # history | grep grml-live > /etc/grml/grml_live.cmdline
316 # tar zcf grml_live_problem.tar.gz /etc/grml/grml-live.conf \
317 /var/log/fai/dirinstall /etc/grml/fai
319 Can I use my own (local) Debian mirror?
320 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
322 Sure. Just adjust the variables GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP (if not
323 already using NFSROOT's base.tgz) inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf according to
324 your needs. Please don't forget that you should use the grml servers as well
325 (see default configuration) so all the grml packages can be downloaded as well.
327 If you want to use a local (for example NFS mount) mirror additionally, just
328 adjust MIRROR_DIRECTORY and MIRROR_SOURCES insede /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as
331 Unless you specify GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and/or FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP the default from
332 /etc/grml/fai/apt/sources.list and /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf will be
333 taken. If you customise the variables in /etc/grml/grml-live.conf then the two
334 files will be adjusted during runtime automatically.
336 If MIRROR_DIRECTORY and MIRROR_SOURCES are specified the local mirror will be
337 taken as first entry in the generated sources.list so it's prefered over
338 non-local mirrors. Using a fallback mirror (via providing several mirrors in
339 GRML_LIVE_SOURCES as used by default) is a recommended setting.
341 How do I add additional Debian package(s) to my CD/ISO?
342 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
344 Just create a new class (using the package_config directory):
346 # cat > /etc/grml/fai/config/package_config/MIKA << EOF
350 another_name_of_a_debian_package
354 and specify it when invoking grml-live then:
356 # grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,MIKA
358 I fscked up my grml-live configuration. How do I reset it to the defaults?
359 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
361 Notice: this deletes all your grml-live configuration files. If that's really
362 what you are searching for just run:
364 rm -rf /etc/grml/fai /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
365 dpkg -i --force-confnew --force-confmiss /path/to/grml-live_..._all.deb
369 If you don't control your /etc using a version control system (VCS) yet it's a
370 good chance to start using it now. Check out
371 link:http://michael-prokop.at/blog/2007/03/14/maintain-etc-with-mercurial-on-debian/[http://michael-prokop.at/blog/2007/03/14/maintain-etc-with-mercurial-on-debian/]
372 for more details how to maintain /etc using the mercurial VCS.
374 How do I create a base.tgz for use as NFSROOT?
375 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
377 First of all build the chroot system:
379 mkdir /tmp/nfsroot && cd /tmp/nfsroot
380 debootstrap etch /tmp/nfsroot/ http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian
383 Then check out where your NFSROOT is located:
385 # grep '^NFSROOT' /etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
386 NFSROOT=/grml/fai/nfsroot
388 So as /grml/fai/nfsroot is your NFSROOT place the file under
389 /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/:
391 mv base.tgz /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz
393 Now running "grml-live ..." will use this file as main system instead of
394 executing debootstrap. Check out the output for the following lines:
397 Calling task_extrbase
398 Unpacking Debian base archive
399 Extracting /grml/fai/nfsroot/live/filesystem.dir/var/tmp/base.tgz
403 Set up approx for use with grml-live
404 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
406 Make sure /etc/grml/grml-live.conf provides according GRML_LIVE_SOURCES and
409 # cat /etc/grml/grml-live.conf
412 deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-stable main
413 deb http://localhost:9999/grml grml-testing main
414 deb http://localhost:9999/debian etch main contrib non-free
416 FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="etch http://localhost:9999/debian"
420 # cat /etc/approx/approx.conf
422 debian http://ftp.at.debian.org/debian
423 grml http://deb.grml.org/
425 Don't forget to restart approx (/etc/init.d/approx restart). That's it.
426 All downloaded files will be cached in /var/cache/approx now.
428 I've a question which isn't answered by this document
429 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
431 Don't hesitate to ask on IRC (channel #grml on irc.freenode.org) or just drop me
432 a mail: <mika@grml.org>
434 Download / install grml-live as a Debian package
435 ------------------------------------------------
437 Debian packages are available through the grml-repository at
438 link:http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/g/grml-live/[deb.grml.org]. If you want to
439 build a Debian package on your own (using for example a specific version or the
440 current development tree), just execute:
442 hg clone http://hg.grml.org/grml-live
449 The source of grml-live is available at
450 link:http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/[http://hg.grml.org/grml-live/]
455 Check out link:http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml-live[grml-live@grml-wiki]
461 Please report feedback, link:http://grml.org/bugs/[bugreports] and wishes
462 link:http://grml.org/contact/[to the grml-team]!
466 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.
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