CHEATCODES AND HINTS FOR GRML ============================================================================== These options work from the (isolinux/grub) bootprompt of Grml based (live) systems. The following kernel options are available (do NOT use them as 'grml $OPTION', use them as '$OPTION'!): grml Use default settings (same as just pressing return) grml2ram Copy Grml's squashfs file to RAM and run from there (compare with 'grml toram') memtest Run Memtest86+ instead of Linux fb1280x1024 Use fixed framebuffer graphics (1) fb1024x768 Use fixed framebuffer graphics (2) [notice: Grml's default] fb800x600 Use fixed framebuffer graphics (3) nofb Disable framebuffer floppy Boot from floppydisk hd / hd1 / hd2 / hd3 Boot from (local) primary / secondary /... harddisk debug Get shells during process of booting for debugging bootchart Create chart of booting sequence in /var/log/bootchart.tgz forensic Do not touch any harddisks during hardware recognition serial Activate ttyS0 and start a getty grub Boot Grub bootloader (special all-in-one-image) dos Boot FreeDOS bsd Boot MirOS BSD hdt Boot Hardware Detection Tool (from syslinux project) Further documentation regarding the boot process can be found at: * http://git.grml.org/?p=live-initramfs-grml.git;a=blob_plain;f=manpages/live-initramfs.en.7.txt;hb=HEAD * http://git.grml.org/?p=live-boot-grml.git;a=blob;f=manpages/en/live-boot.7;hb=HEAD * http://git.debian.org/?p=kernel/initramfs-tools.git;a=blob_plain;f=initramfs-tools.8;hb=HEAD * http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt The following boot options can be combined. Notice: not all of them are available on all the Grml flavours. For example the X window system is not part of grml-small. Regional settings: ------------------ grml lang=at|de|cn|da|es|fr|it Specify language ($LANG, $LC_ALL, $LANGUAGE - utf8) + keyboard grml lang=nl|pl|ru|sk|tr|tw|us Specify language ($LANG, $LC_ALL, $LANGUAGE - utf8) + keyboard grml lang=$LANG-iso Activate $LANG (use like in lines above) with iso-mode instead of utf8 grml gmt Use GMT-based time (UTC=yes) grml utc Use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC=yes) grml localtime Use local time (UTC=no) grml tz=Europe/Vienna Use specified timezone for TZ grml keyboard=us xkeyboard=us Use different keyboard layout (text-console/X) Configuration settings: ----------------------- grml myconfig=/dev/fd0 Set the DCS dir (debs, config, scripts) to the root of this device DCS dir defaults to the live image or a device labeled GRMLCFG If a file /config.tbz exists, it is extracted from there. /dev/fd0 for floppy disk /dev/sda1 for USB-stick/first SCSI-device grml autoconfig=SOMELABEL Set the DCS dir to the root of the device labeled with SOMELABEL. If undefined search for a device labeled with GRMLCFG. grml netconfig=server/config.tbz Download file and extract configuration archive grml netscript=server/file Download and execute file grml partconf=/dev/sda2 Copy files specified in /etc/grml/partconf from /dev/sda2 to booting grml system grml file=foobar.tbz Use specified file as name for configuration archive instead of the default one (config.tbz) grml extract=/etc Extract only /etc from configuration archive, use it in combination with myconfig or netconfig grml persistence Enable persistency feature, more details available at http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency grml hostname=... Set hostname to given argument grml hostname Set a random hostname [Note: only available with releases newer than 2010.04] grml nonetworking Do not create/overwrite /etc/network/interface during startup grml distri=... Set distribution name to given argument. If a jpg file named like the given distri name can be found in directory desktop on the ISO (/cdrom/desktop/"$DISTRI") it will be taken as wallpaper for grml grml debnet Search through local partitions for file /etc/network/interfaces, copy /etc/network to local system and restart networking then grml dns=8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4 Set DNS resolvers during boot and for live system. grml ip=... Standard Linux kernel ip= boot option. Arguments: clientip:nfsserverip:gwip:netmask:hostname:device:autoconf Valid values for autoconf: off, on, dhcp, bootp, rarp, both. Almost everything is optional. Most common form: ip=dhcp grml mypath=... Add specified option into $PATH of Zsh For example when using "grml mypath=/foobar" then /foobar will be added to the end of $PATH inside Zsh grml debs Install all Debian packages from the "debs" directory of your DCS directory (see myconfig=, typically the root of your ISO image). grml debs=path-name-wildcard Install Debian packages from DCS directory (see myconfig=, typically the root of your ISO image). If path does not contain a "/" the package(s) will be installed from directory "debs" of the DCS directory instead. The "path-name-wildcard" can contain wildcards (e.g. debs=rat* will install a packages starting with "rat" from directory debs/). grml scripts=path-name Execute script (defaulting to grml.sh) inside DCS dir. Path names allowed. If path-name points to a directory, all scripts found in the directory are executed. grml config=path-name Unpack archive that path-name points to grml noautoconfig Disable searching for device labeled GRMLCFG grml nobeep Disable welcome chime, sounded before grml-quickconfig starts. Notice: Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ and 'man 1 grml-autoconfig' for more information regarding the configuration framework of Grml. Booting related options: ------------------------ grml toram Copy the whole CD/medium to RAM and run from there grml toram=filename.squashfs Copy the specified file to RAM and run from there Usage example: grml toram=grml-medium.squashfs Notice: grml2ram is an alias for this option which corresponds with the grml flavour settings by default grml tohd=/dev/sda1 Copy Grml's squashfs file to harddisk partition for later use via "grml bootfrom=/dev/sda1" grml bootfrom=/dev/sda1 Use the squashfs file from directory 'live' of the specified device Setup can be done booting 'grml tohd=/dev/sda1' or running 'rsync -a --progress /lib/live/mount/medium/live /media/sda1/' grml bootfrom=removable Restrict search for the live media to removable type only. grml bootfrom=removable-usb Restrict search for the live media to usb mass storage only. grml isofrom=/dev/sda1/grml.iso Use specified ISO image for booting Useful when booting as a rescue system from harddisk - just boot the according grml kernel and initrd using the bootoptions "boot=live isofrom=/dev/sda1/grml.iso" Notice: "fromiso" does the same as "isofrom", it's just there to prevent any typing errors grml findiso=/grml_2010.12.iso Look for the specified ISO file on all disks where it usually looks for the .squashfs file (so you don't have to know the device name as in isofrom=....). grml fetch=$IP/filename.squashfs Download a squashfs image from a given url, copying to ram and booting it. [Note: releases before 2011.05 didn't support DNS but IP only.] grml live-media-path=/live/grml... Sets the path to the live filesystem on the medium By default, it is set to /live/$GRML_FLAVOUR/ (where $GRML_FLAVOUR is corresponding to grml64-full, grml32-full, grml64-small,... [Note: this option is mandatory since release 2011.12] grml nostats Don't send any information to the Grml project at startup. Parameters sent are Grml version, if the cpu supports 64bit, anonymized boot parameters and boot source (remote or local). [Note: only available since release 2011.12] grml module=grml Instead of using the default "$name.module" another file can be specified without the extension ".module"; it should be placed on "/live" directory of the live medium Useful for Multiboot USB pen, see http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=tips#multiboot_usb_pen grml bootid=mybootid Use specified argument as identifier for the ISO. mybootid is specified in /conf/bootid.txt on the ISO. [Note: only available since release 2010.04] grml ignore_bootid Disable bootid verification. [Note: only available since release 2010.04] Debugging related settings: --------------------------- grml debug Get shells during process of booting, using GNU screen, be verbose grml debug=1 Get shells during process of booting, using GNU screen, be verbose and display shell code being executed in initramfs. grml debug=noscreen Get shells during process of booting, verbose, but without using GNU screen grml nocolor Disable colorized output while booting grml log Log error messages while booting to /tmp/grml.log.`date +%Y%m%d`" and /var/log/boot grml testcd Check CD data integrity and md5sums Security / login related settings: ---------------------------------- grml ssh=password Set password for root & grml user and start ssh-server grml passwd=... Set password for root & grml user grml encpasswd=.... Set specified hash as password for root & grml user, use e.g. 'mkpasswd -H md5' to generate such a hash (available in Grml >=2013.09) Service related settings: ------------------------- grml startup=script Start $script instead of grml-quickconfig on startup grml nosyslog Do not start syslog daemon grml nogpm Disable GPM daemon grml noconsolefont Disable setting of console font (using consolechars) grml noblank Disable console blanking grml noquick Disable grml-quickconfig startup script grml wondershaper=eth0,1000,500 Set up basic traffic shaping grml services={postfix,mysql,...} Start service(s) which have an init-script (/etc/init.d/) grml welcome Welcome message via soundoutput grml noeject Do NOT eject CD after halt/reboot grml noprompt Do NOT prompt to remove the CD when halting/rebooting the system grml distcc=$NETWORK,$INTERFACE Activate distcc-daemon to listen on specified network and interface, usage example: distcc=192.168.0.1/24,eth0 grml gcc=3.4 gpp=3.4 Link /usr/bin/gcc, /usr/bin/cpp and /usr/bin/c++ to specified version grml startx{=windowmanager} Start X window system automatically Default window manager (if not provided): wm-ng (wrapper around fluxbox) grml nostartx If using startx as default bootoption the nostartx *disables* automatic startup of X again. (This bootoption is relevant for grml based derivatives which decide to enable startx by default only, plain grml does not use automatic startup of X by default.) grml vnc=password Start VNC server with startup of X.org and sets the password to the specified one. To automatically start the VNC server use the startx bootoption. [Note: Grml 2011.12+ doesn't include a VNC server.] grml vnc_connect=host[:port] Connect to a listening VNC client ("vncviewer -listen" reverse connection). Can be used to connect from devices behind firewalls as connection is initiated from the VNC server instead of the VNC client. Has to be combined with the vnc bootoption. [Note: Grml 2011.12+ doesn't include a VNC client.] Accessibility related settings: ------------------------------- grml brltty=type,port,table Parameters for Braille device (e.g.: brltty=al,/dev/ttyS0,text.de.tbl) See http://mielke.cc/brltty/guidelines.html for documentation. Hardware related settings: -------------------------- grml swap Activate present/detected swap partitions grml noswraid Disable scanning for software raid arrays (creates /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf) grml swraid Enable automatic assembling of software raid arrays grml nodmraid Do not enable present dmraid devices. grml dmraid=on Automatically enable any present dmraid devices. grml dmraid=off Actively try to stop any present dmraid devices. grml nolvm Disable scanning for Logical Volumes (LVM) grml lvm Automatically activate Logival Volumes (LVM) during boot grml read-only Make sure all harddisk devices (/dev/hd* /dev/sd*) are forced to read-only mode grml ethdevice=... Use specified network device for network boot instead of default (eth0) grml ethdevice-timeout=... Use specified network configuration timeout instead of default (15sec) grml xmodule=ati|fbdev|i810|mga Use specified X.org-Module (1) grml xmodule=nv|radeon|savage|s3 Use specified X.org-Module (2) grml xmodule=radeon|svga|i810 Use specified X.org-Module (3) grml no{acpi,agp,cpu,dhcp} Skip parts of HW-detection (1) grml no{dma,fstab,modem} Skip parts of HW-detection (2) grml no{pcmcia,scsi,swap,usb} Skip parts of HW-detection (3) grml blacklist=modulename[,module2] Completely disable loading of specified module(s) via blacklisting through udev's /etc/modprobe.d/grml grml fwtimeout=50 Set firmware timeout via /sys/class/firmware/timeout to specified value grml nosound Mute sound devices (notice: this does not deactivate loading of sound drivers!) grml vol=number Set mixer volumes to level $number grml micvol=number Set mixer volume of microphone to level $number (default: 0) grml pnpbios=off No PnP Bios initialization grml acpi=off Disable ACPI Bios completely grml nofirewire Disable initialization of firewire devices in booting sequence grml pci=irqmask=0x0e98 Try this, if PS/2 mouse doesn't work *) grml pci=bios Workaround for bad PCI controllers grml ide2=0x180 nopcmcia Boot from PCMCIA-CD-ROM (some notebooks) grml mem=128M Specify Memory size in MByte grml libata.force=[ID:]VAL Force configurations for libata. Usage example: grml libata.force=1:pio4 to force pio4 mode on device "ata1:00:" grml libata.dma=0 Disable DMA on PATA and SATA devices grml libata.ignore_hpa=1 Disable host protected area (which should enable the whole disk) grml vga=normal No-framebuffer mode (does not influence X) grml vga=ask Display menu for framebuffer mode grml radeon.modeset=0 nomodeset Disable Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) for Radeon driver. grml i915.modeset=0 nomodeset Disable Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) for Intel driver. grml nouveau.modeset=0 nomodeset Disable Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) for Nouveau driver. grml cirrus.modeset=0 nomodeset Disable Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) for Cirrus driver. Installation related settings: ------------------------------ Caution: do *NOT* use the debian2hd bootoption if you do not know what you are doing! Install plain Debian via debian2hd bootoption (which runs grml-debootstrap in non-interactive mode): debian2hd ... whereas valid options for debian2hd are: target= target partition/directory of the new Debian system, e.g.: target=/dev/sda1 grub= where to install grub to, e.g.: grub=/dev/sda release= specify release of new Debian system (default is stable), e.g.: release=sid mirror= specify mirror for apt-get/aptitude, e,g.: mirror=http://ftp.debian.org/debian password= set passwort of user root without prompting for it, e.g.: password=AiTh5ahn Usage example for automatic installation: debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=http://ftp.debian.org/debian password=foobar See http://grml.org/grml-debootstrap/ for more information. Additional notes: ----------------- *) If your Grml-CD makes strange noises during boot, or you see frequent errors like "squashfs: read error", or programs are crashing randomly, then your CD image is probably defective or incomplete, your CD-burner created a defective CD due to wrong writing speed or bad media or your CD-ROM drive is broken. This is the most common error reported. Please boot with "grml testcd" to check if the CD is OK, and/or even better, verify the MD5 checksums that are present on the mirrors before writing the CD. Check your CD low-level via running 'readcd -c2scan dev=/dev/cdrom'. In some cases, defective IDE controllers cause this error if you have DMA enabled. Also, please read the grml-FAQ. *) In case of a failing hardware autodetection, try booting with any of the "no-" options as shown in the table above, like in grml noagp noapic acpi=off nodma to skip some critical parts of the autodetection system. *) Some boards (especially those with E-ISA slots) apparently don't pass the proper memory size to the linux-kernel. It may cause the message "Panic: cannot mount root file system" and the system hangs. Use "grml mem=128M" to solve that problem if your system has 128MByte memory for example (caution: you MUST use a capital "M" here). *) The "myconfig=/dev/partition" option allows you to reconfigure the system after autoconfiguration by running a bourne shell script called "grml.sh" and/or extracting configuration files from a file named config.tbz from the root directory on the given device (or floppy). Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ for more information regarding the configuration framework of grml. *) If you wish to remaster the CD, please don't forget to specify -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \ -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat as option to mkisofs. Otherwise your CD won't be bootable. The directory live, containing the squashfs compressed filesystem file, must be located in the top level directory of the CD. *) Caution: screensavers: Don't start vlock or any other screensaver that requires a password manually. There are no default passwords on the live system - all accounts are LOCKED by default for security reasons. Instead just invoke the script grml-lock which prompts for setting a password. # EOF