-C **CONFIGURATION_FILE**::
The specified file is used as configuration file for grml-live. By default
-/etc/grml/grml-live.conf is used for main configuration. If a file named
+/etc/grml/grml-live.conf is used as default configuration. If a file named
/etc/grml/grml-live.local exists it is used as well (sourced after reading
-/etc/grml/grml-live.conf to allow overriding settings). As a last option the
-specified configuration file is sourced so it is possible to override settings
-of /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as well as of /etc/grml/grml-live.local. Please
-notice that all configuration files have to be adjusted during execution of
-grml-live, so please make sure you use /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as a base for
-your own configuration file. Please also notice that the configuration file
-specified via this option is **not** (yet) supported inside the
-scripts/hooks/classes at /etc/grml/fai/config. Instead use
-/etc/grml/grml-live.conf and/or /etc/grml/grml-live.local for configuration
-stuff used inside /etc/grml/fai/config.
+/etc/grml/grml-live.conf meant as main file for local configuration). As a last
+option the specified configuration file is sourced so it is possible to override
+settings of /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as well as of /etc/grml/grml-live.local.
+Please notice that all configuration files have to be adjusted during execution
+of grml-live, so please make sure you use /etc/grml/grml-live.conf as a base for
+your own configuration file (usually /etc/grml/grml-live.local). Please also
+notice that the configuration file specified via this option is **not** (yet)
+supported inside the scripts/hooks/classes at /etc/grml/fai/config. Instead use
+/etc/grml/grml-live.local for configuration stuff used inside
+/etc/grml/fai/config.
+
+ -d **DATE**::
+
+Use specified date as build date information on the ISO instead of the default.
+The default is the date when grml-live is being executed (retrieved via
+executing 'date +%Y-%m-%d'). The information is stored inside the file
+/GRML/grml-version on the ISO, /etc/grml_version in the squashfs file and in all
+the bootsplash related files. This option is useful if you want to provide an
+ISO with release information for a specific date but have to build it in
+advance. Usage example: '-d 2009-10-30'
-F::
Specify name of ISO which will be available inside $OUTPUT_DIRECTORY/grml_isos
by default.
+ -I **CHROOT_INSTALL**::
+
+Specify name of source directory which provides files that should become part of
+the chroot/ISO. Not enabled by default. Note: the files are installed under '/'
+in the chroot so you have to create the rootfs structure on your own.
+
+ -n::
+
+Skip creation of the ISO file. This option is useful if you want to build/update
+the chroot and/or recreate the squashfs file without building an ISO file.
+
-o **OUTPUT_DIRECTORY**::
Main output directory of the build process of FAI. Some directories are created
Specify the Debian suite you want to use for your live-system. Defaults to
"lenny" (being current Debian/stable). Supported values are: etch, lenny, sid.
Debian "squeeze" (current Debian/testing) requires base.tgz
-(/etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/....tar.gz) until it's supported by debootstrap.
+(/etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/....tar.gz) or a recent version of debootstrap.
-t **TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY**::
If you want to use your own configuration, extend an existing configuration
and/or add additional packages to your ISO just invent a new class (or extend an
existing one). For example if you want to use your own class named "FOOBAR" just
-extend CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386" inside /etc/grml/grml-live.conf to
-CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR" or invoke grml-live using the classes
-option: "grml-live -c GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...".
+set CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386" inside /etc/grml/grml-live.local or
+invoke grml-live using the classes option: "grml-live -c
+GRMLBASE,GRML_SMALL,I386,FOOBAR ...".
More details regarding the class concept can be found in the documentation of
FAI itself (being available at /usr/share/doc/fai-doc/).
this class as well, so unless you have a really good reason you should always
use this class.
-* GRML_FORENSIC: tools for forensic investigations which has been created
-by people from link:http://www.forensic-geeks.org/[forensic-geeks.org].
-
* GRML_FULL: full featured grml, also known as the "normal", full grml.
* GRML_MEDIUM: medium sized grml version, known as grml-medium
/etc/grml/grml-live.conf
-Main configuration file for grml-live. All the important steps can be configured
-at this stage.
+Main configuration file for grml-live which should be considered as a reference
+configuration file only. Please use /etc/grml/grml-live.local for local
+configuration instead.
+
+ /etc/grml/grml-live.local
+
+All the local configuration should go to this file. This file overrides any
+defaults of grml-live. Configurations via /etc/grml/grml-live.local are prefered
+over the ones from /etc/grml/grml-live.conf. If you want to override settings
+from /etc/grml/grml-live.local as well you have to specify them on the grml-live
+commandline.
/etc/grml/fai/fai.conf
Main configuration file for FAI which specifies where all the configuration
-files and scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default it is set to
-FAI_CONFIGDIR=/etc/grml/fai/config, a directory shipped by grml-live
-out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this file.
+files and scripts for FAI/grml-live can be found. By default the configuration
+variables are FAI_CONFIG_SRC=file:///etc/grml/fai/config and
+FAI_CONFIGDIR=/etc/grml/fai/config - both pointing to a directory shipped by
+grml-live out-of-the-box so you shouldn't have to configure anything in this
+file.
/etc/grml/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
To make it easier to track problems this section documents current state of
grml-live playing together with squashfs-tools / squashfs-lzma-tools (for
building the compressed file) and the kernel version. Documentation of this
-section is up2date by 04nd of august 2009, please report any bugs you
+section is up2date by 7rd of september 2009, please report any bugs you
encounter.
+Difference between squashfs-lzma-tools and squashfs-tools
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Whereas the ZLIB compression is much faster in the build process, the LZMA
+compression provides a smaller resulting ISO. If you're wondering: the official
+Grml builds use the LZMA compression.
+
+Squashfs-tools was introduced in Debian and once provided support for LZMA
+compression. Sadly LZMA compression within squashfs-tools became unsupported and
+therefore squashfs-lzma-tools had to be introduced by the Grml team. Different
+kernel versions provide different squashfs file formats (version 3.x for kernel
+versions until 2.6.28-grml[64], since kernel 2.6.31-grml[64] it's the 4.x
+format).
+
+If you're wondering which package supports what, here's a short overview:
+
+* squashfs-tools 1:4.0-1: ZLIB as default, no LZMA support/options, file format
+version 4
+
+* squashfs-tools 1:3.3-7: ZLIB as default, no LZMA support/options, file format
+version 3
+
+* squashfs-tools 1:3.2r2-9exp1: LZMA as default, ZLIB support via -nolzma
+option, file format version 3
+
+* squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2: ZLIB as default, LZMA support via -lzma option,
+file format version 4
+
+* squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1: LZMA as default, ZLIB support via -nolzma option,
+file format version 3
+
+Depending on the kernel version you want to use you need different versions
+squashfs-tools/squashfs-lzma-tools. Yes, that's pretty a mess (don't ask how
+much this sucks for us developers) - though this is supposed to calm down with
+the recent integration of squashfs file format 4 in the mainline kernel. Support
+for LZMA is pending and should dramatically simplify the situation for
+developers as well as users as soon as it's available mainline.
+
+Using squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2 on the build system
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2 is available via the grml repositories. It provides
+the mksquashfs-lzma and unsquashfs-lzma binaries. The package does NOT conflict
+with Debian's squashfs-tools package (you can install both of them at the same
+time).
+
+The packages can be downloaded from
+link:http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/s/squashfs-lzma-tools/[http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/s/squashfs-lzma-tools/]
+
+It provides support for the new squashfs file format version 4 and therefore
+requires kernel versions newer than 2.6.28-grml[64]. It supports LZMA as well as
+ZLIB compression. Just use the defaults for enabling LZMA or use grml-live's
+'-z' option if you want to use ZLIB instead.
+
+* Kernel 2.6.23-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.26-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.28-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.31-grml[64]: works
+
+[NOTE]
+
+Please use squashfs-lzma-tools >=4.0-2 from Grml if you want to remaster any
+grml release being MORE RECENT than 2009.05.
+
+Using squashfs-tools 1:4.0-X on the build system
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+squashfs-tools >=1:4.0-1 is available in Debian/unstable and Debian/testing. It
+provides the mksquashfs and unsquashfs binaries. The package does NOT
+conflict with the squashfs-lzma-tools 4.0-2 package (you can install both of
+them at the same time).
+
+The packages can be downloaded from
+link:ftp://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/s/squashfs-tools/[ftp://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/s/squashfs-tools/]
+
+It provides support for the new squashfs file format version 4 and therefore
+requires kernel versions newer than 2.6.28-grml[64].
+
+It does NOT support LZMA compression. If you need LZMA support please use
+Grml's squashfs-lzma-tools (see section above) instead.
+
+* Kernel 2.6.23-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.26-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.28-grml[64]: does not work
+* Kernel 2.6.31-grml[64]: works
+
+[NOTE]
+Please use squashfs-tools >=1:4.0-1 only if you want to remaster grml releases
+MORE RECENT than 2009.05 using the ZLIB compression.
+
Using squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1 on the build system
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-squashfs-lzma-tools from the grml repository supports kernel 2.6.26-grml[64] and
-2.6.28-grml[64] using both lzma and zlib (-nolzma) compression. It's the
-recommended package for building ISOs with grml-live currently!
+squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1 from the grml repository supports kernel
+2.6.26-grml[64] and 2.6.28-grml[64] using both LZMA and ZLIB (-nolzma)
+compression. It's the recommended package for building ISOs with grml-live
+currently!
The packages can be downloaded from
link:http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/s/squashfs-lzma/[http://deb.grml.org/pool/main/s/squashfs-lzma/].
Using squashfs-tools 1:3.3-7 on the build system
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-squashfs-tools 1:3.3-7 is available via the official Debian/unstable and
-Debian/testing (Lenny) pool running:
-
- # aptitude install squashfs-tools=1:3.3-7
-
-or directly via downloading the files
+squashfs-tools 1:3.3-7 is available through
http://grml.org/squashfs/squashfs-tools_3.3-7_i386.deb (for x86) or
http://grml.org/squashfs/squashfs-tools_3.3-7_amd64.deb (for amd64) [both build
on and for Debian/etch but working with testing and unstable as well].
Using with LZMA compression:
* Kernel 2.6.23-grml: works
-* Kernel 2.6.26-grml: does NOT work, please use zlib mode instead or switch
- to Debian package squashfs-lzma-tools (see section above).
-* Kernel 2.6.28-grml: does NOT work, please use zlib mode instead or switch
- to Debian package squashfs-lzma-tools (see section above).
+* Kernel 2.6.26-grml: does NOT work, please use ZLIB mode instead or switch
+ to Debian package squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1 (see section above).
+* Kernel 2.6.28-grml: does NOT work, please use ZLIB mode instead or switch
+ to Debian package squashfs-lzma-tools 3.3-1 (see section above).
[[faq]]
FAQ
# grml stable repository:
deb http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable main
- deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable main
+ # deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable main
# grml testing/development repository:
deb http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main
- deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main
+ # deb-src http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main
EOF
# adjust apt-pinning (only prefer squashfs stuff from grml):
mkdir -p /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/
mv base.tgz /etc/grml/fai/config/basefiles/I386.tar.gz
- # install relevant tools:
+ # install relevant tools
+ # please check out http://grml.org/grml-live/#current_state when encountering problems!
apt-get -o APT::Install-Recommends=false install grml-live squashfs-lzma-tools
# adjust grml-live configuration for our needs:
cat > /etc/grml/grml-live.local << EOF
- # consider using lzma only for space reasons (resulting in longer
+ # consider using LZMA only for space reasons (resulting in longer
# build time but smaller ISO):
SQUASHFS_OPTIONS="-nolzma"
+ # install local files into the chroot
+ CHROOT_INSTALL="/etc/grml/fai/chroot_install"
## adjust if necessary (defaults to /grml/grml-live):
## OUTPUT="/srv/grml-live"
- FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="squeeze http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/"
+ FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="squeeze http://cdn.debian.net/debian/"
ARCH="i386"
CLASSES="GRMLBASE,GRML_MEDIUM,I386"
ZERO_LOGFILE='1'
GRML_LIVE_SOURCES="
deb http://deb.grml.org/ grml-stable main
deb http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main
- deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian squeeze main contrib non-free
+ deb http://cdn.debian.net/debian squeeze main contrib non-free
"
EOF
I've problems with the build process. How to start debugging?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Check out the logs inside /var/log/fai/... If you don't have the time to debug
-the problem in further detail or don't know how to proceed just send a copy of
-your config, logs and the commandline with a short problem description to
-<mika@grml.org>:
+Check out the logs inside /var/log/fai/... If you think it's a bug in grml-live
+send a copy of your config, logs and the commandline with a short problem
+description to <mika@grml.org>:
# history | grep grml-live > /etc/grml/grml_live.cmdline
# tar zcf grml_live_problem.tar.gz /etc/grml/grml-live.conf \
- /etc/grml/grml-buildd.conf /var/log/fai /etc/grml/fai
+ /etc/grml/grml_live.cmdline /etc/grml/grml-buildd.conf \
+ /var/log/fai /etc/grml/fai
+ -> finally mail grml_live_problem.tar.gz to <mika@grml.org>
+
+If you need help with grml-live or would like to see new features as part of
+grml-live you can get commercial support via
+link:http://grml-solutions.com/[Grml Solutions].
+
+[[lzma-vs-zlib]]
+How much is the difference between LZMA and ZLIB compression?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+ISO size (bs = blocksize):
+
+[width="45%",cols="3,^2,^2"]
+|============================================================
+|ISO |LZMA (256kB bs) |ZLIB
+|grml_sid |666M | 771M
+|grml_squeeze |659M | 761M
+|grml_lenny |624M | 723M
+|grml64_sid |677M | 791M
+|grml64_squeeze |671M | 785M
+|grml64_lenny |639M | 745M
+|grml-medium_sid |208M | 236M
+|grml-medium_squeeze |206M | 234M
+|grml-medium_lenny |193M | 220M
+|grml64-medium_sid |213M | 245M
+|grml64-medium_squeeze |213M | 244M
+|grml64-medium_lenny |201M | 231M
+|grml-small_sid |102M | 118M
+|grml-small_squeeze |101M | 117M
+|grml-small_lenny |97M | 112M
+|grml64-small_sid |103M | 120M
+|grml64-small_squeeze |103M | 120M
+|grml64-small_lenny |99M | 116M
+|============================================================
+
+Build time of grml-medium's squashfs file (depends on your system, though just
+to get the ratio between the different options):
+
+* 10 minutes and 4 seconds with LZMA default blocksize (128k)
+* 7 minutes 27 seconds with LZMA and blocksize 256k
+* 6 minutes and 8 seconds with LZMA blocksize 512k
+* 1 minute and 40 seconds with ZLIB
+
+[[install-local-files]]
+How to I install further files into the chroot/ISO?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Just point the configuration variable CHROOT_INSTALL to the directory which
+provides the files you would like to install. Note that the files are installed
+under '/' in the chroot - so you have to create the rootfs structure on your
+own. Usage example:
+
+ echo "CHROOT_INSTALL=\$GRML_FAI_CONFIG/chroot_install" >> /etc/grml/grml-live.local
+ mkdir -p /etc/grml/fai/chroot_install/usr/src/
+ wget example.org/foo.tar.gz
+ mv foo.tar.gz /etc/grml/fai/chroot_install/usr/src/
+ grml-live ...
[[local-debian-mirror]]
Can I use my own (local) Debian mirror?
First of all build the chroot system:
mkdir /tmp/nfsroot && cd /tmp/nfsroot
- debootstrap lenny /tmp/nfsroot/ http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian
+ debootstrap lenny /tmp/nfsroot/ http://cdn.debian.net/debian
tar zcf base.tgz ./
Then check out where your NFSROOT is located:
GRML_LIVE_SOURCES="
deb http://localhost:3142/deb.grml.org grml-stable main
deb http://localhost:3142/deb.grml.org grml-testing main
- deb http://localhost:3142/ftp.de.debian.org/debian lenny main contrib non-free
+ deb http://localhost:3142/cdn.debian.net/debian lenny main contrib non-free
"
[...]
- FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="lenny http://localhost:3142/ftp.de.debian.org/debian lenny main contrib non-free"
+ FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="lenny http://localhost:3142/cdn.debian.net/debian lenny main contrib non-free"
Make sure apt-cacher / apt-cacher-ng is running ('/etc/init.d/apt-cacher
restart' or '/etc/init.d/apt-cacher-ng restart'). That's it. All downloaded
I've a question which isn't answered by this document
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Don't hesitate to ask on IRC (channel #grml on irc.freenode.org) or just drop me
-a mail: <mika@grml.org>
+Don't hesitate to contact the author: <mika@grml.org>
[[download]]
Download / install grml-live as a Debian package
TODO list
---------
-Check out link:http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml-live[grml-live in the grml-wiki]
-for details.
+Check out the link:http://git.grml.org/?p=grml-live.git;a=blob;f=TODO;hb=HEAD[TODO file].
[[bugs]]
Bugs
projects / grml-live.git / blobdiff