CHEATCODES AND HINTS FOR GRML
==============================================================================
-These options work from the (isolinux/grub) bootprompt of grml based (live) systems.
+Isolinux bootprompt options:
+----------------------------
-The following kernel options are available (do NOT use them as 'grml $OPTION',
-use them as '$OPTION'!):
+These options work from the isolinux bootprompt of Grml based (live) systems.
+(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
+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]
+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
-failsafe Boot with (almost) no HW-detection
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 mgetty
+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)
-qemu Boot with special options for use in Qemu
-vmware Boot with special options for use in VMware
+
+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
+* https://manpages.debian.org/live-boot-doc/live-boot.7.en.html
+* https://manpages.debian.org/initramfs-tools-core/initramfs-tools.8.en.html
+* https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.html
The following boot options can be combined.
-Notice: not all of the them are available on all the grml flavours.
+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
-grml tz=Europe/Vienna Use this timezone for TZ
-grml keyboard=us xkeyboard=us Use different keyboard layout (text-console/X)
-grml setkeycodes Set some special function keys for MS/HP keyboards
+grml utc Hardware Clock is set to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
+grml localtime Hardware Clock is set to local time (LOCAL), this is the default
+grml tz=Europe/Vienna Use specified timezone for TZ, defaults to TZ=UTC
+grml keyboard=us Use different keyboard layout
Configuration settings:
-----------------------
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 partconf=/dev/hda2 Copy files specified in /etc/grml/partconf from /dev/hda2
+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 persistent Enable persistency feature, more details available at
+grml persistence Enable persistency feature, more details available at
http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency
-grml home=/dev/hda2 Mount specified partition as grml homedir
-grml home=/dev/sda1/grml.img Mount loopback file as /home/grml
-grml home=scan Automatic search for grml homedir (using file grml.img)
-grml hostname=... Set hostname
+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=path-name-wildcard install Debian packages matching the path-name-wildcard in the
- DCS dir
-grml scripts=path-name execute script (defaulting to grml.sh) inside DCS dir. Path names
+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 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.
+for more information regarding the configuration framework of Grml.
Booting related options:
------------------------
-grml2ram Copy grml's squashfs file to RAM and run from there
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
+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 /live/image/live /mnt/sda1/'
+ running 'rsync -a --progress /run/live/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_2009.05.iso Look for the specified ISO file on all disks where it usually
+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=....). [Available since grml 2009.05]
-grml live-media-path=live Sets the path to the live filesystem on the medium
- By default, it is set to /live
+ 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 $GRML_FLAVOUR
+ is corresponding to grml64-full, grml32-full, grml64-small,...
+ [Note: this option is mandatory since release 2011.12]
grml module=grml Instead of using the default "$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:
---------------------------
-debug Get shells during process of booting, using GNU screen, most verbose
-grml debug Get shells during process of booting, using GNU screen, verbose
+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
+ Also set SYSTEMD_COLORS=0 to disable colors in systemd output
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 ssh=password Set password for user grml and start ssh-server
grml startup=script Start $script instead of grml-quickconfig on startup
grml nosyslog Do not start syslog daemon
grml nogpm Disable GPM daemon
grml noconsolefont Disable setting of console font (using consolechars)
grml noblank Disable console blanking
-grml tsplash Text based bootsplash
grml noquick Disable grml-quickconfig startup script
-grml small Do not start that many consoles
grml wondershaper=eth0,1000,500 Set up basic traffic shaping
grml services={postfix,mysql,...} Start service(s) which have an init-script (/etc/init.d/)
grml welcome Welcome message via soundoutput
grml noeject Do NOT eject CD after halt/reboot
grml noprompt Do NOT prompt to remove the CD when halting/rebooting the system
-grml distcc=$NETWORK,$INTERFACE Activate distcc-daemon to listen on specified network
- and interface, usage example:
- distcc=192.168.0.1/24,eth0
-grml gcc=3.4 gpp=3.4 Link /usr/bin/gcc, /usr/bin/cpp and /usr/bin/c++ to specified version
grml startx{=windowmanager} Start X window system automatically
Default window manager (if not provided): wm-ng (wrapper around fluxbox)
grml nostartx If using startx as default bootoption the nostartx *disables* automatic
startup of X again. (This bootoption is relevant for grml based derivatives
which decide to enable startx by default only, plain grml does not use
automatic startup of X by default.)
+grml vnc=password Start VNC server with startup of X.org and sets the password to the specified
+ one. To automatically start the VNC server use the startx bootoption.
+ [Note: Grml 2011.12+ doesn't include a VNC server.]
+grml vnc_connect=host[:port] Connect to a listening VNC client ("vncviewer -listen" reverse connection).
+ Can be used to connect from devices behind firewalls as connection is
+ initiated from the VNC server instead of the VNC client. Has to be
+ combined with the vnc bootoption.
+ [Note: Grml 2011.12+ doesn't include a VNC client.]
+grml getfile.retries=$NUM Retry the download of the files specified in the netconfig=... +
+ netscript=... options up to $NUM times
+
Accessibility related settings:
-------------------------------
-grml blind Start Braille-Terminal (no X)
-grml hwspeak Probe all available speakup hardware modules
-grml swspeak Prepare system for use with software synthesizer through speakup
- Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
-grml swspeak=espeak Use espeakup (if available) as connector to speakup
- Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
-grml swspeak=speechd Use speech-dispatcher / speechd-up (if available) as connector to speakup
- Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
grml brltty=type,port,table Parameters for Braille device (e.g.: brltty=al,/dev/ttyS0,text.de.tbl)
-grml speakup.synth=... Use speakup kernel module with given hardware type
- Usage example: speakup.synth=apollo
+ 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 readonly Make sure all harddisk devices (/dev/hd* /dev/sd*) are forced to read-only mode
+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,apm,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 915resolution=... Start resolution modify tool for Intel graphic chipset
- usage: $MODE,$XRESO,$YRESO
+grml no{acpi,cpu,dhcp,fstab,swap} Skip parts of HW-detection
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 nousb2 Disable initialization of USB 2.x controller(s)
-grml nousb Disable initialization of USB in booting sequence
-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 [video=ofonly] No-framebuffer mode (does not influence X)
-grml vga=ask [video=ofonly] Display menu for framebuffer mode
+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.
+grml mgag200.modeset=0 nomodeset Disable Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) for MGAG200 driver.
Installation related settings:
------------------------------
-Caution: do *not* use the grml2hd and/or debian2hd bootoption if you do not know what you are doing!
+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 <options> ... whereas valid options for debian2hd are:
- target= target partition/directory of the new Debian system, e.g.: target=/dev/hda1
- grub= where to install grub to? Use grub syntax for specifying, e.g.: grub=hd0
- groot= specify root device for usage in grub (use grub syntax), e.g.: groot=hd0,0
+ 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=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
+ 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/hda1 grub=hd0 groot=hd0,0 mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
+ debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=http://ftp.debian.org/debian password=foobar
See http://grml.org/grml-debootstrap/ for more information.
-Install grml via grml2hd bootoption (which runs grml2hd in non-interactive mode):
-
-grml2hd <options> ... whereas valid options for grml2hd are:
-
- user= user name for user which should be used at hd-install
- filesystem={ext2|ext3|reiserfs|reiser4|jfs|xfs} filesystem to be used
- mbr=/dev/... partition where MBR should be installed (default:=partition)
- partition=/dev/... partition where grml should be installed
-
- Usage example for booting:
- grml2hd partition=/dev/hda4 mbr=/dev/hda filesystem=ext3 user=mika
-
- Passwords of user root and user are "grml" - please adjust after hd-install!
-
- See http://grml.org/grml2hd/ for more information.
-
Additional notes:
-----------------
-*) Try "grml pci=irqmask=0x0e98" if (you have a notebook and) your
-PS/2 mouse doesn't work. (Possibly caused by a BIOS-flaw on your board,
-BIOS updates can help.) Sometimes, switching to the text console with
-Control-Alt-F1 and back to the X-screen with Control-Alt-F7 solves the
-problem without rebooting, since the X server reinitializes the mouse
-driver during that procedure.
-
-*) If your grml-CD makes strange noises during boot, or you see frequent
+*) 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
*) 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 noapm noapic acpi=off nodma
+ 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
directory live, containing the squashfs compressed filesystem file,
must be located in the top level directory of the CD.
-*) Caution: screensavers: Don't start xlock/vlock or any other screensaver
-that requires a password. There are no default passwords on grml,
-i.e. all accounts are LOCKED unless you explicitly set a password.
-See also README.txt about this issue.
-Hint: If you accidentially started a screensaver switch to one of the
-textconsoles by Control-Alt-F1 and kill the screensaver (or just set a
-password for the grml user). Take a look at the script grml-lock.
+*) Caution: screensavers: Don't start physlock 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
projects / grml-live.git / blobdiff