6 grml2usb - install grml ISO(s) on usb device for booting
10 grml2usb [ options ] <ISO[s]> <device>
12 *******************************************************************************
13 Important! The grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!
14 *******************************************************************************
19 grml2usb installs grml on a given partition of your usb device and makes it
20 bootable. It provides multi-iso support, meaning you can specify several grml
21 ISOs on the command line at once and select the grml flavour you would like to
22 boot on the bootbrompt then. Note that the *first* ISO specified on the grml2usb
23 command line will become the default one (that's the one that will boot when
24 just pressing enter on the bootprompt or wait until the boot timeout matches).
29 The ISO[s] might be the path to one or multiple grml-ISOs as well as the path to
30 the currently running live-system (being /live/image).
32 The device either might be a device name like /dev/sda1 or a directory. When
33 specifying a device name the device is mounted automatically. When specifying a
34 directory it won't be touched but instead grml2usb is assuming that you did set
35 up a bootloader on your own and a bootloader won't be installed automatically.
37 The following options are supported:
41 Use specified bootoptions as default.
45 Do *not* copy files but instead just install a bootloader.
49 Copy files only but do *not* install a bootloader.
53 Avoid executing commands, instead show what would be executed.
54 Warning: please notice that the ISO has to be mounted anyway, otherwise
55 identifying the grml flavour would not be possible.
59 Format specified partition with FAT16.
60 **Important:** this will destroy any existing data on the specified partition!
64 Force any (possible dangerous) actions requiring manual interaction (like --fat16).
68 Install grub bootloader instead of syslinux. [Notice: not implemented yet.]
72 Display usage information and exit.
76 Install specified initrd instead of the default. You might want to specify
77 option *--kernel* as well. (Be aware when using multiboot setup.)
78 [Notice: not implemented yet.]
82 Install specified kernel instead of the default. You might want to specify
83 option *--initrd* as well. (Be aware when using multiboot setup.)
84 [Notice: not implemented yet.]
88 Use specified lilo executable for installing master boot record (MBR). By
89 default any system wide (from $PATH) lilo executable is taken. If there can not
90 be find any lilo executable the statically compiled version of the grml2usb
91 Debian package (see /usr/share/grml2usb/lilo/lilo.static.[amd64|i386]) is taken.
95 Install a default master boot record (MBR) on the device.
99 Do not output anything but just errors on console.
103 Do not install /boot/addons/ files (like dos, grub, memdisk,...).
107 Install specified squashfs file instead of the default.
108 [Notice: not implemented yet.]
112 Uninstall grml ISO files.
113 [Notice: not implemented yet.]
117 Return version and exit.
126 Directory layout on usb device
127 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
158 | `-- stage2_eltorito
176 |-- grml-cheatcodes.txt
191 |-- filesystem.module
193 |-- grml-medium.module
194 |-- grml-medium.squashfs
195 |-- grml-small.module
196 |-- grml-small.squashfs
199 |-- grml64-medium.module
200 |-- grml64-medium.squashfs
201 |-- grml64-small.module
202 `-- grml64-small.squashfs
207 % git clone git://git.grml.org/grml2usb.git
209 Developers Debugging Hints
210 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
212 To play with grml2usb you can avoid using a real device via a loopback file
215 # dd if=/dev/zero of=~/loopback bs=1M count=100 # adjust size to your needs
216 # losetup /dev/loop1 ~/loopback
218 Then create according partitions either running for example:
220 # echo -en "n\np\n1\n\n\nt\n6\na\n1\n w\n" | fdisk /dev/loop1
224 # parted /dev/loop1 -s "mkpart primary fat16 0 -1s mkfs 1 fat16"
226 Finally create a filesystem and execute grml2usb as needed:
228 # mkfs.vfat /dev/loop1
229 # grml2usb --bootloader-only --mbr /grml/isos/grml-small_2008.11.iso /dev/loop1
234 # blktrace -d /dev/sdb -o - | blkparse -i -
235 # grml2usb grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
237 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
238 --------------------------------
240 What's the difference between grml2hd and grml2usb?
241 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
243 grml2hd installs a running grml system to a harddisk. When rebooting the
244 harddisk installation can be modified and changes will find their way to the
245 harddisk immediately. grml2usb copies just the compressed chroot filesystem
246 (being the squashfs file), some further informational files and a bootloader to
247 your device. This way you don't need as much space as with a harddisk
248 installation (just a USB device with >=ISO size) and when rebooting the system
249 your changes will be lost (even though a persistent root feature is
250 work-in-progress). Think of using a better CD version: booting is (usually)
251 faster, you don't need to burn a new CD when a new ISO version arrives (just
252 install the new ISO using grml2usb) and you can carry additional files on a
253 writable medium with yourself.
255 Why do I have to use a FAT16 filesystem?
256 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
258 You have to use a FAT16 filesystem if you consider using syslinux (being the
259 default when using the --mbr option). Syslinux currently does not support any
260 other filesystems. If you want to use another filesystem (like ext2/3) consider
261 using the --grub option instead.
263 I think I've got a really cool idea!
264 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
266 Please <<X7,report it to the author>>. Or even better: send us a patch.
271 Please <<X7,report it to the author>>. Please provide usage examples and output
272 of your grml2usb commandline (consider using the "--verbose" option).
277 # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
279 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdb1.
281 # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2008.11.iso /home/grml/grml_small_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
283 Install specified ISOs on device /dev/sdb1 for multibooting ISOs.
284 Note: boot "grml" as usual, for booting grml-small use "grml-small on the
285 bootprompt, for grml64 use "grml64" and so on... The *first* specified ISO is
286 the one being the default (when just pressing enter or waiting until the timeout
289 # grml2usb --fat16 --mbr /home/grml/grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
291 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdb1, install MBR on /dev/sdb and
292 format partition /dev/sdb1 with FAT16 filesystem.
294 # grml2usb --grub /home/grml/grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
296 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdb1 and use Grub as bootloader
297 (instead of syslinux being the default).
299 # grml2usb --kernel=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-grml --initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-grml \
300 /home/grml/grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
302 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdb1 but use given kernel and initrd
303 instead of the ones provided by the ISO.
305 # grml2usb --squashfs=/grml/grml-live/grml_cd/live/grml.squashfs \
306 /home/grml/grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
308 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdb1 but use given squashfs
309 file instead of the one provided by the ISO.
311 # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de ssh=mysecret" grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
313 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdb1 and use "lang=de ssh=mysecret" as
319 Check out the link:http://grml.org/grml2usb/[grml2usb webpage] and the
320 link:http://git.grml.org/?p=grml2usb.git[grml2usb git repository].
324 Please report feedback, bugreports and wishes <<X7,to the author>>.
329 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>
331 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
332 http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=tips#multiboot_usb_pen
333 http://www.startx.ro/sugar/isotostick.sh
334 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick
335 http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
336 http://www.tux.org/pub/people/kent-robotti/looplinux/rip/mkusb.sh
337 https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator/
338 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////