Re: live cd/usb projects?
On Thu, Dec 03, 2009 at 04:25:41AM +, T o n g wrote: Thanks a lot Tzafrir Rob for your explains. Hope that my slow respond can still get the thread going. On Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:32:25 -0500, Rob Owens wrote: If you're concerned about adding packages w/o using -p mylist, you can add --interactive enabled into the lh_config command. That'll give you a shell before the image is created (after you run lh_build). There you can add repositories, install software, etc. When you exit the shell, the build will continue. Any one know if I can break down this Ms-Windows-like, all-magic-happen- within-a-single-click approach into finer steps? Say, get into the interactive shell mode as many times as I want; or stops after debootstrap? This way, I can make a backup with the smallest system and trying playing with my various package lists. If I screwed, I can just restore from backup and start over in no time, without going through the lengthy procedure of another debootstrap session. I don't really know the answer to that, but here are some suggestions: 1) Install apt-cacher-ng (or another caching proxy) on your LAN, and use it for your builds. This way you won't have to re-download packages on your second build. The easiest way I've found to get lh_build to use my proxy is to run this in the same shell that I will run lh_build in: export http_proxy=http://myproxy:3142;; (port 3142 is apt-cacher-ng's default port) 2) Build a basic system image, and then use the persistence feature to customize your installation, just as you would a regular hard-disk-installed system. Maybe I've got used to the tools that I am using, but I found that grml- debootstrap and grml-chroot give me the maximum freedom regarding playing with the underlying live system in micro steps. E.g., I can install packages step by step, which is a must if you use file-rc; I can do my own customization to the live system before wrapping it up in the .squashfs and/or .iso file. This will save me tremendous time in learning/exploring period, comparing to go over the whole process for a simple/minor fix/enhance. - is there any other way to install the content, say copy into a ext3 partition? I think you should be able to mount binary.img as a loopback interface. You might need to specify -t squashfs in your mount command Ok, thanks. Just for the record, mounting with -t squashfs is actually the 2nd step after loop mounting binary.img, to expose the underlying compressed root file system in the .squashfs file. - how can I create an .iso file instea? Use -b iso instead of -b usb-hdd in the lh_config command. I'm not sure if/how persistence would work if you create a live CD. I've never tried it. Yes, it works exactly the same. Your step #11 creates a filesystem for the peristence partition, which is all the magic it need for the persistence, regardless whether the OS is booted from USB or ISO. But personally, I strongly recommend to create a peristence file instead of peristence partition, on each computer that you want to boot the USB. This reason is for maximum compatibility. For detailed explanation, please check out the reason at There's also a persistent snapshot feature, which I'm just experimenting with now. It keeps all persistence changes in RAM, until shutdown or reboot, when it does all its writes at once. There is a bug in live-initramfs right now, though, requiring a very minor edit to the live-snapshot script. See: http://lists.debian.org/debian-live/2009/11/msg00224.html The word eval needs to be added in 2 spots. -Rob -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
On Thu, 3 Dec 2009 18:19:09 -0500 Rob Owens row...@ptd.net wrote: ... 1) Install apt-cacher-ng (or another caching proxy) on your LAN, and use it for your builds. This way you won't have to re-download packages on your second build. The easiest way I've found to get lh_build to use my proxy is to run this in the same shell that I will run lh_build in: export http_proxy=http://myproxy:3142;; (port 3142 is apt-cacher-ng's default port) http://wiki.debian.org/DebianLive/Howto/Cache_Packages Celejar -- foffl.sourceforge.net - Feeds OFFLine, an offline RSS/Atom aggregator mailmin.sourceforge.net - remote access via secure (OpenPGP) email ssuds.sourceforge.net - A Simple Sudoku Solver and Generator -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
Thanks a lot Tzafrir Rob for your explains. Hope that my slow respond can still get the thread going. On Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:32:25 -0500, Rob Owens wrote: . . . There are many conflicting sets of instructions floating around on wikis, etc. It took me a long time to get this stuff figured out. That's exactly what I felt, and why I gave up after several attempts. I think it is time for me to try it out again. So more questions followed: If you're concerned about adding packages w/o using -p mylist, you can add --interactive enabled into the lh_config command. That'll give you a shell before the image is created (after you run lh_build). There you can add repositories, install software, etc. When you exit the shell, the build will continue. Any one know if I can break down this Ms-Windows-like, all-magic-happen- within-a-single-click approach into finer steps? Say, get into the interactive shell mode as many times as I want; or stops after debootstrap? This way, I can make a backup with the smallest system and trying playing with my various package lists. If I screwed, I can just restore from backup and start over in no time, without going through the lengthy procedure of another debootstrap session. Maybe I've got used to the tools that I am using, but I found that grml- debootstrap and grml-chroot give me the maximum freedom regarding playing with the underlying live system in micro steps. E.g., I can install packages step by step, which is a must if you use file-rc; I can do my own customization to the live system before wrapping it up in the .squashfs and/or .iso file. This will save me tremendous time in learning/exploring period, comparing to go over the whole process for a simple/minor fix/enhance. - is there any other way to install the content, say copy into a ext3 partition? I think you should be able to mount binary.img as a loopback interface. You might need to specify -t squashfs in your mount command Ok, thanks. Just for the record, mounting with -t squashfs is actually the 2nd step after loop mounting binary.img, to expose the underlying compressed root file system in the .squashfs file. - how can I create an .iso file instea? Use -b iso instead of -b usb-hdd in the lh_config command. I'm not sure if/how persistence would work if you create a live CD. I've never tried it. Yes, it works exactly the same. Your step #11 creates a filesystem for the peristence partition, which is all the magic it need for the persistence, regardless whether the OS is booted from USB or ISO. But personally, I strongly recommend to create a peristence file instead of peristence partition, on each computer that you want to boot the USB. This reason is for maximum compatibility. For detailed explanation, please check out the reason at http://live-developers.sourceforge.net/tools/persistent/ #Make_it_portable_and_fast thanks -- Tong (remove underscore(s) to reply) http://xpt.sourceforge.net/techdocs/ http://xpt.sourceforge.net/tools/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
thanks for the feedback. sorry it has taken some time to reply but I have been reading before responding. I hope my post isn't too long but I wanted to keep most of the replies intact. debian-user-digest-requ...@lists.debian.org wrote: Subject: Re: live cd/usb projects? From: Jiří Paleček jpale...@web.de Date: Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:41:37 +0100 On Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:30:02 +0100, Geoffrey Lane freebal...@gmail.com wrote: [ snip ] I wonder first how many has done what I'm looking to do? Perhaps many. Are there some people using linux-live script to make one, or another method? I am using dfsbuild (not really maintained, had to patch it) to make a similar (in extent, not in purpose) live CD. It contains some 5 kernels, gcc, gdb, cmake, some -dev packages, web browser (opera), emacs. You may also have a look at the KDE Four live CD, and how they make it. I'm not a fan of kde, mostly because the size. Like 400mb instead of 40mb for xfce or even smaller for lxde or fluxbox. I will look to see how its made, or maybee they have some scripts available Difficult but not unattainable. But you'll probably have to use compression somehow (on the CD I use zisofs). snipped I've only used zfs.. for a live cd (multimedia) called geexbox. I assume it will not have any issues with booting just shrinking the size of the cd contents? I'm not sure about the office apps, but I'm sure you can fit the rest on a CD, which is about the size you need. Regards Jiri Palecek I was thinking more about abiword. Sorry for the confusion. An office suite would be nice but its way to big. Subject: Re: live cd/usb projects? From: Rob Owens row...@ptd.net Date: Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:34:56 -0500 I currently use Debian Live. I create my own images for USB using the live-helper scripts. The latest one I made came in at just over 700MB. Here's the list of packages I specified to include (not all the dependencies are listed): lxde lxlauncher snipped package list If you need pointers on how to do this yourself, let me know. If you want to give me a list of apps and have me make an image for you, I can do that as long as you have a way for me to get it to you (rsync server, ftp server, etc). I will probably do that. I have alot of apprehension making these as I know it takes alot of time waiting for results sometimes to have it crash or worse you make a mistake. I'm doing my best to get ready like I did with knoppix even if I have to ask a stupid question or two. I could probably setup access for you on ftp server if it doesn't come throu but let you know ahead of time. Size should be a bit smaller - I hope. Thank you for the offer I will get back to you :) Note that I use fluxbox as my window manager, but I install LXDE as well because brings in a lot of apps that I find handy. Plus I intend to experiment with using LXDE...someday. -Rob -- 'Bill Gates can't guarantee Windows, so how in the HELL can you guarantee our safety!' --John Crichton (Farscape) -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
On Tue, Dec 01, 2009 at 08:09:35PM -0400, Geoffrey Lane wrote: Subject: Re: live cd/usb projects? From: Rob Owens row...@ptd.net Date: Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:34:56 -0500 I currently use Debian Live. I create my own images for USB using the live-helper scripts. The latest one I made came in at just over 700MB. Here's the list of packages I specified to include (not all the dependencies are listed): lxde lxlauncher snipped package list If you need pointers on how to do this yourself, let me know. If you want to give me a list of apps and have me make an image for you, I can do that as long as you have a way for me to get it to you (rsync server, ftp server, etc). I will probably do that. I have alot of apprehension making these as I know it takes alot of time waiting for results sometimes to have it crash or worse you make a mistake. I'm doing my best to get ready like I did with knoppix even if I have to ask a stupid question or two. I could probably setup access for you on ftp server if it doesn't come throu but let you know ahead of time. Size should be a bit smaller - I hope. Thank you for the offer I will get back to you :) I forgot that there's a gui for building a Debian Live image (with a subset of the options that are available at the command line). It's called live-magic. I've never used it, but it might be worth a look. -Rob -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
Thanks a lot for the detailed instruction Rob, really appreciate it. On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:52:34 -0500, Rob Owens wrote: 9) With your USB drive inserted and not mounted: (replace X with the proper letter for your device) dd if=binary.img of=/dev/sdX Several questions regarding this step: - what's the underlying file system does the binary.img have, vfat? - what bootloader does it use? - is there any other way to install the content, say copy into a ext3 partition? - how can I create an .iso file instea? I know all above questions are of RTFM ones (though scattered all over the places), so please ignore me if they bother you. Thanks -- Tong (remove underscore(s) to reply) http://xpt.sourceforge.net/techdocs/ http://xpt.sourceforge.net/tools/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 04:45:31PM +, T o n g wrote: Thanks a lot for the detailed instruction Rob, really appreciate it. On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:52:34 -0500, Rob Owens wrote: 9) With your USB drive inserted and not mounted: (replace X with the proper letter for your device) dd if=binary.img of=/dev/sdX Several questions regarding this step: - what's the underlying file system does the binary.img have, vfat? Or FAT16. It doesn't really matter, though. See --binary-filesystem in lh_config(8). - what bootloader does it use? syslinux by default. Grub can also be used, but you'll miss the interactive menu. - is there any other way to install the content, say copy into a ext3 partition? Look at chroot/ and binary/ under the build directory. - how can I create an .iso file instea? That is actually the default, if you don't use --binary-images usb-hdd -- Tzafrir Cohen | tzaf...@jabber.org | VIM is http://tzafrir.org.il || a Mutt's tzaf...@cohens.org.il || best ICQ# 16849754 || friend -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 04:45:31PM +, T o n g wrote: Thanks a lot for the detailed instruction Rob, really appreciate it. On Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:52:34 -0500, Rob Owens wrote: 9) With your USB drive inserted and not mounted: (replace X with the proper letter for your device) dd if=binary.img of=/dev/sdX Several questions regarding this step: - what's the underlying file system does the binary.img have, vfat? Yes, it is vfat. However, I think if your image is over a certain size it is created using a different filesystem (I can't remember which, and I can't remember exactly where I read that). - what bootloader does it use? syslinux. There is an option in lh_config to specify --bootloader grub or --bootloader yaboot if you want/need to use one of those. - is there any other way to install the content, say copy into a ext3 partition? I think you should be able to mount binary.img as a loopback interface. You might need to specify -t squashfs in your mount command, and for that you might need some special squashfs tools. I think I did this once, but I don't remember the steps. If you're concerned about adding packages w/o using -p mylist, you can add --interactive enabled into the lh_config command. That'll give you a shell before the image is created (after you run lh_build). There you can add repositories, install software, etc. When you exit the shell, the build will continue. - how can I create an .iso file instea? Use -b iso instead of -b usb-hdd in the lh_config command. I'm not sure if/how persistence would work if you create a live CD. I've never tried it. I know all above questions are of RTFM ones (though scattered all over the places), so please ignore me if they bother you. No problem. There are many conflicting sets of instructions floating around on wikis, etc. It took me a long time to get this stuff figured out. -Rob -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
On Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:34:56 -0500, Rob Owens wrote: . . . My ideal is of course Debian and apt-get/deb. The Debian/xfce live cd is ok @ 400mb but I'd like to shrink it or keep it same size with my preferred apps. . . . I currently use Debian Live. I create my own images for USB using the live-helper scripts. @Rob, I'm interested in how you do that. I found that the Debian Live/ live-helper manpage, web, wiki are just way too unfriendly for me to digest. @Geoffrey, you can also check out http://grml.org/grml-live/, at least it is much much more well documented than Debian Live. And IMHO, easier to use too. But personally, I use http://grml.org/grml-debootstrap/, because I like simple solutions. -- Tong (remove underscore(s) to reply) http://xpt.sourceforge.net/techdocs/ http://xpt.sourceforge.net/tools/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
On Sat, Nov 28, 2009 at 06:57:41PM +, T o n g wrote: On Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:34:56 -0500, Rob Owens wrote: . . . My ideal is of course Debian and apt-get/deb. The Debian/xfce live cd is ok @ 400mb but I'd like to shrink it or keep it same size with my preferred apps. . . . I currently use Debian Live. I create my own images for USB using the live-helper scripts. @Rob, I'm interested in how you do that. I found that the Debian Live/ live-helper manpage, web, wiki are just way too unfriendly for me to digest. I also found the manual to be a little tough to follow sometimes. It's actually pretty straightforward. Here's what you have to do. All of this is done as root. 1) aptitude install live-helper 1a) optional, but recommended: Get the latest live-helper from testing. The boot menu is improved in this version. http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/all/live-helper/download 2) You will now have a directory called /usr/share/live-helper/lists. These are pre-configured package lists. You can create your own customized one and put it in this directory (I'll pretend you've called it mylist). 3) mkdir live1 4) cd live1 5) lh_clean 6) Do either 6a or 6b: 6a) Configure live-helper to make an image suitable for USB on an i386 type machine, using the lxde package list: lh_config -a i386 -b usb-hdd -p lxde 6b) Configure live-helper to make an image suitable for USB on an i386 type machine, using the mylist package list, which will not automatically log in a user (it will stop at GDM or whatever login manager you have installed), is persistent by default, and has a hostname of mylivedebian: lh_config -a i386 -b usb-hdd -p mylist --bootappend-live noautologin noxautologin persistent --hostname mylivedebian 7) lh_build 8) wait a while 9) With your USB drive inserted and not mounted: (replace X with the proper letter for your device) dd if=binary.img of=/dev/sdX 10) Create a partition for persistence in the extra space on your USB drive: fdisk /dev/sdX p (print the existing partition layout) n (new partition) p (primary partition) 2 (partition #2) enter (accept default start of partition) enter (accept default to use all remaining space on the device) w (write the partition table) 11) Create a filesystem for the peristence partition: mkfs.ext2 -L live-rw /dev/sdX2 (the label of live-rw is important!) 12) Boot from your USB stick! 13) Add users, customize the system, install software, etc. I like to give myself sudo rights and take sudo rights away from the user live. -Rob -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
On Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:30:02 +0100, Geoffrey Lane freebal...@gmail.com wrote: Will try to make long story short here, I know I probably just need a larger drive to accommodate a full distro but I can't afford to right now. I have been reading but unsure of the outcome, being pulled into other directions. I also wanted to ask somethings before I start. [ snip ] I wonder first how many has done what I'm looking to do? Perhaps many. Are there some people using linux-live script to make one, or another method? I am using dfsbuild (not really maintained, had to patch it) to make a similar (in extent, not in purpose) live CD. It contains some 5 kernels, gcc, gdb, cmake, some -dev packages, web browser (opera), emacs. You may also have a look at the KDE Four live CD, and how they make it. Am I making things to difficult? I mean are my expectation on size too much? Difficult but not unattainable. But you'll probably have to use compression somehow (on the CD I use zisofs). Are there projects like this (maintained)? My ideal cd is a desktop replacement, I could use xfce, openbox, fluxbox, e17 - ANYTHING. I want things like internet apps (web, email, ftp, irc, im, torrent), picture and documents, archive maker/extractor and if possible multimedia (music, video). A few Linux apps like vnc, gparted or rescue apps, console would be nice but not necessary -- (why I want apt-get) I'm not sure about the office apps, but I'm sure you can fit the rest on a CD, which is about the size you need. Regards Jiri Palecek -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: live cd/usb projects?
On Fri, Nov 27, 2009 at 04:07:45PM -0400, Geoffrey Lane wrote: Will try to make long story short here, I know I probably just need a larger drive to accommodate a full distro but I can't afford to right now. I have been reading but unsure of the outcome, being pulled into other directions. I also wanted to ask somethings before I start. I've been looking around to find a good desktop replacement style live cd. I know I need to just spend some more money on a larger usb thumbdrive but in this economy who can blame me for trying to get most bang for my buck? My thumbdrive is a biometric (as in fingerprint reader) 2gb drive. It partitions the safe data aside from public files. I want to repartition it to allow roughly 512-768mb for Linux - in this case less is better! Perhaps I'm picky and I'll be the first to admit that. My ideal is of course Debian and apt-get/deb. The Debian/xfce live cd is ok @ 400mb but I'd like to shrink it or keep it same size with my preferred apps. The remaster guide is straight forward - similar to my knoppix (except back then it was cloop). I have also looked at other live cd scripts like the one slax uses [http://www.linux-live.org/] and the ones listed in Debian repo. I'm cautious because the Debian scripts (SEEM) to be no longer maintained, and the slax scripts are designed for Slackware I wonder first how many has done what I'm looking to do? Are there some people using linux-live script to make one, or another method? Am I making things to difficult? I mean are my expectation on size too much? Are there projects like this (maintained)? My ideal cd is a desktop replacement, I could use xfce, openbox, fluxbox, e17 - ANYTHING. I want things like internet apps (web, email, ftp, irc, im, torrent), picture and documents, archive maker/extractor and if possible multimedia (music, video). A few Linux apps like vnc, gparted or rescue apps, console would be nice but not necessary -- (why I want apt-get) I currently use Debian Live. I create my own images for USB using the live-helper scripts. The latest one I made came in at just over 700MB. Here's the list of packages I specified to include (not all the dependencies are listed): lxde lxlauncher desktop-base xfonts-mathml gnome-icon-theme hicolor-icon-theme gnome-extra-icons gnome-icon-theme-blankon gnome-icon-theme-dlg-neu gnome-icon-theme-gartoon gnome-icon-theme-nuovo gnome-icon-theme-suede gnome-icon-theme-yasis wm-icons inkscape virtualbox-ose virtualbox-ose-source fluxbox fbpanel feh vorbisgain flac audacious audacity grip vlc gnome-alsamixer iceweasel swfdec-mozilla adblock-plus iceweasel-greasemonkey iceowl ekiga rsync evince openoffice.org less vim-full xterm gimp imagemagick feh openssh-client conky gkrellm gkrellm-volume ntp nmap dnsutils iftop gnomebaker cdw wine cabextract If you need pointers on how to do this yourself, let me know. If you want to give me a list of apps and have me make an image for you, I can do that as long as you have a way for me to get it to you (rsync server, ftp server, etc). Note that I use fluxbox as my window manager, but I install LXDE as well because brings in a lot of apps that I find handy. Plus I intend to experiment with using LXDE...someday. -Rob -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
