Difference between revisions of "Knoppix Remastering Howto"
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=Common Problems= | =Common Problems= | ||
* [[Dev_null_permission_denied|/dev/null: Permission Denied]] Chroot problems accessing device files | * [[Dev_null_permission_denied|/dev/null: Permission Denied]] Chroot problems accessing device files | ||
+ | |||
+ | * You've <code>startx</code>'d (into whatever window manager you like) and you start a terminal (gnome-terminal, konsole, xterm). Nothing happens (such is the case in fluxbox, and you'll see an error in you <code>~/.xsession-errors</code> file). Or perhaps the error is helpfully displayed: <code> | ||
+ | get_pty: not enough ptys | ||
+ | </code> | ||
+ | I had plenty yesterday... but then I <code>chroot</code>ed so, to solve this, <code> | ||
+ | # NOT in your chroot environment | ||
+ | cd /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX/dev | ||
+ | MAKEDEV pty | ||
+ | |||
+ | # enter your chroot environment | ||
+ | chroot /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX/ | ||
+ | |||
+ | # and mount /dev/pts | ||
+ | mount -t devpts /dev/pts/ /dev/pts | ||
+ | |||
+ | </code> | ||
+ | it might give that same "fstab not found" error as mounting proc | ||
+ | does. so do what you'd do then, disregard. | ||
+ | |||
+ | start your X up again and try your terminal, should work. | ||
+ | thanks to: technovelty[http://www.technovelty.org/linux/tips/xinchroot.html] for the final enlightenment | ||
=See also= | =See also= |
Revision as of 00:48, 13 January 2007
This is a guide that will show you how to remaster KNOPPIX. (Note: commands should appear on one line, so please maximize the window. If you have any comments/suggestions please post below.)
You may wish to start from an already customized Knoppix, so you don't have to do as much work (such as removing programs). If so, see Knoppix Customizations.
Contents
- 1 System Requirements
- 2 Instructions
- 2.1 Setting up for Remastering
- 2.2 Working in the Chroot Environment
- 2.3 Editing the KNOPPIX auto-configuration script
- 2.4 X Session Configuration
- 2.5 Changing the boot graphic, boot message, and startup script text
- 2.6 Launching KDE to Change Menus, Icons, etc.
- 2.7 Leaving the Chroot
- 2.8 Remastering the ISO
- 3 Tips
- 4 Common Problems
- 5 See also
- 6 Conclusion
- 7 Thanks
- 8 Translations
System Requirements
- CD-ISO
- at least 1 GB of FREE RAM+Swap total (e.g. 256M ram, and 750M swap AVAILABLE) (unless you use a different compression program - look in this page for compressloop)
- 3 GB free on a Linux filesystem (ext2/3, xfs, etc.) formatted disk partition
- DVD-ISO
- 5 GB free RAM + swap (for fullsized DVD)
- 15 GB free on a Linux filesystem (ext2/3, xfs, etc.) formatted disk partition
Instructions
Setting up for Remastering
- Boot from the Knoppix CD
- Open a root shell:
- Menu: Kmenu->Knoppix->Root Shell
- Note: All commands below are run from this root shell.
- Configure your Internet connection (we'll need this later). If you use DHCP, it should already be configured.
- Note: Run ifconfig to check.
- Find the partition you will use to work on. In this example it is called hda1 . The partition should have a minimum of 3 GB free space
- Mount the partition:
mount -rw /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1
- Note: Make sure that it is read/write or you will get errors when you later chroot. To check: run mount
- Create a root directory to work in -- if you put all your files here it will be easy to clean up
-
mkdir /mnt/hda1/knx
-
- If you don't have 1 GB RAM (cat /proc/meminfo (physical+swap)) then you will need a swapfile:
-
cd /mnt/hda1/knx
-
dd if=/dev/zero of=swapfile bs=1M count=750 mkswap swapfile
swapon swapfile- Make 2 directories, one for your new Master CD, one for the source, on a disk partition. Also, make additional directories under these named KNOPPIX:
-
mkdir -p /mnt/hda1/knx/master/KNOPPIX
-
- Now, copy the KNOPPIX files to your source directory :
-
cp -Rp /KNOPPIX/* /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX
- Note: This will take a long time (you are copying 2GB). Warning: you will be tempted to replace this copy command with a much faster procedure: create an empty directory, then use unionfs to merge the empty directory with /KNOPPIX in order to create the read-write copy. However, as of Knoppix 4.0.2, there is a bug in unionfs that causes this faster procedure to fail. For now, stick with the copy-command shown above.
-
- Additionally, copy the 'boot' folder from your cdrom - you'll need these files to build the ISO later.
-
cp -ar /cdrom/boot /mnt/hda1/knx/master/boot
-
- For Knoppix 5.0.1 you also have to copy the 'modules' folder:
-
cp -ar /cdrom/KNOPPIX/modules /mnt/hda1/knx/master/KNOPPIX/.
-
- Copy the main HTML page for the startup page:
-
cp /cdrom/index.html /mnt/hda1/knx/master/
-
- Copy everything necessary files except the ~700 Mb KNOPPIX file.
- < 3.4:
-
cd /cdrom/KNOPPIX && find . -size -10000k -type f -exec cp -p --parents '{}' /mnt/hda1/knx/master/KNOPPIX/ \;
-
- >= 3.4:
-
cd /cdrom && find . -size -10000k -type f -exec cp -p --parents '{}' /mnt/hda1/knx/master/ \;
-
- for the DVD Version you have to use -size -15000k and copy the KNOPPIX2 folder like this
- cp /cdrom/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX2 /mnt/hda1/knx/master/KNOPPIX/
- < 3.4:
- Now you can "chroot" into the copied KNOPPIX:
-
chroot /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX
-
- If you see errors regarding /dev/null, see the common problems section
You are now chrooted. "/" is actually "/mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX"
Working in the Chroot Environment
Remember that anything you do or create in the chrooted environment will get burned to the CD. If you make any changes (e.g,. to the APT configuration, proxy settings, etc.), make a note to back the changes out before remastering.
Internet Access
To use the Internet you need to mount /proc:
mount -t proc /proc proc
(You get a warning - "warning: can't open /etc/fstab: No such file or directory" but it still mounts) and edit /etc/resolv.conf to add your nameserver or exit the chroot and copy the outer resolv.conf into the chroot folder:
cp /etc/dhcpc/resolv.conf /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX/etc/dhcpc/resolv.conf
(proxies (a.k.a. doing it at work): you can type "export http_proxy=http://your.proxy.com:<port>")
To check your chrooted internet connection,
ping google.com
(if ICMP is barred at some corporate firewall or something then try "lynx http://www.google.com" and see if you get the page -after a cookie "allow")
SMB access
Also change smb.conf to your MS group if you want smbd support (MSHOME is XP Home ed. usually, and WORKGROUP is 9x Windows)
APT
Update your package list with apt-get update.
Note: If 'apt-get update fails with "FATAL -> Could not set non-blocking flag Bad file descriptor", you need to make sure your chrooted environment is mounted without the "nodev" option. (see above where it talks about the /dev/null errors when entering the chroot environment for the first time)
Warning: apt-get upgrade is a BAD IDEA. It will, quite probably, render your KNOPPIX remaster unbootable, or broken in some way. A far safer method is to only upgrade packages as necessary.
Note: If apt-get fails with "Dynamic NMap ran out of room" you might try this little gem, which fixed the problem for me:
#echo 'APT::Cache-Limit "25168524";'>> /etc/apt/apt.conf
(I did this while chrooted as described above.)
Before you can add stuff, you will probably need to remove some packages. To get a list of packages installed, type this:
dpkg-query -l
If you are looking for big installed packages then the command
dpkg-awk "Status: .* installed$" -- Package Installed-Size | \ awk '{print $2}' | egrep -v '^$' | xargs -n2 echo | \ perl -pe 's/(\S+)\s(\S+)/$2 $1/' | sort -rg
will list the packages with size in descending order.
At least ten times faster is the command
dpkg-query -W --showformat='${Installed-Size} ${Package}\n' | sort -n
and you don't need dpkg-awk or awk or perl; however it does not exclude packages that are not installed. If you have trouble with the above sort command, try using KPackage, expanded all the trees and sorted by the size column to find big packages.
Or, you could use this command to get the qpkg-query speed with the non-installed packages not listed:
dpkg-query -W --showformat='${Installed-Size} ${Package} ${Status}\n' | grep -v deinstall | sort -n | awk '{print $1" "$2}'
It does the same thing as above, I assume. I couldn't get the first one to work because I don't have dpkg-awk.
To remove a package (and all packages dependant on it), type this:
apt-get remove --purge name-of-package-to-remove
To check for orphaned packages, type this:
deborphan
Want to save more space by getting rid of those pesky orphans (how cruel!), type this (Warning, you won't be prompted yes/no to remove these packages. When you press Enter after this command, those packages will be gone):
deborphan | xargs apt-get -y remove
If you're uncertain about the previous command and want to see what will happen without making any changes, just add the -s option to the apt-get command like this (you can do this with all of the apt-get commands, and it's a good habit to use this option before mass operations like this one):
deborphan | xargs apt-get -s -y remove
Now the good stuff. If you wish to add a package, type this:
apt-get install 'name-of-package-to-install
What, don't know what packages to install? Type this. When the list appears, you can peruse (over 13k lines!) or search for things using /search-term:
apt-cache search .* | sort | less
When you're done removing and adding packages, a good way to clean up is by typing this
COLUMNS=200 dpkg -l |grep ^rc |awk '{print $2} ' | xargs dpkg -P
Also, because the Debian package system keeps a cache of downloaded packages, you may want to run the following to clear out those spare files:
apt-get clean
User Settings
User settings are in /etc/skel. This directory will be copied to make new user home directories.
tip: don't put files in /root they will be only available (at runtime) in /KNOPPIX/root
Note that the default user 'knoppix' is not created by adduser(1), thus /etc/skel is not copied completely but rather selectively. That is, to make a file .xyrc appear in /home/knoppix, it is not sufficient to place it in /etc/skel. One possibility is to extend the code in /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession which is responsible for filling /home/knoppix.
Autorunning Programs
When you want to autorun some programs, one can create a script and put it in the directory /etc/rc5.d/ (This only loads items before X loads). Read up on the SysV init process for more possibilities.
Editing the KNOPPIX auto-configuration script
You can find a lot of interesting information about how KNOPPIX auto-configures you system by looking in the /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig script. Of particular note are the following.
Changing the default KDE background image
The auto-configuration script sets the default KDE background image to be an image from the CD-ROM. An image that you can easily change when you are remastering KNOPPIX.
- In KNOPPIX 3.3 and below it is /cdrom/KNOPPIX/background.gif
- In KNOPPIX 3.4 and above it is /cdrom/KNOPPIX/background.jpg
Editing floppy and CD-ROM use or adding a custom script
The auto-configuration script sets up both your CD-ROM and your floppy disk. The commands for doing this are 'floppyconfig' and 'cdromconfig', respectively. The auto-configuration script will also run cdrom/KNOPPIX/knoppix.sh, which is an easy script to change when remastering KNOPPIX.
Changing the default boot parameters
All boot parameters obtain default values from the /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig script. This is one massive BASH script (you best know your BASH to play with this), but it is the place that you can edit any of the default boot parameters. For example, to switch from 'kde' to 'twm' as default desktop just search for the place where 'kde' is provided as default value (variable DESKTOP, IIRC). Another example would be changing the default language can be changed.
Note, if you are interested in changing the default language KDE uses, the easiest thing to do is to load KDE, instructions are below, and use the KDE configuration utility to select your language of interest.
X Session Configuration
When working with X-based programs you will have to make sure that your display is set appropriately. You can do this manually when remastering KNOPPIX. Also, two scripts related to X Session is where you can change or disable the startup and shutdown sounds.
Starting X-based programs
When testing X-based programs, you will have to
export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0
which will allow you to connect to your normal X session. Alternately (if you need to test window managers), you can create a nested X session. Outside of the chroot, run
Xnest -ac :1
Within the chroot, set your DISPLAY variable
export DISPLAY=localhost:1
Interesting stuff in /etc/init.d/xsession :
- it ALSO sets background as /usr/local/lib/knoppix.gif
Modifying/Disabling the startup sound
The startup sound is played by /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession. You can disable it by commenting out the following lines.
playsound(){ # Play sound if soundcore module present (checking /dev/sndstat is unreliable) # OGGPLAY=/usr/bin/ogg123 # PLAY=/usr/bin/wavp # [ -x "$PLAY" ] || PLAY=/usr/bin/play-sample # [ -x "$PLAY" ] || PLAY=/usr/bin/play # if [ -x "$OGGPLAY" -a -f /usr/share/sounds/startup.ogg ]; then # case "$(lsmod)" in *sound*) { $OGGPLAY -q -p 64 /usr/share/sounds/startup.ogg >/ # elif [ -f /usr/share/sounds/startup.wav -a -x "$PLAY" ]; then # case "$(lsmod)" in *sound*) { $PLAY /usr/share/sounds/startup.wav >/dev/null 2>& # fi }
Modifying/Disabling the shutdown sound
The shutdown sound is played by /etc/init.d/xsession. You can disable it by commenting out lines 210-220 from the script.
## Play informational sound if soundcore module present ## (checking /dev/sndstat is unreliable) #OGGPLAY=/usr/bin/ogg123 #PLAY=/usr/bin/wavp #[ -x "$PLAY" ] || PLAY=/usr/bin/play-sample #[ -x "$PLAY" ] || PLAY=/usr/bin/play #if [ -x "$OGGPLAY" -a -f /usr/share/sounds/shutdown.ogg ]; then #case "$(</proc/modules)" in *sound*|*snd_*) { $OGGPLAY -q -p 64 /usr/share/sound #elif [ -f /usr/share/sounds/shutdown.wav -a -x "$PLAY" ]; then #case "$(</proc/modules)" in *sound*|*snd_*) { $PLAY /usr/share/sounds/shutdown.w #fi
Changing the boot graphic, boot message, and startup script text
While you are in the chroot environment you can easily change the boot messages, the boot graphic, and the default KDE background graphic.
Changing the boot graphic
The 'boot graphic' is the first image you see when the CD or DVD boots. It looks similar to ASCII art and it is normally something flashy that says 'Knoppix'. You can change this to be any graphic that you please, but you must use a 640x400 graphic that has only 16 colors.
- Change to the /mnt/hda1/knx/master/boot directory. Swap '/mnt/hda1/' for whatever disk you are using.
-
cd /mnt/hda1/knx/master/boot
-
- Back up your old logo in case you break things.
-
mv logo.16 logo.16.backup
-
- Make a 640x400 pixel 16 color graphic and save it as a GIF, e.g. 'logo.16.gif'. GIMP can easily do this. Note, you can use a graphic that originally had more than 16 colors, but it is critical that you conver the graphic to 16 colors before doing the next step.
- Convert the GIF to lss16 using the tools included on the Knoppix CD.
-
giftopnm < 640x400x16.gif > logo.ppm
-
Changing the boot message
The 'boot message' is the message that you see under the 'boot graphic' on the initial screen when the Knoppix CD or DVD loads. It normally says something along the lines of Knoppix with the version number and includes a link to the Knoppix website. You can change this text to be whatever you please, but you shouldn't add too much text or it will make the boot screen look funny. Restricting yourself to a singly line of text that is no larger than the default one is a good idea.
- Change to the /mnt/hda1/knx/master/boot directory. Swap '/mnt/hda1/' for whatever disk you are using.
-
cd /mnt/hda1/knx/master/boot
-
- Back up your old message in case you break things.
-
cp boot.msg boot.msg.backup
-
- Edit the message with a text editor. You'll see at the top of the message that it shows the graphic. Don't change this text, just the line under.
-
vi boot.msg
-
Changing the startup script text
The 'startup script text' is the text that you see after the initial boot screen, while Knoppix loads and configures your system. You can change as much of this text as you please. You can even add addition lines to the script; however, it is recommended that you don't play with this file. Limiting yourself to editing the 'Welcome to KNOPPIX' message is a good idea.
- Change to the /mnt/hda1/knx/master/boot directory. Swap '/mnt/hda1/' for whatever disk you are using.
-
cd /mnt/hda1/knx/master/boot
-
- Back up your old minirt.gz in case you break things.
-
cp minirt.gz minirt.gz.backup
-
- Uncompress minirt.gz
-
gunzip minirt.gz
-
- Make a temporary directory to mount the minirt filesystem.
-
mkdir todelete
-
- Mount the minirt filesystem as an ext2 filesystem.
-
mount minirt todelete -t ext2 -o=/dev/loop0
-
- Edit the linuxrc script to display the message you want. You'll find the default message approximately 2 pages down and it'll be using several colors, i.e. ${WHITE}, ${RED}, etc., so it might be slightly tricky to spot.
-
vi todelete/linuxrc
-
- unmount the minirt filesystem.
-
umount todelete
-
- Compress the minirt filesystem.
-
gzip -9 minirt
-
- Remove your temporary directory.
-
rmdir todelete
-
Launching KDE to Change Menus, Icons, etc.
While you are in the chroot environment you can load KDE and use the configuration tools to change buttons, icons, etc. Once you are finished you can exit KDE and copy /home/knoppix to /etc/skel to keep these changes. To load KDE do the following.
- If you are not at runlevel 2 (i.e. if you are already in KDE), switch to runlevel 2.
-
init 2
-
- Copy /etc/skel to /home/knoppix
-
cp -Rp /etc/skel /home/knoppix
-
- Change permissions to the user 'knoppix'
-
chown knoppix:knoppix -R /home/knoppix
-
- Copy over your X11 configuration to the chroot'd environment (press ctrl+alt+F2 to switch to a non-chroot'd terminal, then ctrl+alt+F1 to switch back when done)
-
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX/etc/X11
-
Knoppix 3.7: I think it's XF86Config-4 rather than xorg.conf.
- (Optional)Switch to user 'knoppix'. If you want to uninstall packages, stay as root -- e.g. skip this step. If you want to configure the buttons, icons, background, etc., that you see when KDE boots, be sure to do this step.
-
su knoppix
-
- Launch KDE
-
startx
-
- Do your KDE changes
- Exit KDE
- (Optional - do this step only if you did step #5) Exit su and switch back to user 'root'.
-
exit
-
- Copy /home/knoppix back to /etc/skel to keep the changes
-
mv /etc/skel /etc/skel-old
-
- Set the owner back to root
-
chown root:root -R /etc/skel
-
- Remove the xorg.conf file
-
rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf
-
Changing the ksplash KDE graphics
You can change the graphics that KDE shows via ksplash when it first loads. These graphics are in the /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX/usr/share/apps/ksplash/Themes/Default/ directory. You'll most likely want to swap out splash_top.png for a custom 400x248 PNG graphic. Note that ksplash will not automatically put a border around your graphic. If you'd like a border, you have to manually add it to your graphic.
Leaving the Chroot
If you mounted it, you'll need to unmount /proc - very important!
umount /proc
Press CTRL+D to leave being chrooted.
Remastering the ISO
We've finished customizing and ready to burn! First do some cleanup:
- remove any .bash_history files, tmp files, etc.
- back out any changes you don't want burned back to the disc
-
rm -rf /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX/.rr_moved
KNOPPIX Compressed Image
Now we'll make the big KNOPPIX file which is an ISO 9660 filesystem compressed for use by the cloop driver:
mkisofs -R -U -V "KNOPPIX.net filesystem" -publisher "KNOPPIX www.knoppix.net" \ -hide-rr-moved -cache-inodes -no-bak -pad /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX \ | nice -5 /usr/bin/create_compressed_fs - 65536 > /mnt/hda1/knx/master/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX
the "www.knoppix.net" and "Knoppix.net filesystem" can be changed to what you want to call the file. You will get an error that it doesn't conform to ISO standards -- you can ignore this. Note that, to run create_compressed_fs, you'll need to have enough space to store the entire ISO in RAM/swap. Ensure you have at least 800M of free space before starting.
In Knoppix 3.4 the create_compressed_fs script has been updated so be sure to use it to obtain the best result. It has a new option -b (best), which enables the best compression by using different compression schemes and tries to optimize that way, but be careful, because that option is slow (10x slower).
Live CD ISO
If all went well, onto making the final CD-ROM Image:
cd /mnt/hda1/knx/master find -type f -not -name md5sums -not -name boot.cat -not -name isolinux.bin \ -exec md5sum '{}' \; > KNOPPIX/md5sums
(this will update the md5 hashes of the files included in the ISO, used for integrity checking) Now to burn the image; for Knoppix <= 3.3:
mkisofs -pad -l -r -J -v -V "KNOPPIX" -b KNOPPIX/boot.img -c KNOPPIX/boot.cat \ -hide-rr-moved -o /mnt/hda1/knx/knoppix.iso /mnt/hda1/knx/master
for Knoppix >= 3.4 or other isolinux based distributions:
mkisofs -pad -l -r -J -v -V "KNOPPIX" -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 \ -boot-info-table -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat \ -hide-rr-moved -o /mnt/hda1/knx/knoppix.iso /mnt/hda1/knx/master
(the ISO is stored in /mnt/hda1/knx/knoppix.iso)
Burn the ISO using your favorite tools, and you're ready!
Tips
I have had good results remastering working from the CD as root working from fluxbox. Just say "knoppix 2" at the boot prompt and it will boot you to a root prompt where you can then say "startx /usr/bin/fluxbox". I like to use the xterm unicode shell.
Package Management
While working chroot doing the remastering I like to use
apt-get remove --purge pkg-name
to remove packages because before it does anything it will stop and show details on what it is fixing to remove and let you say "yes or no".
If you don't use the above "apt-get" instructions and have a lot to cleanup and purge, here's the easy way to do it:
COLUMNS=200 dpkg -l |grep ^rc |awk '{print $2} ' > topurge
That will make a list of all removed packages to purge and then you just say
dpkg -P `< topurge `
and you're all done.
COLUMNS=200 dpkg -l |grep ^rc |awk '{print $2} ' | xargs dpkg -P
is a one-line version of this. Also use
deborphan | xargs dpkg -P .
Alternatives for Low-Memory Machines
You don't really need 1G swap as there are two new tools to create compressed filesystems. Here are some candidates to make compressed fs:
- Valentijn's rewrite [1]
- Quozl's port of compressloop for Knoppix 3.4 [2]
- Quozl's distributed compressloop (use more than one processor to speed things up) [3] or [4]
- Justin's patch [5] (link broken) I also just wrote a distributed cloop compressor(or for smp) It's in that same directory.
Test CD Image Without Burning a CD
If you have a spare partition with at least 700MB free space formatted with ext2, ext3 or Vfat, you can use this for test by booting from a floppy disk. A floppy boot will look for a partiton with /KNOPPIX/ in the root, and the compressed image /KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX. Instead of using the sub-directory /mnt/hda1/knx/master/KNOPPIX/ as described above, it should be called /mnt/hda2/KNOPPIX/ . The root index.html will then be located at /mnt/hda2/index.html and the compressed image will be at /mnt/hda2/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX . Now you can boot from floppy and use /mnt/hda2 as your image. For further information see Hd BasedHowTo.
If you don't have an extra partition or you don't want to do so much for it, you can use Qemu ( see [6] ) with the ISO image like this:
qemu -m 128 -cdrom /temp/knoppix-custom.iso -boot d -user-net
You even do not have to build a hard disk image before, just install Qemu and try this. Amazing!
Test remastered version without creating cloop file/iso
i use a setup similar to knoppix terminal server to test the remastered files without having to recreate a cloop image every time: the remastered files live in an ext2 filesytem in a loopfile (knoppix_loop) mounted rw (this is where i chroot in). when i want to test the current setup, i have another machine network boot and use the files from the loopfile directly (needs another miniroot.gz). See User:Ml#dev_setup
If you want to use only one machine, you'll have to reboot (or use qemu) and use the "loopfile" and "fromhd" cheatcodes (see User:Ml#miniroot_changes). For example, this is what my grub boot entry looks like:
title Remastered Knoppix root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/myknoppix/vmlinuz fromhd=/dev/hda4 loopfile=/samba/share/isos/knoppix_loop lang=us ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init apm=power-off nomce vga=791 quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix initrd /boot/myknoppix/miniroot.gz
Booting Knoppix images with GRUB
- First copy /boot off the Knoppix cd to your boot partition (or even your dos partition). I named mine boot.knoppix
Copy the /KNOPPIX directory to your root directory* of any hard disk. You may place it somewhere other than the boot partition (ext2/3, reiserfs, vfat are supported).
- for Knoppix <= 3.3, put the following in your /boot/grub/menu.lst:
title KNOPPIX root (hd0,0) kernel /boot.knoppix/vmlinuz 2 fromhd=/dev/hda4 lang=us initrd /boot.knoppix/miniroot.gz
- for Knoppix >= 3.4 or other isolinux based distributions:
title KNOPPIX root (hd0,0) kernel /boot.knoppix/isolinux/linux 2 fromhd=/dev/hda4 lang=us initrd /boot.knoppix/isolinux/minirt.gz
- notice the fromhd parameter: it's the location of the /KNOPPIX directory
- reboot and have fun.
Helpful Scripts
This is the recommended directory layout for remastering KNOPPIX:
. (invoke ../remaster from here) |-- master (invoke ../../umountbootimage from here) | |-- KNOPPIX | | |-- KNOPPIX (compressed image) | | |-- boot.img (boot floppy image) | | `-- (other files snipped) | `-- index.html `-- source `-- KNOPPIX (this directory can be chrooted into) |-- bin |-- boot |-- cdrom |-- dev |-- etc |-- floppy |-- home |-- initrd |-- lib |-- mnt |-- none |-- opt |-- proc |-- root |-- sbin |-- tmp -> /var/tmp |-- usr |-- var `-- vmlinuz -> boot/vmlinuz-2.4.22-xfs
the following script "remaster" will do the remaster process for you. Use as root, or you will end up with wrong access rights in the image.
The script has last been tried out on Debian sid on 2004-04-02.
#!/bin/bash -x # This script builds a new KNOPPIX ISO image. # Copyright (C) 2004 by Marc Haber <mh+knoppix-remaster@zugschlus.de> # License: GPL V2 ROOT="$PWD" SOURCE="$ROOT/source/KNOPPIX" MASTER="$ROOT/master" CLOOPTARGET="$ROOT/master/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX" TARGET="$ROOT" EXCLUDELIST="$ROOT/source/excludelist" rm -rf $SOURCE/.rr_moved cd $SOURCE mkisofs -R -U -V "KNOPPIX.net filesystem" \ -P "KNOPPIX www.knoppix.net" \ -hide-rr-moved -cache-inodes -no-bak -pad \ -exclude-list $EXCLUDELIST \ . | nice -5 /usr/bin/create_compressed_fs - 65536 > $CLOOPTARGET cd $MASTER rm -f KNOPPIX/md5sums find -type f -not -name md5sums -not -name boot.cat -exec md5sum {} \; >> KNOPPIX/md5sums mkisofs -pad -l -r -J -v -V "KNOPPIX" -b KNOPPIX/boot.img \ -c KNOPPIX/boot.cat -hide-rr-moved -o $TARGET/knoppix.iso $MASTER
The following script will loop-mount boot floppy image and initrd image for modification. The umount function will build a new initrd image and put it back on the boot floppy image.
The script has last been tried out on Debian sid on 2004-01-13.
#!/bin/bash -x # This script will loop-mount boot floppy and initrd image # Copyright (C) 2004 by Marc Haber <mh+knoppix-remaster@zugschlus.de> # License: GPL V2 unset CDPATH || true # if not root, re-invoke self as root if "`id -u`" -ne 0 ; then export LOCUSER="$USER" export LOCHOME="$HOME" if [[ "${SHELLOPTS/xtrace/}" != "$SHELLOPTS" ]]; then sudo bash -x $0 $@ exit $? else sudo $0 $@ exit $? fi else LOCUSER="${LOCUSER:-$USER}" LOCHOME="${LOCHOME:-$HOME}" fi set -e KNOPPIXDIR="KNOPPIX" BOOTIMGFILE="$KNOPPIXDIR/boot.img" BOOTIMGFS="vfat" BOOTIMGDIR="boot.img" INITRDGZ="$BOOTIMGDIR/miniroot.gz" INITRDFILE="$KNOPPIXDIR/miniroot" INITRDFS="ext2" INITRDDIR="miniroot" mountbootimage() { if ! modprobe loop; then echo >&2 "ERR: cannot load loop module" exit 1 fi if ! -e "$BOOTIMGFILE" ; then echo >&2 "ERR: no $BOOTIMGFILE found" exit 1 fi for nofile in $BOOTIMGDIR $INITRDGZ $INITRDFILE $INITRDDIR; do if -e "$nofile" ; then echo >&2 "ERR: $nofile already exists" exit 1 fi done mkdir -p $BOOTIMGDIR mount -o loop,uid=$LOCUSER -t $BOOTIMGFS $BOOTIMGFILE $BOOTIMGDIR < $INITRDGZ gunzip > $INITRDFILE mkdir -p $INITRDDIR mount -o loop -t $INITRDFS $INITRDFILE $INITRDDIR } umountbootimage() { dd if=/dev/zero of=$INITRDDIR/nullfile || true sync rm $INITRDDIR/nullfile umount $INITRDDIR rmdir $INITRDDIR < $INITRDFILE gzip --best > $INITRDGZ rm -f $INITRDFILE umount $BOOTIMGDIR rmdir $BOOTIMGDIR syslinux KNOPPIX/boot.img } case "`basename $0`" in mountbootimage) mountbootimage ;; umountbootimage) umountbootimage ;; *) echo >&2 "ERR: called with unknown name `basename $0`" exit 1 ;; esac
Tips around apt-get to install/update/remove applications
(by gnarvaja)
- If you booted from CD, even on a HD install (example: Pivot Install) instead of copying the original CD and KNOPPIX directory to the HD, you can use them directly from their mount points.
- Another alternative is to mount an ISO image of the original CD as a loop device and mount the KNOPPIX image as a cloop device. You will save close to 2GB of space. Script to mount from an ISO image:
#!/bin/bash # Assumes that the current directory is the working space # original.iso is an image of the CD we will be using as master mount -t iso9660 original.iso ./oldcd -o ro,loop # initialize the compressed loop device losetup /dev/cloop1 ./oldcd/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX mount -t iso9660 /dev/cloop1 ./KNOPPIX -o ro,loop
- Get apt-spy and use it to modify the sources.list file with the best mirrors for your particular region. This will speed up the downloading. Backup the original sources.list just in case.
- Another technique is to modify sources.list. Replace the string .de. in the ftp addresses (ftp.de.debian.org) with the code corresponding to your country. Examples: USA -> .us. (ftp.us.debian.org), Brazil -> .br. (ftp.br.debian.org). Check the Debian site for debian.org mirrors in your country.
- Remember to uncomment the linuxtag ftp addresses to get the latest and greatest from Knoppix
- Use apt-get update to get the lists with the latest releases and patches. Do not update a package if you don't need to, it may lead to the use of additional disk space (precious commodity when you want to keep everything below 700MB) and you may brake something else without knowing. Abuse the -s option to simulate the installation.
- Before doing the update, I modified my default releases to testing, that means that the software I'll be using will have a good balance of stability and features. Knoppix uses unstable by default, which is too risky for my personal taste.
- Get [apt-get install] locale and configure it with the locales you are going to use. It will save lots of space when downloading applications with plenty of locale modules and localized manual pages.
- I use aptitude to get/remove applications, it is character based so it works with init 2. As you mark packages for install/update/removal, it will tell you how much disk space you will save/use, try to solve depencies problems and give you plenty control to fix them manually when possible.
- When installing applications it is likely that your /etc/rc?.d directories will have new entries, many of them unwanted or unplanned. Make sure you check them and remove the new entries based on your preferences. I usually leave /etc/rc2.d and /etc/rc5.d as close as the originals as possible and modify /etc/rc3.d and /etc/rc4.d to test new stuff. Example: You may want to have ntfs installed, but not necessarily running by default. Same with apache, mysql and many others.
- When removing/purging applications, they may leave behind non-empty directories. Usually this is announced by aptitude, apt-get or any other installation utilty. Make sure to check the messages and manually remove those directories.
- After you are done, aptitude may leave some files behind. Here's a clean up script I use:
# !/bin/bash # Clean package files generated by aptitude rm /var/log/aptitude rm /var/lib/apt/lists/*debian* rm /var/lib/apt/lists/*knoppix*
Common Problems
- /dev/null: Permission Denied Chroot problems accessing device files
- You've
startx
'd (into whatever window manager you like) and you start a terminal (gnome-terminal, konsole, xterm). Nothing happens (such is the case in fluxbox, and you'll see an error in you~/.xsession-errors
file). Or perhaps the error is helpfully displayed:
get_pty: not enough ptys
I had plenty yesterday... but then I chroot
ed so, to solve this,
# NOT in your chroot environment cd /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX/dev MAKEDEV pty
# enter your chroot environment chroot /mnt/hda1/knx/source/KNOPPIX/
# and mount /dev/pts mount -t devpts /dev/pts/ /dev/pts
it might give that same "fstab not found" error as mounting proc does. so do what you'd do then, disregard.
start your X up again and try your terminal, should work. thanks to: technovelty[7] for the final enlightenment
See also
If my howto is too confusing, or you'd like a second opinion, check out charan's very nice remastering howto: http://gnubox.dyndns.org:8080/~sunil/knoppix.php. Another Howto is at http://www.stirnimann.com/mystuff/doc/knoppix.txt
There is a wizard, which knows all the unpacking, compressing and CD-recording steps mentioned here. It also shows a shell where you can update the uncompressed KNOPPIX system using debian's standard software installation tools. It is called mmkcdrom and part of the plugscript package: [8]
Yet another HOWTO, for shell freaks, is at http://quozl.linux.org.au/knoppix/
Be sure to check out the Knoppix Customization Forum for ideas and help with remastering.
- If you want to add a custom kernel, check out the Knoppix Custom Kernel Howto
- There also a guide at O'Reilly on the same topic : Using and Customizing Knoppix
Conclusion
Thats it. This is an updated version of my previous howto. This is not meant for linux beginners, you will need to know your way around linux to get this to work. I'll update this as corrections/improvements/etc come through.
Thanks
Thanks to aay, charan, Tech2k, and #knoppix for some corrections and tips and ideas. Feel free to edit or add to this howto.
Note about swap:
Translations
- German Version: Knoppix Remastering Howto Deutsch
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