NAME

       vmdebootstrap - install basic Debian system into virtual disk image

SYNOPSIS

       vmdebootstrap --image=FILE --size=SIZE [--mirror=URL] [--distribution=NAME]

       vmdebootstrap   [--output=FILE]   [--verbose   |  --no-verbose]  --image=FILE  --size=SIZE
       [--tarball=FILE] [--mirror=URL]  [--arch=ARCH]  [--distribution=NAME]  [--package=PACKAGE]
       [--custom-package=DEB]   [--no-kernel]   [--enable-dhcp   |   --no-enable-dhcp]   [--root-
       password=PASSWORD]   [--customize=SCRIPT]   [--hostname=HOSTNAME]   [--user=USER/PASSWORD]
       [--serial-console | --no-serial-console] [--sudo | --no-sudo]

DESCRIPTION

       vmdebootstrap  installs  a  basic  Debian  system  into a virtual disk image, for use with
       virtual machines, such as KVM, Qemu, or VirtualBox.  It is like debootstrap(8), which does
       the  same  thing, but puts the system into a directory, for use with chroot(8).  (In fact,
       vmdebootstrap is a wrapper around debootstrap).

       You need to run vmdebootstrap as root.

       To use the image, you probably want to create  a  virtual  machine  using  your  preferred
       virtualization  technology,  such as kvm(1), or qemu(1).  Configure the virtual machine to
       use the image you've created.  Then start the virtual machine, and log  into  it  via  its
       console to configure it.

       The image will be using extlinux(1) as a boot loader.  It has an empty root password.  The
       image will not have networking configured.  Set the root  password  before  you  configure
       networking.

OPTIONS

       --output=FILE
              write output to FILE, instead of standard output

       --verbose
              report what is going on

       --image=FILE
              put created disk image in FILE

       --size=SIZE
              create a disk image of size SIZE (1000000000)

       --tarball=FILE
              tar up the disk's contents in FILE

       --mirror=URL
              use MIRROR as package source (http://cdn.debian.net/debian/)

       --arch=ARCH
              architecture to use (amd64)

       --distribution=NAME
              release to use (stable)

       --package=PACKAGE
              install PACKAGE onto system

       --custom-package=DEB
              install package in DEB file onto system (not from  mirror)

       --no-kernel
              do not install a linux package

       --enable-dhcp
              enable DHCP on eth0

       --root-password=PASSWORD
              set root password

       --customize=SCRIPT
              run SCRIPT after setting up system

       --hostname=HOSTNAME
              set name to HOSTNAME (debian)

       --user=USER/PASSWORD
              create USER with PASSWORD

       --serial-console
              configure image to use a serial console

       --sudo install sudo, and if user is created, add them to sudo group

Configuration files and settings:

       --dump-config
              write out the entire current configuration

       --no-default-configs
              clear list of configuration files to read

       --config=FILE
              add FILE to config files

Logging:

       --log=FILE
              write  log entries to FILE (default is to not write log files at all); use "syslog"
              to log to system log, or "none" to disable logging

       --log-level=LEVEL
              log at LEVEL, one of debug, info, warning, error, critical, fatal (default: debug)

       --log-max=SIZE
              rotate logs larger than SIZE, zero for never (default: 0)

       --log-keep=N
              keep last N logs (10)

       --log-mode=MODE
              set permissions of new log files to MODE (octal;  default 0600)

Peformance:

       --dump-memory-profile=METHOD
              make memory profiling dumps using METHOD, which is one of: none, simple, meliae, or
              heapy (default: simple)

       --memory-dump-interval=SECONDS
              make memory profiling dumps at least SECONDS apart

EXAMPLE

       To create an image for the stable release of Debian:

              sudo vmdebootstrap --image test.img --size 1g \
                  --log test.log --log-level debug --verbose \
                  --mirror http://mirror.lan/debian/

       To run the test image, make sure it is writeable:

              sudo chmod a+w ./test.img

       Execute using qemu, e.g. on amd64 using qemu-system-x86_64:

              qemu-system-x86_64 ./test.img

       (This loads the image in a new window.)

SEE ALSO

       debootstrap(8) , qemu(1)

                                                                                 VMDEBOOTSTRAP(8)