Provided by: grml-debootstrap_0.103_all bug

NAME

       grml-debootstrap - wrapper around debootstrap for installing plain Debian

SYNOPSIS

       grml-debootstrap [ options ]

       [IMAGE][1] [Screenshot]

INTRODUCTION

       grml-debootstrap is a wrapper suite around debootstrap (and cdebootstrap and mmdebstrap if
       you want) for installing a plain Debian system very fast and easy.

       All you have to do is adjust a few variables in the configuration file
       /etc/debootstrap/config or specify some command line options and invoke grml-debootstrap.
       If invoked without any configuration modifications or command line options a dialog based
       front end will be available to control some basic configuration options.

       A plain and base Debian system will be installed on the given device, directory or virtual
       image file then. Customization of this process is possible as well.

           Caution
           The Grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!

OPTIONS AND ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       --arch architecture
           Set target architecture you want to install. Defaults to the architecture you are
           currently running. If you’re running an amd64 kernel and want to deploy an i386 system
           use this option. Note: deploying amd64 from an i386 kernel does not work. Example:
           "--arch i386"

       --backportrepos
           Enable Debian’s Backports repository via the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list
           configuration file. This provides the option to install Debian packages from Debian’s
           backports repository.

       --bootappend appendline-for-the-kernel
           Specify appendline for the kernel. E.g. "pci=nomsi"

       -c, --config file
           Use specified configuration file, defaults to /etc/debootstrap/config.

       --chroot-scripts directory
           Execute chroot scripts from specified directory. This allows customisation of the
           chroot setup, the executable script(s) present in the given directory are executed at
           the end of the chroot procedure. Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/chroot-scripts/

       --contrib
           Enable the contrib repository in COMPONENTS. By default only the main repository is
           enabled.

       -d, --confdir path
           Place of configuration files for debootstrap, defaults to /etc/debootstrap.

       --debconf file
           Use specified file for preseeding Debian packages instead of using the default
           <confdir>/debconf-selections.

       --debopt params
           Extra parameters passed to the debootstrap command.

       --debug
           Execute in very verbose way. Useful for debugging possible problems with
           grml-debootstrap or identify what’s actually executed.

       --defaultinterfaces
           Install a default /etc/network/interfaces file (enabling DHCP for all local Ethernet,
           WLAN and WWAN interfaces using predictable network interface names and using eth0 as
           traditional interface name for backward compatibility) instead of taking over config
           from host system. This option is automatically enabled when using --vm or --vmfile.

       --efi device
           Partition where EFI boot manager should be installed to. If the specified device
           doesn’t use a FAT filesystem yet grml-debootstrap automatically creates the
           filesystem. If a FAT filesystem is already present the filesystem creation is skipped.
           Please ensure that it’s a valid FAT32 filesystem and the partition has the boot and
           esp flags enabled. This option requires EFI support on the running system and the
           option is NOT supported for Virtual Machine deployments.

       --filesystem filesystem
           Filesystem that should be created when installing to a partition. If unset defaults to
           ext4. Valid values are all filesystems that can be created through mkfs.filesystem.

       --force
           Skip user acknowledgement and do not prompt for user input.

       --grmlrepos
           Enable Grml.org’s Debian repository (http://deb.grml.org/) via the
           /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grml.list configuration file. This provides the option to
           install Debian packages from Grml’s repository.

       --grub device
           Device where grub should be installed to. Note that only the MBR (master boot record)
           can be used (/dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...). Partitions (like /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb2,...) are
           NOT supported because grub2 doesn’t support installation into the PBR (partition boot
           record) anymore. Usage example: --grub /dev/sda. Note: just do not set this option to
           avoid installation of grub.

       --help, -h
           Show summary of options and exit.

       --hostname hostname
           Use specified hostname instead of the default (being $HOSTNAME or if unset grml).

       -i, --iso /mntpoint
           Specify mount point where you have a Debian ISO mounted loopback. Using this option
           instead of the mirror option gives you the possibility to install the base-system
           without network access. Make sure you mounted the according Debian-ISO to the given
           /mntpoint. See section Usage examples for a demonstration.

       --keep_src_list
           Do not overwrite user provided /etc/apt/sources.list.

       -m, --mirror URL
           Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude. Corresponding with
           configuration variable MIRROR.

       --nodebootstrap
           Skip debootstrap, only do configuration to the target.

       --nointerfaces
           Do not copy /etc/network/interfaces from host system to the target.

       --nokernel
           Skip installation of default kernel images. This option might be interesting for you
           if you want a Debian system which doesn’t need to provide regular boot, e.g. a system
           which provides ISOs for booting via GRUB using grml-rescueboot.

       --non-free
           Enable the non-free repository in COMPONENTS. For bookworm and newer Debian releases
           also the non-free-firmware repository gets enabled. By default only the main
           repository is enabled.

       --nopackages
           Skip installation of packages defined in /etc/debootstrap/packages.

       --nopassword
           Do not prompt for the root password. Note: Use the --password option if you want to
           set the root password during an automatic installation but don’t want to use the
           interactive dialog.

       -p, --mntpoint /mntpoint
           Specify mount point that should be used for mounting the target system. Corresponding
           with configuration variable MNTPOINT. Note: this option has no effect if option -t is
           given and represents a directory.

       --packages file
           Use specified file as list for packages that should be installed instead of the
           default package list file <confdir>/packages.

       --password password
           Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your command
           line might be visible in the process list and the shell history. It’s meant for
           automatic installation only.

       --post-scripts directory
           Execute scripts from specified directory after executing the chroot script. This
           allows customisation of the system after the chroot has been set up. The environment
           variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
           Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/post-scripts/

       --pre-scripts directory
           Execute scripts from specified directory before executing the chroot script. This
           allows customisation of the system before the chroot has been set up. The environment
           variable $MNTPOINT is available inside the scripts for direct access of the chroot.
           Default directory: /etc/debootstrap/pre-scripts/

       -r, --release releasename
           Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases names: lenny, squeeze,
           wheezy, jessie, stretch, buster, bullseye, bookworm and sid. Corresponding with
           configuration variable RELEASE. Default release: bookworm

       --remove-configs
           Delete grml-debootstrap configuration files (/etc/debootstrap/*) from installed
           system. Useful for reproducible builds or if you don’t want to leak information.

       --sshcopyauth
           Use locally available $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys to authorise root login on the target
           system. This installs $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys as /root/.ssh/authorized_keys on the
           target system. If a different file than $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys should be used, the
           environment variable AUTHORIZED_KEYS_SOURCE can be used.

       --sshcopyid
           Use locally available public keys to authorise root login on the target system.
           Similar to ssh-copy-id(1) (without the -i option) it checks if ssh-add -L provides any
           output, and if so those keys are appended to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys (creating the
           file and directory (with mode 0700)).

       -t, --target target
           Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
           beginning).

       -v, --verbose
           Increase verbosity.

       --vm
           Set up a Virtual Machine on an existing block device, which will be partitioned. This
           allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The options needs to be combined with the
           --target option. This option automatically enables the --defaultinterfaces option.
           Usage example: --vm --target /dev/mapper/your-vm-disk

       --vmfile
           Set up a Virtual Machine using a regular file instead of installing to a
           partition/block device or directory. This allows deployment of a Virtual Machine. The
           options needs to be combined with the --target option (qemu-img create -f raw ...  is
           executed on the specified target). This option automatically enables the
           --defaultinterfaces option. Usage example: --vmfile --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img

       --vmsize size
           Use specified size for size of Virtual Machine disk file. If not specified it defaults
           to 2G (being 2GB). Syntax as supported by qemu-img (see manpage qemu-img(1) for
           details. Usage example: --vmsize 3G

       -V, --version
           Show version of program and exit.

           Warning
           the command line parsing of grml-debootstrap usually does not validate the provided
           arguments for the command line options. Please be careful and check docs and
           /etc/debootstrap/config for further information.

NETWORKING

       By default (that is, if none of the options --nointerfaces, --defaultinterfaces, --vmfile
       or --vm are given) /etc/network/interfaces will be copied from the host to the target
       system.

USAGE EXAMPLES

           grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda

       Install default Debian release (bookworm) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager GRUB in MBR
       (master boot record) of /dev/sda.

           grml-debootstrap --release stretch --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --hostname debian01 --password changeme

       Install Debian release stretch on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager GRUB in MBR (master
       boot record) of /dev/sda. Set hostname to debian01 and password for user root to changeme.

           grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda6 --grub /dev/sda --release sid

       Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/sda6 and install bootmanager GRUB in MBR (master boot
       record) of /dev/sda.

           DEBOOTSTRAP=mmdebstrap grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda

       Install default Debian release (bookworm) on /dev/sda1 and install bootmanager GRUB in MBR
       (master boot record) of /dev/sda. Use mmdebstrap instead of default debootstrap tool for
       bootstrapping.

           grml-debootstrap --target /dev/mapper/vg0-rootfs --grub /dev/sda

       Install default Debian release (bookworm) on LVM device /dev/mapper/vg0-rootfs and install
       bootmanager GRUB in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda.

           grml-debootstrap --efi /dev/sda1 --target /dev/sda2 --grub /dev/sda

       Install default Debian release (bookworm) on /dev/sda2 and install bootmanager GRUB in MBR
       (master boot record) of /dev/sda. Use /dev/sda1 as EFI partition (requires EFI support in
       booted system).

           mount /dev/sda1 /data/chroot
           grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot

       Install default Debian release (bookworm) in directory /data/chroot (without any
       bootloader).

           grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub /dev/sda  --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian

       Install default Debian release (bookworm) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager GRUB in MBR
       (master boot record) of /dev/sda. Use specified mirror instead of the default
       (http://deb.debian.org/debian) one.

           mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
           grml-debootstrap --vmfile --vmsize 3G --target /mnt/sda1/qemu.img

       Install default debian release (bookworm) in a Virtual Machine file with 3GB disk size
       (including GRUB as bootmanager in MBR of the virtual disk file):

           mount -o loop ./debian-CD-1.iso /media/cdrom
           grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda1 --grub /dev/sda --iso /media/cdrom

       Install Debian on /dev/sda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO for the base-system and
       install bootmanager GRUB in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda. Please notice, that the
       chroot system requires network access for all packages which are not part of the ISO.

FILES

           /etc/debootstrap/config

       Main configuration file. Adjust it according to your needs if you want to execute
       grml-debootstrap in the non-interactive mode without any special command line arguments.

           /etc/debootstrap/chroot-script

       The script executed within the new Debian system as soon as the main system has been
       installed via [c]debootstrap.

           /etc/debootstrap/locale.gen

       Defines the default locales used for generating locales via locale-gen.

           /etc/debootstrap/packages

       Defines the software packages which should be installed in the new Debian system by
       default.

           /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages/

       Debian Packages dropped in this directory will be installed into the new Debian system by
       default (Control variable: EXTRAPACKAGES)

CUSTOMIZATION

       You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting /etc/debootstrap/config for
       some main stuff or via setting some selected variables via command line. The packages
       which should be installed in the new Debian system can be defined via the file
       /etc/debootstrap/packages. If you want to put existing files to the new Debian system you
       can place them into the (by default non-existing) directories boot, etc, share, usr and
       var in /etc/debootstrap/. Every existing directory will be copied to the new Debian system
       then. If you want to install additional packages that are not available via the Grml or
       Debian mirror drop them into /etc/debootstrap/extrapackages and make sure that
       EXTRAPACKAGES is set to "yes".

AUTOMATIC INSTALLATION

       If environment variable AUTOINSTALL is set grml-debootstrap can be executed in a full
       automatic mode. While this mode isn’t really useful for interactive execution (just
       configure /etc/debootstrap/configure or specify the relevant variables on the command line
       instead) it is meant for use via boot option debian2hd on the Grml live system. The boot
       option debian2hd (more precise: the kernelname at the bootprompt) supports the following
       boot options (they correspond with the command line options mentioned above):

           target=...

       The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example: target=/dev/sda1

           grub=...

       Where do you want to install grub to? Usage example: grub=/dev/sda

           release=...

       Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian bookworm. Supported releases:
       lenny, squeeze, wheezy, jessie, stretch, buster, bullseye, bookworm and sid. Usage
       example: release=bullseye

           mirror=...

       Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead of the default one
       (http://deb.debian.org/debian). Usage example: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian

           password=...

       Set password of user root without prompting for it but set it to the given argument. Usage
       example: password=AiTh5ahn

   Usage example for automatic installation
           debian2hd target=/dev/sda1 grub=/dev/sda mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar

       You have to enter this command line at the bootprompt of the Grml live system. Please make
       sure that /dev/sda1 is the partition where you really want to install your new Debian
       system.

           Note
           Automatic installation within booting process is done in grml-autoconfig via setting
           environment variable AUTOINSTALL and creation of
           /usr/bin/grml-debootstrap_noninteractive with the available and relevant boot options
           for grml-debootstrap.

SUPPORTED RELEASES

       Table 1. Current status
       ┌─────────┬──────────┐
       │ReleaseStatus   │
       ├─────────┼──────────┤
       │         │          │
       │lenny    │ works[1] │
       ├─────────┼──────────┤
       │         │          │
       │squeeze  │ works[1] │
       ├─────────┼──────────┤
       │         │          │
       │wheezy   │ works[1] │
       ├─────────┼──────────┤
       │         │          │
       │jessie   │ works[1] │
       ├─────────┼──────────┤
       │         │          │
       │stretch  │ works[1] │
       ├─────────┼──────────┤
       │         │          │
       │buster   │ works[1] │
       ├─────────┼──────────┤
       │         │          │
       │bullseye │ works    │
       ├─────────┼──────────┤
       │         │          │
       │bookworm │ works    │
       ├─────────┼──────────┤
       │         │          │
       │sid      │ works[2] │
       └─────────┴──────────┘

           lenny/squeeze/wheezy/jessie/stretch/buster release
           [1] Please notice that releases like lenny, squeeze, wheezy, jessie, stretch and
           buster are unsupported releases within Debian nowadays. grml-debootstrap can handle
           the releases but you really should not use them anymore unless you really know what
           you are doing. Choose the current Debian stable version instead. See
           https://wiki.debian.org/DebianReleases for the list of supported releases.

           Notice that you need to specify a specific mirror providing old releases, the default
           (http://deb.debian.org/debian) doesn’t provide them any longer. Set the mirror to e.g.
           http://archive.debian.org/debian/ if you don’t have your own Debian mirror.

           Older releases might also fail to install when running on top of recent kernel
           versions, throwing segfaults during debootstrap. This can be identified by the
           following messages inside kernel log (check with dmesg):

               dpkg[...] vsyscall attempted with vsyscall=none ip:[...]
               dpkg[...]: segfault at [...]

           To work around this issue boot your system with the kernel boot option
           vsyscall=emulate.

           You also need to specify a filesystem that’s supported by lenny, e.g. --filesystem
           ext3 since grml-debootstrap’s current default (ext4) isn’t supported by lenny.

           Also when debootstrapping lenny on a live system with a kernel version like
           "3.16-1-grml-amd64" lenny’s libc will fail to install with:

               [...]
               /var/lib/dpkg/tmp.ci/preinst: line 265: [: 3.16-1-grml-amd64: integery expression expected
               /var/lib/dpkg/tmp.ci/preinst: line 231: 3.16-1-grml-amd64: syntax error: invalid arithemtic operator (error token is ".16-1-grml-amd64")
               dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/libc6_2.7-18lenny7_amd64.deb (--install):
               [....]

           To workaround this either debootstrap from a system with an according kernel version
           or use the "fake uname" workaround (just google for it).

           When installing lenny to a new mdraid, grml-debootstrap will use md metadata format
           version 0.90. This limits the device to a maximum size of 2TB, but has the advantage
           of grub-legacy actually being able to boot from it.

           unstable and testing releases
           [2] Please notice that Debian/testing and Debian/unstable (sid) might not be always
           installable due to their nature. What might work instead is deploying a stable release
           and upgrade it after installation finished.

BUGS

       Please report bugs towards https://github.com/grml/grml-debootstrap/issues

SEE ALSO

       debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1), mmdebstrap(1).

AUTHOR

       Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org[2]>

NOTES

        1. https://grml.org/grml-debootstrap/images/screenshot.png

        2. mika@grml.org
           mailto:mika@grml.org

                                            02/20/2023                        GRML-DEBOOTSTRAP(8)