trick - create a live installable copy of your system

[gnudude]

install live-helper, I suggest using the latest version from the live-helper repo - deb http://live.debian.net/debian/ ./

I made a folder to work in
mkdir work
changed to that folder
cd work
changed to root
su
told live-helper what I wanted to do
lh_config --bootstrap copy --debian-installer live
told live-helper to build the ISO
lh_build
when it is done binary.iso is the finished iso

and that was that....

[F37U5G0D]

Is there an LH program that lets me specify a list of packages I don't want installed? My .iso won't fit on one CD.

[Bro.Tiag]

Is there an LH program that lets me specify a list of packages I don't want installed? My .iso won't fit on one CD.

You might find some usefull information in the second post of this archived thread, live-helper create image and customize environment howto!.

Cheers

[gnudude]

Is there an LH program that lets me specify a list of packages I don't want installed? My .iso won't fit on one CD.

live-helper is nearly infinitely configurable...but I am not aware of any option to leave packages out of a backup of your system - if that is what you are asking.

If it was me, I would uninstall the stuff from my system I didn't want/need before I made the backup OR I would manually unpack the iso, unpack the squash, chroot in and remove stuff.

[jalu]

Code: Select all

lh_config --bootstrap copy --debian-installer live

that command did also try to copy my private data, which is quite an amount.
is there a shortcut to ship around the manpages ones again?
greetings

[gnudude]

No idea, be sure to let us know if you find one. I keep all my pr0n...err...data on a separate partition so it isn't a issue.

[jalu]

i tried this: from my other installation i mounted only / without home, and chrooted in it, but i ran out of space - though i had ~4 of ~7GB free (39% used): shit. if thats a way i could create a / big enough when installing.
greetings

[Alterax]

This is really cool!

I have a couple of projects coming up, but no hardware to run them on has been ordered yet. I've been kicking around in qemu just to get a good idea of what I need to make these servers, only to turn around and install fresh when the boxes do come in. Now I can go ahead and do the development now, throw it on a dvd and tweak the configuration once I actually install.

Thanks, Gnudude! You just saved me a LOT of time reinventing the wheel.

[Bro.Tiag]

Dean, when you tried this, how much unused space did have on the partition that you made "work" on? What was the finger print of the system you used?

Cheers

[gnudude]

It doesn't have any finger prints.

I think the system was a little less than 2gigs in size...probably had at least 4 gigs free.

I haven't looked at how live-helper does the backup but my guess would be that it copies the system to a folder and then does changes and squashes it. So you should have enough free space to make a complete copy of your system as well as a squashed iso of it. To be safe I would suggest having free space at least 1.5x as large as your installed system and 2x would probably be better.

If you have a data partition, swap file (maybe), or a usb storage device mounted then I would unmount them before doing this unless I wanted it in the backup too.

[Bro.Tiag]

It doesn't have any finger prints.

You know what I mean.

II think the system was a little less than 2gigs in size...probably had at least 4 gigs free.

I haven't looked at how live-helper does the backup but my guess would be that it copies the system to a folder and then does changes and squashes it. So you should have enough free space to make a complete copy of your system as well as a squashed iso of it. To be safe I would suggest having free space at least 1.5x as large as your installed system and 2x would probably be better.

Hum, I was trying to copy a 3.62 gig partition with only 4.36 gig's of free space.

If you have a data partition, swap file (maybe), or a usb storage device mounted then I would unmount them before doing this unless I wanted it in the backup too.

This might explain why when I tryed working on my data partition (with much more space, yet lots of junk too) it filled up as well. Thanks.

Cheers

[Hadret]

Just a small question: I've got kernel 2.6.29 so can I, using live installable copy of my system, format and install my system on ext4 partition? (:

[gnudude]

I would think the installer would need ext4 support and I am not sure if it does. You might try the latest version of the installer with the --debian-installer-distribution option that is listed in the man page man lh_config

[Hadret]

As soon as I will check that, I'll all let you know (:

[jalu]

Good. , thanks.

the long version:
due to my never ending problems with live-helper these days i did a fresh lenny installation this night.
After installing and configuring e17 and the apps i tried an lh_config backup.
I`m posting right now from the created live-cd, including the installer (~530MB), no problems occured.
thanks for the tip/how-to, that will be lots of help during my next crashes and i got a nice live-cd to impress the girls in the disco.