grml-debootstrap(8)
===================

Name
----
grml-debootstrap - wrapper around debootstrap for installing plain Debian via grml

Synopsis
--------
grml-debootstrap [ _options_ ]

image:images/screenshot.png[Screenshot]

Introduction
------------

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

All you have to do is adjust a few variables in configuration file
/etc/debootstrap/config (or specify some variables via commandline) and invoke
grml-debootstrap without any further options then.

A plain and base Debian system will be installed on the given
device (or directory) 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
---------------------------------

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

*-v*, *--version*::
    Show version of program and exit.

*--grub* <_device_>::
    Where do you want to install grub to? Use grub syntax for specifying.
    Do not forget to set groot as well. Leave empty to avoid installation of grub.

*--groot* <_device_>::
    Specify root device for usage in grub (corresponds with $TARGET).
    Again, use grub syntax for specifying.
    Corresponding with configuration variable GROOT.

*--boot_append* <_appendline for the kernel_>::
    Specify appendline for the kernel. 
    E.g. "_pci=nomsi_"

*-m*, *--mirror* <_URL_>::
    Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude. Notice that
    specifying the mirror also sets the chrootmirror to the given value.
    Corresponding with configuration variables MIRROR and CHROOTMIRROR.

*-i*, *--iso* <_/mntpoint_>::
    Specify mountpoint 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.

*-p*, *--mntpoint* <_/mntpoint_>::
    Specify mountpoint that should be used for mounting the target system.
    Corresponding with configuration variable MNTPOINT.

*--password* <_password_>::
    Use specified password as password for user root. Use with caution, as your
    commandline might be visible in the process list and the shell history.
    It's meant for automatic installation only.

*-r*, *--release* <_releasename_>::
    Specify release of new Debian system. Supported releases: sarge, etch, lenny and sid.
    Corresponding with configuration variable RELEASE.

*-t*, *--target* <_target_>::
    Target partition (/dev/...) or directory (anything else without /dev at the
    beginning).

WARNING: the commandline parsing of grml-debootstrap does not validate the provided
arguments for the commandline options. Please be careful and check docs and
/etc/debootstrap/config for further information.

Usage examples
---------------

  grml-debootstrap --target /dev/hda1 --grub hd0 --groot hd0,0

Install default Debian release (stable/etch) on /dev/hda1 and install bootmanager
Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/hda and use /dev/hda1 as system partition.

  grml-debootstrap --target /dev/hda6 --grub hd0 --groot hd0,5 --release sid

Install Debian unstable/sid on /dev/hda6, install bootmanager
Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/hda and use /dev/hda6 as system partition.

  grml-debootstrap --target /data/chroot

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

  grml-debootstrap --target /dev/sda3 --grub hd0 --groot hd0,2 --mirror ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian

Install default Debian release (stable/etch) on /dev/sda3 and install bootmanager
Grub in MBR (master boot record) of /dev/sda and use /dev/sda3 as system partition.
Use specified mirror instead of the default (ftp://ftp.debian.de/debian) one.

  mount -o loop /mnt/hda6/debian-40r0-i386-CD-1.iso /mnt/iso
  grml-debootstrap --target /dev/hda1 --grub hd0 --groot hd0,0 --iso file:/mnt/iso/debian/

Install Debian stable/etch on /dev/hda1 using the loopback mounted Debian-ISO
for the base-system and install bootmanager Grub in MBR (master boot record) of
/dev/hda and use /dev/hda1 as system partition. 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. You have to adjust it according to your needs
before you are able to run grml-debootstrap.

  /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 here will be installed into the new Debian system by
default (Controlvariable: EXTRAPACKAGES)

  /etc/debootstrap/stages/

The default directory for storing information about executed stages. Every
single function of grml-debootstrap will write 'done' to the stages directory
into a file named as the function itself if it has been executed successfully.
You can adjust the location of the directory via configuration variable STAGES
via /etc/debootstrap/config.  Please notice that you have to remove the stages
directory on your own if you want to re-execute grml-debootstrap after running it
successfully once. This should avoid recurrent execution by error of
grml-debootstrap (which might delete present data).

Customization
-------------

You can control execution of grml-debootstrap via adjusting
/etc/debootstrap/config for some main stuff or via setting some selected
variables via commandline.  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
take 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 commandline instead) it is meant for use via bootoption
debian2hd. The bootoption debian2hd (more precise: the kernelname on bootprompt)
supports the following bootoptions (they correspond with the commandline options
mentioned above):

  target=...

The target partition/directory of the new Debian system. Usage example:
target=/dev/hda1

  grub=...

Where do you want to install grub to? Use grub syntax for specifying.
Usage example: grub=hd0

  groot=...

Specify root device for usage in grub (corresponds with $TARGET).
Again, use grub syntax for specifying. Usage example: groot=hd0,0

  release=...

Specify release of new Debian system. Defaults to Debian stable.
Supported relases: sarge, etch, lenny and sid. Usage example: release=sid

  mirror=...

Specify mirror which should be used for apt-get/aptitude instead
of the default one (ftp://ftp.debian.de/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/hda1 grub=hd0 groot=hd0,0 mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar

You have to enter this commandline at the bootprompt of grml. Please make sure
that /dev/hda1 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
bootoptions for grml-debootstrap.

Supported Releases
------------------

include::releasetable.txt[]

[NOTE]
.Sarge-Release
=====================================================================
[1] Please notice that Sarge is the current old-stable within Debian.
grml-debootstrap can handle the release but you really should not
use Sarge anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Choose
Etch instead.
=====================================================================

Bugs
----

Probably. Please send bugreports to Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>.

See also
--------

debootstrap (8), cdebootstrap (1).

Author
------
Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>
