How to make a custom ISO image: Difference between revisions

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We create the ISO image by telling the makefile the profile name. The makefile target is ''iso''.
We create the ISO image by telling the makefile the profile name. The makefile target is ''iso''.
{{Cmd|<nowiki>make PROFILE=alpine-rescue iso</nowiki>}}
{{Cmd|<nowiki>make PROFILE=alpine-rescue iso</nowiki>}}
{{Tip| If you are building inside an LXC guest, use fakeroot:
{{Cmd|<nowiki>fakeroot make PROFILE=alpine-rescue iso</nowiki>}}
}}


To generate the sha1 sum we use the ''sha1'' make target.
To generate the sha1 sum we use the ''sha1'' make target.

Revision as of 13:38, 13 April 2015

This document explains how to build a custom ISO image using the alpine-iso scripts.

First make sure we have the needed tools

apk add alpine-sdk

Then we clone (or update) the alpine-iso git repository.

git clone git://git.alpinelinux.org/alpine-iso

The alpine-iso scripts is a simple makefile which you need to feed with a <name>.conf.mk file and a <name>.packages.

In the <name>.conf.mk we specify

ALPINE_NAME
name of iso image
ALPINE_VERSION
(optional) version string. Will default to todays date.
KERNEL_FLAVOR
(optional) either grsec, vserver or pae. Will default to grsec.
MODLOOP_EXTRA
(optional) Extra kernel module packages for the modloop image. For example: dahdi-linux-vserver
APK_REPOS
(optional) Path to addidtional apk repository.

The <name>.packages is just a plaintext list of packages that should be included in the ISO image. You should always add alpine-base in there or the CD might not be able to boot. The dependencies for the packages will automatically be pulled in.

A rescue CD example

As an example, let us make a rescue ISO image with packages needed for rescue operations. We call it alpine-rescue

We create the alpine-rescue.conf.mk as follows:

ALPINE_NAME   := alpine-rescue
KERNEL_FLAVOR := grsec
MODLOOP_EXTRA :=

If you are going to use a custom kernel, don't forget to specify KERNEL_FLAVOR_DEFAULT which will set the default kernel to boot.

And then the alpine-rescue.packages as:

alpine-base
bkeymaps
openssh
e2fsprogs
mdadm
lvm2
parted
debootstrap
ntfs-3g
Tip: Make sure your public keys are placed in /etc/apk/keys/ (example: root-xxxxxxxx.rsa.pub):

ls /etc/apk/keys/

Learn apk-tools to find your home-built apk's:

echo "~/.cache/abuild/" >> /etc/apk/repositories

Make sure the apk index is up to date (so apk finds the packages):

apk update

We create the ISO image by telling the makefile the profile name. The makefile target is iso.

make PROFILE=alpine-rescue iso

Tip: If you are building inside an LXC guest, use fakeroot:

fakeroot make PROFILE=alpine-rescue iso

To generate the sha1 sum we use the sha1 make target.

make PROFILE=alpine-rescue sha1

Package lists

Beside the plaintext package lists in the git repository, there are more documented package lists contributed by Alpine users. Those lists can be transformed into a plaintext to use with alpine-iso list with the simple python-based config-builder script.

So far the lists below are available (check here for more.)

Testing your ISO image

Qemu is useful for a quick test of your created ISO image.