How could I create a custom linux distro/iso without using special tools like respin and archiso?
How could I create a custom linux distro/iso without using special tools like respin and archiso?
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Customizing a base distro sounds like a good place to start 👍🏽
So taking your other comment into consideration as well, I suppose the following would be the easiest good setup:
- Install Debian Stable using the image for a minimal network install onto a secondary device or onto a partition of your main device (multi-boot). Make sure to only include the stuff you think you'd need.
- Install all of your favorite tools within that Debian Stable installation.
- Use the excellent penguins-eggs package to make a live image out of it.
- Install the live image onto your favorite USB with whichever tool you like; personally I enjoy using ventoy.
- Profit :P .
If my proposed solution doesn't quite fit your needs, then please feel free to correct me!
This sounds like a perfectly workable solution!
I assume getting a persistent environment in a USB recovery stick is a bigger task? I'm imagining that, with your method, I would need to repeat this process any time I wanted to update the image or load specific new kernel modules/drivers?
Good questions!
I assume getting a persistent environment in a USB recovery stick is a bigger task?
I actually don't know if penguins-eggs allows persistent environments 🤔 . Though, other tools might be better fit for the job. Personally I'd recommend you to follow this guide for openSUSE Leap. A similarly good guide/documentation for Debian is absent, and openSUSE Leap is likewise a good fit due to it being supported over a longer time period as well. The steps outlined in the guide might be a bit more involved, but the team behind openSUSE have done a wonderful job to ensure accessibility.
I’m imagining that, with your method, I would need to repeat this process any time I wanted to update the image or load specific new kernel modules/drivers?
With the method outlined in my previous comment, you only have to repeat the process from scratch if you didn't save the Debian install some way or another. If you did keep the Debian install around, then you could just; open it up, apply some updates/changes or (un)install additional packages and make yet another live image out of it. Granted, the openSUSE Leap persistent Live USB that has been previously mentioned in this comment is easier to change later down the line regardless.
Btw, -to my knowledge- the persistent Live USB environment is also possible on other distros like Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu etc. So arguably it's best to first look at which distro satisfies your needs in regards to package availability. After which, in my opinion, LTS/Stable releases ought to be preferred over the others.
Thanks a ton for all the advice! 👍🏼
It has been my pleasure! I'm curious on what you'll end up doing. So please consider to report back if it isn't too much to ask :blush: !
Certainly! I'm not sure when I'll get around to actually doing it, but my intent was to create an emergency boot drive to send to my elderly family members that they could plug in if the system ever started acting up, and I'll build it in such a way that it'll be able to be booted as a Linux live USB, and also have a Windows partition for any tools that I might need for remote access and in-system diagnostics.
I've built a few scripts for the Linux bootable but I can't seem to remember where I stored that particular repo at the moment, so I'll share later.
Some of my stuff is up on my GitHub (same username)