dynesdk
What you will need for this bite-sized example
- a working dyne:bolic 1.3 system
- Linux friendly hard disk space - about 4 Gig
- a dyne:bolic 1.3 iso image
- a few extra tools
- a small bit of Linux or programming experience
Overview
Dyne:bolic has lots of power, but you might have some special needs. For example, maybe you want to include some of your own media files so you can take your studio kit into the world with you. Maybe you need to make a few small tweaks to make your system or cluster perform at its best. Depending on your level of experience, reading the Dynebolic Hacker's Guide might be enough to scare you away before you even try. If you are not of the mind to start patching and compiling a new kernel just to get started, here is an idea for you.
Let's use dyne:bolic to build our own dyne:bolic!
This will only work for small changes, as this will not supply gcc or a full development environment. But for many personalizations needs, this is all that is required.
A Working Space
To start out we will need a directory to work in. The ideal situation is to borrow space on an existing Linux box, as you need a real Linux filesystem that handles links and permissions. A swap partition comes in handy, too. Lets create a directory 'sdk', just so we'll have a name to refer to. The sdk directory needs to have about 4 Gig of free space available. If that sounds like a lot, remember, we are going to be working with a 600+ Megabyte highly compressed iso, and to work on it, we need to uncompress it, and then build it back from its pieces.
On the d:b CD, there is a devel directory that contains a script file named dynesdk. Copy the script into your sdk directory. This script contains all the logic required to manipulate the d:b image, so we want it close at hand.
Copy your d:b 1.3 iso to the sdk directory, naming it dynebolic-dev.iso. This copy will be modified during the process. Remember that if you want to keep a pristine iso image.
Extra Tools
d:b already has most of the tools required, but there are two pieces missing, one trivial and one essential. The dnsdomainname command is used to include the building system's name in the CD image. A simple script that just prints a host name will keep dynesdk happy with minimal effort. The mksquashfs command builds the compressed image. Add these two commands to the richness already provided in d:b, and you have everything it takes to modify the image. You can find these in the downloads area. The sdktools.tar.gz file contains both tools. Just download it into your sdk directory, and untar it with:
tar xvzf sdktools.tar.gz
In recap, you should now have a sdk directory that looks like this:
[d:b] /vol/hd2/sdk #ls -l total 646404 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15127 Jan 23 2003 LICENSE.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 717 May 30 18:26 README.txt -rwxr--r-- 1 root root 101 Mar 27 22:56 dnsdomainname -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 661127168 May 30 18:59 dynebolic-dev.iso -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 13735 May 30 18:56 dynesdk -rwxr--r-- 1 root root 59236 Jan 28 06:05 mksquashfs -rw------- 1 root root 32688 May 30 19:01 sdktools.tar.gz
Explode the iso image
Now we are ready to turn the compressed iso image into regular files we can work with. To do this, cd to the sdk directory and issue the command dynesdk expode. This will run for a while, pulling the pieces from the iso image and writing the individual pieces to disk.
[d:b] /vol/hd2/sdk #dynesdk explode 19:15 [*] dyne:bolic SDK version 0.2 - software development kit . Copyleft 2003 by jaromil - http://dynebolic.org . $Id: dynesdk,v 1.8 2004/03/15 18:00:20 jaromil Exp $ [*] creating a dyne:bolic SDK in . . copying iso contents into ./cdrom (please wait) . generating initrd tree (please wait) . generating home tree . generating var tree . generating usr tree (please wait, this takes long!) [*] if you don't see errors above, the SDK has been generated! [*] bye. zsh: 1675 exit 1 dynesdk explode
Make your changes
The explode process created a set of directories like these:
| cdrom | the CD contents in file, not iso, form |
| initrd | initial ram disk image contents |
| home | default home directory contents |
| var | default var directory contents |
| tmp | default empty tmp space |
| usr | the main dyne:bolic system contents |
Make your changes within these directories. This section is intentionally devoid of details, as you are the expert here. You know what you want to accomplish. Explore the d:b tree, apply your Linux knowledge, and gain some more.
Put it back together
Once you have made your changes, you are ready to rebuild the compressed iso image. To do this, cd to the sdk directory and issue the command dynesdk implode. This will run for a long time, as the compression is a very resource intensive activity. Here is a lightly annotated implode session:
[d:b] /vol/hd2/sdk #dynesdk implode 19:41 [*] dyne:bolic SDK version 0.2 - software development kit . Copyleft 2003 by jaromil - http://dynebolic.org . $Id: dynesdk,v 1.8 2004/03/15 18:00:20 jaromil Exp $ [*] imploding dyne:bolic SDK into a bootable ISO [*] making the initrd compressed filesystem . setup startup files [!] no startup files present in ./../startup . generate device file 6000+0 records in 6000+0 records out . formatting filesystem mke2fs 1.34 (25-Jul-2003) cdrom/dyne/initrd is not a block special device. Proceed anyway? (y,n)
You will need to enter a 'y' here. This is not a block special device because it is a loopback we are building.
Filesystem label= OS type: Linux Block size=1024 (log=0) Fragment size=1024 (log=0) 6000 inodes, 6000 blocks 0 blocks (0.00%) reserved for the super user First data block=1 1 block group 8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group 6000 inodes per group Writing inode tables: done Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done This filesystem will be automatically checked every 27 mounts or 180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override. . populating initrd loopback device . tuning filesystem tune2fs 1.34 (25-Jul-2003) Setting maximal mount count to -1 Setting interval between check 0 seconds . File: `cdrom/dyne/initrd.gz' Size: 1974707 Blocks: 3872 IO Block: 4096 Regular File Device: 306h/774d Inode: 114079 Links: 1 Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root) Access: 2004-05-30 19:43:34.000000000 +0200 Modify: 2004-05-30 19:43:34.000000000 +0200 Change: 2004-05-30 19:43:47.000000000 +0200 [*] packaging /home . File: `./cdrom/dyne/home.tgz' Size: 1573842 Blocks: 3088 IO Block: 4096 Regular File Device: 306h/774d Inode: 114078 Links: 1 Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root) Access: 2004-05-30 19:18:52.000000000 +0200 Modify: 2004-05-30 19:43:50.000000000 +0200 Change: 2004-05-30 19:43:50.000000000 +0200 [*] packaging /var . File: `cdrom/dyne/var.tgz' Size: 120861 Blocks: 248 IO Block: 4096 Regular File Device: 306h/774d Inode: 114085 Links: 1 Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root) Access: 2004-05-30 19:18:52.000000000 +0200 Modify: 2004-05-30 19:43:51.000000000 +0200 Change: 2004-05-30 19:43:51.000000000 +0200 [*] making the /usr squashed filesystem (please wait, takes long!) . setup startup files [!] no startup files present in ./../startup . start compressing: Sun May 30 19:43:53 CEST 2004 Creating little endian filesystem on ./cdrom/dyne/dynebol.sys, block size 32768.
Here is the long wait. Be patient, and find something else to do for a while.
. end: Sun May 30 20:24:02 CEST 2004 . File: `./cdrom/dyne/dynebol.sys' Size: 527945728 Blocks: 1032160 IO Block: 4096 Regular File Device: 306h/774d Inode: 114075 Links: 1 Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root) Access: 2004-05-30 20:24:01.000000000 +0200 Modify: 2004-05-30 20:24:01.000000000 +0200 Change: 2004-05-30 20:24:02.000000000 +0200 [*] making the dynebolic ISO Forged on dynebolic00015381F1A9.localdomain the Sun May 30 20:24:02 CEST 2004 using mkisofs 1.15a39 (i686-pc-linux-gnu) on Linux 2.4.22-dynebolic i686 system version 1.3 ramdisk version 1.3
The gpg section will change based on your own gpg setup. If you have a private gpg key established in your nest, you will be prompted for your passphrase (twice) to sign the system pieces you are building.
gpg: /home/.gnupg: directory created gpg: new configuration file `/home/.gnupg/gpg.conf' created gpg: WARNING: options in `/home/.gnupg/gpg.conf' are not yet active during this run gpg: keyring `/home/.gnupg/secring.gpg' created gpg: keyring `/home/.gnupg/pubring.gpg' created gpg: no default secret key: secret key not available gpg: signing failed: secret key not available gpg: no default secret key: secret key not available gpg: signing failed: secret key not available Using LIVE_000.TXT;1 for ./cdrom/extras/live_in_makrolab.txt (live_in_wien.txt) Using LIVE_000.MP3;1 for ./cdrom/extras/live_in_makrolab.mp3 (live_in_wien.mp3) Size of boot image is 4 sectors -> No emulation 1.55% done, estimate finish Sun May 30 20:25:30 2004 3.10% done, estimate finish Sun May 30 20:24:58 2004
<snip>
97.59% done, estimate finish Sun May 30 20:25:37 2004 99.13% done, estimate finish Sun May 30 20:25:37 2004 Total translation table size: 2048 Total rockridge attributes bytes: 5611 Total directory bytes: 12288 Path table size(bytes): 82 Max brk space used d000 322800 extents written (630 Mb) . File: `./dynebolic-dev.iso' Size: 661094400 Blocks: 1292472 IO Block: 4096 Regular File Device: 306h/774d Inode: 619035 Links: 1 Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root) Access: 2004-05-30 19:18:36.000000000 +0200 Modify: 2004-05-30 20:25:37.000000000 +0200 Change: 2004-05-30 20:25:37.000000000 +0200 [*] bye. zsh: 1725 exit 1 dynesdk implode
Burn the freshly created dynebolic-dev.iso to a CD, and try it out. d:b includes cdrecord and the gcombust interface, just remember to boot with the proper command to enable scsi emulation for your burner. For example:
Linux hdc=ide-scsi
Here are a few cost and time saving tips. If your hardware supports booting from a CD-RW disk, you can save a stack full of one time use CD-R's when testing by using a CD-RW disk instead. A Smart Boot Manager floppy can usually convince even the most stuborn system to boot from any CD media. You can also do some testing without burning by using the dynesdk chroot command. You can also use a d:b dock setup booting directly with GRUB or LILO. There is also support in the docking mechanisms to use the sdk directory directly if it is placed in the dyne dock directory. Remember, though, changing the system files underneath a running system is a recipe for disaster, so work out your plan carefully. Depending on the nature of your changes, you might be able to reduce the amount of time required to build the iso. If your changes don't involve the usr directory, you can save lots of time by choosing other options to dynesdk. For example, if you are replacing some of the extras content with your own, you could use dynesdk mkiso to save lots of time to achive the same results. Or, if your changes are to a start up script, you can use dynesdk mkinitrd followed by dynesdk mkiso. Explore your options.
Too much?
Not everyone is ready for this kind of work. If you are, you are one of the few, and should consider yourself specially blessed. You should also consider offering the fruits of your labors back to the d:b community. If you are not of the programming, tinkering mindset, there are other options available. If you have the need for support and customization, consider contracting jaromil and the dyne:bolic team to provide it. They obviously do great work!
Now you've got power. Go create something wonderful!