Flashable image generation Re: Bits from ARM porters
On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 7:43 AM, Hector Oron wrote:
> 12 Flashable image generation
> ═════════════════════════════
>
> 12.1 Discussion on supporting pre-installed images
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
>
> ⁃ Just fix DI to work on the expected platforms.
> ⁃ Document ways to create images with existing tools.
You appear to have not included our discussion from IRC, here is a
summary and expansion of the discussion.
Flashable images are much nicer than d-i from an ARM mobile devices
PoV, hardware vendors/OEMs PoV and also from a cloud PoV. There are
some situations like full-disk encryption that can't be done with
images but they are still a useful option to have.
We already have some flashable images; Debian live & Debian cloud.
Both of these do things like post-debootstrap removal of files like
SSH private keys and thus a bit hacky. They both also reimplement
these things instead of using the same removal code.
http://www.debian.org/CD/live/
At DebConf13, Raphaël Hertzog suggested there should be a debconf
setting for packages to check for so they are generically configured
instead of fully-configured for the local system. debootstrap would
set that debconf setting while building the chroot and insert an
initial-boot configuration step that removes it and runs all the
maintainer scripts again.
Questions:
What should the debconf setting be called?
Who is willing to work on this?
Has anyone done some comparisons between multiple debootstrap/d-i
installs to see what files should be generated on first-boot of image
based installs and what debconf prompts need to happen on first-boot?
What things are currently changed post-debootstrap for the live and
cloud images?
Would the live and cloud people be willing to merge their stuff? I
hear the live stuff can generate non-live (read-write) images too so
it may be best to standardise on that.
We probably need a GUI tool to download and install Debian images onto
mobile devices using the various flashers.
https://wiki.debian.org/Mobile#software-flashers
--
bye,
pabs
http://wiki.debian.org/PaulWise
Reply to: