Re: Reiser4-enabled Debian Unstable (Sid) netboot iso
On Thu, 7 Jan 2016 00:11:27 -0800
Jose R R <Jose.r.r@metztli-it.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 6, 2016 at 2:19 AM, Jose R R <Jose.r.r@metztli-it.com> wrote:
> > Niltze, all-
> >
> > I have been building iterations of Debian-Installer (d-i) enhanced
> > with Reiser4 4.0.1 kernel, disk and filesystem utilities. Thus far I
> > have used a local build on Debian Sid of VirtualBox 5.0.10 environment
> > to test multiple Reiser4 installations.
> >
> > For flexibility, especially if you are testing in a VM, the following
> > d-i options may help:
> >
> > -Network-console: continue installation remotely using SSH
> > -Openssh-client-udeb: secure shell client for the Debian installer
> >
> > Now:
> >
> > d-i offers three(3) choices:
> >
> > Jessie (stable)
> > Stretch (testing)
> > Sid (unstable)
> >
> > I have verified that *all* can be installed from my custom Reiser4
> > d-i; Nevertheless Jessie (stable) needs access to testing and/or
> > unstable repositories added at /etc/apt/sources.list in order to
> > fulfill dependencies of the unstable kernel in my d-i. Jessie (stable)
> > also needs to have newer Reiser4 4.0.1 packages because d-i downloads
> > the older (stable) version. I have covered *all* of Jessie conditions
> > by building newer unstable versions of its requirements. The downside
> > of it is that a user needs to manually intervene at the shell,
> > possibly at the expert level.
>
> Important note for Jessie:
> Opening a shell in the installer environment prior to d-i menu
> suggesting to install GRUB, enter:
>
> chroot /target
>
> Modify /etc/initramfs-tools/modules file by adding directives
>
> crc32c_intel
> reiser4
>
> at the end of the file and saving the modifications,
>
> And *prior* to installing the Reiser4 -enabled kernel make sure to
> replace the older reiser4progs 1.0.9 with the newer reiser4progs
> 1.1.0-1.1 -- which may be downloaded from previously posted link,
> i.e.:
>
> http://metztli.it/readOnlyEphemeral/reiser4progs-4.0.1.tar
>
> These last utilites will require download access to Stretch or Sid (Unstable)
> for instance adding a line:
> deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian sid main non-free contrib
>
> in /etc/apt/sources.list and performing apt-get update
>
> to fulfill dependencies needed in Jessie:
>
> libncurses5
> libncursesw5
> libreadline5
> libtinfo5
>
> The above is necessary since when the Reiser4 -enabled kernel is
> installed, it will trigger initramfs-tools creation of
> initrd.img-xyz-amd64 which *should* have newer reiser4progs 1.1.0-1.1
> file utilities.
>
> Optional: parted-reiser4_3.2-12 dependencies form Stretch and/or
> Sid(Unstable):
>
> dmsetup
> libdevmapper1.02.1
>
> >
> > As for Stretch and Sid, manual intervention is required only to modify
> > /etc/initramfs-tools/modules file by adding at the end:
> >
> > crc32c_intel
> > reiser4
> >
> > *before* installing the custom Reiser4 kernel, thus:
> > dpkg -i linux-image-4.3.0-1-amd64_4.3.3-5_amd64.deb
> >
> > so that initramfs can be appropriately updated *before* rebooting the
> > new Reiser4 installation.
> >
> > Note that GRUBX does not support booting from /boot Reiser4
> > filesystem; accordingly, a small partition must be provisioned for
> > booting into a Reiser4 -formatted root (/) partition. The d-i
> > partman-reiser4 will format Reiser4 partitions thus:
> >
> > mkfs.reiser4 -yo "create=reg40" <your selected partition>
> >
> > Additionally, user may want to provision a /tmp in a non-Reiser4
> > partition if the intention is to run MariaDB (MySQL) because -- at the
> > very least -- the DB will complain about /tmp issues if it is
> > formatted in Reiser4 --personal experience ;-)
> >
> > With the above said and warning that this is an alpha effort *without*
> > any explicit and/or implied guarantee that will be risk-free, here is
> > the current yield of of Reiser4 effort:
> >
> > Reiser4 -enabled Debian-Installer (d-i) netboot mini.iso renamed as:
> > http://metztli.it/readOnlyEphemeral//metztli_it-reiser4_d-i.iso
> >
> > Reiser4 -enabled kernel & modules.README_1st:
> > http://metztli.it/readOnlyEphemeral/linux-image-4.3.0-1-amd64_4.3.3-5_amd64.tar
> >
> > Reiser4 -enabled Debian GNU Parted packages (install at the end of
> > installation procedure); please note that those packages under
> > reiser4-parted_3.2-12/misc are optional):
> > http://metztli.it/readOnlyEphemeral/reiser4-parted_3.2-12.tar
> > (after untarring above referenced, install as)
> > cd reiser4-parted_3.2-12
> > dpkg -i parted_3.2-12_amd64.deb libparted2_3.2-12_amd64.deb
> >
> > Next resource is only needed if Jessie was installed. Package below
> > will replace the older Reiser4 file utilities:
> > http://metztli.it/readOnlyEphemeral/reiser4progs-4.0.1.tar
> >
> > Although I have created patches for most (or all ;-) of the above at
> > GitHub, I realize Debian Unstable (Sid) is a fast moving development
> > effort and within a couple of weeks the kernel referenced above will
> > be outdated and d-i will refuse to install.
> >
> > With the previous statement said, and if anyone is willing, try the
> > above Debian-Installer (d-i) resources while the kernel is fresh...
> >
> > Feedback and/or suggestions welcome.
> >
> >
> > Best Professional Regards
> >
> >
> > P.S I am already preparing some images for Google Compute Engine (GCE)
> > < https://cloud.google.com/compute/ > to add to currently testing
> > Reiser4 images created last year.
>
>
This is somewhat off-topic, but why was ReiserFS support removed from d-i? I am
a big fan of Reiser3 personally, but I use XFS now.
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