New KNOPPIX remastering HOWTO

**eadz** · 11-14-2002, 08:09 AM

update : this version is now maintained at http://www.knoppix.net/docs/index.ph...masteringHowto so use that version instead of this

This is a guide that will show you howto remaster KNOPPIX.

( notes : commands showen in bold are on one line, so please mazimise the window, if you have any comments/sugestions please post below )

Requirements:

at least 1.5 Gig of RAM+Swap total
3 gig free on a disk

Instructions:

Boot from Knoppix CD
Configure your internet connection ( we'll need this later )
Open a root shell ( Kmenu->Knoppix->Root Shell ) - all commands below are ru
n from root shell
Make 2 directories, one for your new Master CD, one for the source, on a dis
k partition. You'll have to m
Make 2 directories, one for your new Master CD, one for the source, on a dis
k partition. You'll have to make sure these are mounted read-write. If say, you
have a partition with 3 gig free, mounted read-write /mnt/hda4, then mkdir /
mnt/hda4/knxmaster; mkdir /mnt/hda4/knxsource
mkdir /mnt/hda4/knxsource/KNOPPIX ( replace /mnt/hda4 with where your
harddisk is mounted )
now, copy the KNOPPIX files to your source directory : cp -Rp /KNOPPIX/* /
mnt/hda4/knxsource/KNOPPIX that will take a little while
[b]mkdir /mnt/hda4/knxmaster/KNOPPIX
cp /cdrom/index.html /mnt/hda4/knxmaster/
now, copy everything in /cdrom/KNOPPIX/ to /mnt/hda4/knxmaster/KNOPPIX/ except the ~700 Mb KNOPPIX file.
Now you can "chroot" into the copied KNOPPIX : chroot /mnt/hda4/knxsource
/KNOPPIX - new - I get a whole lot of /dev/null permission denied
errors, I'm not sure what thats all about, but I press CTRL+C and carry on anyway...
Update : fixed ! Well, check your mount status if you met the problem:
# mount
/dev/hda12 on /mnt/hda12 type ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev)

where "nodev" means that you are not accessible on mounted filesystem
and you can not access /dev/null. And some scripts get output redirect
to /dev/null...
To solve this you should mount target partition before you do chroot
like this:

# mount /dev/hda12 /mnt/hda12

And see whats changed:

# mount
/dev/hda12 on /mnt/hda12 type ext3 (rw)

then you can carry on and chroot.
You are now chrooted. "/" is actually "/mnt/hda4/knxsource/KNOPPIX"
To use the internet you need to mount proc mount -t proc /proc proc
now edit /etc/resolv.conf and add your nameserver
check your chrooted internet connection : ping google.com
Now you can change stuff. If you want to add programs, you'll probally have
to remove some programs to free up space. apt-get remove <program>
will remove that program.
change stuff.. user settings are in /etc/skel
...
Unmount /proc - very imporntant! umount /proc
Press CTRL+D to leave being chrooted.

Notes :
interesting stuff in /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig :
The X background file is /cdrom/KNOPPIX/background.gif
As well as floppyconfig, there is cdromconfig which will run /cdrom/KNOPPIX/knoppix.sh
interesting stuff in /etc/init.d/xsession
it ALSO sets background as /usr/local/lib/knoppix.gif
Now, onto creating the ISO file

we've finished customizing and ready to burn!
first do some cleanup : remove .bash_history files, tmp files etc
rm -rf /mnt/hda4/knxsource/KNOPPIX/.rr_moved
Now we'll make the big KNOPPIX file which is a cloop compressed ISO 9660 filesystem : mkisofs -R -U -V "KNOPPIX.net filesystem" -P "KNOPPIX www.knoppix.net" -hide-rr-moved -cache-inodes -no-bak -pad /mnt/hda4/knxsource/KNOPPIX | nice -5 /usr/bin/create_compressed_fs - 65536 > /mnt/hda4/knxmaster/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX
if all went well, onto making the final CD-ROM Image :
cd /mnt/hda2/knxmaster
mkisofs -pad -l -r -J -v -V "KNOPPIX" -b KNOPPIX/boot.img -c KNOPPIX/boot.cat -hide-rr-moved -o /some/where/knoppix.iso /mnt/hda2/knxmaster ( replace /some/where/ with where you want to store the final image ready for burning. )
all done!

Thats it. This is an updated version of my previous howto. This is not meant for linux beginers, you will need to know your way around linux... to get this to work. I'll update this as corrections/improvemtns/etc come through.

Thanks to aay for some corrections

**aay** · 11-14-2002, 10:22 PM

Thanks for the howto on remastering knoppix. This is something that I'd really like to do. However if having 1.5 Gig of RAM is a requrirement for this proceedure, it's doubtful that many people will be able to do this. Maybe I misunderstood you. Were you saying that the total amount of RAM and swap needs to add up to 1.5 gig? That's certainly more reasonable.

**eadz** · 11-14-2002, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by aay

Thanks for the howto on remastering knoppix. This is something that I'd really like to do. However if having 1.5 Gig of RAM is a requrirement for this proceedure, it's doubtful that many people will be able to do this. Maybe I misunderstood you. Were you saying that the total amount of RAM and swap needs to add up to 1.5 gig? That's certainly more reasonable.

The total of SWAP and RAM added together needs to be 1.5Gig. so you'll do fine with 256MB ram and 1.25 gig swap.

**aay** · 11-14-2002, 10:55 PM

Thanks. I thought for sure I must be missunderstanding you. I look forward to giving this a try....when I've got some time! BTW, Great site!

andrej · 11-14-2002, 11:46 PM

I've added some directories and files to /etc/skel but they don't appear in /home/knoppix.
(if i use adduser knoppix2, these files do appear in /home/knoppix2) what do i need to change to copy these files from /etc/skel/ to /home/knoppix ?

Thanks,
Andrej

**eadz** · 11-14-2002, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by andrej

I've added some directories and files to /etc/skel but they don't appear in /home/knoppix.
(if i use adduser knoppix2, these files do appear in /home/knoppix2) what do i need to change to copy these files from /etc/skel/ to /home/knoppix ?

Thanks,
Andrej

hmm I'll have to check up on this.. i think you need to check the permissions. make the ownership/permissions the same as the other files.

TimSanders · 11-15-2002, 01:19 AM

Somewhere there is a how-to and a script (from Klaus?) on how to re-order the files on the remastered CD image so that the new CD will run as fast as the original KNOPPIX. If this isn't done, I have read posts that say it runs quite a bit slower. YMMV

**eadz** · 11-15-2002, 01:51 AM

Originally Posted by TimSanders

Somewhere there is a how-to and a script (from Klaus?) on how to re-order the files on the remastered CD image so that the new CD will run as fast as the original KNOPPIX. If this isn't done, I have read posts that say it runs quite a bit slower. YMMV

no howto but some scripts, in them is commands to order the files..
http://listas.hispalinux.es/pipermai...er/000046.html

blivius · 11-16-2002, 12:35 AM

I use Klaus's KNOPPIX.build scripts to do my remastering with great success.
But the one thing I have yet to figure out is how to order files on the CD
when making the iso.

Unless I'm missing something his script looks for a file "/KNOPPIX.build/mkisofs.sort"
and if it exists it sorts per the way files are arranged in that file. How Klaus creates
"/KNOPPIX.build/mkisofs.sort" remains a mystery to me.

eadz, if you like I can provide you with the slightly modified KNOPPIX.build
scripts I use plus a small how-to that explains their usage. Do you have a
download area?

Regards,
blivius

**aay** · 11-16-2002, 01:26 AM

I for one would like to have a chance to see the script and the howto that blivius mentions. Sounds like it would be helpful. I'm hoping that after a little more light is shed on the file ordering issue, eadz will be able to incorporate this knowledge into his howto. This is certainly proving enlightening.