NAME
live-helper - the Debian Live tool suite
SYNOPSIS
lh COMMAND [-h|--help] [-u|--usage] [-v|--version] [--breakpoints]
[--conffile] [--debug] [--force] [--quiet] [--verbose]
DESCRIPTION
live-helper is a set of scripts to build Debian Live system images. The
idea behind live-helper is a tool suite that uses a configuration
directory to completely automate and customize all aspects of building
a Live image.
The COMMAND is a name of a live-helper command (see below).
More documentation about how to use live-helper is available in the
individual manpages for each helper and in the manual at
<http://live.debian.net/manual/>.
OPTIONS
Shared live-helper options
The following command line options are supported by all live-helper
programs.
-h, --help
display help and exit.
-u, --usage
show usage and exit.
-v, --version
output version information and exit.
Common live-helper options
The following command line options are supported by most live-helper
programs. See the man page of each program for a complete explanation
of what each option does.
--breakpoints
run with breakpoints.
--conffile
use custom configuration file.
--debug
show debug information.
--force
force helper execution, even if stage file exists.
--quiet
be quiet.
--verbose
be verbose.
LIVE-HELPER COMMANDS
We divide live-helper into high level ("porcelain") commands and low
level ("plumbing") commands.
Here is the complete list of all available live-helper commands. See
their man pages for additional documentation.
HIGH-LEVEL COMMANDS (PORCELAIN)
We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
ancillary user utilities.
Main porcelain commands
lh_config(1)
create configuration for live-helper
lh_bootstrap(1)
create the first stage by bootstrapping a basic debian system
lh_chroot(1)
create the second stage by customizing the chroot
lh_binary(1)
create the third stage by generating a binary image
lh_source(1)
create the optional fourth stage by generating a source image
lh_clean(1)
clean up system build directories
Ancillary Commands
lh(1)
generic live-helper wrapper
lh_build(1)
alias for all stages
lh_local(1)
helper for using a local live-helper
lh_testroot(1)
ensure that a system is built as root
LOW-LEVEL COMMANDS (PLUMBING)
The actual work of live-helper is implemented in the low-level
commands, called plumbing. They are not supposed to be used by end
users, they should stick with porcelains as they ensure that all the
different plumbing commands are executed in the right order. However,
if you intend to reuse live-helper commands in your own scripts, then
the plumbings might be of interest for you.
Note that the interface (set of options and the semantics) to these
low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable than Porcelain
level commands. The interface to Porcelain commands on the other hand
are subject to change in order to improve the end user experience.
Bootstrap commands
lh_bootstrap_cache(1)
cache bootstrap stage
lh_bootstrap_cdebootstrap(1)
bootstrap a Debian system with cdebootstrap(1)
lh_bootstrap_copy(1)
bootstrap by copying the host system
lh_bootstrap_debootstrap(1)
bootstrap a Debian system with debootstrap(8)
Chroot commands
lh_chroot_apt(1)
manage /etc/apt/apt.conf
lh_chroot_cache(1)
cache chroot stage
lh_chroot_debianchroot(1)
manage /etc/debian_chroot
lh_chroot_devpts(1)
mount /dev/pts
lh_chroot_dpkg(1)
manage /sbin/dpkg
lh_chroot_hacks(1)
execute hacks in chroot
lh_chroot_hooks(1)
execute hooks in chroot
lh_chroot_hostname(1)
manage /bin/hostname
lh_chroot_hosts(1)
manage /etc/hosts
lh_chroot_install-packages(1)
install queued packages into chroot
lh_chroot_interactive(1)
make build interactive
lh_chroot_linux-image(1)
manage /etc/kernel-img.conf
lh_chroot_local-hooks(1)
execute local hooks in chroot
lh_chroot_local-includes(1)
copy local files into chroot
lh_chroot_localization(1)
install localization packages into chroot
lh_chroot_local-packages(1)
queue install of local packages into chroot
lh_chroot_local-patches(1)
apply local patches against chroot
lh_chroot_local-preseed(1)
use debconf local preseeding file
lh_chroot_packages(1)
queue install of packages into chroot
lh_chroot_packageslists(1)
queue install of packages lists into chroot
lh_chroot_preseed(1)
use debconf preseeding file
lh_chroot_proc(1)
mount /proc
lh_chroot_resolv(1)
manage /etc/resolv.conf
lh_chroot_selinuxfs(1)
mount /selinux
lh_chroot_sources(1)
manage /etc/apt/sources.list
lh_chroot_symlinks(1)
convert symlinks
lh_chroot_sysfs(1)
mount /sys
lh_chroot_sysvinit(1)
configure sysvinit
lh_chroot_sysv-rc(1)
manage /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
lh_chroot_tasks(1)
install tasks into chroot
Binary commands
lh_binary_chroot(1)
copy chroot into chroot
lh_binary_debian-installer(1)
install debian-installer into binary
lh_binary_disk(1)
install disk information into binary
lh_binary_encryption(1)
encrypts rootfs
lh_binary_grub(1)
installs grub into binary
lh_binary_grub2(1)
installs grub2 into binary
lh_binary_includes(1)
copy files into binary
lh_binary_iso(1)
build iso binary image
lh_binary_linux-image(1)
install linux-image into binary
lh_binary_local-hooks(1)
execute local hooks in binary
lh_binary_local-includes(1)
copy files into binary
lh_binary_local-packageslists(1)
install local packages lists into binary
lh_binary_manifest(1)
create manifest
lh_binary_checksums(1)
create binary checksums (md5, sha1, and/or sha256)
lh_binary_memtest(1)
installs a memtest into binary
lh_binary_net(1)
build netboot binary image
lh_binary_rootfs(1)
build rootfs image
lh_binary_silo(1)
installs silo into binary
lh_binary_syslinux(1)
installs syslinux into binary
lh_binary_tar(1)
build harddisk binary image
lh_binary_usb(1)
build binary usb-hdd image
lh_binary_virtual-hdd(1)
build binary virtual-hdd image
lh_binary_win32-loader(1)
installs win32-loader into binary
lh_binary_yaboot(1)
installs yaboot into binary
Source commands
lh_source_debian(1)
download sources
lh_source_debian-live(1)
copy debian-live config into source
lh_source_disk(1)
install disk information into source
lh_source_iso(1)
build iso source image
lh_source_checksums(1)
create source checksums (md5, sha1, and/or sha256)
lh_source_net(1)
build source net image
lh_source_tar(1)
build source tarball
lh_source_usb(1)
build source usb-hdd image
lh_source_virtual-hdd(1)
build source virtual-hdd image
CONFIG FILES
Many live-helper commands make use of files in the config/ directory to
control what they do. Besides the common config/common, which is used
by all live-helper commands, some additional files can be used to
configure the behavior of specific live-helper commands. These files
are typically named config/stage or config/stage_helper (where "stage"
of course, is replaced with the name of the stage that they belong to,
and "helper" with the name of the helper).
For example, lh_bootstrap_debootstrap uses files named config/bootstrap
and config/bootstrap_debootstrap to read the options it will use. See
the man pages of individual commands for details about the names and
formats of the files they use. Generally, these files contain variables
with values assigned, one variable per line. Some programs in
live-helper use pairs of values or slightly more complicated variable
assignments.
Note that live-helper will respect environment variables which are
present in the context of the shell it is running. If variables can be
read from config files, then they override environment variables, and
if command line options are used, they override values from config
files. If no value for a given variable can be found and thus is unset,
live-helper will automatically set it to the default value.
In some rare cases, you may want to have different versions of these
files for different architectures or distributions. If files named
config/stage.arch or config/stage_helper.arch, and config/stage.dist or
config/stage_helper.dist exist, where "arch" is the same as the output
of "dpkg --print-architecture" and "dist" is the same as the codename
of the target distribution, then they will be used in preference to
other, more general files.
All config files are shell scripts which are sourced by a live-helper
program. That means they have to follow the normal shell syntax. You
can also put comments in these files; lines beginning with "#" are
ignored.
FILES
n/a
SEE ALSO
live-initramfs(7)
This program is a part of live-helper.
HOMEPAGE
More information about live-helper and the Debian Live project can be
found on the homepage at <http://live.debian.net/> and in the manual at
<http://live.debian.net/manual/>.
BUGS
Bugs can be reported by submitting a bugreport for the live-helper
package in the Debian Bug Tracking System at <http://bugs.debian.org/>
or by writing a mail to the Debian Live mailing list at <debian-
live@lists.debian.org>.
AUTHOR
live-helper was written by Daniel Baumann <daniel@debian.org> for the
Debian project.