Hello Karsten, Thanks for the help,
On 26/12/2017 22:05, Karsten Merker wrote: > On Tue, Dec 26, 2017 at 05:13:26PM +0100, Loys Ollivier wrote: > >> I would like to build a custom debian-installer. The reason being, this >> arm64 platform has a custom PHY that I need to enable in the kernel to get >> network access. >> >> I built the kernel and version is: >> linux-image-4.14.0-00001-g8796b59b622f-dirty_4.14.0-00001-g8796b59b622f-dirty-27_arm64.deb >> >> >From that kernel deb package. How can I build the debian installer ? The >> documentation mentions udeb files that I don't have. Also, I don't know how >> to specify the target arch: arm64. >> >> I checked out the debian-installer source code. > > Hello, > > building an installer with a custom kernel is a slightly > complicated topic. I'll try to give you a rough overview; feel > free to ask specific questions on this list if you get stuck > somewhere. I would like to propose that you first try to build > an unmodified installer from source to get a feeling for how the > build process works. > > Regarding the target architecture: the installer is intended > to be build natively, i.e. you need to build the installer > on an arm64 system. > > First a few links for some background information: > - https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/CheckOut > - https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Build > - http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/doc/internals/ > > The last one is rather old and hasn't been updated for quite a > while, but it still provides a useful overview about which > basic components the installer has. > > For building, checkout the source with mr as described in the > first link above. You can then either run the normal Debian > package building process (provided you have all dependencies > installed, you can simply run "dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc > -rfakeroot", but preferably use either pbuilder or sbuild), or > you can build single installer targets such as the netboot target > separately. Just running make gives you a list of supported > targets. Taking the netboot target as an example, the following > commands build it: > > $ fakeroot make reallyclean && fakeroot make build_netboot > > The results are placed in the "dest" directory. > I have been able to build the d-i natively and boot from it. Thanks for the help with that. The problem is, my kernel is still missing some modules. > Regarding the kernel udebs: those are created by the Debian > kernel package. A package built with "make deb-pkg" from within > an upstream kernel tree only builds regular debs, but no udebs. > To have udebs for a custom kernel, you should start from the > Debian kernel package sources and modify them as needed for > your custom kernel. > > The Debian kernel package repository is available at > https://anonscm.debian.org/git/kernel/linux.git. > Please note that this repository only contains the packaging > part, not the upstream kernel sources. > > For how to use that with an upstream kernel source, please > read > > > https://anonscm.debian.org/git/kernel/linux.git/tree/debian/README.source?h=sid > I have been able to build a Debian kernel using your tools. But I think I am missing something... I followed https://kernel-handbook.alioth.debian.org/ch-common-tasks.html#s-common-official section 4.3. I did "make deb-pkg" and got linux kernel deb packages but still no udebs. I did not find in the documentation how to create those udebs. I guess once I have them I will be able to rebuild the d-i with my custom kernel. > To make the installer actually use your udebs, you have to place > them in the "localudebs" directory in the installer source tree > and rebuild the installer. > > HTH, > Karsten > Thanks, Loys
