For the last year I have been working on making custom distros; at work I
have needed to come up with a way to install a _very_ custom linux on
special hardware. I start with the basic RedHat (6.2) install CD and
hack it up to suit my needs.
I have come up with 2 methods:
1) Delete the RedHat install script (anaconda), and replace it with a
shell script that partitions/formats the HD, and then copies over all
files from a dir on the CD to the HD, runs lilo, etc. In this manner I
have turned the RH installer into a bootable CD that just blasts a static
pile of stuff onto a system (I do prompt the user for the IP address; more
options could be added). With this I can install a 30 MB system that
includes a RTAI-patched real-time kernel, customized mingetty and login
onto a FLASH disk that is mounted read-only. But this setup could be used
to install *ANY* static Linux setup. The fact that the bootable CD is RHH
based does not mean that you couldn't use this scheme to install any
disto, or for that matter, any OS on a system.
2) The second approach (actually the one I worked on first) involves
customizing the package list (/RedHat/base/comps) and othe files to make a
custom RedHat install. By using a kickstart file on the CD you can add
scripts top run after the basic install to configure third party stuff. I
used this system a year ago to make the server that hosts NNHLUG. Basic
RedHat plus a 1500 line shell script, and the server is created,
including virtual domains, qmail, ezmlm, proftp, even down to user
accounts and passwords. It is real nice to have a CD that can re-create
your server in half an hour :-) I am actually in the process of creating
a new install CD for a planned server rebuild in early January...
Another offshoot of this work is a self-booting linux CD that brings you
up to a shell prompt with the full compliment of tools available -
_very_ handy as a recovery or repair tool!
I have worked a lot in this area and am VERY interested in talking with
others who want to do work on this. Since the tools I have started
with are GPL'ed, so are my results. And unlike many, I document what I
did! If you make it to a NNHLUG meeting, I will happily cut you some CDs,
as I did for several at our last meeting.
-- Pete Cavender
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