> > No. A new patch would be required, or the root archive would
> > need to be in gzip instead of bzip2 format; but much/most of
> > the root stuff might be able to be moved into a root2 package
> > that is bzipped...
>
> (Clears throat, steps forward)
>
> ACTUALLY, David and I had a long discussion in regards to a bunch of
> stuff, and this is one of the things that came up along the way. In the
> course of stuff, I went and puzzled through the 2.9.8 linuxrc script to
> try and find PRECISELY what was done to get to the point where the first
> package was loaded, and I came up with the following list. Please note
> that this is cut & pasted from an outline for a project idea that I've
> been semi-working on. The project would, in the end, allow for move to a
> boot floppy with CD-ROM/HDD packages, as well as a move to glibc 2.1.x and
> easier upgradeability of the various core parts of a system.
>
> 1. Busybox compiled with cat, ln, tar(if we can get scripts working to use
> it correctly for replacing ctar), makedevs, mknod, mkdir, mount, and
> gunzip ONLY.
> 2. sed.
> 3. ash.
> 4. ctar - assuming we can't get a functioning script for BB tar.
> 5. Required libs, unless they're statically linked to the binaries - not
> recommended.
> 6. Possibly POSIXness scripts.
This is pretty much the direction I plan to go to make my CD/HDD/floppy-boot
stuff more flexible (it's nice not to have multiple versions of everything
to maintain!). Also, a very thin 'bootstrap' initrd that 99% of the users
would never have to change, makes the initrd-archive patch much less
mandatory, so we could possibly go back to using a 'standard' linux kernel
for LRP.
As the system boots, you can either use the contents of the initrd as part
of your final filesystem (maximally space efficent), or you can focus on
making the initrd as small as possible (uClib & other tweaks), and replace
everything when building the 'real' root filesystem (probably maximally
flexible).
> This is based on the boot sequence in initrd archive, to the point of
> loading packages, as follows:
>
> 1. Creates links to busybox for ln, cat, and mkdir.
> 2. Creates the base directory structure with the above.
> 3. Creates busybox and POSIXness links.
> 4. Makes the dev files
> 5. chmod's /var/lock and /tmp, mounts proc, updates mtab
> 6. Checks for boot= and makes the mount dir, then mounts the boot device
> specified.
> 7. Begins to install packages.
>
> Please, someone who's monkeyed with the default 2.9.8 Linuxrc script,
> doublecheck me on that.
Pretty close from my recollections...
> Thought here is to get a bootstrap initrd archive up and running first,
> then use what it contains to load System packages, then addon packages,
> from a significantly larger medium than a floppy disk. In this case, if
> we're using bzip2, we can still load off the floppy disk, and just add in
> bzip2 and libbz2 to the boot.lrp package, and away we go.
>
> I THINK I can get a default boot.lrp together in the next few days, but
> I'm weak on scripting, and this may take a bit of scripting skill. If
> anyone can make a couple of modifications for me to Linuxrc, please offer.
>
> Overall, I'd prefer not, since this might be the kick I need to figure out
> shell scripts and the like, but if you like the idea and want it done in
> less than a week or two, then modify linuxrc to load a set list of System
> packages that are constant-named. I was thinking lib, modules, root, etc,
> and local could be static packages, whereas everything that ISN'T a
> system-required package such as dnscache, sshd, weblet, etc. could remain
> configured via the "LRP=" parameter - or whatever happens to be used by a
> given distro.
>
> Understand also that the intent of the above is to use a BB that ONLY does
> what's absolutely necessary in the scripts to load the first packages. The
> original intent was to have a BB in the root.lrp that would overwrite the
> bootstrap BB, so as to provide full functionality. This would be done so
> that ALL the configureable files - and even files such as the portsentry
> files that you've built up over time that you want to keep so that you're
> blocking the same idjits - can be stored on a single, base-format 1.44M
> floppy. If this isn't feasible, or the savings don't necessitate the
> effort, then a full BB in the boot package would work just fine.
>
> Thoughts? Questions? Insults? =)
Check out my latest hard-disk HOWTO. In the section on running 2.9.8 off a
hard-disk, I have an updated linuxrc that loads modules at boot-time (useful
for gaining access to CD-ROMs or HDD's without a kernel re-compile). Also,
I re-worked the order of things a bit (specifically the mounting/unmounting
of /proc). The mods I made should be a good reference, and possibly even a
starting point for a new linuxrc.
Also, since what you're describing sounds a LOT like stuff I was planning on
doing anyway, I would be willing to do some/all of the scripting if we can
clarify what's required (I know what I need, but not what everyone else
needs/wants).
Charles Steinkuehler
http://lrp.steinkuehler.net
http://c0wz.steinkuehler.net (lrp.c0wz.com mirror)
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