remastersys logo 

How do you use it?

  There are some pre-requisites for the debian version that aren't there for the Ubuntu version.

  You should install squashfs-modules for your kernel and either aufs-modules or unionfs-modules before you install remastersys.  On initial testing from a net-inst lenny cd I had not installed these prior and something very bad happened to my install - it was unable to boot and the livecd created was also unusable.  I feel it had something to do with building the initramfs.  As another safeguard, its recommended to reboot your system after the modules are installed just to ensure it boots properly.  If all that goes well, you are fully prepared to install and run remastersys for debian.

  If your kernel doesn't have the squashfs-modules and either the aufs-modules or unionfs-modules, you MUST use a different kernel.  No ifs ands or buts about it.

   At the command line, you simply run "remastersys backup" as root to make a full system backup,  or "remastersys dist" again as root, to make a distributable copy to share with friends.  
   There is a configuration file - /etc/remastersys.conf where you can set things like the name of the livecd/dvd, the live session username, other files to exclude from the cd/dvd, etc.

   If you are a gui person, simply click on the "Remastersys Backup" in the System menu and you can select which option you want to run.

  The official version supported by remastersys is lenny and later.  If you get it to work with previous versions that is great but not guaranteed nor supported at the moment.

Some notes about using the dist option

   You should start with a clean install of Debian and use a single user to make all changes.  Clean up history and cache and copy over the contents to /etc/skel but be sure to change the ownership of everything in /etc/skel to root.  While the livecd/dvd is being created, you should not open any other apps or windows.  If you have customized gdm.conf, it will not be used.  live-initramfs, the debian livecd set of scripts copies the  /usr/share/gdm/defaults.conf over to /etc/gdm/gdm.conf so you MUST put your customizations in  /usr/share/gdm/defaults.conf if you want them to be used for the livecd.

Some notes about the backup option

   You can log into the livecd/dvd with any valid user that was on the system on the hard drive but it is recommended to log into the first one created during the initial installation as that is the user that can sudo.

Some notes about the remastersys-installer

   Remastersys-installer is a text or gui based installer created by me that serves as the only installer for your remastersys-made debian livecd/dvd.

This is an advanced installer.  Please use at your own risk.  I will not be held responsible for anything that goes wrong as a result of using this experimental installer.

It is a basic text based installer that uses up to 3 partitions - 1 for the root filesystem, 1 optional for the home partition and 1 swap.

The swap partition will be automatically formatted and the root filesystem will be formatted ext3.

The root password will be set and a single new user will be created on the new system unless it is from the backup mode.  From backup mode it will have the same usernames/passwords as the original system as it will just copy that portion over.

It runs cfdisk for partitioning so it is highly recommended to create your partition or resize them before running the installer.

There is the option to run it so it configures locales, console-data and xserver-xorg in the event that the user wants a language other than the one currently set for the livecd.  To run this mode, they need to pass "intl" to remastersys-installer on the starting command line like this:

remastersys-installer intl

remastersys-installer intl gui

remastersys-installer

remastersys-installer gui

Remastersys can also be installed on a running official debian livecd and remastersys-installer can be used to install it to hard drive.

Some notes about the remastersys-grub-restore

   Remastersys-grub-restore is a text or gui based grub restore utility created by me.  It will work in live mode and from an install.

remastersys-grub-restore

remastersys-grub-restore gui


Where to go to ask questions, report bugs, request features or make recommendations?

The main support area is on the Remastersys Forum


What license is remastersys covered by?

It is released under the GNU GPL Version 2

Where can I get remastersys?

The Remastersys repository needs to be added to your /etc/apt/sources.list

Please note that the Squeeze version at the moment can only use grub-legacy and ext3 in the installer so if you want to use grub2 and ext4 you will have to make your own livecd manually instead of using remastersys for squeeze.

Paste the following into the sources.list:

# Remastersys Lenny
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository debian/


# Remastersys Squeeze
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository squeeze/



Where can I get the remastersys source package?



Debian Source Files