Here is a complete session of Debian Live for creating a "multimedia" debian live custom cd with a single command and a very simple configuration file.
Note: this how-to is based on a custom package selection made by Marco Ghirlanda (http://www.marcoghirlanda.com). Of course, you can change the packages used and create your live cd customized for your needs.
One single command, one live cd!
Let's go on:
Install live-helper package.
$ sudo aptitude update $ sudo aptitude install live-helper
Create the configuration directory for live-helper. By default, this directory is named ’config’ and is created in the current directory.
$ lh_config
You can use you own mirror or your favourite (and fastest) one, change according to your needs.
$ lh_config --mirror-bootstrap "http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/" $ lh_config --mirror-binary "http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/"
Select additional packages to install:
$ lh_config --packages "alsa-tools-gui alsamixergui amsynth aqsis ardour-gtk arts artsbuilder audacity autotrace avifile* beast blender blender-ogrexml bristol brutefir bum camorama caps cdlabelgen cdparanoia cdrdao cdrecord cecilia cinepaint cmt creox crip csound ctags cupsys-client cupsys-driver-gimpprint cupsys-pt curl darkice dia dvd+rw-tools dvdbackup ecamegapedal ecasound ecawave eject elvis evince ffmpeg ffmpeg2theora fil-plugins fluidsynth fontconfig foomatic-filters foomatic-filters-ppds freebirth freewheeling freqtweak galan gem gimp gimp-data-extras gimp-print gimp-python gimp-resynthesizer gimp-svg gimp-texturize glame gnoise gnome-gv gnusound gocr gphoto2 gqview gramofile grip gsfonts-x11 gsm-utils gstreamer0.8-* gstreamer0.10-* gthumb gtkam gtklp gtkmorph gwc gwenview helix-player hfsplus hfsutils-tcltk horgand hplip hpoj html2ps hydrogen icecast2 imagemagick imgseek inkscape istanbul jack-rack jack-tools jackbeat jackd jackeq jamin k3b kaffeine karbon kdegraphics kdemultimedia kghostview kguitar kimdaba kino kinoplus kipi-plugins kluppe kompose kooka kopete kpovmodeler krecord ksnapshot kstreamripper ladcca-bin ladspa-sdk lakai latex-xft-fonts less libdv-bin libgimp-perl libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgnomevfs2-bin libgnomevfs2-extra libjpeg-progs libsane-extras libwmf-bin libxml-xql-perl lmms menu mesa-utils metapixel mixxx motion multicd muse netpbm nip2 noatun-plugins noteedit nyquist ocrad ogle-gui ogle-mmx pd-pdp pdftk peercast perlmagick pixelize pitivi potracegui psfontmgr pstoedit puredata python2.3-qt3-gl qjackctl qcad qsynth quicktime-utils quicktime-x11utils radeontool reppu resample rezound ripperx rosegarden4 sane sane-utils screen scribus scribus-template seq24 shanty skencil sketch smb4k smbclient smilutils sndfile-programs snd-gtk somaplayer sooperlooper soundstretch soundtracker sox specimen speex spiralsynthmodular streamer streamripper sudo swami sweep swf-player swh-plugins tap-plugins tapiir tclreadline telegnome terminatorx terraform timemachine timidity tk707 transfig ttf-bitstream-vera ttf-freefont tv-fonts vim vkeybd vlc vlc-plugin-arts vorbis-tools vorbis-tools vorbisgain wavesurfer xawtv xawtv-plugin-qt xfig xine-ui xmms xmms-arts xmms-cdread xmms-crossfade xmms-jack xmms-ladspa xmms-midi xmms-volnorm xpaint xpdf-reader xpp xterm yafray zynaddsubfx"
Note: The above is a selection I'm working on to create my own multimedia live cd. I do this because I need something very reliable (and tested) to carry with me when I do my works. I have a Debian Sid installed on my laptop, but I prefer to use the live cd to be sure everything works as always. Since Debian Sid changes a lot all the time it is very important for me to have sort of “freezed ISO” of my selfmade distribution, like this if something is not working this week I can use the last ISO to be up and running in minutes.
Note: You can use your own packages list as an alternative method. See DebianLive/Configuration for more informations.
Select a core kde desktop environment (See DebianLive/Examples for more examples).
$ lh_config --packages-lists kde-desktop
Build the iso image.
$ sudo lh_build
Just wait, it will automagically download and configure nearly everything. You will find the ISO in the current directory, just burn it on a cdrom (or use a software emulator like qemu, virtualbox or vmware) and you can test it immediately.
Note: enable overburn if the ISO iso image is more than 700 MB.
$ qemu -boot d -cdrom binary.iso -m 256 -soundhw sb16
While the system is running (thanks to the use of unionfs) you can change files, install other software and so on. These changes will be lost anyway when you reboot the system. You have just created your own, personal Debian GNU/Linux!
Happy hacking!
Marco Ghirlanda