How do you use it?
At
the command line, you simply run "sudo remastersys backup" to
make a full system backup, or "sudo su" to become root and
then run
"remastersys dist" 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"
icon in the System Menu and you can select which option you want to run.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You must be
connected to the internet so remastersys can download the correct
Ubiquity frontend and it's dependencies. If you do not have
internet access when you start remastersys, it will fail to download
the frontend for the installer and your live system will not be
installable.
Some notes about using the dist
option
You should start with a clean install of Ubuntu or
variant
and use a single user to make all changes. You should not
install any
proprietary video drivers like the nvidia or ati drivers as
they will not be used on the livecd and users will have to reinstall
them after installation. 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. Do not under
any circumstances enable auto login as it will cause the live user
creation portion of casper to fail and you will not get to the desktop.
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. When you come to install this back to a hard drive,
the user
setup portion of ubiquity (the install program) is just a placeholder
other than the system name. The username and password set
here will
not be used but must be created in order to continue with the
installation. Part of the reason for this is that your users
are
already created so you don't need to create them again, but
more
importantly because user setup is an integral part of the install
program and cannot be removed or bypassed easily. If you were
using
proprietary video drivers like the nvidia or ati ones, you
will
need to reinstall them. The Ubuntu livecd scripts prevent
these from
running properly but reinstalling them after installation will make
them work again.
Some
notes about the 3.0.0-1 and up
There are many changes in
3.0.0-1 and up which supports Ubuntu Lucid and Newer.
Starting 3.0.2-1 included is support for Ubuntu 12.04. The gui
and base packages have also been split of starting in 3.0.2-1 so you
can install just the base without the gui and remastersys will not show
up in the menu. The new tools to customize the live boot splash,
grub background, plymouth theme, etc are only available in the gui
though so you will have to manually take care of those if you choose to
only use the base cli package.
Since they are split off, you should install the base remastersys
package first and tehn the gui of your choice - remastersys-gui the new
official one or remastersys-gtk the alternative gui.
Most notable changes are as follows:
Brand new
official GUI remastersys-gui for 3.0.2-1 created by me.
Alternate GUI based on remastersys-gtk gui created by Krasimir
S.
Stefanov <lokiisyourmaster@gmail.com> and some tweaks and ideas
from me Tony Brijeski <tb6517@yahoo.com> but most of the credit
needs to go to Krasimir for it.
If you have difficulty with one of the gui's please try the other.
Incorporated in the gui are tools I created to help those creating a
distro to customize the live boot background, the system grub
background, creating a new plymouth theme and selecting which plymouth
theme will be the default as well as copying the relevant settings from
your user to /etc/skel making it the default for the live system.
The new remastersys-skelcopy feature will copy the common config
folders and files from your selected user to /etc/skel. This will
allow the live user as well as any other new user created on the system
to have the settings you have customized. One important note is
that any of the config files that contain any pointers to your specific
users home folder will be removed so if you find certain settings
aren't being copied over this is the reason. If you check those
config files you'll see that they have direct pointers to the user
folder. If you customize menu items, make sure to use icons from
the system folders /usr/share/icons or /usr/share/pixmaps as any icons
linked inside the user folder will mean that config file will be
removed.
The remastersys.log will also show a lot more detail and I also
added
in more checks to try and help make sure the remaster is a good one but
I can't account for every situation so if you have issues I will try to
help you out.
Starting
with 3.0.1-1 there is a firstboot system startup script that is used
for backup mode to remove the install icon from the desktop and you can
add whatever other custom commands you like in it. Just edit
/etc/init.d/remastersys-firstboot and put your commands inbetween the
lines indicated.
Thanks very much to all the folks that
tested this out and provided
feedback and tweaks.
This is the best version of remastersys yet and I hope you all like
it.
Where to go to ask questions, report bugs,
request
features or make recommendations?
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
Paste the following into the sources.list:
For Gutsy and Earlier - up to version 2.0.11-1
# Remastersys
deb http://www.remastersys.com/repository remastersys/
For Hardy and Newer with original grub - version 2.0.12-1 and up
# Remastersys
deb http://www.remastersys.com/repository ubuntu/
For Karmic with grub2 - version 2.0.13-1 and up
# Remastersys
deb http://www.remastersys.com/repository karmic/
For Lucid and Newer - version 3.0.0-1
# Remastersys for Lucid and newer
deb http://www.remastersys.com/repository lucid/
Then simply either reload in Synaptic or you can "sudo apt-get update"
and install remastersys.
If you prefer, you can directly download the old version files from the
correct
folder in http://www.remastersys.com/repository
Important New
information
for Ubuntu Lucid and newer!
Starting with version 3.0.1-1 for Ubuntu there is a proper signed
repository that can be added to your system.
The Synaptic Method:
1. In Firefox, go to :
http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu/remastersys.gpg.key
save file as text someplace where you can find it.
2. In synaptic, go to Settings/Repositories; select
"Authentication" tab and "Import Key File" just downloaded.
3. Still in synaptic, go to "Other Software" tab and click "Add",
then enter the apt line and replace oneiric with either lucid,
maverick, or natty to match your Ubuntu version:
deb http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu oneiric main
4. Leave the repositories tab and "Reload".
5. Search for "remastersys" and select for install.
Edit/Apply Marked Changes.
NOTE: There is no source repository so if you see a line starting
with deb-src you need to remove it.
The Manual Method
As root - issue 'sudo su' in the terminal window prior to the following command.
Download and apply the repository gpg key.
wget -O - http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu/remastersys.gpg.key |
apt-key add -
Add the following line that corresponds to your version of Ubuntu to
your /etc/apt/sources.list
#Remastersys Lucid
deb http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu lucid main
#Remastersys Maverick
deb http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu maverick main
#Remastersys Natty
deb http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu natty main
#Remastersys Oneiric
deb http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu oneiric main
#Remastersys Precise
deb http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu precise main
Now just apt-get update or reload in Synaptic to have the new
Remastersys signed repository ready to use!
