[Mageia-dev] drakxtools & drakx-installer-stage2 (mga#9428)

[Thierry Vignaud]

On 22 March 2013 12:20, Glen Ogilvie <nelg at linuxsolutions.co.nz> wrote:
> I've been trying to test the installer change below before RC4, thinking
> that it might be quite helpful.
>
> I am having a little bit of trouble however.  Could someone point me in the
> right direction on a couple
> of things.
>
> 1. How does the src tar.xz file for drakx-installer-stage2 get created?   I
> assume it comes from a
> build of svn://svn.mageia.org/svn/soft/drakx/trunk, but can't find how it
> ends up as a tar.xz
>
> 2. When I've built a new stage2, any tricks on getting it into an ISO?
>
> I tried building an ISO based on beta3, with the new stage2, using something
> like:
>   mkisofs -o
> ~nelg/Mageia-3-beta3-x86_64-DVD/Mageia-3-beta3-x86_64-DVD-stage2.iso -b
> x86_64/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot.catalog  -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size
> 4 -iso-level 4 -J -R /tmp/tt/
>
> This is clearly not right.  Is the a documented method I should use to build
> a new ISO with a modified stage2?
> In the docs I have read:
> https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Drakx-installer_tips_and_tricks#rebuild_the_stage_2
> and svn://svn.mageia.org/svn/soft/drakx/trunk/docs/README, I have not been
> able to find instructions on actually putting together an ISO.
>
> Is:
> http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/How_to_remaster_a_personal_Mandriva-based_ISO
> relevant for Mageia?  I guess not, as mkcd does not seem to exist in Mageia.
>
> So, a quick howto, or pointing me to the right documentation would be great
> :)

stage2 != ISO

ISO is basically the stage1.
stage1 is build by drakx-installer-images from:
- some packages listed as BR, mainly the kernel drivers & firmwares
- drakx-installer-binaries that provide the actual stage1 binary

=> generates what is copied in isolinux/alt0 & in install/images/
(*.img + *.iso)

stage2 is build by drakx-installer-stage2

=> generates what is in install/stage2: mdkinst.sqfs (a squashfs image)
there's also rescue.sqfs there that is an alternate stage2 used when
using the rescue.


stage1 is basically a special initrd that loads the appropriate
modules according to detected
hardware and to what is specified on command line (eg: the DVD tells
it to directly load
stage2 from the DVD image).
if not instructed to do sg, it displays the text menu asking from
where to install (dvd, hard disk,
network: http/ftp/nfs).
It's a small statically linked program + init + a dhcp client +
rescue-gui for the rescue menu

it then loads stage2 (install/stage2/mdkinst.sqf or rescue.sqfs) from the URL

stage2 is real system, with dynamic libraries, that starts:
- an X11 server (if supported and if not asked for text mode)
- udev
and then go the install steps (language, license, partitionning,
installing, summary, updates, ...)