## Minimal Linux Live

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Minimal Linux Live is a set of Linux shell scripts which automatically build minimalistic Live Linux OS with basic network support via DHCP. The generated operating system is based on Linux kernel, GNU C library and BusyBox. All necessary sources are automatically downloaded and all build operations are fully encapsulated in the shell scripts.
If you want to build your own Minimal Linux Live ISO image file, all you need to do is the following:

- Get the latest scripts from the download section.
- Extract the scripts to some folder. Note that even though the scripts are small in size, you need ~2GB free disk space for the actual build process.
- Just for convenience, make sure that all scripts are executable (`chmod -R +x *.sh`). If you decide to skip this step you can still run the scripts like this (example): `sh build_minimal_linux_live.sh`
- Depending on which Linux OS you are using, there might be one or more (or none, or even more) build dependencies that you need to resolve before you start the build process. If you work with Ubuntu, the following command should resolve all necessary build dependencies:
  - `sudo apt install wget make gawk gcc bc genisoimage`
- Execute the script `build_minimal_linux_live.sh` and wait. If you have resolved all build dependencies, the whole process should take less than 30 minutes on a modern computer. If the build fails for some reason, most probably there are unresolved build dependencies. Several users reported that the `build-essential` package resolves all unexpected build dependencies for Ubuntu. If you are using Linux Mint try to install the package `g++` and if you still have troubles then try the `build-essential` package. On Fedora you might need the static 'glibc' package `glibc-static`. Please have in mind that the build dependencies can vary a lot depending on the Linux OS which you use and the software which you have already installed.
  If you still have troubles then examine the failure message and google it. If you are unable to find solution, then you can ask more experienced Linux guru around you or as alternative you can submit an issue.
- When the scripts finish their job you will find newly generated ISO image file `minimal_linux_live.iso` in the same folder where you executed the scripts. You can burn the ISO image file on CD/DVD, install it on USB flash drive via Universal USB Installer, or run it directly via PC emulator like VirtualBox. The most recent version of Minimal Linux Live requires 256MB RAM, otherwise the boot process most probably will hang.

The generated ISO image file contains Linux kernel compiled with default options, GNU C library compiled with default options, BusyBox compiled with default options and quite simple initramfs. This means that you don't get Windows support out of the box, nor you get any fancy desktop environment. All you get is a simple shell console which supports all BusyBox applets and... well, that's all. This is why it's called "minimal".
The good news is that the build scripts are well organized and small in size. You can easily learn from the scripts and later modify them to include more stuff (I encourage you to do so). After you learn the basics, you will have all the necessary tools and skills to create your own fully functional Linux based operating system. Entirely from scratch!
The tutorial provides more details about the inner structure of the scripts and the overall build process. I encourage you to go through this document when you have the time. The same tutorial document is automatically included in the generated ISO image, so you can always refer to it.
Below you can find several screenshots which show what the environment looks like when you boot your newly generated Minimal Linux Live OS.

#### Change Log

20-Jan-2017 show
20-Jan-2017 hide

- Updated software base - Minimal Linux Live (MLL) is based on Linux kernel 4.4.44, GNU C library 2.24 and BusyBox 1.26.2. The generated ISO image file is 7MB in size and requires 256MB RAM in order to run properly.
- UEFI support - MLL is UEFI compliant and the live CD can boot on EFI based systems.
- Additional software via overlay bundles - the MLL architecture has been significantly improved and you can add more software via the so called "overlay bindles". This feature has been documented in the ".config" file, as well as in the internal README documents. By default these overlay bundles are not part of the build process because they rely on the host machine environment and the may or may not be built correctly on your particular machine. Nevertheless, turning this feature on is very simple and I encourage you to experiment with it.
- Persistence support - MLL has the ability to transparently persist the changes that have been made during the live session and these changes will be preserved between reboots. You can use this feature to add your own software in MLL, change the MLL file/directory structure or simply to persist whatever changes you've made during the live session. This feature has been documented in the ".config" file, the internal README documents and in the internal shell script comments.
- Smaller ISO image size - one of the goals for this release was to minimize the ISO image size and make it as small as possible. The final result is ISO image which is now less than 7MB when MLL has been generated with the default configuration options. However, the smaller ISO image size comes at cost and you need more RAM (256MB) in order to boot MLL properly.
- GCC optimization flags - the MLL configuration allows you to provide your own GCC flags which are used when the software pieces are compiled. These GCC optimization flags are not magical and they may or may not work fine on your particular host machine. They work fine on Ubuntu/Mint host machines and should work fine on other Debian based host machines. You can disable this feature if you get weird compilation issues on your host machine during the build process.
- Syslinux as download dependency - the "Syslinux" build dependency is no longer mandatory prerequisite requirement because the Syslinux source package is downloaded automatically as part of the build process.
- Graphical boot mode with configurable screen resolution - MLL can boot in graphical mode. At the begining of the boot process you are presented with option to choose the screen resolution. This feature currently works in BIOS boot mode only.
- Rescue shells during boot - the MLL boot process has been enhanced and you can temporarily "exit" the boot process in the so called "rescue shell". In fact this is normal shell which runs with PID 1. This is useful if you want to have interactive environment (i.e. shell) while you are still in early "pre-init" boot stage.
- Initial RAM filesystem in separate directory structure - the initramfs structure has been externalized in separate directory. This makes it easier to modify the initramfs environment.
- Optional use of preconfigured Linux kernel and BusyBox - you can provide custom Linux kernel and BusyBox configurations. This is useful if you want to build MLL with many non-default options or if you want to distribute your own version of MLL.
- Optional use of already downloaded sources - this feature does what it says: if you turn it on, you don't need internet connection and you will be using already downloaded sources. This is useful if you don't want to use internet connection or if you want to distribute your own version of MLL which includes specific sources.
- Many more internal improvements - script enhancements, improved comments and better documentation, the newly introduced overlay build subsystem, additional helpful scripts, etc. Check the ".config" file and the internal README documents for more details.

03-Apr-2016 show
03-Apr-2016 hide

- Minimal Linux Live is now based on Linux kernel 4.4.6, GNU C library 2.23 and BusyBox 1.24.2. The generated ISO image file is ~4MB larger due to glibc overhead and requires more RAM (64MB is enough).
- The build architecture has been revised and now the only core dependency to the host OS is the actual C compiler along with the related binary utils. Kernel headers and main C library (which used to be implicit dependencies) are now automatically generated and used as part of the overall build process.
- The DNS resolving issue has been fixed and the network/internet related BusyBox applets (ping, wget, etc.) now work fine.
- The ISO image generation process is now in a separate script file, completely detached from the kernel build infrastructure. This allows the Minimal Linux Live users to modify the ISO image file/directory structure before the actual ISO generation.
- The internal script comments have been revised and now they are more descriptive than before.
- The experimental folder has been removed.

14-Sep-2015 show
14-Sep-2015 hide

- Minimal Linux Live is now based on Linux kernel 4.1.6 and BusyBox 1.23.2.
- The build process is now parallelized between all available CPU cores, therefore the overall build time is significantly reduced.
- There is DHCP network support for all network devices detected by the kernel. Note that DNS is not working due to well known static linking issues caused by glibc.
- The ISO image is now generated by using genisoimage. This fixes some issues with Debian and Arch based host operating systems.
- In addition to the above changes, if you download the latest stable build scripts, you will notice a folder named experimental. This folder contains some interesting scripts which produce ISO based on Linux kernel and ToyBox instead of BusyBox. Please have in mind that this is work in progress and these scripts may not work on your host OS.

07-Feb-2015 show
07-Feb-2015 hide

- Minimal Linux Live is now based on Linux kernel 3.18.6 and BusyBox 1.23.1.

25-Aug-2014 show
25-Aug-2014 hide

- Minimal Linux Live is now based on Linux kernel 3.16.1 and BusyBox 1.22.1.
- The boot process is now based on /sbin/init and /etc/inittab. There are four available consoles. You can switch between them with Alt + F1 up to Alt + F4.
- Shell scripts have been updated. Now the downloaded source bundles are stored in separate folder. If the download process is interrupted, it will continue the next time the scripts are executed. The most notable change is in 5_generate_rootfs.sh which now generates root file system with structure compatible with /sbin/init and /etc/inittab.

28-Jul-2014 show
28-Jul-2014 hide

- Minimal Linux Live is now based on Linux kernel 3.15.6 and BusyBox 1.22.1.
- The boot process is based on simple /init script.

#### About This Project

My name is Ivan Davidov and I currently live and work in Sofia, Bulgaria.
I am professional Java software engineer (surprisingly, Java developers tend to know some Linux stuff) and I had been trying to create my own Linux OS for a very long time. Over the years I found some good tutorials online but most of them are not simple to follow and pretty much none of them explain in details what has been done and why it's done in this particular way. In most cases the tutorials are outdated or incomplete and there is high chance that you end up with something broken.
Don't get me wrong, you can learn a lot from these tutorials, as I did. In fact the scripts which I created are based on the same information resources which you might have already found. The difference is that this website provides you not only with fully functional set of shell scripts which automatically build fully functional live Linux OS, but also with detailed tutorial and probably the best internal documentation you will ever find in an open source project.
You can follow MLL on Facebook and if you find this project useful, I'd very much appreciate it if you buy me a beer. Thanks! :)
If you'd like to contact me, my e-mail is: davidov [dot] i (at) gmail {dot} com
My LinkedIn profile is here: http://linkedin.com/in/ivandavidov

#### Minimal Linux Live Tutorial

Would you like to learn how to build your own minimal live Linux OS?
The Dao of Minimal Linux Live is a tutorial document based on the first published version of Minimal Linux Live. The tutorial explains in details what steps are involved in creating simple live Linux OS entirely from scratch, the inner structure of the build scripts and provides you with more information on how to improve/upgrade the generated OS with other generic stuff (e.g. users & groups, /etc/inittab).
You can also refer to the Minimal Linux Script project which provides you with the minimal set of shell scrip commands that you need in order to create simple, yet fully functional Linux based operating system.

#### Online PC Emulator

You can try Minimal Linux Live directly in your browser. The link below will open new browser window (or tab) with JavaScript based PC emulator which will automatically run the latest version of Minimal Linux Live. Please be advised that this PC emulator runs entirely in your browser and therefore it is not very fast.
Minimal Linux Live - emulator
Some screenshots with Minimal Linux Live running in the JavaScript PC emulator:

#### Download Section

The latest stable scripts (20-Jan-2017) can be downloaded as "tar.xz" archive here.
Pre-built ISO image files generated with the latest stable scripts are available for 32-bit and 64-bit CPUs.
You can also browse the download directory.
You can take a look at the latest development sources in GitHub.
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