- Minimal Linux Live is a set of Linux shell scripts which automatically build minimal Live
- Linux OS based on Linux kernel
- and BusyBox. All necessary source codes are automatically
- downloaded and all build operations are fully encapsulated in the 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.
-
-
- Just for convenience, make sure that all scripts are executable (chmod +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 commands should resolve all necessary build dependencies:
-
-
- sudo apt-get install wget
-
-
- sudo apt-get install make
-
-
- sudo apt-get install gcc
-
-
- sudo apt-get install bc
-
-
- sudo apt-get install syslinux
-
-
- sudo apt-get install 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.
- On Arch Linux you might need to locate isolinux.bin and copy
- it to /usr/lib/syslinux/isolinux.bin.
-
- 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 someone more experienced Linux guru (if you know any) or as alternative you can contact me. Please, make sure that
- you have researched your problem in advance before you send me your question.
-
-
- When the scripts finish their job you will find newly created 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 produced ISO image file contains Linux kernel compiled with default options, BusyBox compiled with default options and very 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 even though the OS is small and simple, the build scripts are also very small and very simple. You can
- quite 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! Isn't it great?! :)
-
-
- 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.
-
-
- Below you can find several screenshots which show what the environment looks like when you boot your newly generated
- Minimal Linux Live OS.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+
+
+
Home
+
+
+ Minimal Linux Live is a set of Linux shell scripts which automatically build minimal Live
+ Linux OS based on Linux kernel
+ and BusyBox. All necessary source codes are automatically
+ downloaded and all build operations are fully encapsulated in the 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.
+
+
+ Just for convenience, make sure that all scripts are executable (chmod +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 commands should resolve all necessary build dependencies:
+
+
+ sudo apt-get install wget
+
+
+ sudo apt-get install make
+
+
+ sudo apt-get install gcc
+
+
+ sudo apt-get install bc
+
+
+ sudo apt-get install syslinux
+
+
+ sudo apt-get install 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.
+ On Arch Linux you might need to locate isolinux.bin and copy
+ it to /usr/lib/syslinux/isolinux.bin.
+
+ 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 someone more experienced Linux guru (if you know any) or as alternative you can contact me. Please, make sure that
+ you have researched your problem in advance before you send me your question.
+
+
+ When the scripts finish their job you will find newly created 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 produced ISO image file contains Linux kernel compiled with default options, BusyBox compiled with default options and very 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 even though the OS is small and simple, the build scripts are also very small and very simple. You can
+ quite 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! Isn't it great?! :)
+
+
+
+ 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.
+
+
+
+ Below you can find several screenshots which show what the environment looks like when you boot your newly generated
+ Minimal Linux Live OS.
+
+ 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.
+
- 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 which can be switched 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.
-
- I am professional Java software engineer (yes, Java developers tend to know some Linux stuff) and I've
- been trying to create my own Linux OS for a very long time. There are some good tutorials which you
- can find online but almost none of them are simple to follow and almost 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 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
- (did you take a look at them?) are based on the same information resources which you might have already found.
- The difference is that this site provides you not only with detailed tutorial, but also with fully functional
- set of shell scripts which automatically build fully functional live Linux OS. And the tutorial explains it
- all for you!
-
-
- If you'd like to contact me, my e-mail is: davidov [dot] i (at) gmail {dot} com
-
- Would you like to learn how to build your own minimal live Linux OS?
-
-
- The Dao of Minimal Linux Live explains in details
- what steps are involved in creating simple live Linux OS entirely from scratch, the inner structure of the
- build scripts (I assume you have already downloaded them) and provides you with more information on how to
- improve/upgrade the generated OS with other generic stuff (e.g. users & groups, /etc/inittab).
-
-
-
-
-
-
Download Section
-
- The latest stable scripts (07-Feb-2015) can be downloaded as ZIP archive
- here.
-
-
- Pre-built ISO image files generated with the latest stable scripts are available for
- 32-bit
- and
- 64-bit
- CPUs.
-