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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 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. 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 +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 gawk
  • 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 and Debian 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 generated 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. Minimal Linux Live requires at least 64MB 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 very small in size and simple to understand. 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

About This Project

My name is Ivan Davidov and I currently live and work in Sofia, Bulgaria.

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

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 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).

Online PC Emulator

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

Minimal Linux Live - emulator

Download Section

The latest stable scripts (03-Apr-2016) 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.

You can also browse the download directory.

You can take a look at the latest development sources in GitHub.