Official archiso scripts Repository
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.gitlab/ci mkarchiso: do not place the pkglist.x86_64.txt file inside the bootstrap tarball's root.x86_64 directory 2024-05-09 17:30:03 +03:00
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man Makefile: build and install the mkarchiso(1) man page 2024-02-17 11:27:19 +02:00
scripts scripts/run_archiso.sh: make qemu_options local to the run_image function 2025-10-27 18:26:26 +02:00
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LICENSE Add license and basic documentation 2020-07-29 14:27:48 +02:00
Makefile Makefile: build and install the mkarchiso(1) man page 2024-02-17 11:27:19 +02:00
README.rst mkarchiso: support other architectures 2025-10-19 10:48:09 +03:00

=======
archiso
=======

The archiso project features scripts and configuration templates to build installation media (*.iso* images and
*.tar bootstrap images) as well as netboot artifacts for BIOS and UEFI based systems.
Currently creating the images is only supported on Arch Linux but may work on other operating systems as well.

Requirements
============

The following packages need to be installed to be able to create an image with the included scripts:

* arch-install-scripts
* awk
* dosfstools
* e2fsprogs
* erofs-utils (optional)
* findutils
* grub
* gzip
* libarchive
* libisoburn
* mtools
* openssl
* pacman
* sed
* squashfs-tools

For running the images in a virtualized test environment the following packages are required:

* edk2-ovmf
* qemu

For linting the shell scripts the following package is required:

* shellcheck

For generating the man pages:

* python-docutils

Profiles
========

Archiso comes with two profiles: **baseline** and **releng**. While both can serve as starting points for creating
custom live media, **releng** is used to create the monthly installation medium.
They can be found below `configs/baseline/ <configs/baseline/>`_  and `configs/releng/ <configs/releng/>`_
(respectively). Both profiles are defined by files to be placed into overlays (e.g. airootfs ‎→‎ the image's ``/``).

Read `README.profile.rst <docs/README.profile.rst>`_ to learn more about how to create profiles.

Create images
=============

Usually the archiso tools are installed as a package. However, it is also possible to clone this repository and create
images without installing archiso system-wide.

As filesystems are created and various mount actions have to be done when creating an image, **root** is required to run
the scripts.

When archiso is installed system-wide and the modification of a profile is desired, it is necessary to copy it to a
writeable location, as ``/usr/share/archiso`` is tracked by the package manager and only writeable by root (changes will
be lost on update).

The examples below will assume an unmodified profile in a system location (unless noted otherwise).

It is advised to consult the help output of **mkarchiso**:

.. code:: sh

   mkarchiso -h

Create images with packaged archiso
-----------------------------------

.. code:: sh

   mkarchiso -w path/to/work_dir -o path/to/out_dir path/to/profile

Create images with local clone
------------------------------

Clone this repository and run:

.. code:: sh

   ./archiso/mkarchiso -w path/to/work_dir -o path/to/out_dir path/to/profile

Testing
=======

The convenience script **run_archiso** is provided to boot into the medium using qemu.
It is advised to consult its help output:

.. code:: sh

   run_archiso -h

Run the following to boot the iso using BIOS:

.. code:: sh

   run_archiso -i path/to/an/arch.iso

Run the following to boot the iso using UEFI:

.. code:: sh

   run_archiso -u -i path/to/an/arch.iso

The script can of course also be executed from this repository:


.. code:: sh

   ./scripts/run_archiso.sh -i path/to/an/arch.iso

Installation
============

To install archiso system-wide use the included ``Makefile``:

.. code:: sh

   make install

Optional features

The iso image contains a GRUB environment block holding the iso name and version. This allows to
boot the iso image from GRUB with a version specific cow directory to mitigate overlay clashes.

.. code:: sh

   loopback loop archlinux.iso
   load_env -f (loop)/boot/grub/grubenv
   linux (loop)/arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz-linux ... \
       cow_directory=${NAME}/${VERSION} ...
   initrd (loop)/arch/boot/x86_64/initramfs-linux-lts.img

Contribute
==========

Development of archiso takes place on Arch Linux' Gitlab: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archiso.

Please read our distribution-wide `Code of Conduct <https://terms.archlinux.org/docs/code-of-conduct/>`_ before
contributing, to understand what actions will and will not be tolerated.

Read our `contributing guide <CONTRIBUTING.rst>`_ to learn more about how to provide fixes or improvements for the code
base.

Discussion around archiso takes place on the `arch-releng mailing list
<https://lists.archlinux.org/mailman3/lists/arch-releng.lists.archlinux.org/>`_ and in `#archlinux-releng
<ircs://irc.libera.chat/archlinux-releng>`_ on `Libera Chat <https://libera.chat/>`_.

All past and present authors of archiso are listed in `AUTHORS <AUTHORS.rst>`_.

Releases
========

`Releases of archiso <https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archiso/-/tags>`_ are created by their current maintainers

- `David Runge <https://gitlab.archlinux.org/dvzrv>`_ (``991F6E3F0765CF6295888586139B09DA5BF0D338``)
- `nl6720 <https://gitlab.archlinux.org/nl6720>`_ (``BB8E6F1B81CF0BB301D74D1CBF425A01E68B38EF``)

Tags are signed using respective PGP keys.

To verify a tag, first import the relevant PGP key(s):

.. code:: sh

  gpg --auto-key-locate wkd --search-keys dvzrv@archlinux.org

or

.. code:: sh

  gpg --auto-key-locate clear,dane --locate-external-keys devnull@nl6720.me

Afterwards a tag can be verified from a clone of this repository:

.. code:: sh

  git verify-tag <tag>

License
=======

Archiso is licensed under the terms of the **GPL-3.0-or-later** (see `LICENSE <LICENSE>`_).