How to create a snapshot of my OS as LiveCD? (Solved)

[idiopup]

Dear Puppies,

I am in amazement at how fascinating the world of puppy linux is. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back...

I would like to be able to take a snapshot of my current install, which has some customizations to the boot sequence and some extra software, and create a liveCD of it (on CD).

Can anyone tell me if this is possible, and where I can find instructions? I looked around and haven't found the perfect tutorial yet.

Ruff Ruff,
Idiopup

[L18L]

just try

Code: Select all

remasterpup2

please.
Wauwau

[Flash]

I had no idea that remasterpup2 existed.

When I opened it to see what it was about, the initial window was a little too wide for my desktop (Slacko 5.4, 1440 wide display.) I had to drag it to the left in order to see the upper right corner to close the window.

Just thought someone would like to know.

[bill]

Thanks L18L,Seems like anything one wants to know is either here in the forum or out there in PuppyLand .The biggest challenge I have had,is learning to ask the proper question. cheers

->urxvt aka console then input remasterpup2

[idiopup]

just try

Code: Select all

remasterpup2

please.
Wauwau

Thank you! I am all set!
Puppy is so awesome...

[L18L]

remasterpup2 can be found in the setup menu between puppy universal installer and wakepup

Just for the case that JWM is not the actual window manager I have chosen command line command

bill
Yes, if I use Code that means
-take a console
-paste that text into
-don't forget to press ENTER key

Flash
initial window has a width of 622 px with me.
(scaled down to 600 for forum only)
[edit] the uploaded picture is looking larger than even 622 px

[Flash]

Thanks L18L. I opened remasterpup2 from the command line, is that what you did to get this image?

Some time ago I changed the forum max width to 800 (from 600). That's why your attachment shows.

[L18L]

Thanks L18L. I opened remasterpup2 from the command line, is that what you did to get this image?

They have same width opened from command line or from menu.
Width and height can be different in other languages but not that much...
Last 4 top comment of my
/usr/sbin/remasterpup2:

#130302 L18L: moved m_09 m_10 m_11 top and made another use of it.
#130304 cp -n not supported, use -u
#130306 gettext translation fixed, line 354. 130307 again.
#130308 npierce: filter out wrong CDs from choices offered to user; remove CD drive from VIRTUALCD list.

Maybe your version is older?

Some time ago I changed the forum max width to 800 (from 600). That's why your attachment shows.

Thanks

[ndujoe1]

Another handy feature of Puppylinux :)

[Sky Aisling]

Will this remastered Live CD work on a machine similar to the originating machine but of a different brand?
In other words, are there any hardware differences that would cause difficulties if this new Live CD is taken to a different manufacturer, for example: Toshiba to Dell.
The display settings would crash if the display sizes weren't the same but what about other hardware features?

This could really be helpful.

Thank you.

[Flash]

The surest and probably the quickest way to find out is to remaster the thing, burn it to a (rewritable) CD or DVD and try it in another machine. Let us know what you find out.

[tallboy]

Sky Aisling, in the case of remastering a live-CD/DVD, there are at least two ways to do it:

• by using the script in the puppy, which ask for, and read, the original files from the puppy installation CD/DVD, and then modify with your additions and removals, but no configs and settings
• burning a new .iso based on your existing, modified puppy, including all setting and configs, as in 'remasterpup2'.

It seem to me, that 'remasterpup2' does the opposite of 'Remaster Puppy live-CD'. I am unfamiliar with remasterpup2, but I have used the Menu -> Setup -> Remaster Puppy LiveCD many times, so that is what I describe here.
Unless you modify the suggested setup, the original files from the installation CD will be preserved, and transferred to the new .iso, but also with the additions or removals you have done, except for configs and setup files. That means that the startup process will be identical to the original, and the new CD/DVD should boot on any/most puppys. It also means that you have to set up all programs the way you like them to be, and make some saves to the new CD/DVD to preserve those settings. I try to avoid that.

If the original puppy boots directly to the desktop with auto-detection of hardware, some files may be copied from RAM to the new .iso, that will limit it to be run on the same - or similar - machine. I think this may be a grey zone, as I have had some strange bootups after remastering that kind of puppys.

If you burn a new .iso based on your existing setup, like with 'remasterpup2', all setup files for the machine, soundcard, network setting etc. will be burnt to the new .iso, and you will usually be locked to the same or similar PC.

I only run live CD/DVDs that I can move between machines, so I am careful to remaster by using the supplied puppy application, and then manually add the modified files that I want to keep, from my working puppy to the dir 'puppylivedcbuild', that is the basis for the new .iso. It can be a real PITA to discover that your carefully designed desktop layout has disappeared when you start your newly burnt remastered .iso, so careful planning and understanding of which files and dirs that are copied to the new .iso is essential.
The ideal situation for me, would be that 'xorgwizard' is run at bootup, to ensure the puppy run on all machines, the extra time spent at bootup is relatively short anyway. I have my own recipe, that allows me to follow some specific steps to remove and add certain programs, and also set some config steps which allow a new burn to work in all puppies, and do so without having to save any additional modifications at first shutdown. It also keep the puppy as small as possible, and without having a lot of saves on the CD/DVD it also boots faster. I currently use LupuPlus_5.2.8, which has a lot of additional drivers, and I also add the nvidia drivers packet and maybe some other graphic drivers as well. I often have to remaster 4-5 times before I am totally satisfied, but I enjoy the process and it gives a great satisfaction when finished.

I have tried to remember to make notes when I do a remaster, an I shall rewrite the recipe that works for me into 'human readable form' and publish it in a separate post, in case it is useful for others.

tallboy

EDIT: There is also the possibility to replace a live CD/DVD that also holds a lot of saves, with a new one, by just inserting a new disc when saving at shutdown, to merge everything into one 'new' live puppy.

[Sky Aisling]

Tallboy, what a helpful post you've given us!

I hope there is a way to make your post a part of a 'how to' section of the forum.

My apologies for my late response. I've been busy doing something else than playing with Puppy, if you can imagine that. lol!

I am intrigued by your edit comment:

EDIT: There is also the possibility to replace a live CD/DVD that also holds a lot of saves, with a new one, by just inserting a new disc when saving at shutdown, to merge everything into one 'new' live puppy.

When you say, "by just inserting a new disc ..." Do you mean a new r/w disc containing a nascent copy of Puppy? That is, the original Puppy as it comes 'out-of-the-box' before *saves* are made
Or
Do you mean a blank, new r/w disc?

Either way, this seems like an simple, efficient way of creating a Live(Multisession)CD/DVD.

[tallboy]

I fear I have mislead you a little, because I though 'remasterpup2' was a program in Slacko-5.4 (because Flash mentioned Slacko in his post above), and I did not recognize the dialog window shown.

To my surprise, I also found it in my Lupu_5.2.8, it is actually the same script I mention in my post above, the one I use myself, which is found in the menu! It surprises me that the script's name is not shown in the window title. It is located in /usr/sbin/remasterpup2.

But, it does not burn everything from your old setup, it actually do as I describe above. I would very much like to hear from idiopup, who started this thread, if all his modifications were present on the new live disc, I fear they were not.

If you use the remasterpup2 script, the text in the code below, will show in dialog windows that come up later in the remaster process:

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m_19="This program has created folder /tmp/root, which has everything that is now going to be added as /root in the \$PUPPYSFS file.\n
This is mostly 'pristine', as obviously you do not want all your cache files,
temp files, email files, and other working/temporary files to be burnt onto
the CD. However, if you are familiar with the workings of Puppy, you might
like to take a look at /tmp/root right now, and possibly add anything that
you want from /root (or remove something!)\n

Code: Select all

m_21="Have created the /etc directory for the new \$PUPPYSFS file.\n
It is in a 'pristine' state, but you can choose to customise it.\n
Do you want to add customisations for your hardware? Examples are
mouse, keyboard, video. But, if you answer 'Yes' here, the live-CD
will be preconfigured for your PC only. Therefore, it is best to
answer 'No' if you want to boot the new live-CD on different PCs.

Those lines of code also means that most setup and config files, including your fancy desktop layout with it's new icons, are excluded from the new live-CD/DVD, unless you modify it before burning it, as I describe in my post above

The saves to a multisession disc are always available, neatly arranged by date, see image of mounted disc below. The latest is loaded first, and because puppy's copy command don't allow older files to overwrite newer files, your latest version of a file is always used. But the older saves are there if you mount the disc, and can be read and copied. I prefer using cheap, single layer CD-R or DVD-R discs, instead of overwriting with a R/W disc. I never leave my PC running unattended, so it is frequently turned on/off. Remastering saves boot time!

Regarding continuing a full multisession CD, read this excellent thread by Flash for the recipe: Problem continuing a multisession CD.

I hope there is a way to make your post a part of a 'how to' section of the forum.

Nope, I'm afraid far more knowledgable people in the forum already have described it better, there is a whole section in this forum dedicated to multisession issues:

Forum index » Advanced Topics » Cutting edge » Multi-session live-CD/DVD

tallboy

[Flash]

Sky Aisling, the answer to your question regarding "remastering" a multisession CD or DVD is in the first thread of the multisession section of the forum that tallboy links to. Though I think of it as defragmenting your multisession Puppy rather than remastering, since it consolidates all the saved sessions into one. It can also be used to clone your multisession Puppy. So it does a lot.