[CentOS-devel] Question about generating a spin of CentOS 7

Thu Oct 30 15:28:02 UTC 2014
Steven Falco <sfalco at imaginecommunications.com>

On 10/30/2014 10:59 AM, Jim Perrin wrote:
> 
> 
> On 10/28/2014 10:49 AM, Steven Falco wrote:
>> I am interested in generating a spin of CentOS 7, but I'm
>> having trouble identifying the correct tool to compose an
>> ISO image.
> 
> For what reason? Is this something that would benefit others
> (could/Should it be a sig?)

I have been asked to create a customized install DVD that
would automatically install - i.e. use a custom kickstart
file.  To do that, I would add the ks file to the isolinux
directory, and patch isolinux.cfg to pass my ks file to
anaconda via the kernel cmd line.

I can do that manually by manipulating the official iso file.
It is a lengthy series of steps, extracting the squashfs.img
file, then the rootfs.img, then making my changes, and finally
putting everything back together.  In short, a total kludge. :-)

Instead, I'd like to be able to reproduce the method by which
the official iso file is constructed.  I'd want to be able to
do that on my local machine rather than using any CentOS
resources, because I don't think this particular spin would be
of any interest to the community.  However, the method of
generating a custom DVD probably would be of interest to a lot
of people.

I've actually made a fair amount of progress in the last
few days.  First, I used pungi to reconstruct a Fedora 20
iso which taught me how that process works.  It also gave
me a good log file of a successful pungi build.

Then, I tried making that same process work on CentOS 7.  I
ran into some issues, because the c7 kernel doesn't include
HFSPLUS support (which is needed by isohybrid - long story).

I hacked around that by modifying some parts of pungi and lorax
to remove the HFSPLUS requirement.  I am also exploring building
the HFSPLUS kernel module, so I don't have to hack up pungi / lorax.

But back to my question to this list.  Are the pungi and lorax
tools part of the official CentOS build process?  If so, then
I assume there must be customized version of them, given the
problems I saw with HFSPLUS.

If different tools are used instead of pungi / lorax, then what
are those tools?  Are they documented?  Can I help with the
documentation of them?

	Steve

-- 
A: Because it makes the logic of the discussion difficult to follow.
Q: Why shouldn't I top post?
A: No.
Q: Should I top post?

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