Linux Format forums

serene · LXF regular Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 1:43 pm Posts: 101

Hi.

What would be the best approach to booting a custom Debian Squeeze from a local file on disk ?

I've considered;
- .iso
- iscsi

I wish to also avoid virtualiztions, i.e. VirtualBox etc.

I'm not turning up much info on better alternatives to the above.

Thank you.
Serene

ajgreeny · Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:46 pm Post subject:

I am not sure if either of these two links will help but they may give you some ideas that you can work on and adapt for your needs.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1838959
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1288604
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serene · LXF regular Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 1:43 pm Posts: 101

Thanks ajgreeny.

Is it your opinion that the 'only' way to boot from a file is via .iso ?

ajgreeny · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 8:32 pm Post subject:

nelz · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:58 pm Post subject:

If you don't want to use an emulator, then most likely yes. the reason is that a bootloader can only boot from a restricted list of media types, most of which are physical devices. An ISO image is the only file type, AFAIK, that GRUB can boot from.

You could mount the file on another computer and set up network booting, but that is ridiculously complex for most uses.

Why do you have to boot from a file, why not a partition on your hard disk, or a USB device?
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serene · LXF regular Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 1:43 pm Posts: 101

Thanks Nelz.

The reason I wish to boot from a file is to eventually load all the OS into memory. I have a client that is attempting to verify boot file integrity via sha256sum for any corruption or tampering.

Cheers.

Serene

nelz · Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 9:37 am Post subject:

Then I'd create a hybrid ISO, one that can be booted from CD or USB stick and give the client the ISO as well as the boot medium, that way they can check the integrity themselves.

Using the live CD approach can get everything down to two files, the kernel and the root filesystem as a squashfs.
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Unix is user-friendly. It's just very selective about who it's friends are.

serene · LXF regular Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 1:43 pm Posts: 101

Nelz, you're real good.

Cheers

[SOLVED]

Rhakios · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:44 pm Post subject:

There we go, set as solved properly.
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