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<h1><span><em>live Arch Linux</em> builder</span></h1>
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<h2 id="pagetitle" level="1">Quick Start - Console</h2>
<p>This is a quick run through of the steps needed to download <em>larch</em>
and use it to build a <em>live</em> system from one of the example profiles
provided in the 'larch-profiles' package. You can use this as an introduction
to <em>larch</em>, and as a basis for your own customised system if you like.
</p>
<ul>
<li>Make sure you have 'python' and 'python-pexpect' packages installed.
</li>
<li>Download the latest
<a href="ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/larch/larch8/i686/larch-setup">
<strong>larch-setup</strong></a> script
to an empty working directory. Then run it (it is a shell script).
It will download and prepare the 'larch', 'liblarch' and 'larch-profiles'
packages so that they can be used within this directory.
</li>
<li>Several links will appear in the working directory. These point at the
individual <em>larch</em> scripts. Each has a usage message which you
can read by running the script with the '-h' option (e.g.
'./larch-archin -h')
</li>
<li>For this example run I will use the 'xmini' profile (which builds a
simple XFCE based system). The following steps must be carried out as root.
</li>
<li>Install the base <em>Arch</em> system to the default location
('/home/larchbuild'):
<ul>
<li>If you are running <em>Arch</em> the default package mirror is taken
from /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist. On a non-<em>Arch</em> system this file
(probably) won't exist, in which case the first uncommented server in
larch0/data/mirrorlist is used (this file comes from the 'pacman-allin'
package, which should be downloaded automatically in this case). The
default server might be alright, but if not you should edit this file.
</li>
<li><pre>./larch-archin -p larch0/profiles/xmini install</pre>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Prepare the <em>live</em> system. This script compresses the
installation using squashfs and also builds a squashed overlay containing
all the customisations necessary for the <em>live</em> system, plus those
specified in the profile:
<pre>./larch-larchify -p larch0/profiles/xmini</pre>
</li>
<li>Create a bootable 'iso' containing the <em>live</em> system:
<pre>./larch-medium -p larch0/profiles/xmini</pre>
</li>
<li>As an alternative to the last step, make a bootable USB-stick:
Insert the stick and double-check the name of the partition to install to.
I will assume /dev/sdb1 here:
<pre>./larch-medium -p larch0/profiles/xmini /dev/sdb1</pre>
</li>
<li>If all that worked, you can test the resulting 'iso' in (for example)
<em>virtualbox</em> (select the 'vesa' option from the boot menu, otherwise
<em>xorg</em> might not start), or try to boot from the USB-stick.
</li>
<li>If you want to try your hand at designing your own system, the main
place to look for details of the customisation process is the
section <a href="profiles.html">Profiles</a>.
</li>
<li> Share and Enjoy!</li>
</ul>
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