FerretOS

LFS-Based LiveCD Image

Welcome to FerretOS! This operating system project is currently a proof-of-concept build/release of Linux From Scratch with some key differences:

• GRUB is replaced with systemd-boot
• System configuration and some package build configurations are modified to allow as much hardware compatibility as possible
• The bootloader is configured to only pass a root partition if running from disk image
  • This is due to ISO and El Torito standards for making burnable images, which generally require packing the root into a single file and mounting it onto a loop device.

The resulting image (should) be fully capable of booting from any possible boot media, with little to no notion of what hardware it has available or where it's booting from, and still mount the root partition and the remaining system with no issue. Once fully booted, FerretOS has all the tools and packages needed to build a fresh copy of Linux From Scratch (LFS) on the machine or VM. It can also be used as a basic rescue disk for a nonresponsive system.

History

FerretOS was ultimately inspired by the now-defunct LFS LiveCD project! The last update of its homepage can be found here: https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/livecd/. Part of the proof-of-concept stage is simply to show that LFS can still produce a LiveCD variant, provided there are people able to maintain it.

In regards to the name, I'm in a particular Discord server for these adorable wigglers: https://ferrets.live/! Too cute to not name something after them.

We would love some help!

(2024-12-18) We've managed to get everything working to boot from USB! (dracut wasn't adding a library, for some reason.) We're still working on making a bootable ISO, which could take a couple weeks. If you can help speed up the process we'd love it!

CREDITS

• omnipotentlegacy on discord helped a lot with troubleshooting some of our problems booting!

Installation

From the repo

If you don't want to work with the ISO file, you can install the (majority of the) contents of the repo directly, then use it to install the remaining components. You'll need at least an 8G drive to hold everything. We assume the drive is at /dev/sda for convenience. These instructions assume gdisk, which supports all of these operations. You will likely need to be root to run these commands.

1. Make a GUID Partition Table on the target drive.
2. Make a partition between 32M - 300M to accomodate the kernel, initrd, and bootloader. Use hex code EF00 to select the EFI partition type.
3. Make a partition between 5G - the end of the drive to hold the root system. Use hex code 8304 to select the Linux x86_64 root partition type.

• FerretOS is currently built for a single arch (x86_64). If you cross-compile Linux from Scratch for another arch, the hex code will change. gdisk shows the command to list its supported types when selecting the partition type.

4. If you want partitions for other root folders (/usr and /etc have partition types in the Discoverable Partitions Specification, /var might have partition types as well), add them now. For any folder without partition types, use hex code 8300 (generic Linux partition).
5. Format the EFI partition as fat32: mkfs.vfat -v -F 32 /dev/sda1
6. Format the root partition as ext4: mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2

• If you prefer a different filesystem, you may need to recompile the kernel to build the FS driver into the kernel. Only the ext drivers are built in currently.

7. If you have any other partitions, format them as ext4 now.
8. Mount the root partition somewhere accessible. We'll use /mnt here.
9. If you have any other partitions, make the folders for them in /mnt and mount them to those folders now.
10. Copy the entire repo (minus .git*) into /mnt.
11. Mount the EFI partition to /mnt/boot.
12. The repo has a chroot script in $repo/root. Edit that script and have LFS point to /mnt (or wherever the target drive root is mounted).
13. Run the modified chroot script. You should now be inside your target drive.
14. Run the following commands:

bootctl --esp-path=/boot --entry-token=os-id --no-variables --make-machine-id-directory=no install
rm -fv /boot/loader/random-seed
kernel-install --esp-path=/boot --entry-token=os-id --make-entry-directory=yes add 6.11.7 /usr/lib/modules/6.11.7/vmlinuz

15. Either copy ferretos-6.11.7.conf file from /USB-boot/loader/entries/ to /boot/loader/entries/ or edit the file in /boot yourself:

• dracut inserts options from the running kernel, which won't match the project's intent or needs. The only option needed is rw. You can add irqprobe if it helps your machines work.

16. Correct sudo's permissions: chmod -v +s /usr/bin/sudo (otherwise you won't be able to do anything once booted).
17. Ensure that the non-root user's directory and contents have the correct ownership: chmod -vR 1000:1000 /home/ferretos
18. At this point, the FerretOS installation is complete. Memtest86+ and a conf file for it is available in USB-boot if you'd like to add it to /boot.

• cp -Rfv /USB-boot/memtest/ /boot/ && cp -v /USB-boot/loader/entries/memtest.conf /boot/loader/entries/

19. Exit the chroot environment.

You can now reboot in place, or unmount ALL partitions on the target drive to boot on some other machine.

Changes

Packages

• Update expat to 2.6.4
• Update kernel to 6.11.7
• Update openssl to 3.3.2
• Update python to 3.12.7
• Add (blfs) libidn2 2.3.7
  • Add (blfs) libunistring 1.2 as recommended dependency
• Build gmp 6.3.0 with --disable-assembly --host=amd64-pc-linux-gnu
• Build mpfr 4.2.1 with --enable-decimal-float=generic
• Build gcc 14.2.0 with --with-arch=x86-64 --with-tune=generic
• Install all of elfutils 0.191, then clean up all installed static libraries
  • rm -fv /usr/lib/lib{elf,dw,asm}.a
• Build libffi 3.4.6 with --with-gcc-arch=x86-64
• Skip installing GRUB (source package is available in image)
• Personal preference: skip installing vim (source package is available in image)
• Personal preference: install (blfs) nano 8.1 as editor
  • /etc/nanorc is made from editing and saving doc/sample.nanorc with the new installation
• Install (external) pyelftools 0.31 to enable systemd-boot during configuration
  • Build instructions:

pip3 wheel -w dist --no-cache-dir --no-build-isolation --no-deps $PWD
pip3 install --no-index --no-user --find-links dist pyelftools

• Add (blfs) BLFS systemd units (2024-08-01)
• Add (blfs) wget 1.25.0
  • Add (blfs) libpsl 0.21.5 as recommended dependency
  • Add (blfs) make-ca 1.14 as recommended dependency
    • Add (blfs) p11-kit 0.25.5 as dependency
      • Add (blfs) libtasn1 4.19.0 as recommended dependency
• Add (blfs) openssh 9.8p1
• Add (blfs) sudo 1.9.15p5
  • To enable insults: --with-insults
  • To enable all insults: --with insults --with-all-insults
• Add (external) dracut (last commit 2024-03-21)
  • Requires asciidoc for documentation, use --disable-documentation to avoid
  • Add (blfs) cpio-2.15 as dependency
• Add (blfs) btrfs-progs 6.10.1
  • Add (blfs) lzo 2.10 as dependency
• Add (blfs) dosfstools 4.2
• Add (blfs) jfsutils 1.1.15
• Add (blfs) gptfdisk 1.0.10
  • Add (blfs) popt 1.19 as dependency
• Add (blfs) parted 3.6
• Add (blfs) sshfs 3.7.3
  • Add (blfs) fuse 3.16.2 as dependency
  • Add (blfs) glib 2.80.4 as dependency
    • Add (blfs) packaging 24.1 as dependency
    • Add (blfs) docutils 0.21.2 as recommended dependency
    • Add (blfs) libxslt 1.1.42 as recommended dependency
      • Add (blfs) libxml2 2.13.3 as dependency
        • Add (blfs) icu 75.1 as recommended dependency
      • Add (blfs) docbook-xml 4.5 as recommended dependency
        • Add (blfs) unzip 6.0 as unpack requirement
      • Add (blfs) docbook-xsl-nons 1.79.2 as recommended dependency
    • Add (blfs) pcre2 10.44 as recommended dependency
    • Add (blfs) shared-mime-info 2.4 as dependency
    • Add (blfs) desktop-file-utils 0.27 as dependency
• Add (blfs) xfsprogs 6.9.0
  • Add (blfs) inih 58 as dependency
  • Add (blfs) liburcu 0.14.0 as dependency
• Add (blfs) efivar 39
  • Add (blfs) mandoc 1.14.6 as recommended dependency
• Add (blfs) efibootmgr 18
  • EFIDIR=ferretos
  • EFI_LOADER=systemd-bootx64.efi
• Add (blfs) iso-codes 4.17.0
  • Debian has removed the previous version, so we move to the next available version
• Add (blfs) lsof 4.99.0
  • Add (blfs) libtirpc 1.3.5 as dependency
• Add (blfs) tree 2.1.3
• Add (blfs) gpm 1.20.7
• Add (blfs) gnupg 2.4.5
  • Add (blfs) libassuan 3.0.1 as dependency
    • Add (blfs) libgpg-error 1.50 as dependency
  • Add (blfs) libgcrypt 1.11.0 as dependency
  • Add (blfs) libksba 1.6.7 as dependency
  • Add (blfs) npth 1.7 as dependency
  • Add (blfs) openldap 2.6.8 as dependency
    • Add (blfs) cyrus-sasl 2.1.28 as recommended dependency
      • Problems in including time.h in multiple files
        • Remove #ifdef ... #endif from around #include <time.h> in lib/saslutil.c
        • Add #include <time.h> to plugins/cram.c
      • Add (blfs) lmdb 0.9.31 as recommended dependency
  • Add (blfs) gnutls 3.8.7.1 as recommended dependency
    • Add (blfs) nettle 3.10 as dependency
  • Add (blfs) pinentry 1.3.1 as recommended dependency
  • Add (blfs) libusb 1.0.27 as optional dependency (for building ccid driver)
• Add (blfs) hwdata 0.385
• Add (blfs) p7zip 17.04
• Add (blfs) pciutils 3.13.0
• Add (external) exfat 1.4.0
  • ./configure --prefix=/usr --enable-year2038
• Add (blfs) usbutils 017
• Add (blfs) which 2.21
• Add (blfs) rsync 3.3.0
• Add (blfs) iw 6.9
  • Add (blfs) libnl 3.10.0
• Add (blfs) wpa-supplicant 2.11
• Add (blfs) curl 8.11.0
• Add (blfs) links 2.30
  • Add (blfs) libevent 2.1.12 as recommended dependency
• Add (blfs) libburn 1.5.6
• Add (blfs) libisofs 1.5.6
• Add (blfs) libisoburn 1.5.6
• Add (external) tmux 3.5a
• Add (external) linux-firmware
  • Add (external) rdfind 1.6.0 as recommended dependency
  • Package is made by packaging the git repo after checking for updates
• Add (external) squashfs-tools 4.6.1 as ISO build dependency
  • (2024-12-05) TIL you have to turn the entire filesystem into a single file for making bootable ISOs. Dracut can handle using squashfs files if the related tools are installed.
• Add (external) memtest86+ 7.20

Configuration

Configuration files are made in a text editor (potentially outside chroot by root until a text editor is available).

• Source packages installed in LFS are in /sources/base
• Source packages installed in BLFS or beyond are in /sources/extra
• /usr/lib64 is a symlink to /usr/lib to deter problems
• Mailboxes disabled for useradd
• Root password set
• Add pip as link to pip3
• Add python as link to python3
• PAGE is set to letter
• /usr/lib/os-release points to /etc/os-release
• Make single systemd network file to match any found network devices
  • Not sure it will enable more than one device, but it will at least enable the first
    • This has to be fixed, after a winter break. We'll swap to using type matching, and a file each for ethernet and wifi access.
• Add noclear.conf from 9.10 Systemd Usage & Configuration
• Add (blfs) /usr/sbin/strip-all.sh
• Add (blfs) /usr/sbin/remove-la-files.sh
• Add /etc/profile.d and various shell scripts
  • Add bash_completion.sh
  • Add dircolors.sh
  • Add extrapaths.sh
  • Add readline.sh
  • Add umask.sh
  • Add i18n.sh
  • Add pythoncerts.sh
• Add /etc/skel with configuration files and FerretOS needs
  • Files copied to /root when finishing image
    • Add root-specific files to /root: chroot.sh, net-chroot.sh
  • Add .bash_profile
  • Add .bashrc
  • Add .bash_logout
  • Add Apache-2.license
  • Add BY-NC-SA-2.0.license
  • Add MIT.license
  • Add version-check.sh
  • Add zipped LFS systemd book
  • Add zipped BLFS systemd book
• Add /etc/profile from BLFS
• Add /etc/bashrc from BLFS
• Add /etc/dircolors
• Add /etc/issue
• wpa-supplicant not configured
• rootwait command-line parameter built into kernel
  • This really only helps when booting from USB, as it forces all devices to mount first
• Kernel image copied to /usr/lib/modules/6.11.7/vmlinuz to avoid adding the linux source directory
• User ferretos added
  • Name and password match for access
  • User added to wheel group
• Clean build tree for first boot and agnostic image requirements
  • /etc/hostname not reset
  • Root account not reset
• Dracut configuration added at /etc/dracut.conf.d/dracut.conf
• Boot partition backed up to /boot-backup
• Sudo setuid per sudo direction

Build/Configure process

• $LFS is any directory accessible to both root and a regular user
  • Included convenience scripts use /opt/lfs
  • No drives or partitions were mounted during the build stages
• git repo was set up during first build chapters
  • This has the advantage of reducing the final upload size to Github
  • This has the disadvantage of creating multiple files in Github LFS that have to be manually pruned
• When changing ownership between users:
  • To user lfs: chown -vR lfs:lfs $LFS
  • To user root: chown -vR root:root $LFS
• To have internet access in chroot on systemd-based host systems:
  • Remove mount -vt tmpfs tmpfs $LFS/run
  • Use mount -v --bind /run $LFS/run
    • chroot-net.sh is already set up for this purpose
• Ownership of gcc build directory is changed before installation
  • chown -vR root:root $PWD
• Full /etc/os-release is added before systemd configure step
  • Required for systemd-boot to configure correctly
• -D firstboot=false is removed from systemd configuration stage
  • This image should boot anywhere, but some things can't be configured beforehand
• -D default-dnssec=no is removed from systemd configuration stage
• -D ldconfig=false is removed from systemd configuration stage
• Machine id is not initialized to avoid compiling any reference to it in later packages
• Timezone is not set to accomodate systemd-firstboot
• /etc/adjtime is not used to accomodate multiple hardware setups
• System locale is not set to accomodate systemd-firstboot
• Additional packages are added before building the kernel and finalizing the image
• /etc/fstab is not created
  • As part of the Bootloader Specification this file isn't needed by a spec-compliant bootloader to find the root partition or data partitions

If you work in a chroot and reinstall dbus via BLFS instructions, $LFS/dev will no longer unmount, and the host system will require a reboot. dbus will also warn about an invalid user account/ID. If working in a chroot prior to creating an image or USB installation, re-initialize the machine id. It is also advised to only reinstall dbus in the chroot if you are sure you won't need the chroot environment after exiting that instance.

PRIVACY POLICY

This repository is hosted by Github. While FerretOS does not collect or send us anything, we have enabled the Issues and Discussions features, which could collect information beyond what is submitted directly. Github also collects information for statistics panels in the repository. We don't control these. Github's privacy policy is available here: https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-general-privacy-statement