How to create and use a Live CD: Difference between revisions

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This page explains how to make a custom-content Live CD or DVD on Fedora-based systems including derived distributions such as RHEL, CentOS and others.

Note
If you simply want to burn a pre-made ISO to a disc, visit http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora to download a LiveCD or LiveDVD, then see the install guide or burning how-to for further instructions.

Getting started

To create a live image, the livecd-creator tool is used. Super user privileges are needed. The tool is more or less self-documenting, use livecd-creator --help to see options.

The livecd-creator tool is part of the livecd-tools package. If it is not installed on your system, add it with DNF or YUM:

su -c 'yum install livecd-tools spin-kickstarts' #Versions prior to Fedora 22
                                 or
su -c 'dnf install livecd-tools spin-kickstarts' #Fedora 22 and beyond

If you are interested in localized (i.e. translated into other languages) live CD files, install also l10n-kickstarts.

Configuring the image

The configuration of the live image is defined by a file called kickstart. It can include some basic system configuration items, the package manifest and a script to be run at the end of the build process.

For the Fedora project, the most important live image configurations files are:

fedora-live-base.ks : The base live image system (included in the 'livecd-tools' package).
For Fedora 20 and earlier: fedora-livecd-desktop.ks : Complete desktop with applications and input/output support for all supported locales in Fedora (this one is part of the 'spin-kickstarts' package) - despite the name, this is the kickstart that generates the ~1GB-sized images for recent releases.
For Fedora 21 and later: fedora-live-workstation.ks - this is the Workstation product configuration.

kickstart files for other spins (e.g. Fedora Electronics Lab) can be found in /usr/share/spin-kickstarts/ after installing the 'spin-kickstarts' package. These pre-made configuration files can be a great place to start, as they already have some useful pre and post-installation scripts.

system-config-kickstart

You can create a customized kickstart file by running system-config-kickstart. Note that you might have to install the package first with su -c "dnf install system-config-kickstart" in Fedora 22 and beyond or su -c "yum install system-config-kickstart" in earlier versions of Fedora. This tool is mainly intended for generating kickstart files for automated installs, not live images, so the output will probably not be usable without editing, but it may help you to generate particular kickstart directives. Remember to add the line:

%include /usr/share/spin-kickstarts/fedora-live-base.ks

at the beginning of your kickstart file to include the base live configuration.

See Creating a kickstart file for advanced information regarding making your own custom kickstart file.

Making the image

To make the image, simply issue the following command:

livecd-creator --verbose \
--config=/path/to/kickstart/file.ks \
--fslabel=Image-Label \
--cache =/var/cache/live

The name given by --fs-label is used:

as a file system label on the ext3 and iso9660 file systems (As such, it's visible on the desktop as the CD name).
in the isolinux boot loader.

If you have the repositories available locally and don't want to wait for the download of packages, just substitute the URLs listed in the configuration file to point to your local repositories.

Making a 32-bit spin ISO on a 64-bit machine
If you have an x86_64 machine you're building on but you want a 32-bit happy iso image, add the following before your livecd-creator command:

setarch i686 livecd-creator [...]

Examples

Spinning the fedora desktop

The following command:

livecd-creator --verbose \
--config=/usr/share/spin-kickstarts/fedora-livecd-desktop.ks \
--fslabel=Fedora-LiveCD \
--cache=/var/cache/live

will create a live CD called "Fedora-LiveCD" using the fedora-live-desktop.ks configuration file.

A Barebones Live CD

The command

livecd-creator --verbose \
--config=/usr/share/doc/livecd-tools-`rpm -q livecd-tools --qf "%{VERSION}"`/livecd-fedora-minimal.ks \
--cache=/var/cache/live

will create a live CD that will boot to a login prompt.

Barebones Live CD does not support login capability.
Since no configuration is done, the user will not be able to login to the system as the root password is not set/cleared.

Testing your Live CD using KVM or qemu

QEMU running Fedora 17

As root:

qemu-kvm -m 2048 -vga qxl -cdrom filename.iso

If you do not have KVM support, you have to use qemu instead

qemu-system-x86_64 -m 2048 -vga qxl -cdrom filename.iso

Replace filename.iso with the name of your created Live CD image and qemu-system-x86_64 with an appropriate qemu binary for the target system, e.g qemu-system-i386.

Be sure to "yum install kvm qemu" as root for releases before Fedora 11. Fedora 11 has merged kvm and qemu into a single package. Just installing qemu package is enough.

Using your new live image

You can burn your image directly to a CD or a DVD if it fits, or you can write it to a USB stick.

Installing the Live image to the hard drive
As of Fedora 7, anaconda has support for doing an installation from a live image. To use this, double click on the Install to Hard Drive item on the desktop or run

/usr/bin/liveinst

if you don't have such an icon. However, because of the way livecd-creator works, it is not possible to choose a different set of packages or a different filesystem during installation.

Live Image Media Verification

The live image can incorporate functionality to verify itself. To do so, you need to have isomd5sum installed both on the system used for creating the image and installed into the image. This is so that the implantisomd5 and checkisomd5 utilities can be used. These utilities take advantage of embedding an md5sum into the application area of the iso9660 image. This then gets verified before mounting the real root filesystem.

Other Resources

A Fedora Classroom class covering creating Fedora remixes.
If you are distributing your spin you need to be concerned about trademark usage and GPL responsibilities.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-= Creating a Fedora Live CD/DVD Using the Live CD Tools =
+{{autolang|base=yes}}
-This project concerns tools to generate live CDs or DVD's on Fedora based systems including derived distributions such as RHEL, CentOS and others. You can find Fedora Live images for download at http://fedoraproject.org
+<noinclude>
+[[Category:Spins]]
+[[Category:LiveMedia]]
+</noinclude>
+This page explains how to make a custom-content Live CD or DVD on Fedora-based systems including derived distributions such as RHEL, CentOS and others.
-See the [[FedoraLiveCD | project wiki]] for more details. Discussion of this project takes places at the fedora-livecd@redhat.com mailing list at http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-livecd-list.
+{{admon/note | Note | If you simply want to burn a pre-made ISO to a disc, visit http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora to download a LiveCD or LiveDVD, then see the [http://docs.fedoraproject.org/install-guide/ install guide] or [http://docs.fedoraproject.org/readme-burning-isos/ burning how-to] for further instructions.}}
-This project and its source files are licensed under the GPLv2 license. See the file COPYING for details.
+== Getting started ==
-== Live CD Design Goals ==
+To create a live image, the '''livecd-creator''' tool is used. Super user privileges are needed. The tool is more or less self-documenting, use {{command | livecd-creator --help}} to see options.
-The live CD is designed in such a way that, when running from a live CD, the system should appear as much as possible as a standard system with all that entails; e.g., read-write rootfs (achieved using dm-snapshot), standard ext3 file system (for extended attributes) and so on.
+The '''livecd-creator''' tool is part of the <code>livecd-tools</code> package.  If it is not installed on your system, add it with [[dnf|DNF]] or [[yum|YUM]]:
-Another design goal is that the live CD should be installable, i.e., a user should be able to install the bits from the live CD onto a hard disk without this process requiring network access or additional media.
+<pre>
+su -c 'yum install livecd-tools spin-kickstarts' #Versions prior to Fedora 22
+                                 or
+su -c 'dnf install livecd-tools spin-kickstarts' #Fedora 22 and beyond
+</pre>
-{{Admon/tip | The "install to hard drive" feature has now been implemented.  See below for details.}}
+If you are interested in localized (i.e. translated into other languages) live CD files, install also '''l10n-kickstarts'''.
-Finally, another design goal is that the tool set itself should be separate from configuration; the same unmodified tool should be usable for building various live CD flavors with vastly different configurations, e.g., a GNOME live CD, a KDE live CD, a live cd with music programs, and so on.
+== Configuring the image ==
-== Creating a Live CD ==
+The configuration of the live image is defined by a file called ''kickstart''.  It can include some basic system configuration items, the package manifest and a script to be run at the end of the build process.
-To create a live CD, the '''livecd-creator''' tool is used. Super user privileges are needed. The tool is more or less self-documenting, use the ''--help'' option to see options.
+For the Fedora project, the most important live image configurations files are:
-The '''livecd-creator''' tool is part of the <code>livecd-tools</code> package.  If it is not installed on your system, add it with:
+* '''[https://git.fedorahosted.org/cgit/spin-kickstarts.git/tree/fedora-live-base.ks fedora-live-base.ks]''' : The base live image system (included in the 'livecd-tools' package).
+* For ''Fedora 20 and earlier'': '''[https://git.fedorahosted.org/cgit/spin-kickstarts.git/tree/fedora-livecd-desktop.ks fedora-livecd-desktop.ks]''' : Complete desktop with applications and input/output support for all supported locales in Fedora (this one is part of the 'spin-kickstarts' package) - despite the name, this is the kickstart that generates the ~1GB-sized images for recent releases.
+* For ''Fedora 21 and later'': '''[https://git.fedorahosted.org/cgit/spin-kickstarts.git/tree/fedora-live-workstation.ks fedora-live-workstation.ks]''' - this is the [[Workstation]] product configuration.
+''kickstart'' files for other spins (e.g. Fedora Electronics Lab) can be found in {{filename|/usr/share/spin-kickstarts/}} after installing the 'spin-kickstarts' package. These pre-made configuration files can be a great place to start, as they already have some useful pre and post-installation scripts.
+[[Image:system-config-kickstart.png|thumb|system-config-kickstart]]
+You can create a customized ''kickstart'' file by running {{command | system-config-kickstart}}. Note that you might have to install the package first with {{command|su -c "dnf install system-config-kickstart"}} in Fedora 22 and beyond or {{command|su -c "yum install system-config-kickstart"}} in earlier versions of Fedora. This tool is mainly intended for generating kickstart files for automated installs, not live images, so the output will probably not be usable without editing, but it may help you to generate particular kickstart directives. Remember to add the line:
 <pre>
-su -c 'yum install livecd-tools'
+%include /usr/share/spin-kickstarts/fedora-live-base.ks
 </pre>
+at the beginning of your ''kickstart'' file to include the base live configuration.
-=== How the Live CD Creator Works ===
+{{admon/tip || See [[Anaconda/Kickstart#Creating_the_Kickstart_File | Creating a ''kickstart'' file]] for advanced information regarding making your own custom ''kickstart'' file.}}
-In a nutshell, the '''livecd-creator''' program
+== Making the image ==
-* Sets up a file for the ''ext3'' file system that will contain all the data comprising the live CD
+To make the image, simply issue the following command:
-* Loopback mounts that file into the file system so there is an installation root
+<pre>
-* Bind mounts certain kernel file systems (/dev, /dev/pts, /proc, /sys, /selinux) inside the installation root
+livecd-creator --verbose \
-* Uses a configuration file to define the requested packages and default configuration options.  The format of this file is the same as is used for installing a system via ''kickstart''.
+--config=/path/to/kickstart/file.ks \
-* Installs, using ''yum'', the requested packages into the installation using the given repositories
+--fslabel=Image-Label \
-* Optionally runs scripts as specified by the live CD configuration file.
+--cache =/var/cache/live
-* Relabels the entire installation root (for SELinux)
+</pre>
-* Creates a live CD specific ''initramfs'' that matches the installed kernel
-* Unmounts the kernel file systems mounted inside the installation root
-* Unmounts the installation root
-* Creates a ''squashfs'' file system containing only the ''ext3'' file (compression)
-* Configures the boot loader
-* Creates an iso9660 bootable CD
-=== Example #1: A Barebones Live CD ===
+The name given by ''--fs-label'' is used:
-The command
+* as a file system label on the ext3 and iso9660 file systems (As such, it's visible on the desktop as the CD name).
+* in the ''isolinux'' boot loader.
-<pre>livecd-creator \
+If you have the repositories available locally and don't want to wait for the download of packages, just substitute the URLs listed in the configuration file to point to your local repositories.
---config=/usr/share/livecd-tools/livecd-fedora-minimal.ks </pre>
-will create a live CD that will boot to a login prompt.
+{{admon/note | Making a 32-bit spin ISO on a 64-bit machine| If you have an x86_64 machine you're building on but you want a 32-bit happy iso image, add the following before your livecd-creator command:
+<pre>setarch i686 livecd-creator [...]</pre>
+}}
-{{Admon/tip | Barebones Live CD does not support login capability. | Since no configuration is done, the user will not be able to login to the system as the root password is not set/cleared.}}
+== Examples ==
-=== Live CD Configuration Files ===
+=== Spinning the fedora desktop ===
-The configuration of the live CD is defined by a file that uses the same format as installing a system via ''kickstart''.  They can include some basic system configuration items, the package manifest and a script to be run at the end of the build process.
+The following command:
-For the Fedora project, there are currently two different live CD configuration files. They are
+<pre>
+livecd-creator --verbose \
+--config=/usr/share/spin-kickstarts/fedora-livecd-desktop.ks \
+--fslabel=Fedora-LiveCD \
+--cache=/var/cache/live
+</pre>
-{|
+will create a live CD called "Fedora-LiveCD" using the '''fedora-live-desktop.ks''' configuration file.
-|-
-| livecd-fedora-minimal.ks || The base live CD system
-|-
-| livecd-fedora-desktop.ks || Complete desktop with applications and input/output support for all supported locales in Fedora
-|}
-=== Example #2: Spinning the Fedora Desktop Live CD ===
+=== A Barebones Live CD ===
-Assuming that you use the '''livecd-fedora-desktop.ks''' configuration file, then the following command
+The command
-<pre>livecd-creator \
+<pre>livecd-creator --verbose \
---config=/usr/share/livecd-tools/livecd-fedora-desktop.ks \
+--config=/usr/share/doc/livecd-tools-`rpm -q livecd-tools --qf "%{VERSION}"`/livecd-fedora-minimal.ks \
---fslabel=Fedora-LiveCD </pre>
+--cache=/var/cache/live
+</pre>
-will create a live CD called "Fedora-LiveCD".
+will create a live CD that will boot to a login prompt.
-The name given by ''--fs-label'' is used:
+{{Admon/tip | Barebones Live CD does not support login capability. | Since no configuration is done, the user will not be able to login to the system as the root password is not set/cleared.}}
-* as a file system label on the ext3 and iso9660 file systems (As such, it's visible on the desktop as the CD name)
-* in the ''isolinux'' boot loader.
-If you have the repositories available locally and don't want to wait for the download of packages, just substitute the URLs listed in the configuration file to point to your local repositories.
+== Testing your Live CD using KVM or qemu ==
-=== Testing your Live CD using QEMU ===
+[[Image:Screenshot_qemu_gtk3.png|thumb|QEMU running Fedora 17]]
 As root:
-<code>qemu-kvm -m 512 -cdrom filename.iso</code>
-Replace filename.iso with the name of your created Live CD image.  NOTE: be sure to "yum install kvm qemu" as root.
-== Live CD Installs ==
+ qemu-kvm -m 2048 -vga qxl -cdrom filename.iso
-As of Fedora 7, anaconda has support for doing an installation from a live CD.  To use this, double click on the ''Install to Hard Drive'' item on the desktop or run
+If you do not have [[Wikipedia:Kernel-based_Virtual_Machine | KVM]] support, you have to use qemu instead
-<pre>
+ qemu-system-x86_64 -m 2048 -vga qxl -cdrom filename.iso
-/usr/bin/liveinst
-</pre>
-if you don't have such an icon.
+Replace '''filename.iso''' with the name of your created Live CD image and '''qemu-system-x86_64''' with an appropriate qemu binary for the target system, e.g '''qemu-system-i386'''.
-== Live CD Media Verification ==
+{{Admon/tip || Be sure to '''"yum install kvm qemu"''' as root for releases before Fedora 11. Fedora 11 has merged kvm and qemu into a single package. Just installing qemu package is enough.}}
-The live CD can incorporate functionality to verify itself.  To do so, you need to have '''isomd5sum''' installed both on the system used for creating the image and installed into the image.  This is so that the '''implantisomd5''' and '''checkisomd5''' utilities can be used.  These utilities take advantage of embedding an md5sum into the application area of the iso9660 image.  This then gets verified before mounting the real root filesystem.
+== Using your new live image ==
-== Using Live Images from USB Media ==
+You can [http://docs.fedoraproject.org/readme-burning-isos/ burn your image directly to a CD or a DVD] if it fits, or you can [[How_to_create_and_use_Live_USB | write it to a USB stick]].
-USB sticks are becoming increasingly prevalent and are a nice way to use live images.  You can take a live CD iso image and transform it so that it can be used on a USB stick.  To do so, use the '''livecd-iso-to-disk''' script:
+{{admon/install | Installing the Live image to the hard drive | As of Fedora 7, anaconda has support for doing an installation from a live image.  To use this, double click on the ''Install to Hard Drive'' item on the desktop or run
 <pre>
-/usr/bin/livecd-iso-to-disk /path/to/live.iso /dev/sdb1
+/usr/bin/liveinst
 </pre>
-Replace /dev/sdb1 with the (unmounted) partition where you wish to put the live image.  This is not a destructive process; any data you currently have on your USB stick will be preserved.
+if you don't have such an icon. However, because of the way {{command|livecd-creator}} works, it is not possible to choose a different set of packages or a different filesystem during installation.}}
+== Live Image Media Verification ==
-Additional information available at [[How_to_create_and_use_Live_USB | How to Install Live Image to USB Flash Drive]].
+The live image can incorporate functionality to verify itself.  To do so, you need to have '''isomd5sum''' installed both on the system used for creating the image and installed into the image.  This is so that the '''implantisomd5''' and '''checkisomd5''' utilities can be used.  These utilities take advantage of embedding an md5sum into the application area of the iso9660 image.  This then gets verified before mounting the real root filesystem.
 == Other Resources ==
 * A [[Classroom | Fedora Classroom]] class covering [[Classroom/Creating_Fedora_Remix | creating Fedora remixes]].
 * If you are distributing your spin you need to be concerned about [[JeroenVanMeeuwen/Revisor/FedoraRebrandRemixGuidelines | trademark usage and GPL responsibilities]].
-[[Category:Spins]]

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