α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

alphalpha · 2024-12-16 23:57:32

Gitlab: α-utilz

this is my custom version of the famous refractasnapshot and installer
i have been plaiyng around with this a few years now,
it is still far from perfect, but it works for me

this is basically everything from refractasnapshot / istaller merged into a single sh script

with a custom menu system
added support for arch / artix / hyperbola and void
other new stuff like the iso tester, wich allows you to boot your iso in qemu with usb passthrough

maybe someone finds this usefull
let me know if something is not working, the artix stuff may already broke, i have not tested it for a while now
i think this should work fine on excalibur, but did not test this, let me know if someone tries this

moulder61 · 2024-12-17 17:02:49

Hi Michael,

I've been playing with alpha-utilz today and although I had to fiddle with it a bit, I was impressed to find I could actually create a Void snapshot from it! I've been hoping for something like this for a while as I'm not clever enough to work out how to do it myself, so well done. Nice work.

Moulder.

alphalpha · 2024-12-17 19:41:49

im glad to hear that
getting void to boot was really complicated, took me two weeks to realize that void expects the squash file to be named differently
i had to learn a bit how to use dracut to create a initramfs with dmsqash, maybe that will become handy when i finally have time to figure out how to setup a persistent boot option for the live iso
people say void cannot do this, and from what i see, not even ventoy does this for void
but i think this may be doable with some more dracut action

moulder61 · 2024-12-17 20:09:31

My main issue was getting the dependencies installed. It did offer to do that for me, but that didn't work so I had to do it manually.

It made the iso successfully and booted first time, but the installer wasn't going as well as I'd hoped, namely, I wasn't 100% confident my drive wasn't going to get wiped, and I have multiple OS's on it that I don't want to lose. So I borrowed void-installer from another live iso and used that instead.

It needs a bit of tweaking, but it looks like I might have a nice solution to my requirements. I have no idea how you worked all that out, but thanks again.

Thanks also to fsmithred and whoever else is responsible for the Refracta suite of tools.

Moulder.

alphalpha · 2024-12-17 20:31:17

nice!
yes, defintely be carefull whit the installer, it would probaly have wiped that
if you wanted to use this installer in a dualboot setup, i would recommend, to not set a boot partition and set the bootloader to none
then let it install and copy the relevant files from /boot to your boot partition by hand

golinux · 2024-12-17 21:22:26

@moulder61 . . . You can thank fsmithred for the refracta tools! IIRC, he took over that project from someone on the Debian forum long before systemd was a thing . . .

moulder61 · 2024-12-17 23:15:56

@golinux

I don't know who started it all, or who forked what from where, but I've only known about it as refracta via Devuan. So thanks fsr, wherever you are!

@alphalpha

I've been burned before! Not mentioning any names, but fluxu... errrmm.... someone or other wrote a custom install script that trashed my drive even though I backed out before committing to it. Fortunately, testdisk save my backside and I've been more careful since.

Moulder.

Last edited by moulder61 (2024-12-18 13:28:15)

nixer · 2024-12-19 01:31:27

This looks very interesting, especially if it can work on hyperbola, void, and artix.

I tried to run the script on my devuan and void machines and I got the same reply from each on the terminal:

Error: function check_chown needs exactly two argumenrs.

Any quick instructions on how to use it? I did not see anything on the gitlab project site.

As for dependencies, I have refracta-tools installed so its dependencies are installed as well. Are there any other dependencies required?

This was tried on my devuan unstable (ceres) install.

alphalpha · 2024-12-19 04:04:15

Error: function check_chown needs exactly two argumenrs.

well that sounds like it failed somewhere to set a variable
unless this happened before it creates the log, there should be a log file in .config/alpha-utilz/logs
if you could send me that log via email or post it here if it is not terribly long, i will have a look

as for dependencies, it should install them automatically, but moulder already said that it did not work for him on void
although i remember it worked for me on void, maybe try a "xbps-install -Su" before you run the script
the log file should show if there are missing dependencies

Any quick instructions on how to use it?

there is not much to say, just select create a snapshot and hit enter
maybe enable uefi if you need it and thats basically it

Last edited by alphalpha (2024-12-19 04:43:51)

nixer · 2024-12-19 13:16:20

Ok, I have the program loading now. It did not automatically create the folder /home/snapshot , and this caused the problem. After manually creating the folder, it works.

The only file that was created in the /.config/alpha-utilz folder was "snapshot.conf". No log was created. I guess the failure was before the point of log creation.

I have something to use now. Thank you.

nixer · 2024-12-19 15:30:46

This is interesting. My first try using on devuan was not a failure, but it was not a success either. It had to do with the configuration of the script especially with the excludes_list part of my host system that caused me to bail out of this attempt. I will try again.

However, I successfully tested the creation of a snapshot on a Void system on a virtual machine, successfully. As a matter of fact, I am posting this from within the live system running in a virtual machine now.

The first thing that I noticed in the alpha-utilz.sh script is that there is a scrolling and selection error on the screen where options are highlighted and selected. The scrolling will change the selected option, which is confusing.

I have come this far, so I may as well try the void-install, soon. I am mainly interested in using this for other systems. For Devuan, the default refracta-tools are hard to improve upon, in my opinion.

Thank you for this alphalpha.

alphalpha · 2024-12-19 18:25:37

the excludes file should be in .config/apha-utilz/snapshot_exclude.list
you can just use the default excludes list from fsmithred:

cat /usr/lib/refractasnapshot/snapshot_exclude.list > ~/.config/aplha-utilz/snapshot_exclude.list

but if there is something wrong, i really hope we can figure it out

@ the person who had problems with the kernel
when you go to "--> Options", there should be a line "Kernel = /boot/somekernel"
the script failed to detect your kernel, probably you have a custom kernel or something
make sure that line has a valid kernel
if you send me the log, i will try to improve ther kernel detector function

thanks everyone who tested this so far

i am really busy right now, i hope i can finish my shed tomorrow and then i'll start moving
so please forgive me if i dont push any updates right now
i hopy by the end of the year i have 0.0.1b ready, but i promise nothing
meanwhile we keep collecting bugs

btw, on sunday i will possibly hang out at my channel on libera.chat (i will tell you the name when it is open)
that is, if i have electricity by then, i will probably have to ~~cut the power cord from some old psu and rip out a wall plug somewhere~~ sacrifice a power strip, lovely

Last edited by alphalpha (2024-12-19 18:31:19)

moulder61 · 2024-12-19 20:47:13

@alphalpha

I emailed the person that mentioned the kernel error and he said he was using a converted VM image, apparently. We think that that probably caused the issue?

Moulder.

alphalpha · 2024-12-19 22:24:34

im not sure what a converted vm image is, but i think this should work in a vm

moulder61 · 2024-12-19 23:21:56

Sorry, I didn't explain what he told me clearly enough.
He said he had a Void VM and your script worked OK but he couldn't boot into the iso it created.
So, he converted his VM (qcow2? or something) into an install "on the metal", which seems not to have worked either.
I'm not sure which was the kernel error?
Anyway, he said he will try again but not in a VM this time.
I hope that makes sense?

Moulder.

alphalpha · 2024-12-20 00:02:30

now that i think about it, i only ever tested this on legacy bios, never uefi
i know that devuan works with uefi but for the other distros there needs to be some additional commands in the grub line
and i do not remember adding those to the grub config
a dirty workaround could be:
select "--> Advanced" and then "> Copy isolinux"
that will create /home/snapshot/work/iso/isolinux/live.cfg
then make sure whatever is behind APPEND, somehow makes it into the grub.cfg
(modify the grub file inside /home/snapshot/work, then "--> Advanced" and "> Re-run xorriso only.")

Last edited by alphalpha (2024-12-20 00:07:04)

moulder61 · 2024-12-20 00:37:24

That's why I never wrote the script. It's way too complicated for me.
But, it did what I needed, so I'm happy.
I could be tempted to try to make a gui for it, but it's a bit out of my league really.

Moulder.

dyfi · 2024-12-20 05:42:16

Retested my ISO in virtual machine, which is set to legacy and it booted.

greenjeans · 2024-12-20 15:30:10

I could be tempted to try to make a gui for it, but it's a bit out of my league really.

Yad is your friend. The learning curve is very small, once you figure it out it's pretty fun messing with it.

Yad+shellscript and you can make a machine do anything, i'm having a blast with it last few days, mocked up a script+gui last night to adjust xset settings in lieu of using a dedicated screensaver/power manager.

moulder61 · 2024-12-20 15:57:05

@greenjeans

I have dabbled with yad here and there. I think refractas gui front end uses yad, possibly?

I paid for a commercial version of basic about 20 years ago and am trying to get my moneysworth out of it!

So, if anything, I'd try to do it in that. If it doesn't work, it doesn't matter. It would just be an experiment to see if I could or not?

Moulder.

greenjeans · 2024-12-20 22:03:16

Yep, Refracta uses it, that's where I first ran across it and started using it. MUCH smaller than Zenity, yet does everything I need it to so far.

Just noticed your link to MIYO based projects, gonna have to download that and give it a try, I love me some Miyo, all the stuff I do now is originally based on Miyo from back in 2017.

moulder61 · 2024-12-20 23:34:22

@greenjeans

I took the 2022 MiyoLinux JWM build and updated it to Daedalus then "converted" it to my configs. It's a minimal XFWM setup, very much of the "make it your own" philosophy. Miyo(Dan) himself quite likes it too.

I'm currently working on my own version with a lot fewer packages, and possibly using Calamares as an installer. It's slow going as I have a lot of other projects I'm juggling at the moment, none of which are getting finished!

Moulder.

Last edited by moulder61 (Yesterday 13:38:15)

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#1 2024-12-16 23:57:32

α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

Gitlab: α-utilz

#2 2024-12-17 17:02:49

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#3 2024-12-17 19:41:49

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#4 2024-12-17 20:09:31

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#5 2024-12-17 20:31:17

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#6 2024-12-17 21:22:26

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#7 2024-12-17 23:15:56

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#8 2024-12-19 01:31:27

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#9 2024-12-19 04:04:15

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#10 2024-12-19 13:16:20

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#11 2024-12-19 15:30:46

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#12 2024-12-19 18:25:37

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#13 2024-12-19 20:47:13

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#14 2024-12-19 22:24:34

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#15 2024-12-19 23:21:56

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#16 2024-12-20 00:02:30

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#17 2024-12-20 00:37:24

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#18 2024-12-20 05:42:16

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#19 2024-12-20 15:30:10

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#20 2024-12-20 15:57:05

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#21 2024-12-20 22:03:16

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

#22 2024-12-20 23:34:22

Re: α-utilz -- a funky version of refractasnapshot/installer

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