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Contents of /trunk/www/2doc/README.txt

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1 Installing on USB
2 ==============================================================================
3
4 Installation to USB made easy
5 ****************************************
6 Until recently installing Clonezilla-SysRescCD on a USB disk would not
7 be such a great idea, because of its size. But since USB devices become
8 cheaper and cheaper, it is an interesting alternative.
9
10 Starting with version 3.1.0, Clonezilla-SysRescCD provides an iso
11 file that's ISO-Hybrided. This means (as we read at the isolynux site {{
12 http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/Doc/isolinux#HYBRID_CD-ROM.2FHARD_DISK_MODE
13 }}) that
14
15 "the iso file can be booted from either CD-ROM or from a device which BIOS
16 considers a hard disk or ZIP disk, e.g. a USB key or similar. This image can
17 then be copied using any raw disk writing tool (on Unix systems, typically
18 "dd" or "cat") to a USB disk, or written to a CD-ROM using standard CD
19 burning tools.
20
21 The ISO 9660 filesystem is encapsulated in a partition (which starts at
22 offset zero, which may confuse some systems.) This makes it possible for
23 the operating system, once booted, to use the remainder of the device for
24 persistent storage by creating a second partition."
25
26 [[ important.png ]]
27 Incorrect use of any raw disk writing tool could cause your operating system
28 (GNU/Linux / Windows) not to boot. Confirm the command before you run it.
29
30 So, from any linux box, assuming Clonezilla-SysRescCD iso file is in
31 your home directory, and your USB device name is sdc4, you just execute
32 the commands:
33
34 umount /dev/sdc4
35 dd if=~/clonezilla-sysresccd-full-mod-"myVersion".iso of=/dev/sdc bs=512
36
37 And that's it. Your usb device is ready to boot!!!
38
39 Using the extra space
40 ---------------------
41 If your usb device is more than 400MB in size, the above command will
42 leave the remaining space unused. To verify it, execute the command:
43
44 fdisk -l /dev/sdc
45
46 You should get something similar to this:
47
48 Disk /dev/sdc: 1048 MB, 1048576000 bytes
49 64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 1000 cylinders, total 2048000 sectors
50 Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
51 Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
52 I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
53 Disk identifier: 0x77a5188f
54
55 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
56 /dev/sdc1 * 1 384 393216 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
57
58 As you can see, we are currently using 348 out of 1000 cylinders of the
59 disk. The remaining disk space (~600MB) can still be used, executing the
60 following commands:
61
62 fdisk /dev/sdc
63 command (m for help): n (create new partition)
64 command action
65 e extended
66 p primary partition (1-4)
67 p
68 partition number (1-4): 4 (create partition sdc4)
69 first cylinder (385-1000, default 385):
70 using default value 385
71 last cylinder, +cylinders or +size{k,m,g} (385-1000, default 1000):
72 using default value 1000
73
74 command (m for help): p (display partition table)
75
76 disk /dev/sdc: 1048 mb, 1048576000 bytes
77 64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 1000 cylinders
78 units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
79 sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
80 i/o size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
81 disk identifier: 0x77a5188f
82
83 device boot start end blocks id system
84 /dev/sdc1 * 1 384 393216 17 hidden hpfs/ntfs
85 /dev/sdc4 385 1000 630784 83 linux
86
87 command (m for help): t (change partition type)
88 partition number (1-4): 4
89 hex code (type l to list codes): b
90 changed system type of partition 4 to b (w95 fat32)
91
92 command (m for help): p (display partition table)
93
94 disk /dev/sdc: 1048 mb, 1048576000 bytes
95 64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 1000 cylinders
96 units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
97 sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
98 i/o size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
99 disk identifier: 0x77a5188f
100
101 device boot start end blocks id system
102 /dev/sdc1 * 1 384 393216 17 hidden hpfs/ntfs
103 /dev/sdc4 385 1000 630784 b w95 fat32
104
105 command (m for help): w (write partition table to disk and exit)
106 The partition table has been altered!
107
108 Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
109
110 WARNING: Re-reading the partition table failed with error 16: Device or
111 resource busy.
112 The kernel still uses the old table. The new table will be used at
113 the next reboot or after you run partprobe(8) or kpartx(8)
114 Syncing disks.
115
116 At this point you should disconnect and reconnect your usb device. When
117 it's recognised, you can format the partition you've just created
118
119 mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sdc4
120
121 The partition is now ready for use!!!
122
123 Installing the "hard" way
124 ****************************************
125 If the "easy" way does not work there is an alternative; you will use
126 the Clonezilla-SysRescCD ISO file (or CD) to copy and modify a couple of
127 files on the USB disk, and finally make it bootable, using syslinux {{
128 http://syslinux.zytor.com }} and its configuration file syslinux.cfg.
129
130 [[ important.png ]]
131 Incorrect use of syslinux could cause your operating system (GNU/Linux /
132 Windows) not to boot. Confirm the command before you run it.
133
134 The only thing that's important is that your USB disk must contain a VFAT
135 (Windows 98 or DOS) file system. If this is not the case, refer to the
136 section "Troubleshooting", to find out how you can format it, before
137 copying files to it.
138
139 The bootable USB disk creation procedure can be performed either from
140 Linux or Windows.
141
142 [[ info.png ]]
143 If you want to create a bootable USB flash drive for this version
144 or later, remember to use the syslinux command from syslinux
145 3.71 or later. Otherwise the boot menu won't work.
146
147 Installation from Linux
148 ---------------------
149 There are two ways you can proceed, if you are going to use Linux to
150 perform the USB installation, either using a running linux box, or using
151 Clonezilla-SysRescCD.
152
153 I will assume that you have saved clonezilla-sysresccd-full-mod-3.1.0.iso
154 in your home directory (~).
155
156 Using a linux box
157 ---------------------
158 If you already have a linux box up and running, you can use it to create
159 your Clonezilla-SysRescCD USB, without even having to burn it to CD
160 beforehand. The only thing here is that you have to have syslinux {{
161 http://syslinux.zytor.com }} installed.
162
163 I will assume that your CD drive is /dev/sr0 and that your USB device
164 is /dev/sdc4. You may have to change any of them to reflect your system
165 configuration.
166
167 Boot into linux, connect your USB device and execute the following commands:
168 mkdir /mnt/mycd
169 mount ~/clonezilla-sysresccd-full-mod-3.1.0.iso /mnt/mycd -o loop
170 mkdir /mnt/usbdevice
171 mount /dev/sdc4 /mnt/usbdevice
172 cp -r /mnt/mycd/* /mnt/usbdevice
173 umount /mnt/mycd; rmdir /mnt/mycd
174 cd /mnt/usbdevice
175 rm isolinux/*.cfg
176 mv isolinux/* .
177 rmdir isolinux
178 cd; umount /dev/sdc4
179 rmdir /mnt/usbdevice
180
181 Finally make your USB device bootable, by executing
182 syslinux /dev/sdc4
183 and you are done.
184
185 > Using Clonezilla-SysRescCD
186 If you already burnt Clonezilla-SysRescCD to CD, you can use it to create
187 your Clonezilla-SysRescCD USB.
188
189 I will assume that your CD drive is /dev/sr0 and that your USB device
190 is /dev/sdc4. You may have to change any of them to reflect your system
191 configuration.
192
193 Boot SystemRescueCD using the option To RAM, and when it is fully loaded,
194 execute the following commands:
195 mkdir /mnt/mycd
196 mount /dev/sr0 /mnt/mycd
197 mkdir /mnt/usbdevice
198 mount /dev/sdc4 /mnt/usbdevice
199 cp -r /mnt/mycd/* /mnt/usbdevice
200 umount /mnt/mycd
201 cd /mnt/usbdevice
202 rm isolinux/*.cfg
203 mv isolinux/* .
204 rmdir isolinux
205 cd; umount /dev/sdc4
206
207 Finally make your USB device bootable, by executing
208 syslinux /dev/sdc4
209 and you are done.
210
211 Installation from Windows
212 ---------------------
213 Installing Clonezilla-SysRescCD from Windows is as easy as
214 it is in Linux. You have to burn Clonezilla-SysRescCD to CD
215 or use a CD/DVD ROM emulator software like Daemon Tools {{
216 http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/announcements.php }} to mount the ISO file.
217
218 I will assume that your USB device is drive K: and your CD drive or mounted
219 ISO file is drive
220 D:. You may have to change any of them, in order to reflect your system
221 configuration.
222
223 You will have to
224
225 * Copy all files from drive D: (CD or mounted ISO file) to drive K:
226 (USB disk)
227 * Delete all cfg files from K:isolinux
228 * Move all files from K:isolinux to K:
229 * Delete folder K:isolinux
230
231 Now all you have to do is make your USB disk bootable. In order to do
232 that you have to open a DOS window (in Windows XP press "Start / Run "
233 and type cmd). Then type at DOS prompt:
234 K:
235 cd bootprog
236 syslinux -ma K:
237
238 Booting from USB
239 ---------------------
240 Before trying to boot from your USB device, you have to set your boot device
241 at your BIOS. This means you have to reboot having your USB device connected,
242 get into your BIOS (usually pressing DEL) and make the appropriate settings
243 in the BOOT section.
244
245 Booting Clonezilla Live should not be a problem. Just select the desired
246 option and press ENTER to boot.
247
248 Booting SystemRescueCD has been made equally simple with SystemRescueCD
249 v 1.0.0, so you shouldn't have any problem (option cdroot is not required
250 any more).
251
252 If you have any problems here, you may try adding any of these boot
253 parameters:
254 usbstick
255 doscsi
256
257 Troubleshooting
258 ---------------------
259 Whether you can successfully boot from a USB disk or not, depends mainly on
260 your BIOS. Chances are that you will not be able to boot on an old computer,
261 with an old (and possibly buggy) BIOS. So I would recommend testing your
262 Clonezilla-SysRescCD USB on a new computer.
263
264 * I can't boot (I don't even see the splash screen)
265 or Clonezilla Live does not boot
266
267 The first thing you should do is double check your BIOS settings. Reboot
268 having your USB device connected, get into your BIOS (usually pressing DEL)
269 and make the appropriate settings in the BOOT section.
270
271 If you are on linux, check that the partition on the USB disk is active
272 (bootable), executing:
273 fdisk -l /dev/sdc
274 You should get something similar to this:
275
276 Disk /dev/sdc: 1031 MB, 1031798272 bytes
277 64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 983 cylinders
278 Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
279
280 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
281 /dev/sdc4 * 1 983 1006576 6 FAT16
282
283 If the partition is not active (no astrisk), execute:
284 fdisk /dev/sdc
285 and issue "Command: " a (toggle a bootable flag) and "Partition number:"
286 4 (for /dev/sdc4).
287
288 If you are on Windows, this is taken care of by syslinux (parameters -ma).
289
290 If you still have problems booting, you should try to execute
291 syslinux -s /dev/sdc4
292 from Linux, or
293 syslinux -sma K:
294 from Windows (from folder K:syslinux).
295
296 syslinux man page reads:
297
298 (Option) -s
299 Install a "safe, slow and stupid" version of syslinux. This version may work
300 on some very buggy BIOSes on which syslinux would otherwise fail. If you find
301 a machine on which the -s option is required to make it boot reliably, please
302 send as much info about your machine as you can, and include the failure
303 mode.
304
305 * I still can't boot
306 In this case you will have to format your USB disk.
307
308 If you are using linux to perform the installation, execute the command:
309
310 mkdosfs -F 16 /dev/sdc4
311
312 to create a FAT16 file system, or
313
314 mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sdc4
315
316 to create a FAT32 file system.
317
318 When you are done go back to section "Installation from Linux".
319
320 If you are on Windows, you should download the HP-USB Format tool {{
321 http://h50178.www5.hp.com/local_drivers/17550/SP27608.exe }}, install it
322 and format your USB drive using the Fat or Fat32 option. This program can
323 be used to format USB devices that won't boot properly when formatted with
324 Windows format tool.
325
326 When you are done go back to section "Installation from Windows".
327
328 * I still can't boot (after formating)
329 Things are getting tough!!! Try to format your USB disk using the option you
330 did not use previously. So, if you have created a FAT32 file system, create
331 a FAT16 file system this time, and recreate Clonezilla-SysRescCD on USB.
332
333 If nothing works, you are out of luck; you will not be able to use
334 Clonezilla-SysRescCD USB on this computer... If you do manage to boot it,
335 please send me a message.
336
337 * SystemRescueCD does not boot
338 Ok, you have managed to get to the splash screen and successfully booted
339 Clonezilla Live. But you still can't boot SystemRescueCD.
340
341 Refer to section Booting from USB to find out the boot parameters you can
342 use with SystemRescueCD.
343
344 Customizing sysresc.cfg
345 ---------------------
346 As stated previously, Clonezilla-SysRescCD USB is booted by syslinux through
347 its configuration file syslinux.cfg. This file loads sysresc.cfg in order
348 to boot SystemRescueCD.
349
350 If you have to specify any additional boot parameters for SystemRescueCD,
351 you may want to write these changes to the configuration file, so that
352 you don't have to insert them by hand every time.
353
354 The procedure to do that is the following:
355
356 Boot SystemRescueCD (or if that's not possible yet, bot Clonezilla Linux
357 and get to the command line) using the option To RAM, and when it is fully
358 loaded, execute the following commands:
359 mkdir /mnt/usbdevice
360 mount /dev/[device] /mnt/usbdevice
361 cd /mnt/usbdevice
362 cp sysresc.cfg sysresc.bak
363 sed 's|scandelay=5|scandelay=x [additional params]|'
364 sysresc.cfg > sys.cfg
365 mv sys.cfg sysresc.cfg
366 cd; umount /dev/[device]
367 syslinux /dev/[device]
368 reboot
369
370 where x is a number from 1 to 10.
371
372 After executing these commands, you will have a new sysresc.cfg file,
373 and a backup file called sysresc.bak (in case things go wrong).
374
375 If, for example, you want to increase the device scan delay to maximum,
376 the above commands would become:
377 mkdir /mnt/usbdevice
378 mount /dev/sdc4 /mnt/usbdevice
379 cd /mnt/usbdevice
380 cp sysresc.cfg sysresc.bak
381 sed 's|scandelay=5|scandelay=10|' sysresc.cfg > sys.cfg
382 mv sys.cfg sysresc.cfg
383 cd; umount /dev/sdc4
384 syslinux /dev/sdc4
385 reboot
386
387 If, in addition to that, you had to use the boot parameter usbstick,
388 then it would be:
389 mkdir /mnt/usbdevice
390 mount /dev/sdc4 /mnt/usbdevice
391 cd /mnt/usbdevice
392 cp sysresc.cfg sysresc.bak
393 sed 's|scandelay=5|scandelay=10 usbstick|' sysresc.cfg > sys.cfg
394 mv sys.cfg sysresc.cfg
395 cd; umount /dev/sdc4
396 syslinux /dev/sdc4
397 reboot
398
399 In case something goes wrong with your new settings, you can always rename
400 sysresc.bak to sysresc.cfg, either from linux or Windows.
401
402
403
404
405 Boot parameters
406 ==============================================================================
407
408 Intro
409 ****************************************
410 Booting a linux system means loading a kernel, which is actually the
411 operating system. Well, this is not exactly true, and it is not the only
412 thing that happens during boot up phase, but it is not my intension to
413 explain it here.
414
415 The kernel is loaded by Isolinux (the CD boot manager), which is able to pass
416 a number of parameters to it, through its configuration file isolinux.cfg.
417
418 These parameters, called boot parameters, are documented by the kernel
419 itself, and can differentiate its behavior dramatically. In our case,
420 each CD (SystemRescueCD and Clonezilla Live) accept a different set of
421 parameters, because they are based on gentoo {{ http://www.gentoo.org/ }}
422 and debian, respectively.
423
424 While in the splash screen of Clonezilla-SysRescCD, you can edit the boot
425 parameters by pressing TAB. They will be presented to you, and you can
426 add or remove what you want. You must be careful not to change or remove
427 the parameters that are dedicated to the CD itself, as altering them will
428 certainty make it unbootable. When you are done, just press ENTER to boot.
429
430 SystemRescueCD boot parameters
431 ****************************************
432 [[ info.png ]]
433 The following info applies to SystemRescueCD v. 1.5.5. In case
434 you need to get info for a more recent version of SystemRescueCD
435 please see the page "Sysresccd-manual-en Booting the CD-ROM {{
436 http://www.sysresccd.org/Sysresccd-manual-en_Booting_the_CD-ROM }}"
437
438 A typical sysresccd isolinux entry is:
439
440 kernel rescuecd
441 append initrd=initram.igz video=ofonly
442
443 The kernel used is rescuecd, and anything after the word append is a
444 boot parameter.
445
446 Available kernels (boot images):
447
448 * rescuecd Default for 32bit systems, with Framebuffer disabled, best choice.
449 * rescue64 Default 64 bit kernel. Use it if you want to chroot to a 64bit
450 linux system installed on your hard disk, or if you have to run 64 bits
451 programs. This kernel is able to boot with 32bit programs, and it requires
452 a processor with 64bit instructions (amd64 / em64t).
453 * altker32 an alternative kernel for 32bit systems. Boot with this kernel
454 if you have problems with rescuecd
455 * altker64 an alternative kernel for 64bit systems. Boot with this kernel
456 in case you have problems with rescue64.
457
458 The boot parameters you can use are:
459
460 General boot options
461 Press <TAB> to add additional options (in SystemRescueCd-1.5 and more recent)
462
463 * docache: causes the CD-ROM will be fully loaded into memory. A slower
464 start but once complete, programs start faster and the CD drive will be
465 released allowing normal access to other CDs. This requires 400MB of memory
466 to cache everything (including the bootdisks and isolinux directories). Add
467 lowmem if you have less that 400MB of memory of to prevent these directories
468 to be copied.
469 * setkmap=kk: which defines the keymap to load where kk (example: setkmap=de
470 for German keyboards). This way you won't be prompted for the keyboard
471 configuration during the boot.
472 * root=/dev/xdnp: the root=<device> option boots an existing linux
473 system. For example, if you have linux Gentoo installed on /dev/sda6,
474 use rescuecd root=/dev/sda6 to start it. Keep in mind that you must use a
475 64bit kernel if your system is made of 64bit programs. This option works
476 with LVM volumes. Use rescuecd root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00. Support
477 is also provided for root=auto, which scans all the block devices tfor
478 a linux system. The first linux system found will be started. So with
479 root=auto let you start the system installed from the CD-ROM in case
480 you have problem with your boot loader or kernel. It's also possible
481 to specify a partition using its filesystem label or filesystem
482 uuid. If the label of the partition where linux is installed is
483 mylinux, then boot it using rescuecd root=LABEL=mylinux. Similarly
484 root=UUID=b3d3bec5-997a-413e-8449-0d0ec41ccba7. See more details.
485 * initscript=service:action: This options allows start/stop a service
486 at boot time. For instance if you need the samba service to be started,
487 you can boot with: initscript=samba:start. This does the same thing as
488 /etc/init.d/samba start. Use this option multiple times for different
489 services. All the actions that are supported by an initscript can be used.
490 * backstore=xxx: SystemRescueCd comes with support for the backing-stores. A
491 backing-store saves all the changes you can make. so that you keep these
492 changes the next time you boot it. By default, sysresccd automatically
493 scan removable devices (eg: USB sticks) at boot time and uses the first
494 backing-store it finds. A backing-store is not mandatory and it the
495 scan fails it will store the files which change in memory. To disable
496 the disks scan at boot time specify backstore=off on the boot command
497 line. If you want to save your backing-store file on an harddisk, boot with
498 backstore=alldev to scan all devices (not just removable devices). The
499 default location for backing-stores file is any file named sysrcd.bs
500 located at the root of a disk which is often an USB stick. Change the path
501 by using backstore=/sysrcd/mybackstore.bs. See backing-stores.
502 * isoloop=xxx: Grub2 (currently in development: grub-1.98) provides a new
503 feature to boot from an ISO image which is stored from the hard disk. If you
504 put a copy of systemrescuecd-x86-x.y.z.iso on a partition that Grub2 can read
505 then you can boot SystemRescueCd directly from the ISO image stored on your
506 hard drive. This is very convenient if you frequently update SystemRescueCd
507 and you want to boot it directly from Grub2. Grub2 knows what an ISO image
508 is and it will load the kernel image (rescuecd/rescue64) and the initramfs
509 (initram.igz) from the ISO into memory. It will then do its normal job and
510 execute the kernel. The SystemRescueCd init script must then be aware that
511 its sysrcd.dat file is in an ISO and not directly on the partition. For that
512 reason, this isoloop=xxx boot option is required so you must use it in your
513 grub.cfg. This option is only supported in SystemRescueCd-1.4.0 and more
514 recent. This option specifies the path of the ISO image in the partition that
515 grub considers as its root partition. It's important to understand that the
516 path of the ISO image may be different from the path on your linux system. If
517 you have a separate boot partition mounted on /boot and if you copy this
518 ISO image to /boot/sysrcd/systemrescuecd-x86-x.y.z.iso then the option has
519 to be isoloop=/sysrcd/systemrescuecd-x86-x.y.z.iso. This is because the
520 boot partition is what Grub2 will consider as its root partition during
521 the boot process. Please read the section about isoloop for more details.
522
523 Hardware, drivers and troubleshooting options
524 * dodebug: Enables verbose messages in linuxrc
525
526 * doload=xxx: loads needed kernel modules, multiple comma separated
527 occurrences are permitted (example: doload=3c59x,e1000)
528 * noload=xxx: prevents loading kernel modules, multiple comma separated
529 occurrences are permitted (example: noload=3c59x,e1000). Use this option
530 if you have a problem when the system loads a particular module.
531 * nonet: this will disable the network auto detection at startup
532
533 * scandelay=x: pauses x seconds during the startup to allow slow devices
534 to initialize. This is required when you boot an USB device. A delay of
535 only few seconds should be enough.
536
537 * doxdetect: Since version 0.3.5 the auto-configuration is done in X.Org
538 itself, mkxf86config is disabled by default. This option forces the system to
539 run the mkxf86config startup script and to run the hardware auto-detection
540 from this script. Use this option if you have problems with the graphical
541 environment configuration. This option replaces the option noxdetect that
542 was useful in previous versions.
543 * nodetect: prevents generic hardware auto-detection. Use this option if
544 you have problems with the hardware auto-detection.
545
546 * dostartx: load the X.Org graphical environment.
547 * forcevesa: Forces X.Org to use the safe VESA driver instead of the best
548 video driver detected for your video card. Use this option if you cannot
549 get the graphical environment working with the default options.
550 * forcevesa=xxx: The startx command will load the Xvesa server instead
551 of Xorg, and use the screen resolution given as parameter (eg: 1024x768,
552 1280x1024x32).
553
554 * all-generic-ide: In case of problems related to your hard disk, try to
555 enable this option (eg rescuecd all-generic-ide)
556 * nodmraid: Disable dmraid, for some motherboards with built-in RAID
557 controller.
558 * nomdadm: Disable mdadm, for software RAID.
559
560 * acpi-off / noapic / irqpool: use these options if you have problem when
561 the kernel boots: if it hangs on a driver or if it crashes, ...
562
563 * lowmem: For systems with smaller memory, some daemons are not started
564 including sshd and nfsd.
565
566 * skipmount=/dev/xxx: The system mounts all the storage devices at boot
567 time to find the sysrcd.dat file. If your hard disk is broken it should
568 be mounted. Boot with skipmount=/dev/sda1 skipmount=/dev/sda2 to ignore
569 these two partitions.
570
571 Network configuration and remote access
572 * nonm: to disable the Network-Manager service that conflicts with the
573 standard network command line tools such as ifconfig and ip. You can use
574 this option if you want to configure the network using these commands. This
575 option is not necessary when SystemRescueCd is booting from the network
576 since the service is automatically stopped in that case. This option
577 requires SystemRescueCd-1.5.5 or more recent.
578 * dodhcp: to request a DHCP server provide network attributes including
579 an IP address, gateway...
580 * nodhcp: never run the dhcp client in the initramfs boot
581 script. May be useful if you use PXE boot on a computer with
582 several ethernet interfaces. Support for this option is available in
583 SystemRescueCd-1.5.5-beta2 and more recent
584 * ethx=ipaddr/cidr: Sets the static IP address of all the ethernet
585 interfaces on the system. The /cidr extension is optional. For instance,
586 if you use option ethx=192.168.0.1 on a machine with two ethernet adapters,
587 both eth0 and eth1 will be configured with 192.168.0.1. You can use the
588 format ethx=10.0.0.1/24 (using the cidr notation) if you don't use the
589 default netmask.
590 * eth0=ipaddr/cidr: This option is similar to ethx=ipaddr/cidr but it
591 configures only one interface at a time. To configure the network on a
592 server that has two interfaces, use: eth0=192.168.10.1/24 eth1=192.168.20.1.
593 * dns=ipaddr: Sets the static IP address of the DNS nameserver you want
594 to use to resolve the names. For instance dns=192.168.0.254 means that
595 you want to use 192.168.0.254 as the DNS server.
596 * gateway=ipaddr: Sets the static IP address of the default route on your
597 network. For instance gateway=192.168.0.254 means that the computer can
598 connect to a computer outside of the local network via 192.168.0.254.
599 * dhcphostname=myhost: Sets the hostname that the DHCP client will send
600 to the DHCP server. This may be required if the default hostname cannot
601 be used with your DHCP configuration. This option has been introduced
602 in SystemRescueCd-1.3.5.
603 * rootpass=123456: Sets the root password of the system running on the
604 livecd to 1234. That way you can connect from the network and ssh on the
605 livecd and give 123456 password as the root password.
606 * vncserver=x:123456: The vncserver boot option has been introduced in
607 SystemRescueCd-1.0.2. This options forces the system to configure the
608 VNC-server and to start it automatically at boot time. You have to replace
609 x with the number of displays you want, and 123456 with your password The
610 password must be between 5 and 8 characters, else the boot option will be
611 ignored. In other words the vncserver=2:MyPaSsWd option will give you access
612 to two displays (display=1 on tcp/5901 and display=2 on tcp/5902). Display
613 0 is reserved for X.Org since SystemRescueCd-1.1.0.
614 * nameif=xxx: You can can specify what interface name to give to a
615 particular interface using the mac address. You need SystemRescueCd-1.1.0
616 or newer to do that. Here is how you can specify which interface
617 is using which mac address on a machine with two network interfaces:
618 nameif=eth0!00:0C:29:57:D0:6E,eth1!00:0C:29:57:D0:64. Be careful, you have
619 to respect the separator (comma between the interfaces and exclamation
620 marks between the name and the mac address). You can also use the magic
621 keyword BOOTIF with SystemRescueCd-1.5.4 and more recent when you boot from
622 pxelinux. The pxeboot loader will set BOOTIF to the name of the interface
623 used to boot. You can then use something like nameif=eth0!BOOTIF if you
624 want the boot interface to be called eth0 on a computer with several
625 Ethernet interfaces.
626
627 Network boot using PXE
628 SystemRescueCd provides several options for booting from the network
629 using PXE.
630 These options can be combined with other network boot options such as ethx
631 (cf previous section). See PXE network booting to get a global overview
632 of SystemRescueCd and PXE and Manage remote servers using PXE.
633 The second stage downloads the kernel + initramfs using DHCP/TFTP.
634 The third stage of the PXE boot process acquires the root files system.
635 Several protocols are available.
636
637 * netboot=tftp://ip/path/sysrcd.dat: from a TFTP server. The filesystem
638 is loaded into memory. As a consequence computers with less than 400MB of
639 memory won't be able to boot this way. The system will continue to work
640 if the network is disconnected after the boot process.
641 * netboot=http://ip:port/path/sysrcd.dat: from a Web server. The file system
642 is loaded into memory. Computers with smaller memory won't be able to boot
643 this way. The the system continues to work if the network is disconnected
644 after the boot process.
645 * netboot=nfs://ip:/path: mount an NFSv3 directory. The NFS url must be
646 the path of the directory that contains sysrcd.dat. Only NFSv3 can be used,
647 NFSv4 is not supported. NFS it allows computers with smaller memory to boot
648 SystemRescueCd from the network. After the boot process, the connection
649 is required or you will loose the access to the root file system.
650 * netboot=nbd://ip:port: connect to an NBD server configured with sysrcd.dat
651 on ip:port. NBD is easier to configure than NFS (only one TCP port involved)
652 and it allows computers with smaller memort to boot SystemRescueCd from
653 the network. After the boot process, the connection is required the access
654 to the root system.
655
656 For information on activating speakup, see the speakup info page.
657
658 Options provided for autorun
659 * ar_source=xxx: place where the autorun are stored. It may
660 be the root directory of a partition (/dev/sda1), an nfs
661 share (nfs://192.168.1.1:/path/to/scripts), a samba share
662 (smb://192.168.1.1/path/to/scripts), or an http directory
663 (http://192.168.1.1/path/to/scripts).
664 * autoruns=[0-9]: comma separated list of the autorun scrip to be run. For
665 example autoruns=0,2,7 the autorun sc autorun0, autorun2, autorun7 are
666 run. Use autoruns=no to disable all the autorun scripts with a number.
667 * ar_ignorefail: continue to execute the scripts chain even if a script
668 failed (returned a non-zero status)
669 * ar_nodel: do not delete the temporary copy of the autorun scripts located
670 in /var/autorun/tmp after execution
671 * ar_disable: completely disable autorun, the simple autorun script will
672 not be executed
673 * ar_nowait: do not wait for a keypress after the autorun script have
674 been executed.
675
676 Clonezilla Live boot parameters
677 ****************************************
678 [[ info.png ]]
679 The following info applies to Clonezilla Live v. 1.2.5-17
680 In case you need to get info for a more recent version of Clonezilla Live
681 please see the page "The boot parameters for Clonezilla live {{
682 http://www.clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live/doc/fine-print.php?path=./99_Misc/00_live-initramfs-manual.doc#00_live-initramfs-manual.doc
683 }}"
684
685 A typical Clonezilla Live isolinux entry is:
686
687 kernel /live/vmlinuz1
688 append initrd=/live/initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs
689 ocs_live_run="ocs-live-general"
690 ocs_live_extra_param="" ocs_live_keymap="" ocs_live_batch="no" ocs_lang=""
691 vga=791 nolocales
692
693 The kernel used is vmlinuz, and anything after the word append is a boot
694 parameter.
695
696 The following info comes from the
697 page titled The boot parameters for Clonezilla live {{
698 http://www.clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live/doc/fine-print.php?path=./99_Misc/00_live-initramfs-manual.doc#00_live-initramfs-manual.doc
699 }}.
700
701 Clonezilla live is based on Debian live with clonezilla installed. Therefore
702 there are 2 kinds of boot parameters:
703
704 * Boot parameters from live-initramfs. You can refer to this manual of
705 live-initramfs.
706 * Boot parameters specially for Clonezilla. All of them are named as
707 "ocs_*", e.g. ocs_live_run, ocs_live_extra_param, ocs_live_batch, ocs_lang.
708 * ocs_live_run is the main program to run in Clonezilla live to save
709 or restore. or other command. Available program: ocs-live-general,
710 ocs-live-restore or any command you write. Use the Absolute path in
711 Clonezilla live.
712 e.g. ocs_live_run="ocs-live-general"
713 //NOTE// You might have to use "sudo" command inside your own script,
714 or you can assign it like: ocs_live_run="sudo bash /my-clonezilla"
715 * ocs_live_extra_param will be used only when ocs_live_run=ocs-live-restore
716 (not for ocs-live-general or any other), then it will be passed to
717 ocs-sr. Therefore these parameters are actually those of ocs-sr.
718 e.g. ocs_live_extra_param="-b -c restoredisk sarge-r5 hda"
719 * ocs_live_keymap is for keymap used in Clonezilla live. Man install-keymap
720 for more details.
721 e.g. ocs_live_keymap="NONE" (won't change the default layout)
722 ocs_live_keymap="/usr/share/keymaps/i386/azerty/fr-latin9.kmap.gz"
723 (French keyboard)
724 * batch mode or not (yes/no), if no, will run interactively.
725 e.g. ocs_live_batch="no"
726 * ocs_lang is the language used in Clonezilla live. Available value:
727 en_US.UTF-8, zh_TW.UTF-8... (see $DRBL_SCRIPT_PATH/lang/bash/)
728 e.g. ocs_lang="en_US.UTF-8"
729 * ocs_debug (or ocs-debug) is for you to enter command line prompt before
730 any clonezilla-related action is run. This is easier for you to debug.
731 * ocs_daemonon, ocs_daemonoff, ocs_numlk, ocs_capslk.
732 Ex. for the first 2 parameters, ocs_daemonon="ssh", then ssh service will
733 be turned on when booting. For the last 2 parameters, use "on" or "off",
734 e.g. ocs_numlk=on to turn on numberlock when booting.
735 * ocs_prerun, ocs_prerun1, ocs_prerun2... is for you to run a shell script
736 before Clonezilla is started. E.g. ocs_prerun="/live/image/myscript.sh". If
737 you have more commands to run, you can assign them in the order:
738 ocs_prerun=..., ocs_prerun1=..., ocs_prerun2=.... If more than 10
739 parameters, remember to use ocs_prerun01, ocs_prerun02..., ocs_prerun11
740 to make it in order.
741 * ocs_live_run_tty. This option allows you to specify the tty where
742 $ocs_live_run is run. By default $ocs_live_run is run on /dev/tty1
743 only. (It was also on /dev/ttyS0 before, but since Clonezilla live >=
744 1.2.3-22 no more this due to a problem). If you want to use ttyS0, for
745 example, add live-getty and console=ttyS0,38400n81 in the boot parameter.
746 //NOTE//
747 * This parameter was added in Clonezilla live 1.2.3-22 or later.
748 * If "live-getty console=$tty,38400n81" are assigned in the boot parameters,
749 ocs_live_run_tty will honor $tty, even other value is assigned to
750 ocs_live_run_tty in boot parameter.
751 * It's recommended to assign ocs_lang and ocs_live_keymap in the boot
752 parameters too.
753 * ip, this option allows you to specify the network parameters for
754 network card. In Clonezilla live a patched live-initramfs is used, which
755 is different from the original live-initramfs so that you can assign
756 DNS server, too. Its format is: ip=ethernet port,IP address, netmask,
757 gateway, DNS. E.g. If you want to assing eth0 with IP address 10.0.100.1,
758 netmask 255.255.255.0, gateway 10.0.100.254, DNS server 8.8.8.8, you can
759 assign the following in the boot parameter:
760 ip=eth0,10.0.100.1,255.255.255.0,10.0.100.254,8.8.8.8
761 If more than one network card, you can use ":" to separate them, e.g.:
762 ip=eth0,10.0.100.1,255.255.255.0,10.0.100.254,8.8.8.8:eth1,192.168.120.1,255.255.255.0,192.168.120.254,,
763 * Besides, "live-netdev" (yes, not ocs_live_netdev) can be used when
764 using PXE booting, you can force to assign the network device to get
765 filesystem.squashfs. This is useful when there are two or more NICs are
766 linked. E.g. live-netdev="eth1" allows you to force the live-initramfs
767 to use eth1 to fetch the root file system filesystem.squashfs.
768
769 With the above options, we have the following examples:
770
771 * A PXE config example for you to boot Clonezilla live via PXE, and ssh
772 service is on, the password of account "user" is assigned:
773 ----------------------------------------
774 label Clonezilla Live
775 MENU LABEL Clonezilla Live
776 MENU DEFAULT
777 kernel vmlinuz1
778 append initrd=initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs noswap noprompt vga=788
779 fetch=tftp://192.168.120.254/filesystem.squashfs usercrypted=bkuQxLqLRuDW6
780 ocs_numlk="on" ocs_daemonon="ssh"
781 ----------------------------------------
782 The usercrypted password is created by:
783 echo YOUR_PASSWORD | mkpasswd -s
784 ("mkpasswd" is from package "whois" in Debian or Ubuntu. Check your
785 GNU/Linux to see which package provides this command if you are not using
786 Debian or Ubuntu. Replace YOUR_PASSWORD with your plain text password,
787 and remember do not put any " in the boot parameters of live-initramfs
788 (while it's ok for those ocs_* boot parameters), i.e. do NOT use something
789 like usercrypted="bkuQxLqLRuDW6").
790 //NOTE// If you do not assign salt to mkpasswd, the encrypted password
791 will not be the same every time you create it.
792 For more about usercrypted discussion, please check the here.
793
794 * How to put your own binary driver in Clonezilla live without modifying
795 /live/filesystem.squashfs:
796
797 * Boot clonezilla live
798 * Become root by running "sudo su -"
799 * Copy the dir lsi, which contains a precompiled kernel module matching
800 the running kernel in Clonezilla live and a script to run it, to a working
801 dir, e.g.:
802 cp -r /live/image/lsi /home/partimag
803 * cd /home/partimag
804 * /opt/drbl/sbin/ocs-live-dev -c -s -i lsi -u lsi -x
805 "ocs_prerun=/live/image/lsi/prep-lsi.sh"
806 * /opt/drbl/sbin/ocs-iso -s -i lsi -u lsi -x
807 "ocs_prerun=/live/image/lsi/prep-lsi.sh"
808 * ///NOTE/// In this example, the 2 files in dir lsi are: megasr.ko (the
809 binary driver) and prep-lsi.sh. The contents of prep-lsi.sh:
810
811 ------------------------
812 #!/bin/bash
813 cp -f /live/image/lsi/megasr.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/block/
814 chown root.root /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/block/megasr.ko
815 depmod -a modprobe megasr
816 sleep 1
817 ------------------------
818 * To put your customized script with a PXE version of Clonezilla live
819 (You have to use Clonezilla live version 1.2.2-2 or later):
820 In this example, we assume (1) The IP address of your PXE server is
821 192.168.120.254, (2) the customized script (custom-ocs-2) is put on
822 your PXE server's tftpd root dir (E.g. On DRBL server, the path is
823 /tftpboot/nbi_img/. It might be different in your case if you are not use
824 DRBL server as a PXE server).
825 Therefor your pxelinux.cfg/default file is like:
826 ------------------------
827 label Clonezilla Live
828 MENU DEFAULT
829 # MENU HIDE
830 MENU LABEL Clonezilla Live
831 # MENU PASSWD
832 kernel vmlinuz1
833 append initrd=initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs noswap noprompt vga=788
834 ip=frommedia fetch=tftp://192.168.120.254/filesystem.squashfs
835 ocs_prerun="busybox tftp -g -b 10240 -r custom-ocs-2 -l
836 /tmp/custom-ocs-2 192.168.120.254" ocs_live_run="bash /tmp/custom-ocs-2"
837 ocs_live_keymap="NONE" ocs_live_batch="no" ocs_lang="en_US.UTF-8" nolocales
838 TEXT HELP
839 Boot Clonezilla live via network
840 ENDTEXT
841 ------------------------
842 The content of custom-ocs-2 can be like:
843
844 ------------------------
845 #!/bin/bash
846 . /opt/drbl/sbin/drbl-conf-functions
847 . /opt/drbl/sbin/ocs-functions
848 . /etc/ocs/ocs-live.conf
849
850 # Load language file
851 ask_and_load_lang_set en_US.UTF-8
852
853 # 1. Mount the clonezilla image home.
854 # Types: local_dev, ssh_server, samba_server, nfs_server
855 prep-ocsroot -t nfs_server
856
857 # 2. Restore the image
858 if mountpoint /home/partimag/ &>/dev/null; then
859 ocs-sr -l en_US.UTF-8 -c -p choose restoredisk ask_user ask_user
860 else
861 [ "$BOOTUP" = "color" ] & $SETCOLOR_FAILURE
862 echo "Fail to find the Clonezilla image home /home/partimag!"
863 echo "Program terminated!"
864 [ "$BOOTUP" = "color" ] & $SETCOLOR_NORMAL
865 fi
866 ------------------------
867 live-initramfs manual
868 ---------------------
869 This is the manual of live-initramfs {{
870 http://www.clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live/live-initramfs-param.php }}
871
872 live-initramfs(7)
873 =================
874
875 Name
876 ----
877 live-initramfs - Debian Live initramfs hook
878
879 Synopsis
880 --------
881 BOOT=live
882
883 as kernel parameter at boot prompt.
884
885 Description
886 -----------
887
888 live-initramfs is a hook for the initramfs-tools, used to generate
889 a initramfs
890 capable to boot live systems, such as those created by *live-helper*(7).
891 This includes the Debian Live isos, netboot tarballs, and usb stick images.
892
893 At boot time it will look for a (read-only) media containing a "/live"
894 directory where a root filesystems (often a compressed filesystem image like
895 squashfs) is stored. If found, it will create a writable environment, using
896 aufs, for Debian like systems to boot from.
897
898 You probably do not want to install this package onto a non-live system,
899 although it will do no harm.
900
901 live-initramfs is a fork of casper.
902 casper was originally written by Tollef Fog Heen
903 &lt;tfheen@canonical.com&amp;gt;
904 and Matt Zimmerman &lt;mdz@canonical.com&amp;gt;.
905
906 Boot options
907 ------------
908
909 Here is the complete list of recognized boot parameters by live-initramfs.
910
911 access=*ACCESS*::
912
913 Set the accessibility level for physically or visually impared users. ACCESS
914 must be one of v1, v2, v3, m1, or m2. v1=lesser visual impairment,
915 v2=moderate
916 visual impairment, v3=blindness, m1=minor motor difficulties, m2=moderate
917 motor
918 difficulties.
919
920 console=*TTY,SPEED*::
921
922 Set the default console to be used with the "live-getty" option. Example:
923 "console=ttyS0,115200"
924
925 debug::
926
927 Makes initramfs boot process more verbose.
928
929 fetch=*URL*::
930
931 Another form of netboot by downloading a squashfs image from a given url,
932 copying to ram and booting it.
933
934 hostname=*HOSTNAME*, username=*USER*, userfullname=*USERFULLNAME*::
935
936 Those parameters lets you override values read from the config file.
937
938 ignore_uuid
939
940 Do not check that any UUID embedded in the initramfs matches the discovered
941 medium. live-initramfs may be told to generate a UUID by setting
942 LIVE_GENERATE_UUID=1 when building the initramfs.
943
944 integrity-check::
945
946 If specified, an MD5 sum is calculated on the live media during boot and
947 compared to the value found in md5sum.txt found in the root directory of the
948 live media.
949
950 ip=**[CLIENT_IP]:[SERVER_IP]:[GATEWAY_IP]:[NETMASK]:[HOSTNAME]:
951 [DEVICE]:[AUTOCONF]
952 [,[CLIENT_IP]:[SERVER_IP]:[GATEWAY_IP]:[NETMASK]:[HOSTNAME]:
953 [DEVICE]:[AUTOCONF]]***::
954
955 Let you specify the name(s) and the options of the interface(s) that
956 should be
957 configured at boot time. Do not specify this if you want to use dhcp
958 (default).
959 It will be changed in a future release to mimick official kernel boot param
960 specification
961 (e.g. ip=10.0.0.1::10.0.0.254:255.255.255.0::eth0,:::::eth1:dhcp).
962
963 ip[=**frommedia**]::
964
965 If this variable is set, dhcp and static configuration are just skipped
966 and the
967 system will use the (must be) media-preconfigured /etc/network/interfaces
968 instead.
969
970 {keyb|kbd-chooser/method}=**KEYBOARD**,
971 {klayout|console-setup/layoutcode}=**LAYOUT**,
972 {kvariant|console-setup/variantcode}=**VARIANT**,
973 {kmodel|console-setup/modelcode}=
974 **CODE**, koptions=**OPTIONS**::
975
976 Configure the running keyboard as specified, if this one misses
977 live-initramfs
978 behaves as if "keyb=us" was specified. It will be interfered from
979 "locale=" if
980 locale is only 2 lowecase letters as a special case. You could also specify
981 console layout, variant, code, and options (no defaults).
982
983 live-getty::
984
985 This changes the auto-login on virtual terminals to use the (experimental)
986 live-getty code. With this option set the standard kernel argument
987 "console=" is
988 parsed and if a serial console is specified then live-getty is used to
989 autologin
990 on the serial console.
991
992 {live-media|bootfrom}=**DEVICE**::
993
994 If you specify one of this two equivalent forms, live-initramfs will
995 first try
996 to find this device for the "/live" directory where the read-only root
997 filesystem should reside. If it did not find something usable, the
998 normal scan
999 for block devices is performed.
1000
1001 {live-media-encryption|encryption}=**TYPE**::
1002
1003 live-initramfs will mount the encrypted rootfs TYPE, asking the passphrase,
1004 useful to build paranoid live systems :-). TYPE supported so far are
1005 "aes" for
1006 loop-aes encryption type.
1007
1008 live-media-offset=**BYTES**::
1009
1010 This way you could tell live-initramfs that your image starts at offset
1011 BYTES in
1012 the above specified or autodiscovered device, this could be useful to
1013 hide the
1014 Debian Live iso or image inside another iso or image, to create "clean"
1015 images.
1016
1017 live-media-path=**PATH**::
1018
1019 Sets the path to the live filesystem on the medium. By default, it is set to
1020 '/live' and you should not change that unless you have customized your media
1021 accordingly.
1022
1023 live-media-timeout=**SECONDS**::
1024
1025 Set the timeout in seconds for the device specified by "live-media="
1026 to become
1027 ready before giving up.
1028
1029 {locale|debian-installer/locale}=**LOCALE**::
1030
1031 Configure the running locale as specified, if not present the live-media
1032 rootfs
1033 configured locale will be used and if also this one misses live-initramfs
1034 behave
1035 as "locale=en_US.UTF-8" was specified. If only 2 lowercase letter are
1036 specified
1037 (like "it"), the "maybe wanted" locale is generated (like en:EN.UTF-8),
1038 in this
1039 case if also "keyb=" is unspecified is set with those 2 lowercase letters
1040 (keyb=us). Beside that facility, only UTF8 locales are supported by
1041 live-initramfs.
1042
1043 module=**NAME**::
1044
1045 Instead of using the default optional file "filesystem.module" (see below)
1046 another file could be specified without the extension ".module"; it should be
1047 placed on "/live" directory of the live medium.
1048
1049 netboot[=**nfs**|**cifs**]::
1050
1051 This tells live-initramfs to perform a network mount. The parameter
1052 "nfsroot="
1053 (with optional "nfsopts="), should specify where is the location of the root
1054 filesystem. With no args, will try cifs first, and if it fails nfs.
1055
1056 nfsopts=::
1057
1058 This lets you specify custom nfs options.
1059
1060 noautologin::
1061
1062 This parameter disables the automatic terminal login only, not touching
1063 gdk/kdm.
1064
1065 noxautologin::
1066
1067 This parameter disables the automatic login of gdm/kdm only, not touching
1068 terminals.
1069
1070 nofastboot::
1071
1072 This parameter disables the default disabling of filesystem checks in
1073 /etc/fstab. If you have static filesystems on your harddisk and you want
1074 them to
1075 be checked at boot time, use this parameter, otherwise they are skipped.
1076
1077 nopersistent::
1078
1079 disables the "persistent" feature, useful if the bootloader (like syslinux)
1080 has
1081 been installed with persistent enabled.
1082
1083 noprompt
1084
1085 Do not prompt to eject the CD on reboot.
1086
1087 nosudo::
1088
1089 This parameter disables the automatic configuration of sudo.
1090
1091 swapon::
1092
1093 This parameter enables usage of local swap partitions.
1094
1095 nouser::
1096
1097 This parameter disables the creation of the default user completely.
1098
1099 noxautoconfig::
1100
1101 This parameter disables Xorg auto-reconfiguration at boot time. This
1102 is valuable
1103 if you either do the detection on your own, or, if you want to ship a custom,
1104 premade xorg.conf in your live system.
1105
1106 persistent[=nofiles]::
1107
1108 live-initramfs will look for persistent and snapshot partitions or files
1109 labeled
1110 "live-rw", "home-rw", and files called "live-sn*", "home-sn*" and will
1111 try to,
1112 in order: mount as /cow the first, mount the second in /home, and just
1113 copy the
1114 contents of the latter in appropriate locations (snapshots). Snapshots
1115 will be
1116 tried to be updated on reboot/shutdown. Look at live-snapshot(1) for more
1117 informations. If "nofiles" is specified, only filesystems with matching
1118 labels
1119 will be searched; no filesystems will be traversed looking for archives
1120 or image
1121 files. This results in shorter boot times.
1122
1123 {preseed/file|file}=**FILE**::
1124
1125 A path to a file present on the rootfs could be used to preseed debconf
1126 database.
1127
1128 package/question=**VALUE**::
1129
1130 All debian installed packages could be preseeded from command-line that way,
1131 beware of blanks spaces, they will interfere with parsing, use a preseed
1132 file in
1133 this case.
1134
1135 quickreboot::
1136
1137 This option causes live-initramfs to reboot without attempting to eject the
1138 media and without asking the user to remove the boot media.
1139
1140 showmounts::
1141
1142 This parameter will make live-initramfs to show on "/" the ro filesystems
1143 (mostly compressed) on "/live". This is not enabled by default because could
1144 lead to problems by applications like "mono" which store binary paths on
1145 installation.
1146
1147 textonly
1148
1149 Start up to text-mode shell prompts, disabling the graphical user interface.
1150
1151 timezone=**TIMEZONE**::
1152
1153 By default, timezone is set to UTC. Using the timezone parameter, you can
1154 set it
1155 to your local zone, e.g. Europe/Zurich.
1156
1157 todisk=**DEVICE**::
1158
1159 Adding this parameter, live-initramfs will try to copy the entire read-only
1160 media to the specified device before mounting the root filesystem. It
1161 probably
1162 needs a lot of free space. Subsequent boots should then skip this step
1163 and just
1164 specify the "live-media=DEVICE" boot parameter with the same DEVICE used this
1165 time.
1166
1167 toram::
1168
1169 Adding this parameter, live-initramfs will try to copy the whole read-only
1170 media
1171 to the computer's RAM before mounting the root filesystem. This could need
1172 a lot
1173 of ram, according to the space used by the read-only media.
1174
1175 union=**aufs**|**unionfs**::
1176
1177 By default, live-initramfs uses aufs. With this parameter, you can switch to
1178 unionfs.
1179
1180 utc=**yes**|**no**::
1181
1182 By default, Debian systems do assume that the hardware clock is set to
1183 UTC. You
1184 can change or explicitly set it with this parameter.
1185
1186 xdebconf::
1187
1188 Uses xdebconfigurator, if present on the rootfs, to configure X instead
1189 of the
1190 standard procedure (experimental).
1191
1192 xvideomode=**RESOLUTION**::
1193
1194 Doesn't do xorg autodetection, but enforces a given resolution.
1195
1196 Files
1197 -----
1198
1199 /etc/live.conf
1200
1201 Some variables can be configured via this config file (inside the live
1202 system).
1203
1204 /live/filesystem.module
1205
1206 This optional file (inside the live media) contains a list of white-space or
1207 carriage-return-separated file names corresponding to disk images in the
1208 "/live"
1209 directory. If this file exists, only images listed here will be merged
1210 into the
1211 root aufs, and they will be loaded in the order listed here. The first entry
1212 in this file will be the "lowest" point in the aufs, and the last file in
1213 this list will be on the "top" of the aufs, directly below /cow. Without
1214 this file, any images in the "/live" directory are loaded in alphanumeric
1215 order.
1216
1217 /etc/live-persistence.binds
1218
1219 This optional file (which resides in the rootfs system, not in the live
1220 media)
1221 is used as a list of directories which not need be persistent: ie. their
1222 content does not need to survive reboots when using the persistence features.
1223
1224 This saves expensive writes and speeds up operations on volatile data such as
1225 web caches and temporary files (like e.g. /tmp and .mozilla) which are
1226 regenerated each time. This is achieved by bind mounting each listed
1227 directory
1228 with a tmpfs on the original path.
1229
1230 See also
1231 --------
1232
1233 live-snapshot(1), initramfs-tools(8), live-helper(7), live-initscripts(7),
1234 live-webhelper(7)
1235
1236 Bugs
1237 ----
1238
1239 Report bugs against live-initramfs
1240 http://packages.qa.debian.org/live-initramfs.
1241
1242 Homepage
1243 --------
1244
1245 More information about the Debian Live project can be found at
1246 http://debian-live.alioth.debian.org/ and
1247 http://wiki.debian.org/DebianLive/.
1248
1249 Authors
1250 -------
1251
1252 live-initramfs is maintained by Daniel Baumann &lt;daniel@debian.org&amp;gt;
1253 for the Debian project.
1254
1255 live-initramfs is a fork of casper.
1256 casper was originally written by Tollef Fog Heen
1257 &lt;tfheen@canonical.com&amp;gt;
1258 and Matt Zimmerman &lt;mdz@canonical.com&amp;gt;.
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263 About Clonezilla Live
1264 ==============================================================================
1265
1266 Intro
1267 ****************************************
1268 The DRBL-based PXEBoot Clonezilla is used to clone many computers
1269 simultaneously. It is an extremely useful tool, however, it does have several
1270 limitations. In order to use it, you must first prepare a DRBL server AND
1271 the machine to be cloned must boot from a network (e.g. PXE/Etherboot).
1272
1273 To address these limitations, the Free Software Lab at the NCHC has combined
1274 Debian Live {{ http://debian-live.alioth.debian.org/ }} with Clonezilla
1275 to produce "Clonezilla Live", a new software that can be used to easily
1276 clone individual machines.
1277
1278 Clonezilla Live provides two modes of operation:
1279
1280 * device-image
1281 In this mode of operation, a disk/partition can be saved to an
1282 image file. This image file can be used to restore the original
1283 disk/partition. With Clonezilla-SysRescCD, it can also be used to create an
1284 automated restore CD/DVD. This is the mode of operation we will discuss here.
1285
1286 * device-device (cloning)
1287 This mode of operation creates an exact copy of the original disk/partition
1288 on the fly.
1289
1290 When working in device-image mode, you will always have to specify three
1291 things:
1292
1293 * The location of the image file
1294 * The working parameters for the operation
1295 * The disk/partition that will be saved/restored
1296
1297 Clonezilla Live provides a user friendly interface in order to insert
1298 this data.
1299
1300 When Clonezilla Live is booted up, either normally or copied to RAM, the
1301 contents of the whole CD/DVD can be found in folder /live/image. This
1302 is where you will find any extra files, such as the restorecd and the
1303 doc folders.
1304
1305 Starting and stopping Clonezilla Live
1306 ****************************************
1307 When you boot into Clonezilla Live, the program (actually a script) starts
1308 automatically. There are many places where you can stop it, by selecting
1309 Cancel or answering N(o) to a question. When you do that you will probably
1310 get the following:
1311 Now you can choose to:
1312 (0) Poweroff
1313 (1) Reboot
1314 (2) Enter command line prompt
1315 (3) Start over
1316 [2]
1317
1318 Select Poweroff or Reboot, only if you haven't already mounted a disk
1319 partition. I found out by experience, it is not always safe to let any live
1320 CD automatically unmount my partitions. So if you have already specified
1321 the image partition and/or the partition to save/restore, you should enter
1322 command line prompt and type:
1323 sudo su -
1324 mount | grep /dev/[sh]d
1325 and then unmount the partitions shown by the last command. So if the
1326 results of this command is for example:
1327 /dev/hda1 on /home/partimag type vfat (rw)
1328 just type the command:
1329 umount /dev/hda1
1330 and it's now safe to Poweroff of Reboot.
1331
1332 If, on the other hand, you just want to restart the program, type:
1333 ocs-live
1334
1335 About the Image file
1336 ****************************************
1337 One thing should be made clear about the image file: it is not a file,
1338 it is a folder, containing the actual image file and some data about the
1339 disk/partition it is associated with. So when you insert the image file name,
1340 you actually insert the folder name where the image will be saved/restored.
1341
1342 Before you are able to insert the image file name, a list of partitions
1343 will be presented to you, so that you can choose where it should be
1344 saved/found. When you select one of them, it will be mounted and a list
1345 of folders will be presented to you, so you can select the base image
1346 directory (first level directory within the partition), which will then
1347 be mounted under /home/partimag. This way you can, for example, create a
1348 folder called all_my_images in one of your disk partitions, and move all
1349 your image files in there; Clonezilla Live will be able to find them!!!
1350
1351 Another thing that should be pointed out is that only unmounted partitions
1352 will be included in the above list. This means that if you have stopped
1353 the program at some point after specifying the partition where the image
1354 file resides, and it has been mounted, it will not be present in the list
1355 the next time it is presented to you, and you will not be able to use it.
1356
1357 There are two things you can do in this case; either unmount the partition,
1358 as stated above, or select
1359 skip Use existing /home/partimag
1360
1361 instead of any other option, when you restart the program. The later of
1362 course means that you still want to use the previously specified partition
1363 as the image file location.
1364
1365 Fianlly I should say that Clonezilla Live is able to use a remote
1366 disk/partition as the location of the image file, mounted through ssh,
1367 samba or nfs. Using any of these options is a more advanced topic, way
1368 beyond the scope of this presentation.
1369
1370 Scripts' options
1371 ****************************************
1372 This section presents the options which are available at the "Clonezilla
1373 advanced extra parameters" screens, if the "Expert" mode is selected. For
1374 other options, see Getting backups and Restoring data.
1375
1376 Backup options
1377 ---------------------
1378 > Imaging program priority
1379
1380 -q2 Priority: partclone > partimage > dd
1381 -q1 Priority: Only dd (supports all filesystem, but inefficient)
1382 -q Priority: ntfsclone > partimage > dd
1383 Priority: partimage > dd (no ntfsclone)
1384
1385 This option chooses which imaging programs are preferred. By default,
1386 Clonezilla Live uses partclone for nearly all filesystems, including
1387 ext2/3/4, NTFS and FAT32. If a filesystem isn't supported by partclone,
1388 but is supported by partimage (spesifically: if the filesystem is HFS,
1389 HPFS or JFS), it is cloned by partimage. If it isn't supported by either
1390 (for example Linux swap, though it doesn't make any sense to clone swap
1391 partitions), it is cloned by dd. Unlike partclone or partimage, dd copies
1392 all blocks of the partition instead of only used, resulting in slower
1393 imaging process and bigger images.
1394
1395 Normally the default option -q2 should be preferred. Try another option
1396 if you have problems and believe they are caused by the imaging program used.
1397
1398 > Various parameters
1399
1400 These options are available at the second "Clonezilla advanced extra
1401 parameters" screen.
1402 -c Client waits for confirmation before cloning
1403 This option causes Clonezilla Live to ask if you really want to clone the
1404 disk/partition just before it starts cloning. It is enabled by default.
1405
1406 -j2 Clone the hidden data between MBR and 1st partition
1407 If this option is set, the 15 hidden sectors between Master Boot Record
1408 and the first partition are copied. This area usually contains some data
1409 necessary for booting. The option is enabled by default and should be kept
1410 enabled if you are cloning a bootable disk.
1411
1412 -nogui Use text output only, no TUI/GUI output
1413 Causes Clonezilla Live to force the used programs to use only command-line
1414 interface even if text-based or graphical user interface is available.
1415
1416 -a Do NOT force to turn on HD DMA
1417 Prevents Clonezilla Live from using DMA for communicating with hard
1418 drives. Slows cloning down but in some conditions cloning without this
1419 option can be impossible.
1420
1421 -rm-win-swap-hib Remove page and hibernation files in Win if exists
1422 This option prevents Clonezilla Live from cloning your page file if you
1423 are cloning a partition containing Windows. Often the page file is big
1424 and unneeded, and skipping it may speed cloning up without causing any
1425 harm. Mind you, this option is disabled by default because sometimes the
1426 page file may be necessary.
1427
1428 -ntfs-ok Skip checking NTFS integrity, even bad sectors (ntfsclone only)
1429 This option works only if you selected the -q option and you're cloning
1430 a NTFS partition. It prevents the integrity check of NTFS partitions and
1431 speeds the cloning process up a little. However, if the check is disabled,
1432 there is a risk that the filesystem is damaged and the image created from
1433 it is useless.
1434
1435 -rescue Continue reading next one when disk blocks read errors
1436 If this option is set, Clonezilla Live continues cloning even if a read
1437 error occurs. If there is one, the disk image will be corrupted, but
1438 failing hard drives can only be cloned with this option enabled.
1439
1440 -fsck-src-part Check and repair source file system before saving
1441 This option causes Clonezilla Live to check the integrity of the partition(s)
1442 to be cloned. If the filesystem of the partition is damaged, Clonezilla Live
1443 also attempts to repair it automatically. Enabling this option reduces the
1444 risk that the image contains a damaged filesystem. However, the option is
1445 disabled by default because the automatic filesystem repair attempt may
1446 cause data loss.
1447
1448 -gm Generate image MD5 checksums
1449 Causes Clonezilla Live to calculate MD5 checksum(s) of image(s) created. If
1450 the image gets corrupted afterwards, the checksum allows to notice the
1451 corruption before the image is restored. Mind you, calculating the checksum
1452 takes some time and slows the process down a little.
1453
1454 -gs Generate image SHA1 checksums
1455 This option is identical to the above, but creates SHA1 checksum(s) instead
1456 of MD5. SHA1 is considered to be more accurate checksum algorithm than MD5,
1457 but MD5 is more popular.
1458
1459 > Compression method
1460
1461 -z1p Use parallel gzip compression (testing), for multicore/CPU
1462 -z1 gzip compression (fast with a smaller image)
1463 -z2p Use parallel bzip2 compression (testing), for multicore/CPU
1464 -z2 bzip2 compression (slowest but smallest image)
1465 -z3 lzo compression (faster with image size approx. to that of
1466 gzip)(NOTE!!)
1467 -z4
1468 lzma_compression_(slowest_but_also_small_image,_faster_decompression_than_bzip2)
1469 -z5p Use_parallel_xz_compression_(testing),_for_multicore/CPU
1470 -z5
1471 xz_compression_(slowest_but_also_small_image,_faster_decompression_than_bzip2)
1472 -z6p Use_parallel_lzip_compression_(testing),_for_multicore/CPU
1473 -z6
1474 lzip_compression_(slowest_but_also_small_image,_faster_decompression_than_bzip2)
1475 -z0 No compression (fastest but largest image size)
1476
1477 This option chooses the method which is used to compress the image while
1478 creating it.
1479
1480 If no compression is used at all, there won't be any negative speed impact
1481 caused by compression. However, the image file size is the size of all the
1482 data backed up - for example, if you clone a 160 GB hard drive containing
1483 60 gigabytes of data, the resulting disk image will be 60 gigabytes in size.
1484
1485 Gzip and lzop are fast compression methods. Lzop is many times faster than
1486 gzip, but creates slightly larger images. Clonezilla Live warns that lzop
1487 requires good-quality RAM, but I (the contributor who wrote this chapter)
1488 think other compression methods require good RAM too.
1489
1490 Bzip2, lzma, xz and lzip are powerful compression methods. Lzma creates a
1491 little smaller images than bzip2, and decompressing lzma-compressed images
1492 is faster than decompressing bzip2 images. But there is no free lunch:
1493 lzma compression method is very slow compared even to bzip2, which isn't
1494 fast method either.
1495
1496 Lzma method is becoming obsolete, and both xz and lzip are attempting to
1497 become its successor. They are a bit less powerful compression methods than
1498 lzma, but much faster. The differences between xz and lzip are virtually
1499 non-existent.
1500
1501 If you don't use the i486 version of Clonezilla-SysRescCD and your
1502 processor contains multiple cores and/or supports Hyper-Threading, parallel
1503 gzip, bzip2, xz and lzip compression methods are also available. Parallel
1504 compression means that each processor core compresses a different part of the
1505 image at a time. Without parallel compression one core compresses everything.
1506
1507 The speed impact caused by parallel compression depends on the number
1508 of processor cores available. In addition, Hyper-Threading increases the
1509 speed by about 30 % if parallel compression is used. For example, if your
1510 processor contains four cores and supports Hyper-Threading, speed with
1511 parallel compression is nearly 5,2 times as high as without. However,
1512 parallel compression is currently an experimental feature.
1513
1514 > Splitting
1515
1516 This option (command line: -i [number]) decides if the created image files
1517 are splitted into smaller pieces, and if yes, how large the pieces are. This
1518 setting doesn't usually matter, but some filesystems (most importantly
1519 FAT32) don't allow files larger than four gigabytes. If you're saving the
1520 disk image to a FAT32 partition, enter 4000 or less. (Value 0 disables
1521 splitting, so don't use it in that case.) If the filesystem allows files
1522 big enough, enter any value which isn't too small (you don't want to split
1523 the image into too many pieces, do you?)
1524
1525 Clonezilla Live warns that it is no longer safe to disable splitting because
1526 value 0 can confuse init. I (the contributor) don't know what the warning
1527 exactly means and haven't been able to reproduce the problem. Anyway,
1528 entering a very big value, for example 999999999999, is a safe way to keep
1529 the image in one piece.
1530
1531 > Postaction
1532
1533 -p true Do nothing when the clone finishes
1534 -p reboot Reboot client when the clone finishes
1535 -p poweroff Shutdown client when the clone finishes
1536
1537 In this screen you can decide what Clonezilla Live does when the
1538 disk/partition is cloned.
1539
1540 Spiros told above that he has found out that it's not always safe to allow
1541 Live CDs automatically unmount partitions, and I have lost data when trying
1542 auto-unmount with a script. So, avoid -p reboot and -p poweroff options
1543 if possible. You have been warned.
1544
1545 Restore options (script ocs-sr)
1546 ---------------------
1547 > Various parameters
1548
1549 These options are available at the first "Clonezilla advanced extra
1550 parameters" screen.
1551 -g auto Reinstall grub in client disk MBR (only if grub config exists)
1552 Causes Clonezilla Live to reinstall GRUB into the Master Boot Record
1553 of the disk if at least one partition contains GRUB config file
1554 (/boot/grub/menu.lst). The option is enabled by default and shouldn't
1555 cause any harm. However, it should be disabled if you for example have
1556 another bootloader in MBR and chainload GRUB with it.
1557
1558 -e1 auto Automatically adjust filesystem geometry for a NTFS boot partition
1559 if exists
1560 The NTLDR bootloader used by Windows isn't able to determine automatically
1561 where the files it needs are stored. It only knows their physical locations,
1562 which sometimes change when the disk or partition is copied. If the locations
1563 are changed and this option is selected, the location information of the
1564 files is changed accordingly. This option is enabled by default and if
1565 it's disabled, the cloned Windows will fail to boot.
1566
1567 -e2 sfdisk uses CHS of hard drive from EDD(for non-grub boot loader)
1568 This option requires that the -e1 auto option is selected. It causes
1569 Clonezilla Live to use disk read interface named EDD for determining the
1570 physical locations of the files when updating the location information
1571 used by NTLDR. The option is enabled by default because it reduces the
1572 risk that Windows doesn't boot.
1573
1574 -hn0 PC Change MS Win hostname (based on IP address) after clone
1575 If this option is selected and a partition containing Microsoft Windows is
1576 cloned, its IP address -based hostname is changed after cloning. Computers
1577 which are on any network simultaneously need to have different hostnames,
1578 so this option is needed if a Windows system is cloned to another computer
1579 and the original computer is still used in addition to the one where the
1580 image was restored to.
1581
1582 -hn1 PC Change MS Win hostname (based on MAC address) after clone
1583 This option causes the MAC address -based hostname of Windows to change. This
1584 option needs also be enabled in the above condition.
1585
1586 -v Prints verbose messages (especially for udpcast)
1587 Causes Clonezilla Live to tell more information of what it does.
1588
1589 -nogui Use text output only, no TUI/GUI output
1590 Causes Clonezilla Live to force the used programs to use only command-line
1591 interface even if text-based or graphical user interface is available.
1592
1593 -b Run clone in batch mode (DANGEROUS!)
1594 Causes Clonezilla Live to run in batch mode. According to Clonezilla
1595 Live reference card, this option is dangerous, though I (the contributor)
1596 don't know why.
1597
1598 -c Client waits for confirmation before cloning
1599 This option causes Clonezilla Live to ask if you really want to clone the
1600 disk/partition just before it starts cloning. It is enabled by default.
1601
1602 -t Client does not restore the MBR (Mater Boot Record)
1603 Do NOT restore the MBR (Mater Boot Record) when restoring image. If this
1604 option is set, you must make sure there is an existing MBR in the current
1605 restored harddisk. Default is Yes.
1606
1607 -t1 Client restores the prebuilt MBR from syslinux (For Windows only)
1608 If this option is set, the MBR is overwritten by prebuilt one which
1609 chainloads Windows. Use this option if you have to restore Windows and
1610 make it bootable, but don't have the original MBR or backup of it.
1611
1612 -r Try to resize the filesystem to fit partition size
1613 This option is useful if you are cloning a small disk to larger one. It
1614 tries to resize the restored filesystem to the size of the partition where
1615 it was restored to. It allows you to use the whole size of your new disk
1616 without resizing the partition afterwards. The option requires that the
1617 disk where the image is copied already contains a partition where the
1618 image is restored or that the option -k1 is enabled.
1619
1620 -e sfdisk uses the CHS value of hard drive from the saved image
1621 Force to use the saved CHS (cylinders, heads, sectors) when using sfdisk. Of
1622 cource, there is no use of it when using any of -j0, -k or -k2 options.
1623
1624 -icrc Ignore CRC checking of partclone
1625 This option causes partclone to skip checking the CRC32 checksums of
1626 the image. Enabling this option speeds the restore process up. However,
1627 if this option is enabled and the -cm and -cs options are disabled, there
1628 is no way to notice if the image has corrupted.
1629
1630 -j1 Write MBR (512 B) again after image is restored. Not OK for partition
1631 table diffe
1632 When a disk image is restored, the partition table must be updated to
1633 reflect the actual partitions in the disk. If you don't want it to happen,
1634 enable this option. Then the Master Boot Record (including the partition
1635 table) is restored again after restoring the image. Note that using this
1636 option can destroy all the data in the target drive.
1637
1638 -j2 Clone the hidden data between MBR and 1st partition
1639 If this option is set, the 15 hidden sectors between Master Boot Record
1640 and the first partition are restored. This area usually contains some data
1641 necessary for booting. The option is enabled by default and should be kept
1642 enabled if you are cloning a bootable disk.
1643
1644 -cm Check image by MD5 checksums
1645 If the image folder contains MD5 checksum(s), this option causes Clonezilla
1646 Live to check if the image has corrupted by calculating its checksum and
1647 comparing it to the precalculated one. Mind you, calculating the checksum
1648 takes some time and slows the process down a little.
1649
1650 -cs Check image by SHA1 checksums
1651 This option is identical to the above, but checks SHA1 checksum(s) instead
1652 of MD5.
1653
1654 -a Do NOT force to turn on HD DMA
1655 Prevents Clonezilla Live from using DMA for communicating with hard
1656 drives. Slows cloning down but in some conditions cloning without this
1657 option can be impossible.
1658
1659 -o0 Run script in $OCS_PRERUN_DIR before clone starts
1660 Run the scripts in the directory $OCS_PRERUN_DIR before clone is
1661 started. The location of the directory can be determined by editing the
1662 file drbl-ocs.conf. By default it is /opt/drbl/share/ocs/prerun.
1663
1664 -o1 Run script in $OCS_POSTRUN_DIR as clone finishes
1665 Run the scripts in the directory $OCS_POSTRUN_DIR when clone is
1666 finished. The location of the directory can be determined by editing the
1667 file drbl-ocs.conf. By default it is /opt/drbl/share/ocs/postrun. The
1668 command will be run before that assigned in -p.
1669
1670 The scripts will be executed by the program "run-parts". run-parts only
1671 accepts that the name of the scripts must consist entirely of upper and
1672 lower case letters, digits and underscores. So if your file name has an
1673 illegal character ".", run-parts won't run it. You can test which files
1674 will be executed by entering the command:
1675 run-parts --test /opt/drbl/share/ocs/postrun
1676
1677 > Partition table
1678
1679 This option decides what is done to the partition table of the target drive.
1680 Use the partition table from the image
1681 This option causes Clonezilla Live to copy the partition table from the
1682 image. Use this option if you are cloning a whole disk or somehow know that
1683 the partition tables are identical (for example, if you are restoring a
1684 partition to the same disk where it was copied from and haven't repartitioned
1685 the drive after creating the backup). This is the default option.
1686
1687 -k Do NOT create a partition table on the target disk
1688 Do NOT create partition in target harddisk. If this option is set,
1689 you must make sure there is an existing partition table in the current
1690 restored harddisk.
1691
1692 -k1 Create partition table proportionally (OK for MRB format, not GPT)
1693 Causes Clonezilla Live to create the partition table automatically using
1694 sfdisk after restoring the images. This option works nearly always, but
1695 sometimes cloned Windows don't boot. Note that this option doesn't work if
1696 you have GUID Partition Table on your disk. (Most likely you don't have one.)
1697
1698 -k2 Enter command line prompt to create partition manually later
1699 Like the -k option, this option doesn't create the partition table
1700 automatically. However, after restoring the image you are led to command
1701 line prompt where you can create the partition table manually. Don't use
1702 this option if you don't know how the partition table can be created.
1703
1704 -j0 Use dd to create partition (NOT OK if logical drives exist)
1705 Use dd to dump the partition table from saved image instead of sfdisk.
1706
1707 We read in DRBL FAQ/Q&A {{
1708 http://drbl.sourceforge.net/faq/fine-print.php?path=./2_System/23_Missing_OS.faq#23_Missing_OS.faq
1709 }}:
1710
1711 When I use clonezilla to clone M$ windows, there is no any problem
1712 when saving an image from template machine. However, after the image
1713 is restored to another machine, it fails to boot, the error message is
1714 "Missing Operating System". What's going on ?
1715
1716 Usually this is because GNU/Linux and M$ windows interpret the CHS (cylinder,
1717 head, sector) value of harddrive differently. Some possible solutions:
1718 1. Maybe you can change the IDE harddrive setting in BIOS, try to use
1719 LBA instead of auto mode.
1720 2. Try to choose
1721 [ ] -j0 Use dd to create partition table instead of sfdisk
1722 and
1723 [ ] -t1 Client restores the prebuilt MBR from syslinux (For Windows only)
1724 when you restore the image.
1725 3. You can try to boot the machine with MS Windows 9x bootable floppy,
1726 and in the DOS command prompt, run: "fdisk /mbr".
1727 4. You can try to boot the machine with MS Windows XP installation
1728 CD, enter recovery mode (by pressing F10 key in MS XP, for example),
1729 then in the console, run "fixmbr" to fix it. Maybe another command
1730 "fixboot" will help, too. For more info, refer to this doc {{
1731 http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B314058&x=7&y=14 }}
1732 5. Use ntfsreloc to adjust FS geometry on NTFS partitions. For more info,
1733 refer to http://www.linux-ntfs.org/doku.php?id=contrib:ntfsreloc
1734
1735 It has been confirmed that activating the -j0 option, fixes the problem.
1736
1737 This option doesn't work if you use LVM (Logical Volume Manager).
1738
1739 exit Exit
1740 This option ends the restore process and enters command line prompt.
1741
1742 > Postaction
1743
1744 -p true Do nothing when the clone finishes
1745 -p reboot Reboot client when the clone finishes
1746 -p poweroff Shutdown client when the clone finishes
1747
1748 When image restoration finishes, do one of the following: choose action
1749 (default), poweroff or reboot.
1750
1751 Saving image files in NTFS partitions
1752 ****************************************
1753 Although not recomended, you may find yourself having to save your image
1754 file in a NTFS (Windows XP) partition. You may never have a problem doing
1755 this, but you may get a message like the following one, when the partition
1756 gets mounted:
1757 Volume is scheduled for check
1758 Please boot into Windows TWICE, or use 'force' mount option"
1759 and the backup procedure fails. There are two things you can do here:
1760
1761 * Exit the program, reboot and use Windows XP Recovery Console to fix the
1762 NTFS file system. From Recovery Console
1763 prompt, execute the command:
1764 chkdsk /f X:
1765
1766 where X: is the drive letter of the disk. When done, boot back into
1767 Clonezilla Live and repeat the backup procedure.
1768
1769 If the disk/partition you are trying to backup is not the Windows System
1770 disk (usually C:), you can boot Windows, and execute the command in a DOS
1771 window. To open a DOS window click Start / Run... and at the prompt Open:
1772 type cmd.
1773
1774 If the Windows version you use is not XP and you're trying to backup the
1775 Windows System drive, boot into SystemRescueCD (graphical mode is not
1776 needed) and run the following command:
1777 ntfsfix /dev/hda1
1778
1779 where /dev/hda1 is the partition name in GNU/Linux. When done, boot back
1780 into Clonezilla Live and repeat the backup procedure.
1781
1782 * If Windows XP Recovery Console is not available, you don't have the time
1783 to execute the procedure described above, or even if you have executed it
1784 but you still get the same message, and you are absolutely sure that you
1785 get this message because the NTFS partition is really scheduled for check,
1786 and it's not because Windows crushed or have become corrupt, you can mount
1787 the patririon by hand and tell Clonezilla Live to use it. Assuming the
1788 partition is /dev/hda1, exit the program and execute the commands:
1789 sudo su -
1790 ntfs-3g -o force /dev/hda1 /home/partimag
1791 ocs-live
1792
1793 and when you get to the screen "Mount clonezilla image directory", select
1794 skip Use existing /home/partimag
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799 Getting backups
1800 ==============================================================================
1801
1802 Intro
1803 ****************************************
1804 In this page I will demonstrate the creation of an image file by getting
1805 a backup of a virtual partition (/dev/sdb1). The image file will be saved
1806 in another virtual partition (/dev/sda1).
1807
1808 The first thing you do when you want to get a backup of a disk/partition,
1809 is make sure both the souce (to be backed up) and target (to hold the
1810 image file) partitions are in excellent condition (error free). This is the
1811 logical thing to do, cause I wouldn't want to backup a corrupt partition,
1812 or end up with a corrupt image file.
1813
1814 There is one more step I would want to take: I should check that my BIOS
1815 boot settings are correct, in order to boot from my CD/DVD drive.
1816
1817 Having done all of the above, I am ready to boot from Clonezilla-SysRescCD.
1818
1819 [[ info.png ]]
1820 The following pressentation has been made usingClonezilla Live v 1.2.5-17
1821
1822 Getting the backup
1823 ****************************************
1824 Clonezilla-SysRescCD starting screen
1825 ---------------------
1826 If you're fine with US keymap and English language (available languages are
1827 English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese [both simplified
1828 and traditional]) or don't mind editing the boot parameters, just select
1829 Clonezilla Live at the starting screen and press ENTER. When the system
1830 comes up, it will load the program that will preform the backup. After
1831 that continue from this step.
1832
1833 If you need to change these settings, select one of the available Clonezilla
1834 Live menu entries, and press TAB. The current boot parameters will be
1835 displayed.
1836
1837 The default parameters for booting Clonezilla Live on a 1024x768 screen,
1838 are the following:
1839
1840 append initrd=/live/initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs
1841 ocs_live_run="ocs-live-general" ocs_live_extra_param=""
1842 ocs_prerun="/live/image/restorecd/prerun.normal" ocs_live_batch="no"
1843 ocs_lang="en_US.UTF-8" ocs_live_keymap="NONE" vga=791 nolocales
1844
1845 By deleting the words in red, you instruct Clonezilla Live to ask you the
1846 values of these parameters. When the appropriate changes have been done
1847 (as shown bellow), just press ENTER to boot.
1848
1849 append initrd=/live/initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs
1850 ocs_live_run="ocs-live-general" ocs_live_extra_param=""
1851 ocs_prerun="/live/image/restorecd/prerun.normal" ocs_live_batch="no"
1852 ocs_lang="" ocs_live_keymap="" vga=791 nolocales
1853
1854 Screen "Choose Language"
1855 ---------------------
1856 [[ backup-00.png ]]
1857 I select "en_US.UTF-8 English" and press ENTER.
1858
1859 Screen "Configuring console-data"
1860 ---------------------
1861 [[ backup-01.png ]]
1862 I select "Select keymap from full list" and press ENTER. If you're using
1863 US keymap, the default option "Don't touch keymap" is a better choice.
1864
1865 Screen "Configuring console-data"
1866 ---------------------
1867 [[ backup-02.png ]]
1868 As I (the contributor who wrote a great deal of this page) use Finnish
1869 keyboard, I select "pc / qwerty / Finnish / Standard / Standard". Because
1870 you most likely use a different keyboard, choose the one you use.
1871
1872 Screen "Start Clonezilla"
1873 ---------------------
1874 [[ backup-03.png ]]
1875 I select "Start Clonezilla" and press ENTER.
1876
1877 Screen "Clonezilla"
1878 ---------------------
1879 [[ backup-04.png ]]
1880 I select "device-image" and press ENTER.
1881
1882 Screen "Mount clonezilla image directory"
1883 ---------------------
1884 In this screen I can select the way the image file directory will be saved.
1885 Available options are local directory, remote directory through ssh,
1886 samba or nfs and skip, to use the previously used directory. More info
1887 about the image file can be found at section "About the Image file".
1888
1889 [[ backup-05.png ]]
1890 I select "local_dev" and press ENTER.
1891
1892 Next screen
1893 ---------------------
1894 This is where I choose the location of the image file. It will be saved
1895 at the root directory of the selected partition.
1896
1897 [[ backup-06.png ]]
1898 I select partition sda1 and press ENTER.
1899
1900 [[ backup-07.png ]]
1901 and then ENTER again.
1902
1903 [[ backup-08.png ]]
1904 This screen displays the mounting result.
1905 As we can see, /dev/sda1 has been successfully mounted under /tmp/local-dev.
1906
1907 Next Screen
1908 ---------------------
1909 [[ backup-09.png ]]
1910 I select Beginer mode to accept the default backup options. If you select
1911 Expert mode, you can choose the options yourself. More details can be
1912 found here.
1913
1914 Screen "Select mode"
1915 ---------------------
1916 Here I can select the desired operation.
1917
1918 [[ backup-10.png ]]
1919 I select "savedisk" and press ENTER.
1920
1921 Next Screen
1922 ---------------------
1923 [[ backup-11.png ]]
1924 In this screen I select the image name.
1925 I type "Backup_22-2010_sdb", which in my opinion is more informative name
1926 than the default.
1927
1928 Next Screen
1929 ---------------------
1930 [[ backup-12.png ]]
1931 Finally I am asked to select the partition to save.
1932 I just press ENTER again.
1933
1934 Starting the backup
1935 ---------------------
1936 [[ backup-13.png ]]
1937 Then the program will display the command that will be executed and will
1938 ask me to press ENTER.
1939 Then I will be asked to confirm the operation by pressing y and ENTER.
1940
1941 [[ backup-14.png ]]
1942 After that, the backup begins
1943
1944 [[ backup-15.png ]]
1945 and when it's successfully completed, I press ENTER to get to the
1946 shell. Then, I execute the commands:
1947 sudo su -
1948 cd
1949 umount -a
1950 reboot
1951
1952 to reboot the system.
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957 Getting backups on Samba
1958 ==============================================================================
1959
1960 Intro
1961 ****************************************
1962 What if you don't have a spare local disk or partition or a USB disk? How
1963 will you be able to get a backup of your system? Well, if your PC is on
1964 the same LAN with another PC running Windows (or linux), you can use Samba
1965 to save your image file on that remote PC (which we will call Samba server
1966 from now on).
1967
1968 Using Samba you will be able to mount a Windows share resource (or
1969 Samba share resource), from within Clonezilla Live, and save the image
1970 file there. Then you can boot that PC using SystemRescueCD and create a
1971 restore DVD.
1972
1973 In this page I will demonstrate the creation of an image file by getting
1974 a backup of my second disk (/dev/sdb). The image file will be save in my
1975 Samba server which is my laptop (ip: 10.0.0.3, Windows share resource name:
1976 all_my_images).
1977
1978 What is Samba?
1979 ---------------------
1980 We read at http://us1.samba.org/samba/:
1981
1982 Samba is an Open Source/Free Software suite that provides seamless file
1983 and print services to SMB/CIFS clients. Samba is freely available, unlike
1984 other SMB/CIFS implementations, and allows for interoperability between
1985 Linux/Unix servers and Windows-based clients.
1986
1987 Samba is software that can be run on a platform other than Microsoft
1988 Windows, for example, UNIX, Linux, IBM System 390, OpenVMS, and other
1989 operating systems. Samba uses the TCP/IP protocol that is installed on the
1990 host server. When correctly configured, it allows that host to interact
1991 with a Microsoft Windows client or server as if it is a Windows file and
1992 print server.
1993
1994 Gathering info
1995 ****************************************
1996 Before you can use this approach to get a backup, you have to get some
1997 info about the Samba server.
1998
1999 The Samba server I have used for this example was my laptop, so I already
2000 knew most of the info required. If this is not the case for you, just ask
2001 the owner, user or system admin.
2002
2003 The info required is:
2004
2005 * The IP address of the Samba server
2006 * The domain on the Samba server
2007 This may exist if your PC is connected to a larger LAN (a corporation
2008 network, for example). In my case this is empty.
2009 * The user name and password you can use
2010 * The directory on the Samba server you can use to save your backup
2011 This is the name of the Windows share resource (Samba share resource)
2012 as it is known in the network, which is not necessarily the same as the
2013 local directory name. The user whose account will be used to login to the
2014 Samba server, must have write permission to this directory.
2015
2016 Getting the backup
2017 ****************************************
2018 If you're fine with US keymap and English language (available languages are
2019 English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese [both simplified
2020 and traditional]) or don't mind editing the boot parameters, just select
2021 Clonezilla Live at the starting screen and press ENTER. When the system
2022 comes up, it will load the program that will preform the backup.
2023
2024 If you need to change these settings, go to the Getting backups page for
2025 instructions .
2026
2027 Screen "Start Clonezilla"
2028 ---------------------
2029 [[ backup-03.png ]]
2030 I select "Start Clonezilla" and press ENTER.
2031
2032 Screen "Clonezilla"
2033 ---------------------
2034 [[ backup-04.png ]]
2035 I select "device-image" and press ENTER.
2036
2037 Screen "Mount clonezilla image directory"
2038 ---------------------
2039 In this screen I can select the way the image file directory will be saved.
2040 Available options are local directory, remote directory through ssh,
2041 samba or nfs and skip, to use the previously used directory. More info
2042 about the image file can be found at section "About the Image file".
2043
2044 [[ backup-smb-05.png ]]
2045 I select "samba server" and press ENTER.
2046
2047 Screen "Mount Samba Server"
2048 ---------------------
2049 This is where I have to enter the IP address of my Samba server.
2050 [[ backup-smb-06.png ]]
2051 I type "10.0.0.3" and press ENTER.
2052
2053 Screen "Mount Samba Server" (second time)
2054 ---------------------
2055 This is where I have to enter the domain name on my Samba server.
2056 [[ backup-smb-07.png ]]
2057 I just press ENTER, as there is no domain in my LAN. If there is a domain
2058 in your network, you have to type its name (something like my_company.com)
2059 and press ENTER.
2060
2061 Screen "Mount Samba Server" (third time)
2062 ---------------------
2063 This is where I have to enter the account (user) name on my Samba server.
2064 [[ backup-smb-08.png ]]
2065 I type "spiros" and press ENTER.
2066
2067 Screen "Mount Samba Server" (fourth time)
2068 ---------------------
2069 This is where I have to enter the directory name on my Samba server, in
2070 which the image file will be saved. I type "/all_my_images" and press ENTER.
2071 [[ backup-smb-09.png ]]
2072
2073 At this point I'm informed I'm going to be asked for the password for
2074 user spiros.
2075 [[ backup-smb-10.png ]]
2076 I will be able to continue only after entering it correctly.
2077 [[ backup-smb-11.png ]]
2078
2079 Screen "Clonezilla - Opensource Clone System (OCS)"
2080 ---------------------
2081 [[ backup-09.png ]]
2082 I select Beginer mode to accept the default backup options. If you select
2083 Expert mode, you can choose the options yourself. More details can be
2084 found here.
2085
2086 Screen "Select mode"
2087 ---------------------
2088 Here I can select the desired operation.
2089
2090 [[ backup-10.png ]]
2091 I select "savedisk" and press ENTER.
2092
2093 Next Screen
2094 ---------------------
2095 [[ backup-11.png ]]
2096 In this screen I select the image name.
2097 I type "Backup_22-2010_sdb", which in my opinion is more informative name
2098 than the default.
2099
2100 Next Screen
2101 ---------------------
2102 [[ backup-12.png ]]
2103 Finally I am asked to select the partition to save.
2104 I just press ENTER again.
2105
2106 Starting the backup
2107 ---------------------
2108 [[ backup-13.png ]]
2109 Then the program will display the command that will be executed and will
2110 ask me to press ENTER.
2111 Then I will be asked to confirm the operation by pressing y and ENTER.
2112
2113 [[ backup-14.png ]]
2114 After that, the backup begins
2115
2116 [[ backup-15.png ]]
2117 and when it's successfully completed, I press ENTER to get to the
2118 shell. Then, I execute the commands:
2119 sudo su -
2120 cd
2121 umount -a
2122 reboot
2123
2124 to reboot the system.
2125
2126
2127
2128
2129 Restoring data
2130 ==============================================================================
2131
2132 Intro
2133 ****************************************
2134 Image files are always created for one purpose: restoring the data they
2135 contain. Images can be, for example, a backup solution: as long as hardware
2136 works, the computer can be restored to the state it was when creating the
2137 image. Another usage scenario is changing the hard drive: files can be
2138 copy-pasted from the old drive to the new, but that method doesn't make
2139 the new drive bootable. Disk images do.
2140
2141 This page contains a demonstration of the latter case. On the Getting backups
2142 page, a 500 MB virtual disk containing 160 megabytes of data was copied
2143 to a 2 GB virtual disk which was empty. Now the 500 MB disk is changed to
2144 an empty 2 GB disk (still virtual) and I'll restore the data to that disk.
2145
2146 When creating a disk image, one needs to check that both the source and
2147 target partitions are error free. That's not required when the image is
2148 restored, because restoration process can't damage the disk image. Note,
2149 however, that restoring an image erases all the data in the target
2150 disk/partition.
2151
2152 You also need to check the BIOS settings to be able to boot from
2153 Clonezilla-SysRescCD. Some BIOSes contain a boot menu, others require
2154 editing settings pernamently. Details can be found on the manual of the
2155 motherboard or laptop.
2156
2157 Now let's boot.
2158
2159 [[ important.png ]]
2160 Restore process erases all the data on the target disk/partition.Before
2161 restoring make sure you have backup of all the data on the target
2162 disk/partition, even if the filesystem is corrupted.
2163
2164 [[ info.png ]]
2165 The following pressentation has been made usingClonezilla Live v 1.2.5-17
2166
2167 Restoring data
2168 ****************************************
2169 Clonezilla-SysRescCD starting screen
2170 ---------------------
2171 If you're fine with US keymap and English language (available languages are
2172 English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese [both simplified
2173 and traditional]) or don't mind editing the boot parameters, just select
2174 Clonezilla Live at the starting screen and press ENTER. When the system
2175 comes up, it will load the program that will preform the backup. After
2176 that continue from this step.
2177
2178 If you need to change these settings, select one of the available Clonezilla
2179 Live menu entries, and press TAB. The current boot parameters will be
2180 displayed.
2181
2182 The default parameters for booting Clonezilla Live on a 1024x768 screen,
2183 are the following:
2184
2185 append initrd=/live/initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs
2186 ocs_live_run="ocs-live-general" ocs_live_extra_param=""
2187 ocs_prerun="/live/image/restorecd/prerun.normal" ocs_live_batch="no"
2188 ocs_lang="en_US.UTF-8" ocs_live_keymap="NONE" vga=791 nolocales
2189
2190 By deleting the words in red, you instruct Clonezilla Live to ask you the
2191 values of these parameters. When the appropriate changes have been done
2192 (as shown bellow), just press ENTER to boot.
2193
2194 append initrd=/live/initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs
2195 ocs_live_run="ocs-live-general" ocs_live_extra_param=""
2196 ocs_prerun="/live/image/restorecd/prerun.normal" ocs_live_batch="no"
2197 ocs_lang="" ocs_live_keymap="" vga=791 nolocales
2198
2199 Screen "Choose Language"
2200 ---------------------
2201 [[ backup-00.png ]]
2202 This is where the language can be selected. I select "en_US.UTF-8 English"
2203 and press ENTER.
2204
2205 Screen "Configuring console-data"
2206 ---------------------
2207 [[ backup-01.png ]]
2208 I select "Select keymap from full list" and press ENTER. If you're using
2209 US keymap, the default option "Don't touch keymap" is a better choice.
2210
2211 Screen "Configuring console-data"
2212 ---------------------
2213 [[ backup-02.png ]]
2214 Because I haven't changed my keyboard, I select "pc / qwerty / Finnish /
2215 Standard / Standard". Because you most likely use a different keyboard,
2216 choose the one you use.
2217
2218 Screen "Start Clonezilla"
2219 ---------------------
2220 [[ backup-03.png ]]
2221 I select "Start Clonezilla" and press ENTER.
2222
2223 Screen "Clonezilla"
2224 ---------------------
2225 [[ backup-04.png ]]
2226 I select "device-image" and press ENTER.
2227
2228 Screen "Mount clonezilla image directory"
2229 ---------------------
2230 In this screen I can select the way the image file directory has been saved.
2231 Available options are local directory, remote directory through ssh,
2232 samba or nfs and skip, to use the previously used directory. More info
2233 about the image file can be found at section "About the Image file".
2234
2235 [[ backup-05.png ]]
2236 I select "local_dev" and press ENTER.
2237
2238 Next screen
2239 ---------------------
2240 This is where I choose the location of the image file.
2241 [[ restoration-06.png ]]
2242 I select partition sda1 and press ENTER.
2243
2244 [[ backup-07.png ]]
2245
2246 [[ restoration-08.png ]]
2247 This screen displays the mounting result.
2248 As we can see, /dev/sda1 has been successfully mounted under /tmp/local-dev.
2249
2250 Next Screen
2251 ---------------------
2252 [[ backup-09.png ]]
2253 I select Beginer mode to accept the default restore options. If you select
2254 Expert mode, you can choose the options yourself. More details can be
2255 found here.
2256
2257 Screen "Select mode"
2258 ---------------------
2259 Here I can select the desired operation.
2260
2261 [[ restoration-10.png ]]
2262 I select "restoredisk" and press ENTER.
2263
2264 Next Screen
2265 ---------------------
2266 [[ restoration-11.png ]]
2267 In this screen I select the image folder. This partition contains only
2268 one image.
2269
2270 Next Screen
2271 ---------------------
2272 [[ restoration-12.png ]]
2273 Finally I am asked to select which partition the image will be restored
2274 to. After double-checking the disk doesn't contain anything important,
2275 I press ENTER.
2276
2277 Starting the restoration
2278 ---------------------
2279 [[ restoration-13.png ]]
2280 Then the program will display the command that will be executed and will
2281 ask me to press ENTER.
2282 Then I will be asked to confirm the operation by pressing y and ENTER.
2283
2284 [[ restoration-14.png ]]
2285
2286 [[ important.png ]]
2287 This is the last confirmation Clonezilla Live asks.After this step there
2288 is no coming back.
2289 Then my confirmation is asked one last time. After checking one more time
2290 the disk doesn't contain any important data, I press y and ENTER.
2291
2292 [[ restoration-15.png ]]
2293 After that, the restore process begins
2294
2295 [[ restoration-16.png ]]
2296 and when it's successfully completed, I press ENTER to get to the
2297 shell. Then, I execute the commands:
2298 sudo su -
2299 cd
2300 umount -a
2301 reboot
2302
2303 to reboot the system.
2304
2305
2306
2307
2308 Creating a Restore DVD - Part 1
2309 ==============================================================================
2310
2311 Intro
2312 ****************************************
2313 Assuming you have used Clonezilla Live to make a backup of your Windows XP
2314 system (partition /dev/hda1), which you have saved as win_img, you will
2315 probably be wondering what to do with it now. Well, one option would be
2316 to keep it to the disk you used to save it in, store the disk, and use it
2317 whenever you need it. Another option would be to create a DVD you can use
2318 to restore this image.
2319
2320 Before, up to Clonezilla-SysRescCD 2.6.0, the process to create an automated
2321 restore DVD required entering command line prompt and writing some commands,
2322 that can be uncomfortable or even difficult for many people.
2323
2324 Later, a TUI option to create an automated recovery disc was added to
2325 Clonezilla Live, and ocs-iso script included in Clonezilla-SysRescCD
2326 3.1.0 and newer has a TUI too. Old command-line options are no longer
2327 supported. This page walks you through the creation of an automated restore
2328 DVD via TUI.
2329
2330 Assuming you have saved your image file win_img in partition hdb4, you
2331 have to boot Clonezilla Live, using Clonezilla-SysRescCD.
2332
2333 [[ info.png ]]
2334 The following pressentation has been made usingClonezilla Live v 1.2.3-27
2335
2336 Creating the disk image
2337 ****************************************
2338 Clonezilla-SysRescCD starting screen
2339 ---------------------
2340 If you're fine with US keymap and English language (available languages are
2341 English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese [both simplified
2342 and traditional]) or don't mind editing the boot parameters, just select
2343 Clonezilla Live at the starting screen and press ENTER. When the system
2344 comes up, it will load the program that will preform the backup. After
2345 that continue from this step.
2346
2347 If you need to change these settings, select one of the available Clonezilla
2348 Live menu entries, and press TAB. The current boot parameters will be
2349 displayed.
2350
2351 The default parameters for booting Clonezilla Live on a 1024x768 screen,
2352 are the following:
2353
2354 append initrd=/live/initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs
2355 ocs_live_run="ocs-live-general" ocs_live_extra_param=""
2356 ocs_prerun="/live/image/restorecd/prerun.normal" ocs_live_batch="no"
2357 ocs_lang="en_US.UTF-8" ocs_live_keymap="NONE" vga=791 nolocales
2358
2359 By deleting the words in red, you instruct Clonezilla Live to ask you the
2360 values of these parameters. When the appropriate changes have been done
2361 (as shown bellow), just press ENTER to boot.
2362
2363 append initrd=/live/initrd1.img boot=live union=aufs
2364 ocs_live_run="ocs-live-general" ocs_live_extra_param=""
2365 ocs_prerun="/live/image/restorecd/prerun.normal" ocs_live_batch="no"
2366 ocs_lang="" ocs_live_keymap="" vga=791 nolocales
2367
2368 Screen "Choose Language"
2369 ---------------------
2370 [[ backup-00.png ]]
2371 I select "en_US.UTF-8 English" and press ENTER.
2372
2373 Screen "Configuring console-data"
2374 ---------------------
2375 [[ backup-01.png ]]
2376 I select "Select keymap from full list" and press ENTER. If you're using
2377 US keymap, the default option "Don't touch keymap" is a better choice.
2378
2379 Screen "Configuring console-data"
2380 ---------------------
2381 [[ backup-02.png ]]
2382 Because I haven't changed my keyboard, I select "pc / qwerty / Finnish /
2383 Standard / Standard". Because you most likely use a different keyboard,
2384 choose the one you use.
2385
2386 Screen "Start Clonezilla"
2387 ---------------------
2388 [[ backup-03.png ]]
2389 I select "Start Clonezilla" and press ENTER.
2390
2391 Screen "Clonezilla"
2392 ---------------------
2393 [[ backup-04.png ]]
2394 I select "device-image" and press ENTER.
2395
2396 Screen "Mount clonezilla image directory"
2397 ---------------------
2398 In this screen I can select the way the image file directory has been saved.
2399 Available options are local directory, remote directory through ssh,
2400 samba or nfs and skip, to use the previously used directory. More info
2401 about the image file can be found at section "About the Image file".
2402
2403 [[ backup-05.png ]]
2404 I select "local_dev" and press ENTER.
2405
2406 Next screen
2407 ---------------------
2408 This is where I choose the location of the image file.
2409 [[ restore-06.png ]]
2410 I select partition hda1 and press ENTER.
2411
2412 [[ backup-07.png ]]
2413 and then ENTER again.
2414
2415 [[ restore-08.png ]]
2416 This screen displays the mounting result.
2417 As we can see, /dev/hda1 has been successfully mounted under /tmp/local-dev.
2418
2419 Next Screen
2420 ---------------------
2421 [[ backup-09.png ]]
2422 I select Beginer mode to accept the default restore options, which are
2423 used if the recovery disk is ever used. If you select Expert mode, you
2424 can choose the options yourself. More details can be found here.
2425
2426 Screen "Clonezilla: Select mode"
2427 ---------------------
2428 Here I can select the desired operation.
2429
2430 [[ restore-10.png ]]
2431 I select "recovery-iso-zip" and press ENTER.
2432
2433 Next Screen
2434 ---------------------
2435 [[ restore-11.png ]]
2436 In this screen I select the image folder. This partition contains only
2437 one image.
2438
2439 Next Screen
2440 ---------------------
2441 [[ restore-12.png ]]
2442 Now I am asked to select which disk the image will be restored to, if the
2443 recovery disc is used. Because this image is a backup, I choose the same
2444 disk where the original data resides. If you're upgrading your hard drive,
2445 choose the new drive.
2446
2447 Next Screen
2448 ---------------------
2449 [[ restore-13.png ]]
2450 In this screen I can select the language that the recovery disc uses. I
2451 choose "en_US.UTF-8".
2452
2453 Next Screen
2454 ---------------------
2455 [[ restore-14.png ]]
2456 This screen allows me to select the keymap that the recovery disc
2457 uses. Unfortunately, changing the keymap requires knowing where the keymap
2458 file resides in Debian GNU/Linux. Because I don't know it, I just press
2459 ENTER to accept US keymap.
2460
2461 Next Screen
2462 ---------------------
2463 [[ restore-15.png ]]
2464 I select "iso" to create a CD/DVD disk image which I can burn to a recordable
2465 CD/DVD disc. The good thing about recordable discs is that overwriting
2466 the backup by accident is impossible. The "zip" option creates a ZIP file
2467 which can be used to create a bootable pendrive or external hard drive.
2468
2469 [[ restore-16.png ]]
2470 Then the program will display the command that will be executed and will
2471 ask me to press ENTER.
2472
2473 [[ cust-menu-01.png ]]
2474 Due to limitations of mkisofs, the script can't create a ISO file which
2475 is over 4,5 gigabytes in size. It causes problems if the size of your
2476 image is over 4,4 gigabytes. Clonezilla-SysRescCD contains a workaround
2477 that creates a ISO file that contains no image, so you can add the image
2478 manually later. This dialog asks if you want to do so. Note that if you
2479 see this dialog, you most likely need a dual layer DVD+R or Blu-ray disc
2480 to burn the image. Growisofs doesn't support multisession burning on dual
2481 layer DVD-R discs, so such disc can't be used either.
2482
2483 Screen "Customization section"
2484 ---------------------
2485 [[ cust-menu-02.png ]]
2486 Now I am asked if I want to customize the boot menu of the disc. I answer
2487 "Yes". If you don't want to customize the menu, continue from this step.
2488
2489 Screen "DVD Title"
2490 ---------------------
2491 [[ cust-menu-03.png ]]
2492 In this screen I select the title of the boot menu. I type "Home PC
2493 Restore DVD".
2494
2495 Screen "Menu Items Caption"
2496 ---------------------
2497 [[ cust-menu-04.png ]]
2498 This screen allows me to select the caption for all menu items. I enter
2499 "Restore Win XP".
2500
2501 Screen "Boot delay"
2502 ---------------------
2503 [[ cust-menu-05.png ]]
2504 I press ENTER to accept the default delay of 30 seconds. It means that
2505 when a computer is booted from the restore disc, it waits 30 seconds
2506 before choosing the default option automatically. You may want to reduce
2507 this delay if, for example, your keyboard doesn't work in boot menu and
2508 you must wait until the delay ends.
2509
2510 Screen "Default Boot Item"
2511 ---------------------
2512 [[ cust-menu-06.png ]]
2513 In this screen I can select the default option of the menu. Selecting one
2514 of the options that restore the image makes using the disc even easier,
2515 but also raises the risk that the image is restored accidentally. Another
2516 reason to select such option may be that your keyboard doesn't work in
2517 boot menu, preventing you from choosing any non-default option. I select
2518 the first option that restores the image using pixel dimensions of 1024*768.
2519
2520 Screen "Boot Screen Image"
2521 ---------------------
2522 [[ cust-menu-07.png ]]
2523 This screen allows me to select the background picture of the menu. Note
2524 that the picture must be in the same partition that contains the disk
2525 image, if you don't mind entering command line and mounting the right
2526 partition manually. I choose picture mysplash.png in the root of the
2527 partition. Because the partition has been mounted in /home/partimag,
2528 the full path of the picture is /home/partimag/mysplash.png.
2529
2530 Screen "ISO Label"
2531 ---------------------
2532 [[ cust-menu-08.png ]]
2533 In this screen I can select the volume label of the disc. Volume label is
2534 the name of the disc you may see in various situations, for example in the
2535 notification you see when you insert the disc into your DVD writer. I type
2536 "Backup_52-2009_hdb".
2537
2538 Screen "Publisher ID"
2539 ---------------------
2540 [[ cust-menu-09.png ]]
2541 This is where I choose the publisher ID of the ISO file
2542 and the disc. Publisher ID means the person or company who
2543 created the disc. However, at least in GNU/Linux reading
2544 the publisher ID is, strictly speaking, a challenge. Here {{
2545 http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/getting-volume-information-from-cds-iso- }}
2546 are instructions to read the publisher ID of a ISO file. I didn't find
2547 any working instructions to read the ID from the disc.
2548
2549 Starting the creation of the disk image
2550 ---------------------
2551 [[ restore-17.png ]]
2552 After that, creation of the disk image begins. Note that no confirmation
2553 is asked it the disk image is small enough to fit to a CD.
2554
2555 [[ cust-menu-10.png ]]
2556
2557 If you have above enabled the workaround to create a ISO file without any
2558 image, you get the info screen, which explains the actions to be taken
2559 in order to burn the ISO file and add the iamge file to the DVD. A script
2560 file is also saved as /tmp/burnISO.
2561
2562 [[ restore-18.png ]]
2563 When the disk image is successfully created, I must reboot in order to
2564 burn the disc because my DVD burner is still in use. Clonezilla Live can
2565 be loaded into computer memory during boot in order to be able to burn
2566 disc(s) within it. However, due to a known bug, the disk image can't
2567 be created if Clonezilla Live has been loaded into memory. (source {{
2568 http://free.nchc.org.tw/clonezilla-live/stable/Known-issues-Clonezilla-live.txt
2569 }}) Thus, I press 1 and ENTER to reboot to another operating system and
2570 burn the image using graphical burning program. For instructions, follow
2571 one of these links:
2572
2573 If the ISO file contains the disk image
2574 If the ISO file contains no image
2575 If you've created a ZIP file
2576
2577
2578
2579
2580 Creating a Restore DVD - Part 2
2581 ==============================================================================
2582
2583 What to do with the disk image
2584 ****************************************
2585 The previous page contains partial instructions to create an automated
2586 recovery DVD. They're partial because they only tell how the disk image
2587 can be created, not what one should do with the image. Of course, partial
2588 instructions are not enough, but don't worry - this page is the other part.
2589
2590 Earlier versions of Clonezilla Live allowed creating the DVD without
2591 reboot, but it's no longer possible due to a known bug. The disk image
2592 can't be created if Clonezilla Live has been loaded into memory (source {{
2593 http://free.nchc.org.tw/clonezilla-live/stable/Known-issues-Clonezilla-live.txt
2594 }}) and the image can't be burned to disc if Clonezilla Live isn't in
2595 memory. And if the computer must be rebooted anyway, it's a good idea to
2596 use one's favorite operating system and a graphical burning program for
2597 burning the disc. Doing so also allows reading these instructions while
2598 burning the disc.
2599
2600 This page walks through burning the disc by using ImgBurn and K3b. The
2601 instructions can be adapted for many other burning programs as well. If
2602 your burning program is too different, download either of the programs
2603 mentioned - they both can be downloaded for free.
2604
2605 In addition to a DVD, bootable pendrive or external hard drive can be
2606 created as well. If you want to do so, follow instructions below.
2607
2608 Before following these instructions, insert a writable DVD or Blu-ray disc
2609 to your burner.
2610
2611 Burning the disc
2612 ****************************************
2613 If the ISO file contains the disk image
2614 ---------------------
2615 > Using ImgBurn
2616
2617 ImgBurn {{ http://www.imgburn.com/ }} is a lightweight but very feature-rich
2618 disc burning program. It only requires about two megabytes disk space
2619 and contains a lot of settings. ImgBurn is closed-source freeware and -
2620 unfortunately - Windows-only software. I (Jyrki) personally use ImgBurn
2621 when burning discs within Windows.
2622
2623 Launch ImgBurn and press Write image file to disc. Select the disk image
2624 you just created.
2625
2626 At the settings window, keep Test Mode disabled. I also recommend
2627 keeping the Verify option enabled. Verifying the integrity of the disc
2628 after burning requires time and doesn't prevent the disc from becoming a
2629 so-called coaster, but it allows you to know immediately if the burning
2630 attempt failed, so you can try burning the disc again.
2631
2632 Keep the number of copies as 1 (or increase it, if you really
2633 want multiple copies of the disc). Use your best judgment while
2634 choosing the burning speed: according to this forum thread {{
2635 http://club.myce.com/f33/high-speed-vs-low-speed-burning-69698/ }} lowering
2636 the burning speed gives very mixed results in quality. I personally use
2637 ¾ of the maximum speed of the disc, for example 12x on a disc rated 16x.
2638
2639 After choosing the settings, press the big picture at the bottom-left of
2640 the window. Don't do anything that requires much computer resources while
2641 burning, because doing so increases the likelihood of burning failure.
2642
2643 That's it. You own now an automated recovery disc.
2644
2645 > Using K3b
2646
2647 K3b (KDE Burn Baby Burn) is the disc burning program included in KDE
2648 Software Compilation. It comes with most, if not all, KDE-based GNU/Linux
2649 distributions. It can also be installed on other distributions, but I
2650 recommend against doing so - K3b requires KDE base packages to be installed,
2651 and it doesn't make much sense to install KDE base only for K3b.
2652
2653 [[ k3b-00.png ]]
2654 I launch K3b and navigate to the folder where the disk image resides.
2655
2656 [[ k3b-01.png ]]
2657 I double-click the file clonezilla-live-Backup_5-2010_hda.iso.
2658
2659 [[ k3b-02.png ]]
2660 This window allows me to choose burning settings. I don't touch Image Type or
2661 Burn Medium, because they're auto-detected anyway. The maximum burning speed
2662 allowed by the disc is 16x, so I choose speed 12x. According to this forum
2663 thread {{ http://club.myce.com/f33/high-speed-vs-low-speed-burning-69698/
2664 }} low burning speed can decrease burning quality, so I always use speed
2665 near the maximum speed of the disc.
2666
2667 I keep Writing Mode as Auto and number of copies as 1. I also keep the
2668 Simulate option disabled and enable the Verify written data option. The
2669 latter allows me to notice immediately if the burning attempt failed, so
2670 I can try burning the disc again, rather than owning a so-called coaster
2671 and relying on it if something happens to my data...
2672
2673 [[ k3b-03.png ]]
2674 I click Start and the burning process begins.
2675
2676 [[ k3b-04.png ]]
2677 Because I enabled the Verify written data option, K3b starts verifying
2678 the integrity of the disc right after burning.
2679
2680 [[ k3b-05.png ]]
2681 The burning attempt succeeded.
2682
2683 If the ISO file contains no image
2684 ---------------------
2685 If you have enabled the workaround to create a ISO file that contains
2686 no disk image (required if the size of the image is over 4,4 gigabytes),
2687 things become much more problematic. The ISO file and the image can't be
2688 burned to the disc simultaneously, they must be written one-by-one. That
2689 requires two burning sessions: the first for writing the ISO file to the
2690 disc and the second for adding the disk image. Many burning programs don't
2691 even support multisession burning at all. About the programs I've mentioned
2692 in this page: K3b supports multisession burning, ImgBurn doesn't.
2693
2694 I didn't find any instructions for adding an additional file to a
2695 spesific directory by using K3b. Actually, I don't even know if that's
2696 possible at all. Thus, I recommend using growisofs for burning the disc
2697 if the workaround has been enabled, because growisofs allows adding
2698 any file to any directory. However, there's one more limitation:
2699 growisofs doesn't support multisession burning on dual layer DVD-R
2700 discs, so you must use dual layer DVD+R or Blu-ray disc. (source {{
2701 http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/-RW/#nomultisess }})
2702
2703 Growisofs is a command-line program and a part of dvd+rw-tools that is
2704 installed on most GNU/Linux distributions. Dvd+rw-tools is Linux-only
2705 software, so if you use a competing operating system, you must boot into
2706 SystemRescueCD (graphical mode is not needed) in order to burn the disc.
2707
2708 Open terminal and mount the partition that contains the image. The commands
2709 below must be run as root.
2710
2711 mkdir /media/usb
2712 mount /dev/sdc1 /media/usb
2713
2714 Note: How a command can be run as root depends on the GNU/Linux distribution
2715 you use. If it's Ubuntu or a distro based on it, simply put "sudo" above the
2716 command. For example, the latter of the above commands can be executed by
2717 typing "sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /media/usb". If you're using SystemRescueCD,
2718 all commands are run as root, so you don't need to add any prefix to
2719 the commands.
2720
2721 Note: In the command replace /dev/sdc1 with the partition where the disk
2722 image resides. It's the same partition you mounted as /home/partimag when
2723 creating the image.
2724
2725 Go to root of the partition:
2726
2727 cd /media/usb
2728
2729 Burn the ISO file to the disc:
2730
2731 growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=clonezilla-live-Backup_5-2010_hdb.iso
2732
2733 Note: In the last command I have assumed your ISO file is
2734 clonezilla-live-Backup_5-2010_hdb.iso. You will have to replace this with
2735 the actual name of the file.
2736
2737 Note: If your computer has multiple DVD drives, replace /dev/dvd with the
2738 name of your DVD writer.
2739
2740 The disc must be ejected because it's the only known way to force the
2741 drive to reread the disc. Do it:
2742
2743 eject /dev/dvd
2744
2745 Note: If your drive can't reload the disc, insert the disc back right
2746 after ejecting it.
2747
2748 Finally, add the image file to the disc:
2749
2750 growisofs -M /dev/dvd -R -J -V "Backup_5-2010_hdb" \
2751 --publisher "Your Name" -graft-points \
2752 /Backup_5-2010_hdb/=/media/usb/Backup_5-2010_hdb
2753
2754 Note: In the command replace Your Name with anything you want to be the
2755 publisher ID of the disc. If you don't want the disc to have any publisher
2756 ID, run this command instead:
2757
2758 growisofs -M /dev/dvd -R -J -V "Backup_5-2010_hdb" \
2759 -graft-points /Backup_5-2010_hdb/=/media/usb/Backup_5-2010_hdb
2760
2761 [[ restore-20.png ]]
2762
2763 ZIP file instructions
2764 ****************************************
2765 Often the image file is way too big to fit to even 8 GB DVD. Some people may
2766 also want to be able to overwrite the backup when it becomes outdated. In
2767 addition, netbooks don't have optical drives at all.
2768
2769 One option is using recovery thumb drive or external hard drive instead
2770 of DVD. If the external HD is big enough, the disk image can be even over
2771 a terabyte in size. Recovery USB drive can also be used on netbooks and
2772 overwritten at will.
2773
2774 Clonezilla Live allows creating a ZIP file instead of disk image. If you
2775 want to do so, follow this step-by-step guide.
2776
2777 Before creating the disk image, make sure it is split to pieces of four
2778 gigabytes or less. It is split automatically if you use Beginner mode,
2779 and if you use Expert mode, you should already know how the splitting
2780 setting can be changed.
2781
2782 Using GNU/Linux
2783 ---------------------
2784 After creating the disk image and booting into GNU/Linux, make sure that the
2785 filesystem of the partition where you plan to put the disk image is FAT32. If
2786 you don't know the filesystem, open terminal and run this command as root:
2787
2788 fdisk -l /dev/sdc
2789
2790 Note: How a command can be run as root depends on the GNU/Linux distribution
2791 you use. If it's Ubuntu or a distro based on it, simply put "sudo" above
2792 the command. For example, the above command can be executed by typing
2793 "sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdc"
2794
2795 Note: In the command replace /dev/sdc with the name of your USB disk.
2796
2797 Note: The l in parameter -l is lowercase L, not number 1.
2798
2799 If your disk doesn't contain any FAT32 partition, but it contains a
2800 partition which is big enough and doesn't contain any important data,
2801 format the partition as FAT32. The command below needs root access too.
2802
2803 [[ important.png ]]
2804 The command below erases all the data on the target partition.Make sure
2805 you don't format a wrong partition by accident.
2806
2807 mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sdc1
2808
2809 After formatting the partition or noticing that it was already FAT32,
2810 extract the ZIP archive to the root of the partition. Also these commands
2811 need root rights.
2812
2813 mount /dev/sdc1 /media/usb
2814 unzip clonezilla-live-Backup_5-2010_hdb.zip -d /media/usb/
2815
2816 Note: In the last command I have assumed your image file is
2817 clonezilla-live-Backup_5-2010_hdb.zip. You will have to replace this with
2818 the actual name of the file.
2819
2820 ZIP package contains a script to make the USB drive bootable. Let's run
2821 it. The latter of these commands needs root access.
2822
2823 [[ important.png ]]
2824 The latter of the commands below replaces theexisting bootloader of the
2825 target disk, if there is one.Make sure you don't select a wrong disk
2826 by accident.
2827
2828 cd /media/usb/utils/linux
2829 ./makeboot.sh /dev/sdc1
2830
2831 That's all. Your thumb drive or external hard drive should be now an
2832 automatic recovery disk.
2833
2834 Using Windows
2835 ---------------------
2836 If the Windows version you use is not Vista or 7, you need to be logged in
2837 as administrator. If you're not, but you have access to an admin account,
2838 log out and then log again in as admin.
2839
2840 If you don't have admin rights at all, boot into SystemRescueCD (you don't
2841 need graphical mode this time) and follow the instructions for GNU/Linux. In
2842 SystemRescueCD all commands are run as root, so you don't need to add any
2843 prefix to the commands.
2844
2845 If you normally use Windows, you maybe don't know the name of your USB
2846 disk in GNU/Linux. If that's the case, don't specify any disk in the first
2847 command. It causes fdisk to tell about all disks in the computer and you
2848 should be able to identify both the right disk and the right partition.
2849
2850 After creating the disk image and booting into Windows, make sure that
2851 the filesystem of the partition where you plan to put the disk image is
2852 FAT32. If you don't know the filesystem, open My Computer, right-click the
2853 partition and select Properties. Then read the "File system" column. If
2854 there reads anything but FAT32, check other partitions of the disk too,
2855 if the disk contains multiple partitions. If you have a suitable FAT32
2856 partition, continue from this step.
2857
2858 If your disk doesn't contain any FAT32 partition, but it contains a
2859 partition which is big enough and doesn't contain any important data,
2860 format the partition as FAT32.
2861
2862 [[ important.png ]]
2863 Formatting erases all the data on the target partition.Make sure the
2864 partition contains nothing important.
2865
2866 Right-click the partition and select Format.... If the Windows version
2867 you use is Vista or 7, an UAC prompt asks for admin password. Enter it.
2868
2869 At the format window, choose the FAT32 filesystem. You can enter any volume
2870 label (it means the name of the partition you can see next to the partition
2871 letter) and enable Quick Format if you're in a hurry. If Quick Format is
2872 disabled, Windows checks if the partition is physically OK after formatting
2873 it. Enabling Quick Format makes the formatting process many times faster
2874 and, contrary to popular belief, hardly ever causes any harm.
2875
2876 After formatting the partition or noticing that it was already FAT32, extract
2877 the ZIP archive to the root of the partition. Navigate to the folder where
2878 you've saved the ZIP file and right-click it. Choose Extract all..., and when
2879 you're asked for location where the archive is extracted, enter the letter
2880 of the partition, for example H:\. Do NOT choose any folder in the partition!
2881
2882 After that, browse to the folder X:\utils\win32, where X: is the letter
2883 of the partition. Then, double-click makeboot.bat. If the Windows version
2884 you use is Vista or 7, another UAC prompt appears. Enter the password
2885 again. Then just follow the prompts to make the USB drive bootable.
2886
2887 Now you're done. Your thumb drive or external hard drive should be an
2888 automatic recovery disk.
2889
2890
2891
2892
2893 Restoring to a different location
2894 ==============================================================================
2895
2896 Intro
2897 ****************************************
2898 In the past restoring to a different location was not supported by
2899 Clonezilla Live at all. Because of that, a script called reloc-img was
2900 added to Clonezilla-SysRescCD, which would help the user perform this task.
2901
2902 Recent versions of Clonezilla Live partly support restoring to a
2903 different location, so the reloc-img script is obsolete, and has been
2904 removed. Clonezilla Live now supports:
2905
2906 * Relocation of a disk image (restoring a whole disk)
2907 * Relocation of a partition image (restoring a partition)
2908
2909 Clonezilla Live does not support:
2910
2911 * Relocation of a single partition contained into a disk image.
2912
2913 Imagine you have a disk backup image named hda-2009-02-02. The image
2914 contains three partitions, hda1 (operating system), hda2 (user data)
2915 and hda3 (other data).
2916
2917 You want to restore your other data partition (hda3), to a different system
2918 (partition sdb2) but there is no way to restore (extract) a single partition
2919 from a disk image - you can only restore the whole disk.
2920
2921 In order to address this situation, two new scripts have been written for
2922 Clonezilla-SysRescCD: imginfo and imgconvert
2923
2924 Script imginfo
2925 ****************************************
2926 The script will be used to print info about existing image files.
2927
2928 Its help screen is:
2929
2930 # imginfo -h
2931 Clonezilla Live Image Information
2932 imginfo v. 0.1 - (C) 2009 S. Georgaras <sng@hellug.gr>
2933
2934 Usage: imginfo <options> <directory>
2935
2936 Available options:
2937 s Search in sub-directories too
2938 i [name] Pring info for image [name]
2939 v Print version info and exit
2940 h Print this screen and exit
2941
2942 Script imgconvert
2943 ****************************************
2944 The script will be used to convert an existing disk image file to a new
2945 partition image file.
2946
2947 imgconvert can create two type of images:
2948
2949 * Temporary image
2950 This type of image is created by linking the data files of the existing
2951 disk image to the new partition image. This means that the original image
2952 must be present for the new image to be used. This is the default image
2953 type created by imgconvert.
2954
2955 * Permanent image
2956 This type of image is created by copying the data files from the existing
2957 disk image to the new partition image. This means that the original image is
2958 not needed in order to use the new one. Permenant image files are created
2959 using the command line parameter -p.
2960
2961 Its help screen is:
2962
2963 # imgconvert -h
2964 Clonezilla Live Image Conversion
2965 imgconvert v. 0.1 - (C) 2009 S. Georgaras <sng@hellug.gr>
2966
2967 Usage: imgconvert <options> [image] [partition] <new partition>
2968
2969 Parameters are:
2970 [image] Disk image to be converted to partition image
2971 [partition] Partition name to convert. It must be a valid device name
2972
2973 Available options:
2974 o [image] Save new imag as [image]
2975 p Save new partition instead of making a link to the old one
2976 v Print version info and exit
2977 h Print this screen and exit
2978
2979 Using the scripts
2980 ****************************************
2981 Restoring to a partition
2982 ---------------------
2983 After booting into Clonezilla Live, I select
2984
2985 Enter_shell Enter command line prompt
2986
2987 when the menu is displayed and then I press 2 to exit to the shell.
2988
2989 At this point I will mount my images partition (in this example /dev/sdc4),
2990 and use script imginfo to get info about my image files.
2991
2992 $ sudo su -
2993 # mount /dev/sdc4 /home/partimag
2994 # cd /home/partimag
2995 # imginfo
2996 Image files found in: /home/partimag
2997 Image: usb250-img, disk: sda, size: 259MB, parts: 1
2998 part: sda4, size: 247.00MB, type: FAT16
2999 Image: sys-bck, disk: hda, size: 320.0GB, parts: 3
3000 part: hda1, size: 22.36GB, type: Linux
3001 part: hda2, size: 39.06GB, type: Linux
3002 part: hda3, size: 233.87GB, type: Linux
3003
3004 As you can see there are two disk images under /home/partimag: usb250-img
3005 and sys-bck.
3006
3007 sys-bck is a backup of my old system, which had three partitions. What
3008 I need to do now is "copy" the hda3 partition to my current system, by
3009 transfering its data to partition sdb2.
3010
3011 The way to proceed is:
3012
3013 * Create a new partition image (containing hda3's data) based on the
3014 existing disk image file, by executing the command:
3015
3016 # imgconvert sys-bck hda3 sdb2
3017 Clonezilla Live Image Conversion
3018 imgconvert v. 0.1 - (C) 2009 S. Georgaras
3019
3020 Determining input image
3021 Input image: "/home/partimag/sys-bck"
3022 Validating image... ok
3023 Determining input partition
3024 Input partition: "hda3"
3025 Validating input partition... ok
3026 Determining output image
3027 Output image: "/home/partimag/sys-bck-cnv"
3028 Validating output image... ok
3029 Checking permissions... ok
3030 Determining output partition
3031 Output partition: "sda2"
3032 Validating output partition... ok
3033 Creating output image: /home/partimag/sys-bck-cnv
3034 Linking files... done
3035 Fixing info files... done
3036
3037 This command will create a temporary partition image file (automatically
3038 named sys-bck-cnv), which contains sdb2 only, as you can see by executing:
3039
3040 # imginfo -i sys-bck-cnv
3041 Image: sys-bck-cnv, part: sdb2, size: 233.87GB, type: Linux
3042
3043 * Restart Clonezilla Live by pressing Control-D twice.
3044
3045 * Restore the new image file into sdb2, by selecting
3046
3047 Screen 1: Start_Clonezilla Start Clonezilla
3048
3049 Screen 2: device-image disk/partition to/from image
3050
3051 Screen 3: skip use existing /home/partimag
3052
3053 Screen 4: Beginer / Expert
3054
3055 Screen 5: restoreparts
3056 Restore_an_image_to_local_partition
3057
3058 and continue as usual to restore the partition.
3059
3060 Converting image files
3061 ---------------------
3062 # imgconvert -p -o other_data sys-bck hda3 sdb2
3063 Clonezilla Live Image Conversion
3064 imgconvert v. 0.1 - (C) 2009 S. Georgaras
3065
3066 Determining input image
3067 Input image: "/home/partimag/sys-bck"
3068 Validating image... ok
3069 Determining input partition
3070 Input partition: "hda3"
3071 Validating input partition... ok
3072 Determining output image
3073 Output image: "/home/partimag/other_data"
3074 Validating output image... ok
3075 Checking permissions... ok
3076 Determining output partition
3077 Output partition: "sda2"
3078 Validating output partition... ok
3079 Creating output image: /home/partimag/other_data
3080 Copying files... done
3081 Fixing info files... done
3082
3083 # imginfo -i other_data
3084 Image: other_data, part: sdb2, size: 233.87GB, type: Linux
3085
3086 # ls -la sys-bck
3087 total 1111972
3088 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2007-11-22 03:21 .
3089 drwxr-xr-x. 34 root root 4096 2009-04-06 21:28 ..
3090 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4 2007-11-20 20:33 disk
3091 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1081716736 2007-11-20 20:32 hda1.aa
3092 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 45453312 2007-11-20 20:33 hda2.aa
3093 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 10317824 2007-11-20 20:33 hda3.aa
3094 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 37 2007-11-21 18:56 hda-chs.sf
3095 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 37 2007-11-21 18:50 hda-chs.sf.orig
3096 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 512 2007-11-20 20:31 hda-mbr
3097 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 259 2007-11-21 18:59 hda-pt.sf
3098 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 259 2007-11-21 18:50 hda-pt.sf.orig
3099 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15 2007-11-20 20:33 parts
3100 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 17 2007-11-20 20:33 swappt-hda4.info
3101 #
3102 #
3103 # ls -la other_data
3104 total 24
3105 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2009-04-06 21:27 .
3106 drwxr-xr-x. 35 root root 4096 2009-04-06 21:27 ..
3107 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5 2009-04-06 21:27 parts
3108 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 10317824 2009-04-06 21:27 sdb2.aa
3109 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 37 2009-04-06 21:27 sdb-chs.sf
3110 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 106 2009-04-06 21:27 sdb-pt.sf
3111
3112 Booting a restored Linux system
3113 ****************************************
3114 A Linux system that has been restored to a new disk/partition, is usually
3115 not ready to be booted right after the restoration procedure is finished.
3116
3117 There are two more steps that you may have to take:
3118
3119 * Fix /etc/fstab
3120 * Reinstall GRUB.
3121 I will assume GRUB is your boot manager, as it is the usual case nowadays.
3122
3123 For this example I will assume that you have restored a Linux system
3124 (that used to be in sdb), to a new disk (hda), and that it contains three
3125 partitions, / (the root partition), /home (user's partition) and a swap
3126 partition. You must be really careful here, as the name of the new disk
3127 depends on the system to be booted. If it uses one of the newest Linux
3128 kernels (using the libata disk driver), ALL your disks will be recognised
3129 as SCSI. More info: "Identifying devices in Linux" section "SCSI disks
3130 when there are none!!!".
3131
3132 This is what we have:
3133
3134 root partition home partition swap partition
3135 Old system /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdb2 /dev/sdb3
3136 New system /dev/hda1 /dev/hda2 /dev/hda3
3137
3138 Fixing /etc/fstab
3139 ---------------------
3140 Since we are still in Clonezilla Live, right after the restore procedure
3141 has finished, we will use it to mount our restored root partition, and
3142 edit its /etc/fstab. We issue the commands:
3143
3144 mkdir /new-root
3145 mount /dev/hda1 /new-root
3146 vi /new-root/etc/fstab
3147
3148 The contents of /etc/fstab could be something like
3149
3150 /dev/sdb1 / reiserfs acl,user_xattr 1 1
3151 /dev/sdb2 /home reiserfs defaults 1 2
3152 /dev/sdb3 swap swap defaults 0 0
3153
3154 and we have to change ti to
3155
3156 /dev/hda1 / reiserfs acl,user_xattr 1 1
3157 /dev/hda2 /home reiserfs defaults 1 2
3158 /dev/hda3 swap swap defaults 0 0
3159
3160 Finally, we unmount the partition, and we are ready to reboot
3161
3162 umount /new-root
3163 reboot
3164
3165 Reinstalling GRUB
3166 ---------------------
3167 When Clonezilla-SysRescCD menu appears, we select Tools > Super Grub Disk
3168
3169 Then we select Super Grub Disk > Super Grub Disk (WITH HELP) > English
3170 Super Grub Disk > Gnu/Linux > Fix Boot of Gnu/Linux (GRUB). From this
3171 entry we will be able to reinstall GRUB to our hard disk.
3172
3173 You may also want to have a look at Super Grub Disk "documentation {{
3174 http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wiki/SuperGrubDiskDocumentation }}".
3175
3176
3177
3178
3179 Fixing boot problems
3180 ==============================================================================
3181
3182 Intro
3183 ****************************************
3184 Boot problems are probably the most feared computer problems. Without an
3185 operating system you can't access your data, get the work done or even
3186 google for help. That's why it's often a good idea to have an alternative
3187 operating system available for searching help if the main OS doesn't
3188 work. Also a copy of Clonezilla-SysRescCD can be invaluable help.
3189
3190 Actually, the initial reason why I (Jyrki) installed GNU/Linux at all was
3191 that I wanted to be able to fix Windows boot problems if they occur. I
3192 installed both GNU/Linux and GRUB to my external hard drive, completely
3193 separating operating systems. Even if either bootloader stopped working,
3194 I'd still be able to boot one of my OSes.
3195
3196 But such configuration is not easy to create, and when I installed GNU/Linux,
3197 I knew very little about it. If I didn't read the instructions I found
3198 here and there very carefully, I probably would have done a common mistake:
3199 installing GRUB to my internal hard drive. Such mistake would have caused
3200 two problems:
3201
3202 * Inability to boot GNU/Linux at any computer expect the one which was
3203 used for installing
3204 * Inability to boot Windows when the external drive isn't connected
3205
3206 In this page, I simulate that situation in a virtual machine and fix
3207 both problems.
3208
3209 Symptoms
3210 ****************************************
3211 What happens when I try to boot the external hard drive on another computer
3212 depends on the BIOS of the computer. For example, on my computer I see a
3213 Black Screen of Death {{ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Screen_of_Death
3214 }} when I try booting from a disk with empty Master Boot Record. Other
3215 BIOSes may boot the local operating system or display an error message
3216 (for example "Disk boot failure", "Missing operating system" or "Operating
3217 system not found").
3218
3219 The other problem is very easy to determine. When external drive is
3220 disconnected and I try to boot, I'll see this:
3221
3222 [[ error-21.png ]]
3223
3224 Goals
3225 ****************************************
3226 Because I still want to separate my operating systems completely,
3227 I try to restore NTLDR to the Master Boot Record of the internal disk,
3228 if possible. If that's not possible, I install there another bootloader
3229 that chainloads Windows.
3230
3231 I could reinstall GNU/Linux completely and make sure that the GRUB is
3232 installed to the right disk this time, but it's not a good idea if I only
3233 need to overwrite the first 446 bytes (yes, bytes, not kilo- or megabytes)
3234 of the disk. So, I only install GRUB to the external disk, by using Super
3235 Grub Disk.
3236
3237 Your problem (if you have one at all) most likely is different, but goals
3238 are often the same.
3239
3240 You need to restore NTLDR if you...
3241
3242 * ...just installed GNU/Linux, but the boot menu doesn't mention Windows
3243 at all. You're not willing to learn how Windows can be added to the boot
3244 menu, you just need to make your computer to boot Windows again right now.
3245 * ...cloned your Windows partition to your brand new computer but didn't
3246 clone the Master Boot Record.
3247 * ...are about to uninstall GNU/Linux and aren't willing to use GRUB as
3248 your bootloader.
3249
3250 You need to install GRUB if you...
3251
3252 * ...just installed Windows and want to make GNU/Linux bootable again.
3253 * ...cloned your GNU/Linux partition to your brand new computer but didn't
3254 clone the Master Boot Record.
3255 * ...just installed GNU/Linux but installed GRUB to a non-first hard drive
3256 by accident. (The symptom is that your computer still boots to the operating
3257 system you had installed already.)
3258
3259 [[ info.png ]]
3260 The following pressentation has been made usingSuper Grub Disk v0.9799
3261
3262 Restoring NTLDR
3263 ****************************************
3264 There are a lot of ways to restore NTLDR. However, sometimes there is no
3265 legal way to restore it, and I'm NOT telling about the illegal ones. The
3266 last resort is using syslinux to chainload Windows; there is usually no
3267 way to notice that syslinux is used instead of NTLDR.
3268
3269 I've listed here the most important options in order I'd use them.
3270
3271 Restoring NTLDR from a backup
3272 ---------------------
3273 If you've been smart enough to use Clonezilla Live to create a disk image
3274 of your first hard drive, it's very easy to restore NTLDR.
3275
3276 Your NTLDR is safe in a file called hda-mbr or sda-mbr. You can use dd to
3277 overwrite your existing Master Boot Record.
3278
3279 [[ important.png ]]
3280 Don't restore all 512 bytes of your Master Boot Record.The MBR contains
3281 your partition table and restoring it afterrepartitioning your disk erases
3282 all the data on the disk.
3283
3284 If you normally use GNU/Linux, open terminal and run these commands as root:
3285
3286 mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/usb
3287 dd if=/mnt/usb/Backup/sda-mbr of=/dev/sda bs=446 count=1
3288
3289 Note: In the commands I have assumed that your first hard drive is /dev/sda
3290 and that your disk image resides in the folder Backup in partition
3291 /dev/sdc1. You will have to replace them with the correct pieces of
3292 information.
3293
3294 Note: How a command can be run as root depends on the GNU/Linux distribution
3295 you use. If it's Ubuntu or a distro based on it, simply put "sudo" above
3296 the command. For example, the latter of the above commands can be executed
3297 by typing "sudo dd if=/mnt/usb/Backup/sda-mbr of=/dev/sda bs=446 count=1"
3298
3299 If you normally use another operating system, boot into SystemRescueCD and
3300 run the above commands. In SystemRescueCD all commands are run as root,
3301 so you don't need to add any prefix to the commands.
3302
3303 If you don't know the name of the partition, run this command as root:
3304
3305 fdisk -l
3306
3307 It tells how many hard drives you have, how many partitions they contain
3308 and what filesystems the partitions use. If you know, for example, that
3309 the disk where you've saved the disk image contains only one partition,
3310 look for such disks.
3311
3312 Using Bootrec.exe (Windows Vista/7 only)
3313 ---------------------
3314 You need Windows Vista/7 install disc for this. If you don't have one (for
3315 example, if you bought a laptop that was bundled with preinstalled Windows
3316 and manufacturer's recovery disc), download a recovery disc from here.
3317
3318 Then boot from the disc. After selecting language, time, currency and
3319 keyboard, click Repair your computer. You'll get a list of operating systems
3320 you're able to repair. Choose any of them; that choice doesn't matter.
3321
3322 After that, you'll see a dialog box named System Recovery Options. Click
3323 Command Prompt. Then you only need to execute one command:
3324
3325 Bootrec /FixMbr
3326
3327 Note: The command is case-insensitive. You can type, for example,
3328 "bootrec /fixmbr".
3329
3330 Using FIXMBR (Windows XP only)
3331 ---------------------
3332 You need Windows XP install disc. Boot from it, and when you see the screen
3333 "Windows XP Home Edition Setup" or "Windows XP Professional Setup", press
3334 R to enter the Recovery Console. Then choose the Windows installation you
3335 want to log onto. If you have only one copy of Windows installed, press
3336 1 and ENTER. After that, enter the administator password and press ENTER.
3337
3338 There is only one command to run:
3339
3340 FIXMBR
3341
3342 Note: The command is case-insensitive. You can type, for example, "fixmbr".
3343
3344 Using FDISK (Windows 95/98/Me only)
3345 ---------------------
3346 For this, you need a floppy drive. You also need to run a Windows-only
3347 program, so your first challenge is to boot Windows without NTLDR.
3348
3349 Don't worry, Super Grub Disk makes it possible. Boot into it.
3350
3351 [[ supergrubdisk-01.png ]]
3352 Just choose the option "!WIN! :(((" and press ENTER.
3353
3354 When you have Windows up and running, download the boot disk
3355 image appropriate to your version of Windows from Bootdisk.Com {{
3356 http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm }}. Then put a floppy to your floppy
3357 drive.
3358
3359 If the floppy isn't already formatted, open My Computer, right-click the
3360 floppy drive and select Format....
3361
3362 At the format window, choose the capacity of 1,44 megabytes and Full format
3363 type. You can enter any label (it means the name of the floppy you can see
3364 next to the floppy drive letter) and disable the summary if you wish. Keep
3365 the Copy system files option disabled.
3366
3367 When you have a formatted floppy in your drive, double-click the boot disk
3368 image you downloaded. When it's done, shut Windows down and check your
3369 BIOS settings to be able to boot from the floppy. Some BIOSes contain a
3370 boot menu, others require editing settings pernamently. Details can be
3371 found on the manual of the motherboard or laptop.
3372
3373 Then boot from the floppy. When you're given three boot options, choose
3374 the option 2. Start computer without CD-ROM support. Wait a moment to
3375 enter command line and run this command:
3376
3377 FDISK /MBR
3378
3379 Note: The command is case-insensitive. You can type, for example,
3380 "fdisk /mbr".
3381
3382 Installing syslinux using Super Grub Disk
3383 ---------------------
3384 The above four are the only legal ways I know to restore NTLDR to the
3385 Master Boot Record. Unfortunately, sometimes none of them can be used. If
3386 that's the case, it's time to switch bootloader. GRUB can be configured to
3387 chainload Windows, and usually it even does that automatically, but this
3388 page isn't intended to help configuring GRUB. I assume that if you're
3389 primarily a Windows user and reading this page, you don't want to learn
3390 how to use GNU/Linux, you just want to make Windows bootable again.
3391
3392 Maybe the easiest way to do so is installing syslinux using Super Grub
3393 Disk. Super Grub Disk configures it automatically to chainload the first
3394 active partition. The partition should contain Windows, Windows can't boot
3395 if its partition isn't active.
3396
3397 Boot into Super Grub Disk.
3398
3399 [[ supergrubdisk-01a.png ]]
3400 Choose the option "WIN => MBR & !WIN! :(((((((((((((((((((((" and
3401 press ENTER. Windows will be booted automatically right after installing
3402 syslinux.
3403
3404 Installing GRUB
3405 ****************************************
3406 Contrary to various ways to restore NTLDR, there is only one way to install
3407 GRUB I recommend. That's Super Grub Disk, because it contains GRUB no
3408 matter what has happened to the hard drive(s). First, I boot into it.
3409
3410 [[ supergrubdisk-01b.png ]]
3411 I select "Choose Language & HELP :-)))" and press ENTER.
3412
3413 Screen "S.G.D. Language Selection."
3414 ---------------------
3415 [[ supergrubdisk-02.png ]]
3416 I select "English Super Grub Disk" and press ENTER.
3417
3418 [[ supergrubdisk-03.png ]]
3419 I press ENTER...
3420
3421 [[ supergrubdisk-04.png ]]
3422 ...and then ENTER again...
3423
3424 [[ supergrubdisk-05.png ]]
3425 ...and then ENTER once again...
3426
3427 [[ supergrubdisk-06.png ]]
3428 ...and finally ENTER one more time.
3429
3430 Screen "English Super Grub Disk (Help)"
3431 ---------------------
3432 [[ supergrubdisk-07.png ]]
3433 I select "Advanced".
3434
3435 Screen "Advanced (Help)"
3436 ---------------------
3437 [[ supergrubdisk-08.png ]]
3438 I select "GRUB" and press ENTER.
3439
3440 Screen "GRUB (Help)"
3441 ---------------------
3442 [[ supergrubdisk-09.png ]]
3443 I select "Restore GRUB in Hard Disk (MBR)" and press ENTER...
3444
3445 [[ supergrubdisk-10.png ]]
3446 ...and ENTER.
3447
3448 Screen "Restore GRUB in Hard Disk (MBR) (Help)"
3449 ---------------------
3450 [[ supergrubdisk-11.png ]]
3451 I select "Manual Restore GRUB in Hard Disk (MBR)" and press ENTER. If you
3452 want to install GRUB to the Master Boot Record of the first hard drive,
3453 "Automatically Install" is a better choice. If you don't know if you
3454 want GRUB to the first or some other disk, you most likely want it to the
3455 first disk.
3456
3457 Screen "Manual Restore GRUB in Hard Disk (MBR) (Help)"
3458 ---------------------
3459 [[ supergrubdisk-12.png ]]
3460 I confirm my decision by selecting "Manual Restore GRUB in Hard Disk (MBR)"
3461 again and pressing ENTER.
3462
3463 Screen "Partition of GRUB"
3464 ---------------------
3465 [[ supergrubdisk-13.png ]]
3466 In this screen I can select the disk that contains the partition that
3467 contains the files needed by GRUB. In this case, that disk is the external
3468 hard drive. As you can see, the disk is only three megabytes in size -
3469 because the computer used for screenshots is still virtual. Actually, the
3470 "disk" where I'm installing GRUB is just a file.
3471
3472 Next Screen
3473 ---------------------
3474 [[ supergrubdisk-14.png ]]
3475 This is where I choose the partition where GRUB files reside. This disk
3476 contains only one partition.
3477
3478 Screen "Restore to MBR of Hard Disk"
3479 ---------------------
3480 [[ supergrubdisk-15.png ]]
3481 I select the external hard drive to install GRUB to its Master Boot Record.
3482
3483 [[ supergrubdisk-12.png ]]
3484 Some text scrolled in the screen (too fast to read or take a screenshot)
3485 and I was back at this screen. I rebooted the computer. (In this situation,
3486 you can safely do a "hard reboot" by pressing reset button once or power
3487 button twice.)
3488
3489 [[ grub-loading.png ]]
3490 GRUB booted successfully.
3491
3492
3493
3494
3495 Booting an old PC
3496 ==============================================================================
3497
3498 Intro
3499 ****************************************
3500 Have you ever tried to boot an old PC off a CD-ROM, and found out it
3501 wouldn't, because its BIOS does not support it, or it's faulty or for any
3502 other reason? Well, I have. So this page is an effort to solve this problem.
3503
3504 The only way to do it, is to boot of a floppy disk which will help me
3505 "load" whatever operation system I want from a CD. This means that I will
3506 have to write a boot loader to the floppy disk.
3507
3508 The software I will use is Smart Boot Manager {{
3509 http://sourceforge.net/projects/btmgr/ }}, a small boot manager with a
3510 nice TUI (Text User Interface). Its floppy image, already accessible from
3511 the "Tools" menu, can be found in the bootdisk folder of the CD under the
3512 name sbm.img.
3513
3514 Writing the image to a floppy disk
3515 ****************************************
3516 All you have to do is get to a PC equipped with a floppy drive, get a
3517 floppy disk which is in excellent condition (no bad sectors/blocks),
3518 and copy the image file to it.
3519
3520 1. From Linux
3521 ---------------------
3522 You can either boot Clonezilla Live or SystemRescueCD, and when the system
3523 is fully up, execute the command:
3524
3525 dd if=/path/to/sbm.img of=/dev/fd0
3526
3527 where /path/to is
3528 /live/image/bootdisk for Clonezilla Live
3529 /mnt/livecd/bootdisk for SystemRescueCD
3530
3531 2. From DOS
3532 ---------------------
3533 You can get into any DOS (boot FreeDOS from the CD, for example), and use
3534 any of the following programs found in the rawrite folder of the CD:
3535
3536 * rawrite.exe: is just here for completeness, as it may be needed for someone
3537 * rawrite2.exe: should be the fastest
3538 * rawrite3.com: should work if rawrite2 fails for some reason
3539 * fdimage.exe: rawrite alternative
3540
3541 I found these programms at the FreeDOS web site {{
3542 http://www.fdos.org/ripcord/rawrite/ }}, where the following info is
3543 included:
3544
3545 Basic Usage (Rawrite):
3546 Depending on the exact version, the output and command line support may
3547 vary, i.e. not work
3548 Usage:
3549 MS-DOS prompt> RAWRITE
3550 and follow the prompts, -or-
3551
3552 MS-DOS prompt> RAWRITE [-f ] [-d ] [-n(owait)] [-h(elp)]
3553 where: -f - name of disk image file
3554 -d - diskette drive to use, must be A or B
3555 -n - don't prompt for user to insert diskette
3556 -h - print usage information to stdout
3557
3558 The diskette must be formatted or rawrite will not work.
3559 The contents of the disk do not matter and will be overwritten.
3560 When ran interactively (without command line options) you will be prompted
3561 for the disk image filename (you must remember this as there is no file
3562 chooser).
3563 You will also be prompted for the target/destination drive, either A or
3564 B for A: or B: respectively.
3565 Basic Usage (FDImage):
3566 fdimage is an updated DOS program meant to replace rawrite. It does not
3567 require a pre-formatted floppy diskette.
3568
3569 FDIMAGE - Write disk image to floppy disk
3570 Version 1.5 Copyright (c) 1996-7 Robert Nordier
3571
3572 Usage: fdimage [-dqsv] [-f size] [-r count] file drive
3573
3574 -d Debug mode
3575 -f size Specify the floppy disk format by capacity, eg:
3576 160K, 180K, 320K, 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M, 2.88M
3577 -q Quick mode: don't format the disk
3578 -r count Retry count for format/write operations
3579 -s Single-sector I/O
3580 -v Verbose
3581
3582 In order to write the image file to a pre-formatted diskette, execute
3583 the commands:
3584
3585 X:
3586 cd rawrite
3587 rawrite2 -f X:bootdisksbm.img -d b:
3588
3589 In order to write the image file and format the diskette at the same time,
3590 execute the commands:
3591
3592 X:
3593 cd rawrite
3594 fdimage -f 1.44M X:bootdisksbm.img b:
3595
3596 where X: is the drive name in DOS
3597
3598 3. From Windows
3599 ---------------------
3600 The final alternative is to use Windows program rawwritewin.exe (found in
3601 the utils\rawrite folder of the CD), as shown in the following image:
3602
3603 [[ rawwritewin.png ]]
3604
3605
3606
3607
3608 Using SystemRescueCD
3609 ==============================================================================
3610
3611 Intro
3612 ****************************************
3613 SystemRescueCD is an excellent Live CD. It contains cloning software too
3614 (FSArchiver {{ http://www.fsarchiver.org/Main_Page }} and partimage,
3615 to be spesific), but is unable to clone a whole disk, instead of only
3616 individual partitions.
3617
3618 Clonezilla Live is a great cloning solution, but it is unable to do anything
3619 but clone. For general system administration, you need a lot more functions
3620 - like these offered by SystemRescueCD.
3621
3622 Clonezilla-SysRescCD has all of the functions of both discs. It's a
3623 multi boot CD, so switching between CDs requires a reboot, but using
3624 both individual discs requires switching the physical disc - in addition
3625 to rebooting.
3626
3627 But, of course, to be able to use SystemRescueCD's functions, you need to
3628 know how to use them. We don't have permission to redistribute SystemRescueCD
3629 documentation, so this page contains only just enough information to allow
3630 you to look for more help in SystemRescueCD documentation.
3631
3632 Which boot option to pick?
3633 ****************************************
3634 You may be confused because of the number of boot options you have. After
3635 choosing "CD 2: System Rescue CD" you have a total of 15 options to boot
3636 SystemRescueCD. Here is a table of them.
3637
3638 kernel Normal To RAM Graphical Environment VESA Mini Shell
3639 32-bit xxx +++
3640 32-bit (alt)
3641 64-bit xxx +++
3642
3643 In the table, I have marked the options you most likely need. You should
3644 choose either of the options marked with a '+++' if you have no idea and/or
3645 time to read the next sections.
3646
3647 Choosing the column
3648 ---------------------
3649 If you're accustomed to graphical environment, choose Graphical
3650 Environment. In Graphical Environment you're able to use graphical programs,
3651 like GParted and Mozilla Firefox. Terminals are also available, so using
3652 Graphical Environment doesn't prevent using command line. The only negative
3653 thing of Graphical Environment is that it slows booting process down a bit -
3654 and it's often just plain unneeded.
3655
3656 Try VESA, if normal Graphical Environment doesn't work. VESA uses Xvesa
3657 graphical environment instead of X.Org that sometimes doesn't work. The
3658 drawbacks of Xvesa compared to X.Org are that Xvesa isn't optimized to
3659 any hardware (which means poorer performance) and Xvesa requires 32-bit
3660 kernel. Thus, if you use this option, do NOT choose 64-bit kernel, the
3661 combination leaves you at command line.
3662
3663 If you're accustomed to command line and know already that you're not going
3664 to use any graphical program, choose one of the normal options (just below
3665 "System Rescue CD Menu"). Booting to command line is a bit faster process
3666 than booting to graphical environment, and you can start X manually later.
3667
3668 You need the option To RAM if you plan to burn discs while using
3669 SystemRescueCD. The option copies the whole SystemRescueCD to the memory of
3670 the computer during the boot process, allowing you to put another disc to
3671 your CD/DVD writer while using SystemRescueCD. The negative thing is that
3672 reading all the contents of the disc slows boot process down a lot. There
3673 is no option which copies the disc to the memory and starts graphical
3674 environment automatically, but you can easily start it manually.
3675
3676 Mini Shell is probably the least used option. It enters BusyBox
3677 shell after booting. BusyBox is an application that "combines
3678 tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a single small
3679 executable." However, SystemRescueCD contains most of these utilities
3680 anyway, so there is not much need to use this option. some information {{
3681 http://www.busybox.net/about.html }} about BusyBox
3682
3683 Choosing the row (kernel)
3684 ---------------------
3685 After having chosen the column of the above table, you still have three
3686 options. Now you need to choose the kernel.
3687
3688 The optimal kernel depends on the processor of your computer. If it's an
3689 IA-32 processor, like Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP, you should choose
3690 32-bit kernel, because 64-bit kernel doesn't work at all. If you have
3691 a x86-64 processor, like AMD Athlon 64 or Intel Core 2, you can choose
3692 any kernel - the processor can run all of them. 64-bit kernel should be
3693 preferred, because it allows chrooting on an existing GNU/Linux partition
3694 containing 64-bit programs. Note, though, that you can't use 64-bit kernel
3695 with VESA option.
3696
3697 If you don't know your processor architecture, try 64-bit kernel. If your
3698 processor architecture is IA-32, you'll see the following error message:
3699
3700 This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU, but only detected an i686 CPU. Unable
3701 to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU.
3702
3703 At this stage, simply press Ctrl-Alt-Del to reboot and use always 32-bit
3704 kernel on the machine.
3705
3706 There is one more kernel - 32-bit kernel (alternative). It's designed to
3707 support more recent hardware than the regular kernel. Try it if standard
3708 32-bit kernel doesn't work.
3709
3710 After booting
3711 ****************************************
3712 HELP!!! Where are the desktop and Start menu?
3713 ---------------------
3714 You should have read this section if you're looking for them. However,
3715 you don't need to reboot in order to enter graphical environment. Simply
3716 type this command and press ENTER:
3717
3718 wizard
3719
3720 The command asks you to choose a graphical environment. Try first X.Org,
3721 and if it fails, run the command again and choose Xvesa.
3722
3723 Connecting to the Internet
3724 ---------------------
3725 The CD doesn't contain any SystemRescueCD documentation, because we don't
3726 have permission to redistribute it. In addition, our time is limited and
3727 we can't rewrite it all. So, you need to connect to the Internet to be
3728 able to read SystemRescueCD's official online documentation.
3729
3730 Luckily, establishing Internet connection should be easy, if you're in a
3731 network using DHCP. Nowadays, most people are. If you're using graphical
3732 mode and terminal isn't already open, open it via the menu that opens when
3733 you click the leftmost icon in the bottom pane.
3734
3735 Then, type this command and press ENTER:
3736
3737 dhcpcd eth0
3738
3739 If the network doesn't use DHCP, you can also configure Internet settings
3740 by hand. You should be able to do so if you've previously configured your
3741 settings in the operating system you normally use. The command to run is
3742
3743 net-setup
3744
3745 When you're done
3746 ****************************************
3747 When you're done, you naturally want to either shut the computer down or
3748 reboot. Wait! Don't do it yet!
3749
3750 Both I and Spiros have found out that letting a live CD to automatically
3751 unmount partitions is often a bad idea. It can damage the filesystems
3752 of the partitions which were mounted when the computer was shut down and
3753 destroy any files in the partitions, even them you didn't use within the CD.
3754
3755 So, I recommend unmounting them refore shutdown or reboot. Just run these
3756 commands when you're done.
3757
3758 If you want to reboot:
3759
3760 cd
3761 umount -a
3762 reboot
3763
3764 If you want to shut down:
3765 cd
3766 umount -a
3767 poweroff
3768
3769 More info
3770 ****************************************
3771 Here are some links to the official SystemRescueCD resources.
3772
3773 SystemRescueCD - http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page
3774 Detailed packages list- http://www.sysresccd.org/Detailed-packages-list
3775 Manual - http://www.sysresccd.org/Online-Manual-EN
3776 FAQ - http://www.sysresccd.org/FAQ
3777 Howto - http://www.sysresccd.org/Howto
3778 Forum - http://www.sysresccd.org/forums/
3779
3780
3781
3782
3783 Managing partitions
3784 ==============================================================================
3785
3786 Intro
3787 ****************************************
3788 One of the most important maintenance tasks that can only be done by using
3789 a live CD is partitioning. No operating system allows partitioning the
3790 same disk where the OS itself resides. Trying to do so is like attempting
3791 to repair a car while its engine is turned on.
3792
3793 Of course, SystemRescueCD contains multiple programs that are related to
3794 partitioning. Most important are GParted (graphical partitioning program),
3795 GNU Parted (text-based partitioning program), fdisk and sfdisk (partition
3796 table editors) and various filesystem tools (like ntfsprogs and e2fsprogs).
3797
3798 This page contains some theory about partitions and filesystems, advice for
3799 choosing the right filesystem and a partitioning example by using GParted.
3800
3801 [[ important.png ]]
3802 While partitioning, an user error or a bug can damage your
3803 partitions.Creating a disk image of the disk to bepartitioned beforehand
3804 is highly recommended.
3805
3806 [[ info.png ]]
3807 The following pressentation has been made usingSystemRescueCD v 1.4.0
3808
3809 Some theory
3810 ****************************************
3811 What is a partition?
3812 ---------------------
3813 A partition is a logical division of a hard disk created so that you can
3814 have different operating systems on the same hard disk or to create the
3815 appearance of having separate hard drives for file management, multiple
3816 users, or other purposes.
3817
3818 In Windows, a one-partition hard disk is labelled the "C:" drive ("A:" and
3819 "B:" are typically reserved for diskette drives). A two-partition hard drive
3820 would typically contain "C:" and "D:" drives. (CD-ROM drives typically are
3821 assigned the last letter in whatever sequence of letters have been used
3822 as a result of hard disk formatting, or typically with a two-partition,
3823 the "E:" drive.).
3824
3825 In UNIX-based systems, a partition is used to host the / (root) file system,
3826 and optionally the /opt, /usr and /home file systems. There may also be
3827 a swap partition, which doesn't host any file system.
3828
3829 Each operatin system provides some kind of tool to create and manage
3830 partitions. Examples of such tools are fdisk in DOS/Windows, fdisk, sfdisk
3831 and parted in Linux, etc.
3832
3833 What is the difference between primary, extended and logical partitions?
3834 ---------------------
3835 Information about partitions is saved in so-called partition table
3836 in Master Boot Record. MBR itself is only 512 bytes in size,
3837 and only 64 bytes are reserved for partition table. That's not
3838 enough, and there are many workarounds to bypass limitations
3839 caused by the size, for example logical block addressing {{
3840 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_block_addressing#LBA.2C_ATA_devices_and_Enhanced_BIOS
3841 }}. Extended partitions are another workaround.
3842
3843 Partition table can only store information about four partitions. If one
3844 has, for example, two GNU/Linux distributions on the same disk, both of
3845 them having separate root partitions, shared /home and shared swap, the
3846 partition number limit has been hit already.
3847
3848 A partition that is mentioned in the partition table is called primary
3849 partition. Because of the limit, one disk can only contain 1-4 primary
3850 partitions.
3851
3852 An extended partition fixes the problem simply by containing more boot
3853 records, called Extended Boot Records (EBR). Each EBR contains information
3854 about one logical partition and, if the extended partition contains multiple
3855 logical partitions, link to the next EBR. Thus, an extended partition can
3856 contain unlimited amount of logical partitions.
3857
3858 Extended partition contains only EBRs and logical partitions (and maybe
3859 unallocated space). Extended partition doesn't contain any filesystem and
3860 files can't be stored in it. Of course, logical partition can contain any
3861 filesystem (or be unformatted).
3862
3863 Extended partition itself must be primary partition: an extended partition
3864 can't be within another extended partition. In addition, a disk can contain
3865 only one extended partition.
3866
3867 Logical partitions can always be used for storing data: any operating system
3868 can see logical partitions. GNU/Linux distributions can be installed to
3869 logical partitions as well, but Windows requires a lot of tweaking. See
3870 this outdated guide {{ http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/index.htm }}.
3871
3872 What is LVM?
3873 ---------------------
3874 LVM means "Logical Volume Manager". It allows creating volume groups on top
3875 of hard drives and logical volumes within volume groups. Logical volumes
3876 are NOT the same thing as logical partitions!
3877
3878 Volume groups can be created very flexibly: a volume group can allocate,
3879 for example, the first half of the first hard drive and the second half
3880 of the third drive. One can even create a massive volume group containing
3881 all storage he/she has.
3882
3883 The computer sees a logical volume as a partition: logical volume can be
3884 left unformatted or contain any filesystem.
3885
3886 LVM has many benefits: for example, if one has three hard drives 60 gigabytes
3887 each, he/she can create a 160-gigabyte partition for storing massive files
3888 and/or saving some disk space. In addition, logical volumes can be resized
3889 even when they're in use, so when creating logical volumes one doesn't need
3890 to worry if they're too small or big - if they are, he/she can resize them
3891 at any time.
3892
3893 However, resizing a logical volume doesn't resize the filesystem in
3894 it, so using a filesystem that can be resized in use (online resizing)
3895 is recommended. Very few filesystems can be shrinked online, but most
3896 GNU/Linux filesystems (including ext3/4, ReiserFS, XFS and btrfs) can be
3897 grown online. It's generally a good idea to leave unallocated space within
3898 volume group, so logical volumes can later be grown without shrinking any
3899 other logical volume.
3900
3901 Here come bad news for people who dualboot: Windows doesn't support LVM, it
3902 sees volume groups as unformatted partitions. If you try to access volume
3903 group within Windows, you're just prompted to format the partition. That
3904 prompt is annoying at best and dangerous at worst.
3905
3906 More information about LVM can be found here (almost everything about LVM
3907 in a single page) and here (official SystemRescueCD documentation about LVM).
3908
3909 What is a file system?
3910 ---------------------
3911 A file system is the way in which files are named and where they are placed
3912 logically for storage and retrieval. The DOS, Windows, OS/2, Macintosh,
3913 and UNIX-based operating systems all have file systems in which files are
3914 placed somewhere in a hierarchical (tree) structure. A file is placed in
3915 a directory (folder in Windows) or subdirectory at the desired place in
3916 the tree structure.
3917
3918 The most important difference between filesystems is operating system
3919 support. Some filesystems are supported by all modern operating systems,
3920 but especially the newest filesystems are very rarely supported. Other
3921 important limits are maximum file size, journaling support and file
3922 permission metadata support.
3923
3924 The reason that file size limits exist is that all filesystems reserve a
3925 fixed number of bits for storing the file size. If the size of the file,
3926 in bytes, is bigger than the biggest number that can be stored in file
3927 size bits, the operating system must refuse to store the file at all in
3928 order to prevent data corruption.
3929
3930 File permission metadata means that the filesystem stores in the metadata
3931 of the file, among other things, information about who owns the file and
3932 what different users are allowed to do with the file. That metadata is
3933 especially useful in multi-user environment because it mostly prevents
3934 users from reading each other's files. Permissions can be bypassed, however.
3935
3936 What is journaling?
3937 ---------------------
3938 Ideally, data in a partition never corrupts. But, in the real world,
3939 there are power failures and operating system freezes. And if a computer
3940 is forcefully shut down while something is written to the drive, the write
3941 operation can't be finished. That can damage the filesystem and destroy
3942 any files in the partition.
3943
3944 Journaling partially fixes that problem by writing most changes to the
3945 disk twice: first to a special area called journal and, after that, to
3946 the filesystem itself. If power is lost while writing to the journal was
3947 in progress, the partial change is just ignored and never committed to the
3948 filesystem itself. If power failure or OS freeze happened while writing to
3949 filesystem itself, the write operation is finished by using the information
3950 in journal.
3951
3952 Journaling helps most of the time when the computer has been forcefully
3953 shut down, but not always. Due to performance reasons, only some
3954 write operations are written to the journal, mostly the biggest
3955 operations. Of course, journaling doesn't help if that particular
3956 operation that was in progress while power was lost didn't go
3957 through the journal. Journaling also doesn't protect from everything:
3958 for example, using ext4 filesystem in conjuction with programs that
3959 write a lot of files in a short time can result in massive data loss {{
3960 http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Possible-data-loss-in-Ext4-740467.html
3961 }}, regardless if journaling is enabled or not.
3962
3963 In addition, journaling reduces performance. It causes more writes to
3964 the disk. That's not a big problem on mechanical hard drives, but on SSDs
3965 (Solid State Drives) and thumb drives write speed is much slower than read
3966 speed. They also have a limited number of writing cycles, so journaling
3967 reduces their lifetime. I (Jyrki) actually use ext2 and FAT32 filesystems
3968 on my external SSD drive because they do NOT support journaling at all.
3969
3970 What are the differences between most popular filesystems?
3971 ---------------------
3972 The following table quickly describes the most important differences
3973 between them.
3974
3975 Operating system support
3976 #############################################################################
3977 Under Under Maximum Journaling Permissions
3978 Windows GNU/Linux file size
3979 #############################################################################
3980 FAT32 Native Built-in 4 GB No No
3981 NTFS Native Included 16 EB Yes Yes
3982 ext2 3rd party driver Native 16 GB-2 TB* No Yes
3983 ext3 3rd party driver Native 16 GB-2 TB* Yes Yes
3984 ext4 No Native 16 GB-16 TB* Yes Yes
3985 exFAT Native (Vista/7)** No 64 ZB No Yes
3986
3987 * Depends on cluster size
3988 ** This update {{ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955704 }} adds exFAT
3989 support to Windows XP
3990
3991 Operating system support:
3992
3993 * "Native" means that the kernel supports the filesystem and the OS can
3994 boot from a partition using that FS.
3995 * "Built-in" means that the kernel supports the filesystem, but booting
3996 from a partition containing such FS is very difficult.
3997 * "Driver included" means that ntfs-3g (the driver that adds NTFS support
3998 to Linux) comes with most GNU/Linux distributions.
3999 * "3rd party driver" means that drivers to add filesystem support are
4000 available, but must be downloaded and installed separately. The drivers
4001 are Ext2 IFS and Ext2fsd.
4002 * "No" means that there is no way to use the filesystem within the
4003 operating system.
4004
4005 Filesystems
4006 ****************************************
4007 This section contains more information about most popular filesystems.
4008
4009 FAT32
4010 ---------------------
4011 The initial version of FAT (File Allocation Table), now referred as
4012 FAT12, was designed for floppy disks. A FAT12 partition can only be up
4013 to 32 megabytes in size. After that, PCs equipped with hard drives were
4014 introcuded by IBM and the sizes of hard drives began growing. Microsoft
4015 answered the need by developing first initial FAT16 and then final FAT16.
4016
4017 FAT16 partition can be up to two gigabytes in size. In the middle of 1990s,
4018 that limit was becoming a problem. Microsoft pushed the limit up by updating
4019 FAT again.
4020
4021 FAT32 was first introduced with Windows 95 OSR2. Windows 98,
4022 Windows Me, Windows 2000 and newer support FAT32 too. Linux
4023 kernel has supported FAT32 almost as long as Windows, but
4024 booting GNU/Linux from FAT32 partition is difficult and actually
4025 requires DOS to be installed in the partition as well. (more information {{
4026 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAT_filesystem_and_Linux#Installing_Linux_on_and_booting_it_from_FAT_volumes_using_umsdos
4027 }})
4028
4029 FAT32 partition can be up to two terabytes in size. As of now (March 2010),
4030 there are hard drives that hit the limit, but don't exceed it. A single
4031 file within FAT32 partition can be up to four gigabytes in size.
4032
4033 Because FAT32 is, in the end, based on FAT12, it has very few features. It
4034 doesn't support file permissions, hard/symbolic links, encryption,
4035 compression, alternative data streams, journaling... It lacks support for
4036 nearly anything that defines a modern filesystem. However, due to very
4037 few features, FAT32 is very fast filesystem if it's not fragmented or on
4038 a Flash-based drive. Mind you, FAT32 fragments very fast.
4039
4040 Due to excellent operating system support, I recommend FAT32 for storing
4041 files which should be accessible in both Windows and GNU/Linux. FAT32
4042 is also a good filesystem on Solid State Drives and thumb drives due to
4043 its performance.
4044
4045 ext2
4046 ---------------------
4047 Ext2 or ext2fs is the successor of extfs (extended file system). Extfs
4048 didn't support separated timestamps for access, data modification and inode
4049 modification. In order to add support for them, and make the filesystem
4050 extendable, a new filesystem had to be created.
4051
4052 Ext2 was developed in January 1993, earlier than any other filesystem
4053 mentioned in this page.
4054
4055 Because ext2 is designed for GNU/Linux, support in Linux kernel was
4056 implemented immediately. The first Windows driver supporting ext2,
4057 Ext2fsd 0.01, was released on 25 January 2002. Both Windows drivers
4058 for ext2 work only on Windows NT operating systems (NT 4.0 up to Vista,
4059 7 isn't supported yet).
4060
4061 The best property of ext2 is extensibility. The superblock contains
4062 information about which version the filesystem is (ext2, ext3 or ext4)
4063 and which extensions and features are in use. By using these pieces of
4064 information, the operating system or driver can decide whether or not
4065 mounting the partition is safe. That's the most important reason why most
4066 GNU/Linux distributions still use successors of ext2 as default filesystems.
4067
4068 Depending on cluster size, ext2 partition can be up to 2-32 terabytes in
4069 size. File size limit is 16 GB-2 TB.
4070
4071 Ext2 supports file permissions, both hard and symbolic links and extended
4072 file attributes. Encryption, compression and journaling are unsupported.
4073
4074 Due to lack of journaling support and existence of Windows drivers, I
4075 recommend using ext2 if you're going to install GNU/Linux on a SSD drive
4076 and want to be able to access files within Windows too. In fact, that's
4077 exactly the setup I have.
4078
4079 However, lack of journaling support is the worst limitation of ext2. And
4080 what was done in order to get rid of the limitation?
4081
4082 ext3
4083 ---------------------
4084 Ext3, the successor of ext2, was introduced in Linux kernel on November
4085 2001. It supports journaling, can be grown online and indexes large
4086 directories.
4087
4088 Ext2 IFS and Ext2fsd can mount ext3 partition as ext2 if the journal
4089 is empty. (If it's not, something is wrong - journal is always emptied
4090 when the partition is unmounted or the computer is shut down.) Thus,
4091 ext3 support under Windows is just as good/bad as ext2 support.
4092
4093 Partition and file size limits are the same as in ext2: partition size
4094 limit is 2-32 TB and file size limit 16 GB-2 TB, depending on cluster size.
4095
4096 Due to journaling support and existence of Windows drivers, ext3 is a good
4097 choice if you're going to install GNU/Linux on a mechanical hard drive
4098 and want to be able to access files within Windows.
4099
4100 ext4
4101 ---------------------
4102 Linux kernel support for ext4, the successor of ext3, was marked stable
4103 code on October 2008. Ext4 contains multiple performance and stability
4104 improvements over ext3.
4105
4106 The most important new feature is extents. An extent is a contiguous area of
4107 storage that has been reserved for a file. When a process starts to write
4108 to a file, the whole extent is allocated even before the write operation
4109 begins. The idea is that even if the file is larger than expected, it
4110 doesn't fragment if it doesn't exceed the size of the extent.
4111
4112 Another important improvement is larger partition size limit: an ext4
4113 partition can be even one exabyte in size. (An exabyte is a million
4114 terabytes.) In addition, a directory within an ext4 partition can contain up
4115 to 64 000 subdirectories (instead of 32 000, as in ext2/3) and timestamps
4116 are much more accurate. The file size limit is 16 GB-16 TB, depending on
4117 cluster size.
4118
4119 Unfortunately, Ext2 IFS and Ext2Fsd don't support ext4 and are unable
4120 to mount ext4 partition if extents are enabled. They can be disabled,
4121 but other improvements of ext4 aren't that important for most people -
4122 using ext2 or ext3 is just easier.
4123
4124 Due to its features, ext4 is a good filesystem on computers that only have
4125 GNU/Linux installed. Because journaling can be disabled, it is suitable
4126 for Solid State Drives and thumb drives too.
4127
4128 NTFS
4129 ---------------------
4130 At the end of 1980s, IBM and Microsoft were developing OS/2 operating
4131 system. Both companies expected OS/2 1.1, released on 1988, to be the first
4132 popular operating system having a GUI, Presentation Manager. Even though it
4133 didn't become too popular during its first years, Microsoft didn't complain:
4134 Windows 2 didn't sell any better.
4135
4136 But on May 1990, Microsoft released Windows 3.0. Millions of copies of it
4137 were sold during its first year, and Microsoft began to believe that OS/2
4138 had failed due to decisions of IBM. At autumn 1990, Microsoft stopped
4139 cooperating with IBM, recasted OS/2 3.0 as Windows NT and continued
4140 developing it alone, leaving IBM alone with OS/2.
4141
4142 Windows NT was targeted for network file servers, and there were already
4143 competition, most importantly Novell NetWare and OS/2. Among other things,
4144 the filesystem of Windows NT had to be fast, space efficient and reliable.
4145
4146 NTFS (New Technology File System) was introcuded with Windows NT 3.1. Newer
4147 versions of NTFS have been introduced with newer versions of Windows NT,
4148 and the filesystem is most likely still under development. All versions
4149 of Windows NT support NTFS, but support in Linux kernel was implemented
4150 as late as on December 2003.
4151
4152 NTFS is still, in my opinion, the most feature-filled filesystem around. It
4153 supports file permissions, both hard and symbolic links, encryption,
4154 compression, alternative data streams, journaling... There are very few
4155 features NTFS doesn't support.
4156
4157 Depending on cluster size, a NTFS partition can be up to 8 ZB-1 YB in
4158 size. (A zettabyte (ZB) is a milliard terabytes and a yottabyte (YB)
4159 a billion terabytes.) File size limit is 16 EB.
4160
4161 Windows 7 can only be installed on a NTFS
4162 partition, and Vista requires a work-around {{
4163 http://www.computersplace.com/install-windows-vista-on-a-fat32-partition/windows-vista
4164 }} if one wants to install it on a FAT32 partition. Of course NTFS partitions
4165 can be used for data storage as well: due to features of NTFS, I recommend
4166 doing so on mechanical hard drives on Windows-only computers.
4167
4168 exFAT
4169 ---------------------
4170 NTFS is a great filesystem, but due to its complexity and journaling, it's
4171 not suitable for Flash-based drives. Even Microsoft itself has recommended
4172 using FAT32 on removable Flash media.
4173
4174 However, FAT32 only allows files up to four gigabytes in size. The limit
4175 is already becoming too small, for example a DVD disc image can exceed
4176 that limit. In addition, FAT32 lacks file permission support. In order
4177 to get rid of these limitations, Microsoft took FAT from its grave and
4178 updated it one more time.
4179
4180 ExFAT (extended FAT), also known as FAT64, was introduced with Windows CE
4181 6.0, on November 2006. Windows Vista SP1, Windows 7 and newer support exFAT
4182 too, and by installing this update {{ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955704
4183 }} Windows XP can be extended to support exFAT as well. Unfortunately,
4184 the only read-write exFAT driver for GNU/Linux (Tuxera exFAT for Embedded
4185 Systems) is payware.
4186
4187 The partition and file size limits of exFAT are the same: 64
4188 zettabytes. Another important improvement is file permission support that,
4189 oddly, is lacking in Windows Vista. In addition, a directory within an
4190 exFAT partition can contain up to 2 796 202 files (instead of 65 536,
4191 as in FAT32) and timestamps have become more accurate.
4192
4193 No operating system can be installed to an exFAT partition, so such
4194 partitions can only be used for data storage. Due to lack of journaling
4195 and support for huge files, exFAT is a good filesystem on Solid State
4196 Drives and thumb drives that are only used within Windows Vista and/or 7.
4197
4198 Partition list
4199 ---------------------
4200 The following table presents known partition types along with their IDs:
4201
4202 0 Empty 80 Old Minix
4203 1 FAT12 81 Minix / old Linux
4204 2 XENIX root 82 Linux swap / Solaris
4205 3 XENIX usr 83 Linux
4206 4 FAT16 <32M 84 OS/2 hidden C: drive
4207 5 Extended 85 Linux extended
4208 6 FAT16 86 NTFS volume set
4209 7 HPFS/NTFS 87 NTFS volume set
4210 8 AIX 88 Linux plaintext
4211 9 AIX bootable 8e Linux LVM
4212 a OS/2 Boot Manager 93 Amoeba
4213 b W95 FAT32 94 Amoeba BBT
4214 c W95 FAT32 (LBA) 9f BSD/OS
4215 e W95 FAT16 (LBA) a0 IBM Thinkpad hibernation
4216 f W95 Ext'd (LBA) a5 FreeBSD
4217 10 OPUS a6 OpenBSD
4218 11 Hidden FAT12 a7 NeXTSTEP
4219 12 Compaq diagnostics a8 Darwin UFS
4220 14 Hidden FAT16 <32M a9 NetBSD
4221 16 Hidden FAT16 ab Darwin boot
4222 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS b7 BSDI fs
4223 18 AST SmartSleep b8 BSDI swap
4224 1b Hidden W95 FAT32 bb Boot Wizard hidden
4225 1c Hidden W95 FAT32 (LBA) be Solaris boot
4226 1e Hidden W95 FAT16 (LBA) bf Solaris
4227 24 NEC DOS c1 DRDOS/sec (FAT-12)
4228 39 Plan 9 c4 DRDOS/sec (FAT-16
4229 3c PartitionMagic recovery c6 DRDOS/sec (FAT-16)
4230 40 Venix 80286 c7 Syrinx
4231 41 PPC PReP Boot da Non-FS data
4232 42 SFS db CP/M / CTOS / ...
4233 4d QNX4.x de Dell Utility
4234 4e QNX4.x 2nd part df BootIt
4235 4f QNX4.x 3rd part e1 DOS access
4236 50 OnTrack DM e3 DOS R/O
4237 51 OnTrack DM6 Aux1 e4 SpeedStor
4238 52 CP/M eb BeOS fs
4239 53 OnTrack DM6 Aux3 ee EFI GPT
4240 54 OnTrackDM6 ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
4241 55 EZ-Drive f0 Linux/PA-RISC boot
4242 56 Golden Bow f1 SpeedStor
4243 5c Priam Edisk f4 SpeedStor
4244 61 SpeedStor f2 DOS secondary
4245 63 GNU HURD or SysV fd Linux raid autodetect
4246 64 Novell Netware 286 fe LANstep
4247 65 Novell Netware 386 ff BBT
4248 70 DiskSecure Multi-Boot
4249 75 PC/IX
4250
4251 The partitions you are most likely to see in use, are:
4252
4253 * FAT16 (ID = 6)
4254 This is the old DOS partition type
4255 You may still find it in pure DOS installations, like vendor diagnostics
4256 tool partitions, and small USB sticks (128 - 250 MB)
4257
4258 * HPFS/NTFS (ID = 7)
4259 This is the Windows XP partition, also known as NTFS
4260
4261 * W95 FAT32 (LBA) (ID = c)
4262 This is the Windows 95 - 98 partition
4263 It is used in any kind of disk and large USB devices (1 GB and more)
4264
4265 * W95 Ext'd (LBA) (ID = f)
4266 Extended partition. It acts as a container for other partitions
4267 There is one more extended partition type (ID = 5), but it does not seem
4268 to be in use as much
4269
4270 * Linux swap / Solaris (ID = 82)
4271 Swap partition, acting as Virtual Memory
4272 Modern computers with 1 - 2 GB of memory may not use it at all
4273
4274 * Linux (ID = 83)
4275 Linux partitions, such as ext2, ext3 and reiserfs
4276
4277 Partitioning example
4278 ****************************************
4279 This section contains a partitioning example. I simulate the following
4280 situation in a virtual machine:
4281
4282 I have two partitions in my disk: /dev/sda1 that contains a GNU/Linux
4283 distribution, and /dev/sda2 that is a swap partition. Here we can see the
4284 output of fdisk:
4285
4286 root@sysresccd /root % fdisk -l
4287
4288 Disk /dev/sda: 2097 MB, 2097152000 bytes
4289 64 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1015 cylinders
4290 Units = cylinders of 4032 * 512 = 2064384 bytes
4291 Disk identifier: 0x00058a4a
4292
4293 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
4294 /dev/sda1 * 1 812 1636960+ 83 Linux
4295 /dev/sda2 813 1015 409248 82 Linux swap / Solaris
4296
4297 Now I'm going to install another distribution on the same disk. First of
4298 all, I need one more partition, because only one distro can be installed on
4299 one partition. In addition, I want to separate /home to its own partition
4300 in order to be able to share it between distributions.
4301
4302 Because the whole disk is already allocated, I must shrink at least one
4303 existing partition in order to create new partitions. I'll shrink both of
4304 them to half (/dev/sda1 from 1,6 gigabytes to 800 megabytes, and /dev/sda2
4305 from 400 MB to 200 MB). In addition, I'll move /dev/sda2 right next to
4306 /dev/sda1 to keep the partitions in order.
4307
4308 But how many partitions there will be in total? One, two,
4309 three... four! Phew, I was near to paint myself into a corner. If I created
4310 only primary partitions, I'd be unable to create any more partitions on
4311 the disk. Thus, I'll create an extended partition instead and two logical
4312 partitions within it. Then I'll be able to create more logical partitions
4313 later if required.
4314
4315 There is one more challenge: moving /home to a separate partition. It's
4316 very easy to move the folder itself, but the distro in /dev/sda1 will
4317 surely be confused if it doesn't find /home when it boots next time. Thus,
4318 I must edit its /etc/fstab and configure it to mount the /home partition
4319 automatically - before booting the distro itself.
4320
4321 Now there are only two decisions left: the numbers and sizes of the new
4322 partitions. I decide to install the new distro to /dev/sda5 and move /home
4323 to /dev/sda6. Let /dev/sda5 be 800 megabytes and /dev/sda6 200 MB in size.
4324
4325 Now it's time to boot into SystemRescueCD. Graphical mode is required
4326 this time.
4327 [[ systemrescuecd.png ]]
4328 I close the terminal and open GParted by clicking the third icon in the
4329 bottom pane.
4330 [[ gparted-00.png ]]
4331 I right-click the partition /dev/sda1 and select Resize/Move.
4332 [[ gparted-01.png ]]
4333 I enter 799 MB as the new size, click the Free Space Following (MiB)
4334 combo box and press Resize/Move.
4335 [[ gparted-02.png ]]
4336 I right-click now /dev/sda2 and select Resize/Move.
4337 [[ gparted-03.png ]]
4338 I enter 0 MB as preceding free space and 200 MB as partition size, click
4339 the Free Space Following (MiB) combo box and press Resize/Move.
4340 [[ gparted-04.png ]]
4341 I right-click the unallocated area and select New.
4342 [[ gparted-05.png ]]
4343 I select Extended Partition as the partition type. The size was already
4344 998 megabytes (the maximum) and as said, an extended partition doesn't
4345 contain any filesystem. I click Add.
4346 [[ gparted-06.png ]]
4347 I right-click the unallocated area within the extended partition and
4348 select New.
4349 [[ gparted-07.png ]]
4350 I choose the ext4 filesystem and enter 798 MB as the partition size. After
4351 that, I click first the Free Space Following (MiB) combo box and then Add.
4352 [[ gparted-08.png ]]
4353 I right-click the remaining unallocated space and select New one more time.
4354 [[ gparted-09.png ]]
4355 I choose the ext4 filesystem again. The partition size setting was already
4356 201 megabytes (the whole available space), so I just press Add.
4357 [[ gparted-10.png ]]
4358 [[ important.png ]]
4359 The next step is to commit the changes.After that some operations, for
4360 examplepartition deletion, can no longer be undone.
4361
4362 Finally I commit the changes by pressing the rightmost icon in the main bar.
4363 [[ gparted-11.png ]]
4364 After slowly reading the warning, I confirm my decisions by pressing Apply.
4365 [[ gparted-12.png ]]
4366 GParted begins to commit the changes...
4367 [[ gparted-13.png ]]
4368 ...and when everything is done, it shows me this window that I close.
4369 [[ gparted-14.png ]]
4370 Then I can see the brand new partitions.
4371
4372 Moving /home
4373 ---------------------
4374 I close GParted and launch Terminal by pressing the second icon in the
4375 bottom pane.
4376
4377 I create directories as mount points:
4378
4379 mkdir /mnt/sda1
4380 mkdir /mnt/sda6
4381
4382 Then I mount the partitions:
4383
4384 mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
4385 mount /dev/sda6 /mnt/sda6
4386
4387 I move the directory:
4388
4389 mv /mnt/sda1/home/* /mnt/sda6/
4390
4391 After that, I unmount /dev/sda6, because it no longer needs to be mounted:
4392
4393 sync
4394 umount /dev/sda6
4395 [[ terminal.png ]]
4396 As you can see, under Linux it's perfectly normal that the terminal doesn't
4397 answer to the commands. Don't worry - they are really executed.
4398
4399 Now I close Terminal and launch Geany by pressing the fourth icon in the
4400 bottom pane.
4401 [[ geany-00.png ]]
4402 I select File -> Open.
4403 [[ geany-01.png ]]
4404 I press File System and navigate to folder /mnt/sda1/etc.
4405 [[ geany-02.png ]]
4406 I double-click the file fstab.
4407 [[ geany-03.png ]]
4408 I add the following line:
4409
4410 /dev/sda6 /home ext4 defaults 0 2
4411
4412 Finally, I select File -> Save.
4413 [[ geany-04.png ]]
4414 It's a good idea to reboot the computer now and check if the distribution
4415 in /dev/sda1 still works. Anyway, the disk should now be ready for the
4416 new distro.
4417
4418
4419
4420
4421 Data Recovery
4422 ==============================================================================
4423
4424 Intro
4425 ****************************************
4426 Deleted or "lost" files can be recovered from failed or formatted drives
4427 and partitions, cdroms and memory cards using the software available in
4428 SystemRescueCD.
4429
4430 Unless you can rule out hardware failure, you must not write to the failed
4431 device. The following software will passively try to recover your data
4432 from failed or failing hardware. If your data is not replaceable, do not
4433 attempt to write to the failed device if the following applications do
4434 not work but seek professional advice instead.
4435
4436 If your device is damaged, it is advisable to image the device and work on
4437 the image file for data recovery. If hardware failure is not the problem,
4438 you can recover data directly from the device.
4439
4440 To recover data from a failed device, you will need another device of equal
4441 or greater storage capacity onto which to save your data. If you need to make
4442 an image of the failed device, you will need yet another quantity of space.
4443
4444 I should state here, that I haven't used any of these tools recently (other
4445 than plain and simple dd, a long time ago, which I found to be very slow),
4446 so I couldn't recommend any of them. Any comments on a tool's usability
4447 found in this page, is just what I found on the Net.
4448
4449 Partition recovery
4450 ****************************************
4451 If you made a mistake while partitioning and the partition no longer appears
4452 in the partition table, so long as you have not written data in that space,
4453 all your data is still there and can be restored.
4454
4455 When changing the partition table on your hard drive, you must ensure that
4456 no partition on the disk is mounted. This includes swap space. In order
4457 to restore your partition, execute:
4458
4459 swapoff -a
4460 parted /dev/old_disk
4461
4462 Then, use the rescue option:
4463
4464 rescue START END
4465
4466 where START is the area of the disk where you believe the partition began
4467 and END is it's end. If parted finds a potential partition, it will ask
4468 you if you want to add it to the partition table.
4469
4470 Note: TestDisk can also be used to recover a "lost" partition.
4471
4472 Disk / files recovery
4473 ****************************************
4474 Using dd
4475 ---------------------
4476 In order to duplicate a disk to another disk, execute
4477
4478 dd if=/dev/old_disk of=/dev/new_disk conv=noerror,sync
4479
4480 or to create an image file
4481
4482 dd if=/dev/old_disk of=image_file conv=noerror
4483
4484 Be careful, if you are copying a disk, the destination must also be a disk,
4485 not a partition. If you are copying a partition, the destination partition
4486 must be large enough. Copying the whole disk is recommended.
4487
4488 To speed up the copy process, you can append bs=8k, it will read/write
4489 the disk by 16 sectors at a time.
4490
4491 Using dd_rescue
4492 ---------------------
4493 Like dd, dd_rescue {{ http://www.garloff.de/kurt/linux/ddrescue/ }} does
4494 copy data from one file or block device to another. You can specify file
4495 positions (called seek and skip in dd). There are several differences:
4496
4497 * dd_rescue does not provide character conversions.
4498 * The command syntax is different. Call dd_rescue -h.
4499 * dd_rescue does not abort on errors on the input file, unless you specify a
4500 maximum error number. Then dd_rescue will abort when this number is reached.
4501 * dd_rescue does not truncate the output file, unless asked to.
4502 * You can tell dd_rescue to start from the end of a file and move backwards.
4503 * It uses two block sizes, a large (soft) block size and a small (hard)
4504 block size. In case of errors, the size falls back to the small one and
4505 is promoted again after a while without errors.
4506 * It does not (yet) support non-seekable in- or output.
4507
4508 In order to duplicate a disk to another disk, execute
4509
4510 dd_rescue -A -v /dev/old_disk /dev/new_disk
4511
4512 or to create an image file
4513
4514 dd_rescue -A -v /dev/old_disk image_file
4515
4516 The copying should go very quickly until it hits a bad sector and then it
4517 will slow down to take smaller chunks of data. People have reported very
4518 good results with this technique.
4519
4520 Using GNU ddrescue
4521 ---------------------
4522 The GNU site describes GNU ddrescue as a data recovery tool, and lists
4523 these features:
4524
4525 * It copies data from one file or block device (hard disc, CD-ROM, etc)
4526 to another, trying hard to rescue data in case of read errors.
4527 * It does not truncate the output file if not asked to, so every time you
4528 run it on the same output file, it tries to fill in the gaps.
4529 * It is designed to be fully automatic.
4530 * If you use the log file feature of GNU ddrescue, the data is rescued very
4531 efficiently (only the needed blocks are read). Also you can interrupt the
4532 rescue at any time and resume it later at the same point.
4533 * The log file is periodically saved to disc. So in case of a crash you
4534 can resume the rescue with little recopying.
4535 * If you have two or more damaged copies of a file, CD-ROM, etc, and run
4536 GNU ddrescue on all of them, one at a time, with the same output file,
4537 you will probably obtain a complete and error-free file. The probability
4538 of having damaged areas at the same places on different input files is
4539 very low. Using the log file, only the needed blocks are read from the
4540 second and successive copies.
4541 * The same log file can be used for multiple commands that copy different
4542 areas of the file, and for multiple recovery attempts over different subsets.
4543
4544 The algorithm of GNU ddrescue is as follows:
4545
4546 * Optionally read a log file describing the status of a multi-part or
4547 previously interrupted rescue.
4548 * Read the non-damaged parts of the input file, skipping the damaged areas,
4549 until the requested size is reached, or until interrupted by the user.
4550 * Try to read the damaged areas, splitting them into smaller pieces and
4551 reading the non-damaged pieces, until the hardware block size is reached,
4552 or until interrupted by the user.
4553 * Try to read the damaged hardware blocks until the specified number of
4554 retries is reached, or until interrupted by the user.
4555 * Optionally write a log file for later use.
4556
4557 Note: GNU ddrescue is considered to be the best recovery tool available.
4558
4559 In order to duplicate a disk to another disk, execute
4560
4561 ddrescue -vr3 /dev/old_disk /dev/new_disk logfile
4562
4563 or to create an image file
4564
4565 ddrescue -vr3 /dev/old_disk image_file logfile
4566
4567 If the disk is failing fast and you want to get the most data out of it
4568 on the first try, you should probably use "-n" on the first run. This
4569 will avoid splitting error areas. Subsequent runs can use "-r1" or "-r3",
4570 without "-n", to retry those error areas.
4571
4572 To summarise, we execute:
4573
4574 ddrescue -vn /dev/old_disk image_file logfile
4575 ddrescue -v -r3 -C /dev/old_disk image_file logfile
4576
4577 Note: When working with CD-ROMs you should probably specific "-b 2048"
4578
4579 Using Foremost
4580 ---------------------
4581 Foremost {{ http://foremost.sourceforge.net/ }} is a console program
4582 to recover files based on their headers, footers, and internal data
4583 structures. This process is commonly referred to as data carving. Foremost
4584 can work on image files, such as those generated by dd, Safeback, Encase,
4585 etc, or directly on a drive. The headers and footers can be specified
4586 by a configuration file or you can use command line switches to specify
4587 built-in file types. These built-in types look at the data structures of
4588 a given file format allowing for a more reliable and faster recovery.
4589
4590 It can be run on an image file created with any of the above tools, to
4591 extract files:
4592
4593 foremost -i image -o /recovery/foremost
4594
4595 Foremost can be instructed to recover only specific file types, using the
4596 -t command line parameter. In the following example Foremost will extract
4597 only jpg files:
4598
4599 foremost -t jpg -i image -o /recovery/foremost
4600
4601 Available types are: jpg, gif, png, bmp, avi, exe (Windows binaries and
4602 DLLs), wav, riff, wmv (will extract wma also), mov, pdf, ole (will extract
4603 any file using the OLE file structure; this includes PowerPoint, Word,
4604 Excel, Access, and StarWriter), doc, zip (will extract .jar files and Open
4605 Office docs as well; this includes SXW, SXC, SXI, and SX? for undetermined
4606 OpenOffice files), rar, html and cpp.
4607
4608 Using TestDisk
4609 ---------------------
4610 TestDisk {{ http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk }} was primarily
4611 designed to help recover "lost" partitions and/or make non-booting disks
4612 bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain
4613 types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition
4614 Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy.
4615
4616 TestDisk can
4617
4618 * Fix partition table, recover deleted partition
4619 * Recover FAT32 boot sector from its backup
4620 * Rebuild FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 boot sector
4621 * Fix FAT tables
4622 * Rebuild NTFS boot sector
4623 * Recover NTFS boot sector from its backup
4624 * Fix MFT using MFT mirror
4625 * Locate ext2/ext3 Backup SuperBlock
4626
4627 Some great tutorials are available at TestDisk's site: "TestDisk Step
4628 By Step {{ http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step }}",
4629 "Running TestDisk", "Data Recovery Examples" etc.
4630
4631 Using PhotoRec
4632 ---------------------
4633 PhotoRec {{ http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec }} is file data recovery
4634 software designed to recover "lost" files including video, documents
4635 and archives from Hard Disks and CDRom and "lost" pictures (thus, its
4636 'Photo Recovery' name) from digital camera memory. PhotoRec ignores the
4637 filesystem and goes after the underlying data, so it will still work even
4638 if your media's filesystem has been severely damaged or re-formatted.
4639
4640 For more safety, PhotoRec uses read-only access to handle the drive or
4641 memory support you are about to recover "lost" data from.
4642
4643 Important: As soon as a pic or file is accidentally deleted, or you discover
4644 any missing, do NOT save any more pics or files to that memory device or
4645 hard disk drive; otherwise you may overwrite your "lost" data. This means
4646 that even using PhotoRec, you must not choose to write the recovered files
4647 to the same partition they were stored on.
4648
4649 A great tutorial titled "PhotoRec Step By Step {{
4650 http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec_Step_By_Step }}" can be found at
4651 PhotoRec's site.
4652
4653 Links & resources
4654 ****************************************
4655 This page is a compilation of the following pages:
4656
4657 DataRecovery
4658 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DataRecovery
4659
4660 Hard Drive Recovery, Ubuntu-Style
4661 http://blogs.sun.com/superpat/tags/ddrescue
4662
4663 Recover Data and (deleted) Partition with Linux from Hard Drives, CD-ROMs
4664 or DVDs
4665 http://sysblogd.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/data-recovery-with-linux-from-hard-drives-cd-roms-or-dvds/
4666
4667 dd_rescue
4668 http://www.garloff.de/kurt/linux/ddrescue/
4669
4670 gddrescue: a tool for recovering data from damaged media
4671 http://debaday.debian.net/2007/12/12/gddrescue-a-tool-for-recovering-data-from-damaged-media/
4672
4673 Foremost
4674 http://foremost.sourceforge.net/
4675
4676 TestDisk
4677 http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
4678
4679 PhotoRec
4680 http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
4681
4682
4683
4684
4685 Clonezilla-SysRescCD own scripts
4686 ==============================================================================
4687
4688 Intro
4689 ****************************************
4690 In this page I will present the scripts I have ever written for
4691 Clonezilla-SysRescCD
4692
4693 what-cd
4694 ****************************************
4695 Included in: SystemRescueCD
4696
4697 This script determines the device names for your CDs/DVDs, and whether
4698 they can read/write CD/DVD-ROMs
4699
4700 Its help screen is the following:
4701
4702 # what-cd -h
4703 what-cd - v 1.0.0 - S. Georgaras <sng@hellug.gr>
4704
4705 what-cd will try to identify your CD/DVDs
4706 You can use it to identify the device name of your CD-Reader (default),
4707 CD-Writer, DVD-Reader, and DVD-Writer.
4708
4709 Usage: what-cd [options]
4710 Availabe options are:
4711 d Print info about DVDs
4712 w Print info about writers
4713 b Batch mode. Only print one device name.
4714 If more than one device is found, print
4715 nothing. For use with scripts
4716 e deviceID Eject device deviceID
4717 Accecpable values: -1...num of devices
4718 Use -1 when in batch mode
4719 v Print version info and exit
4720 h Print this screen and exit
4721
4722 Its typical usage would be to identify the DVD writer:
4723
4724 # what-cd -dw
4725 Device /dev/hdd (id=0) can not write DVDs
4726 Device /dev/hdc (id=1) can write DVDs
4727
4728 When used in batch mode, it will only print a device name. This is
4729 especially useful in scripts, but also in the command line, as shown in
4730 section "Burning the DVD".
4731
4732 # what-cd -dwb
4733 /dev/hdc
4734
4735 continue-multi-cd
4736 ****************************************
4737 Included in: SystemRescueCD
4738
4739 continue-multi-cd helps you append data to a multi session CD; that is
4740 it helps you prepare and burn any consecutive sessions to it. It may lack
4741 some of the functionality you would have had if you used the command line
4742 tools themselves (mksiofs and cdrecord), but because of it, it keeps you
4743 away from writing a lot of parameters.
4744
4745 You could use it for example, to burn some extra documentation to
4746 Clonezilla-SysRescCD CD, but you cannot use it to change the configuration
4747 files of isolinux, as it just reads the first session when booting.
4748
4749 Its help screen is the following:
4750
4751 # continue-multi-cd -h
4752 continue-multi-cd - v 2.0.0 - S. Georgaras <sng@hellug.gr>
4753
4754 Usage: continue-multi-cd [options] <path to be added to CD>
4755
4756 Available options are:
4757 d Specify write device (in case auto detection does
4758 not work)
4759 c Close the CD. No more burning will be possible
4760 Default is to leave it open
4761 l Don't burn the CD after image creation
4762 o <image name> Save the image file as <image name>
4763 r Remove the image file after burning
4764 f On the fly burning of the CD. No image file will
4765 be created
4766 v Print version info and exit
4767 h Print this screen and exit
4768
4769 You have to note one thing though: the folder <path to be added to CD>
4770 will not be present on the CD; only its contents will.
4771
4772 Let's suppose that you want to add to the CD the folder extra-doc,
4773 which contains q-a.html and faq.html, and that its full path is
4774 /home/user/extra-doc. If you issue the command
4775
4776 continue-multi-cd -mwr /home/user/extra-doc
4777
4778 you will not have a extra-doc folder on the root of your CD, but the files
4779 q-a.html and faq.html will be present there.
4780
4781 In order to have extra-doc on the CD, you have to copy it to a temporary
4782 location and pass that path to continue-multi-cd. Let's see how it's done:
4783
4784 mkdir -p /tmp/for-the-cd
4785 cp -r /home/user/extra-doc /tmp/for-the-cd
4786 continue-multi-cd -r /tmp/for-the-cd
4787 rm -rf /tmp/for-the-cd
4788
4789
4790
4791
4792 Identifying devices in Linux
4793 ==============================================================================
4794
4795 Intro
4796 ****************************************
4797 This page is intended to help new Linux users and Windows users identify
4798 their hard disks / CD ROMs in a Linux box.
4799
4800 Linux disks and partition names may be different from other operating
4801 systems. You need to know the names that Linux uses when you format,
4802 mount or select partitions or disks.
4803
4804 Linux uses the so called device name to access disks and partitions. You
4805 can think of it as a link to the actual driver of the disk. All available
4806 devices have a corresponding file in /dev (e.g. /dev/hda1).
4807
4808 In general, each disk / CD-ROM has a three letter name, for example hda. Each
4809 partition in such a disk has a number associated with it, starting from 1. So
4810 the first partition of disk hda would be hda1, the second hda2 and so on.
4811
4812 Depending on the device type, Linux gives the following names to devices:
4813
4814 * IDE (ATA) floppies
4815 The first floppy drive is named /dev/fd0.
4816 The second floppy drive is named /dev/fd1.
4817
4818 * IDE (ATA) disks /CD-ROMs
4819 The master disk on IDE primary controller is named /dev/hda.
4820 The slave disk on IDE primary controller is named /dev/hdb.
4821 The master and slave disks of the secondary controller can be called
4822 /dev/hdc and /dev/hdd, respectively.
4823
4824 Linux represents the primary partitions as the drive name, plus the numbers
4825 1 through 4. For example, the first primary partition on the first IDE
4826 drive is /dev/hda1. The logical partitions are numbered starting at 5,
4827 so the first logical partition on that same drive is /dev/hda5. Remember
4828 that the extended partition, that is, the primary partition holding the
4829 logical partitions, is not usable by itself. This applies to SCSI disks
4830 as well as IDE disks.
4831
4832 * SCSI disks
4833 The first SCSI disk (SCSI ID address-wise) is named /dev/sda.
4834 The second SCSI disk (address-wise) is named /dev/sdb, and so on.
4835
4836 * SCSI CD-ROMs
4837 The first SCSI CD-ROM is named /dev/scd0, also known as /dev/sr0.
4838 The second SCSI CD-ROM is named /dev/scd1, also known as /dev/sr1, and so on.
4839
4840 * USB disks
4841 They are named just like SCSI disks. The only difference is that the
4842 partition number has to do with the file system on the disk. If it's
4843 /dev/sdx4, then it's a VFAT file system and if it's /dev/sdx1 it's probably
4844 a linux (ext2, ext3) file system.
4845
4846 Examples
4847 ****************************************
4848 In order to identify the disks of a system you have to work with, a basic
4849 knowledge of its configuration (how many disks it has, whether it's a
4850 dual-boot system etc.) is welcomed but not required. A more experienced
4851 user will not have to worry about it, though.
4852
4853 Linux systems based on a 2.6.x kernel (like Clonezilla Live and
4854 SystemRescueCD) provide all the necessary support to identify a system's
4855 disk configuration, with just a couple of commands.
4856
4857 Example 1
4858 ---------------------
4859 The first system I have to work with is a dual-boot system (Windows -
4860 Linux), with two disks and two DVD-ROMs.
4861
4862 The first command will tell me what disks and partitions exist in the
4863 system. So here it is:
4864
4865 # cat /proc/partitions
4866 major minor #blocks name
4867
4868 3 0 312571224 hda
4869 3 1 23446836 hda1
4870 3 2 40957717 hda2
4871 3 3 245240257 hda3
4872 3 4 2923830 hda4
4873 3 64 244198584 hdb
4874 3 65 41945683 hdb1
4875 3 66 2104515 hdb2
4876 3 67 1 hdb3
4877 3 68 125909437 hdb4
4878 3 69 74236333 hdb5
4879
4880 The output of this command tells me that the system has two disks (hda
4881 and hdb) which are the primary master and slave devices.
4882
4883 The first disk contains four primary partitions (hda1-hda4) and the second
4884 one four primary partitions (hdb1-hdb4) and a logical one (hdb5). Wait a
4885 minute!!! this can't be right... In order to have a logical partition, I
4886 must have a primary that contains it, which means that in this case I can't
4887 have four primary partitions. So what is really happening here is that I have
4888 two primary and two logical, plus an extended primary which contains them.
4889
4890 What remains to be found is what type of partitions they are. I will find
4891 that out by executing the following commands:
4892
4893 # fdisk -l /dev/hda
4894
4895 Disk /dev/hda: 320.0 GB, 320072933376 bytes
4896 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
4897 Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
4898
4899 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
4900 /dev/hda1 * 1 2919 23446836 7 HPFS/NTFS
4901 /dev/hda2 2920 8018 40957717+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
4902 /dev/hda3 8019 38549 245240257+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
4903 /dev/hda4 38550 38913 2923830 82 Linux swap / Solaris
4904
4905 # fdisk -l /dev/hdb
4906
4907 Disk /dev/hdb: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
4908 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
4909 Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
4910
4911 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
4912 /dev/hdb1 * 1 5222 41945683+ 83 Linux
4913 /dev/hdb2 5223 5484 2104515 82 Linux swap / Solaris
4914 /dev/hdb3 5485 14726 74236365 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
4915 /dev/hdb4 14727 30401 125909437+ 83 Linux
4916 /dev/hdb5 5485 14726 74236333+ 83 Linux
4917
4918 Ok, this clears things up. The first disk contains three Windows XP
4919 partitions (NTFS) and a Linux Swap partition. In fact, /dev/hda1 is the
4920 system "disk" for Windows, since Windows will always be installed in the
4921 first partition of the primary master disk.
4922
4923 The second disk, on the other hand, contains a Linux partition (/dev/hdb1),
4924 a Linux Swap partition /dev/hdb2, and an extended partition /dev/hdb3
4925 which contains two more Linux partitions (/dev/hdb4 and /dev/hdb5).
4926
4927 The final thing we need to know about this system is what CD/DVD-ROMs it
4928 has. So I execute the command:
4929
4930 # cat /proc/sys/dev/cdrom/info
4931 CD-ROM information, Id: cdrom.c 3.20 2003/12/17
4932
4933 drive name: hdd hdc
4934 drive speed: 0 126
4935 drive # of slots: 1 1
4936 Can close tray: 1 1
4937 Can open tray: 1 1
4938 Can lock tray: 1 1
4939 Can change speed: 1 1
4940 Can select disk: 0 0
4941 Can read multisession: 1 1
4942 Can read MCN: 1 1
4943 Reports media changed: 1 1
4944 Can play audio: 1 1
4945 Can write CD-R: 0 1
4946 Can write CD-RW: 0 1
4947 Can read DVD: 1 1
4948 Can write DVD-R: 0 1
4949 Can write DVD-RAM: 0 1
4950 Can read MRW: 1 0
4951 Can write MRW: 1 0
4952 Can write RAM: 0 1
4953
4954 The system has two DVD-ROMs, hdc which is the secondary master and is a
4955 DVD writer, and hdd which is the secondary slave and is a DVD reader.
4956
4957 At this point I will connect my USB stick, wait for a while and execute
4958 the command:
4959
4960 # cat /proc/partitions
4961 major minor #blocks name
4962
4963 3 0 312571224 hda
4964 3 1 23446836 hda1
4965 3 2 40957717 hda2
4966 3 3 245240257 hda3
4967 3 4 2923830 hda4
4968 3 64 244198584 hdb
4969 3 65 41945683 hdb1
4970 3 66 2104515 hdb2
4971 3 67 1 hdb3
4972 3 68 125909437 hdb4
4973 3 69 74236333 hdb5
4974 8 0 1007615 sda
4975 8 4 1006576 sda4
4976
4977 As you can see, we have two more lines here, that reflect the changes to
4978 our system (the connection of the USB device). So my USB stick is recognized
4979 by the system as sda, and the disk itself contains a VFAT file system.
4980
4981 Example 2
4982 ---------------------
4983 The second system is a Linux box with one SCSI disk and a CD-ROM. Again
4984 I issue the command:
4985
4986 # cat /proc/partitions
4987 major minor #blocks name
4988
4989 8 0 156290904 sda
4990 8 1 64228 sda1
4991 8 2 15735667 sda2
4992 8 3 15735667 sda3
4993 8 4 124744725 sda4
4994
4995 From its output I see I only have one disk sda, which contains four
4996 partitions.
4997
4998 Then I execute fdisk, which shows me that the disk contains one DOS and
4999 three Linux partitions.
5000
5001 # fdisk -l /dev/sda
5002 Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
5003 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
5004 Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
5005
5006 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
5007 /dev/sda1 1 8 64228+ 6 FAT16
5008 /dev/sda2 9 1967 15735667+ 83 Linux
5009 /dev/sda3 1968 3926 15735667+ 83 Linux
5010 /dev/sda4 3927 19456 124744725 83 Linux
5011
5012 Finally I query its CD-ROMs, by executing the command:
5013
5014 # cat /proc/sys/dev/cdrom/info
5015 CD-ROM information, Id: cdrom.c 3.20 2003/12/17
5016
5017 drive name: hda
5018 drive speed: 0
5019 drive # of slots: 1
5020 Can close tray: 1
5021 Can open tray: 1
5022 Can lock tray: 1
5023 Can change speed: 1
5024 Can select disk: 0
5025 Can read multisession: 1
5026 Can read MCN: 1
5027 Reports media changed: 1
5028 Can play audio: 1
5029 Can write CD-R: 1
5030 Can write CD-RW: 1
5031 Can read DVD: 1
5032 Can write DVD-R: 0
5033 Can write DVD-RAM: 0
5034 Can read MRW: 1
5035 Can write MRW: 1
5036 Can write RAM: 0
5037
5038 Which tells me that I only have an IDE CD-ROM, (hda), which is actually
5039 a CD writer.
5040
5041 Then I connect my USB stick, and I get:
5042
5043 # cat /proc/partitions
5044 major minor #blocks name
5045
5046 8 0 156290904 sda
5047 8 1 64228 sda1
5048 8 2 15735667 sda2
5049 8 3 15735667 sda3
5050 8 4 124744725 sda4
5051 8 16 1007615 sdb
5052 8 20 1006576 sdb4
5053
5054 Although it's the same stick I used with the previous system, which was
5055 recognized as sda there, now its name is sdb. So, its name depends on the
5056 system it is connected to, and will not always be the same.
5057
5058 SCSI disks when there are none!!!
5059 ****************************************
5060 I am confused!!! I am on a disk with two ATA (PATA) disks, but when I
5061 query the partition list, this is what I get:
5062
5063 # cat /proc/partitions
5064 major minor #blocks name
5065
5066 3 0 312571224 sda
5067 3 1 23446836 sda1
5068 3 2 40957717 sda2
5069 3 3 245240257 sda3
5070 3 4 2923830 sda4
5071 3 64 244198584 sdb
5072 3 65 41945683 sdb1
5073 3 66 2104515 sdb2
5074 3 67 1 sdb3
5075 3 68 125909437 sdb4
5076 3 69 74236333 sdb5
5077
5078 According to what's discussed up to now, the system seems to have two SCSI
5079 disks, but I know it actually has two ATA (PATA) disks. What's going on?.
5080
5081 What is really happening here is that you have one of the newest Linux
5082 kernels (using the libata disk driver), which shows ALL disks as SCSI. That
5083 does not mean that the system thinks it has SCSI disks, it just names them
5084 as such.
5085
5086 To make is clear, execute the commands:
5087
5088 # hdparm -i /dev/sda
5089
5090 /dev/sda:
5091
5092 Model=WDC WD3200AAJB-00TYA0, FwRev=00.02C01, SerialNo= WD-WCAPZ0648927
5093 Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec SpinMotCtl Fixed DTR>5Mbs FmtGapReq }
5094 RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=50
5095 BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=8192kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=?16?
5096 CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=268435455
5097 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
5098 PIO modes: pio0 pio3 pio4
5099 DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
5100 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5
5101 AdvancedPM=no WriteCache=enabled
5102 Drive conforms to: Unspecified: ATA/ATAPI-1,2,3,4,5,6,7
5103
5104 * signifies the current active mode
5105
5106 # hdparm -i /dev/sdb
5107
5108 /dev/sdb:
5109
5110 Model=WDC WD2500JB-00GVC0, FwRev=08.02D08, SerialNo= WD-WCAL76141931
5111 Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec SpinMotCtl Fixed DTR>5Mbs FmtGapReq }
5112 RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=57600, SectSize=600, ECCbytes=74
5113 BuffType=DualPortCache, BuffSize=8192kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=?16?
5114 CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=268435455
5115 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
5116 PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
5117 DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
5118 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5
5119 AdvancedPM=no WriteCache=enabled
5120 Drive conforms to: Unspecified: ATA/ATAPI-1,2,3,4,5,6
5121
5122 * signifies the current active mode
5123
5124 This is also valid for the CDs/DVDs of the system:
5125
5126 # cat /proc/sys/dev/cdrom/info
5127 CD-ROM information, Id: cdrom.c 3.20 2003/12/17
5128
5129 drive name: sr1 sr0
5130 drive speed: 0 126
5131 drive # of slots: 1 1
5132 Can close tray: 1 1
5133 Can open tray: 1 1
5134 Can lock tray: 1 1
5135 Can change speed: 1 1
5136 Can select disk: 0 0
5137 Can read multisession: 1 1
5138 Can read MCN: 1 1
5139 Reports media changed: 1 1
5140 Can play audio: 1 1
5141 Can write CD-R: 0 1
5142 Can write CD-RW: 0 1
5143 Can read DVD: 1 1
5144 Can write DVD-R: 0 1
5145 Can write DVD-RAM: 0 1
5146 Can read MRW: 1 0
5147 Can write MRW: 1 0
5148 Can write RAM: 0 1
5149
5150 While the hdparm shows they are ATA devices:
5151
5152 # hdparm -i /dev/sr0
5153
5154 /dev/sr0:
5155
5156 Model=HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H42L, FwRev=SL01 , SerialNo=K286CQF2231
5157 Config={ Fixed Removeable DTR10Mbs nonMagnetic }
5158 RawCHS=0/0/0, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=0
5159 BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=0kB, MaxMultSect=0
5160 (maybe): CurCHS=0/0/0, CurSects=0, LBA=yes, LBAsects=0
5161 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
5162 PIO modes: pio0 pio3 pio4
5163 DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
5164 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 *udma2 udma3 udma4
5165 AdvancedPM=no
5166 Drive conforms to: unknown: ATA/ATAPI-4,5,6,7
5167
5168 * signifies the current active mode
5169
5170
5171
5172

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