add mbr back to support extlinux and check for installation of mbr.

[forks/vmdebootstrap.git] / vmdebootstrap.8.in

diff --git a/vmdebootstrap.8.in b/vmdebootstrap.8.in
index 43cd944bfb58b3583db884e94f9c6e08c824fdbf..60e08cd52dfd7959ec91396cc5edb778726bab6c 100644 (file)
--- a/vmdebootstrap.8.in
+++ b/vmdebootstrap.8.in
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ vmdebootstrap \- install basic Debian system into virtual disk image
 [--customize=SCRIPT] [--hostname=HOSTNAME] [--user=USER/PASSWORD]
 [--serial-console | --no-serial-console] [--sudo | --no-sudo] [--owner=OWNER]
 [--bootsize=BOOTSIZE] [--boottype=FSTYPE] [--foreign=PATH] [--variant=VARIANT]
-[--no-extlinux]
+[--no-extlinux] [--squash] [--configure-apt] [--grub]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B vmdebootstrap
 installs a basic Debian system into a virtual disk image,
@@ -57,14 +57,30 @@ virtualization technology, such as
 or
 .BR qemu (1).
 Configure the virtual machine to use the image you've created.
-Then start the virtual machine,
+Then start the virtual machine, (see
+.B EXAMPLES
+)
 and log into it via its console to configure it.
-.PP
-Unless the \-\-no\-extlinux option is specified, the image will use
+The image has an empty root password and will not have networking
+configured by default. Set the root password before you configure
+networking.
+.SH BOOTLOADERS
+Unless the \-\-no\-extlinux or \-\-grub options are specified, the
+image will use
 .BR extlinux (1)
 as a boot loader.
-The imagehas an empty root password and will not have networking configured.
-Set the root password before you configure networking.
+.B bootsize
+is not recommended when using
+.B extlinux
+- use grub instead.
+Versions of grub2 in wheezy
+can fail to install in the VM, at which point vmdebootstrap will fall back to
+extlinux. It may still be possible to complete the installation of grub2 after
+booting the VM as the problem may be related to the need to use loopback
+devices during the grub-install operation. Details of the error will appear in the
+vmdebootstrap log file, if enabled with the \-\-log option. Note that
+.B grub-legacy
+is not supported.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .IP \-\-output=FILE
 write output to FILE, instead of standard output
@@ -93,7 +109,11 @@ enable DHCP on eth0
 .IP \-\-root-password=PASSWORD
 set root password
 .IP \-\-customize=SCRIPT
-run SCRIPT after setting up system
+run SCRIPT after setting up system. If the script does not exist in the current
+working directory, /usr/share/vmdebootstrap/examples/ will be checked as a
+fallback. The script needs to be executable and is passed the root directory of
+the debootstrap as the only argument. Use chroot if you need to execute binaries
+within the debootstrap.
 .IP \-\-hostname=HOSTNAME
 set name to HOSTNAME (debian)
 .IP \-\-user=USER/PASSWORD
@@ -116,6 +136,8 @@ Filesystem to use for the /boot partition. (default ext2)
 Path to the binfmt_handler to enable foreign support in debootstrap. e.g. /usr/bin/qemu-arm-static - note foreign debootstraps may take a signficant amount of time to complete and that debootstrap will retry five times if packages fail to install by default.
 .IP \-\-no\-extlinux
 Skip installation of extlinux. needs a customize script to make the image bootable. Useful for architectures where extlinux is not supportable.
+Depending on how the image is to be booted, the \-\-mbr option may also be
+necessary with extlinux.
 .IP \-\-squash
 Run mksquashfs against the final image using xz compression - requires
 squashfs-tools to be installed. The final file will have the .squashfs suffix. 
@@ -128,12 +150,7 @@ the VM. Can be useful if debootstrap fails to create it automatically.
 .IP \-\-grub
 Disable extlinux installation and configure grub2 instead. grub2 will be added to
 the list of packages to install. update-grub will be called once the debootstrap is
-complete and grub-install will be called in the image. Versions of grub2 in wheezy
-can fail to install in the VM, at which point vmdebootstrap will fall back to
-extlinux. It may still be possible to complete the installation of grub2 after
-booting the VM as the problem may be related to the need to use loopback
-devices during the grub-install operation. Details of the error will appear in the
-vmdebootstrap log file, if enabled with the \-\-log option.
+complete and grub-install will be called in the image.
 .SH Configuration files and settings:
 .IP \-\-dump-config
 write out the entire current configuration
@@ -176,6 +193,8 @@ Execute using qemu, e.g. on amd64 using qemu-system-x86_64:
 qemu-system-x86_64 ./test.img
 .PP
 (This loads the image in a new window.)
+.PP
+For further examples, including u-boot support for beaglebone-black, see /usr/share/vmdebootstrap/examples
 .SH NOTES
 If you get problems with the bootstrap process, run a similar bootstrap call directly and chroot into the directory to investigate the failure. The actual debootstrap call is part of the vmdebootstrap logfile. The debootstrap logfile, if any, will be copied into your current working directory on error.
 .PP
@@ -190,7 +209,9 @@ particularly if you need to do repeated builds.
 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 .BR debootstrap (8)
 ,
-.BR qemu (1)
+.BR qemu-system-x86_64 (1)
+,
+.BR grub-install (8)
 .
 .SH BUGS
 Please provide the config section of the logfile when reporting bugs, as well as the complete command line.