.SH NAME
vmdebootstrap \- install basic Debian system into virtual disk image
.SH SYNOPSIS
+.B vmdebootstrap
+--image=FILE --size=SIZE [--mirror=URL] [--distribution=NAME]
+.PP
+.B vmdebootstrap
+[--output=FILE] [--verbose | --no-verbose] --image=FILE --size=SIZE
+[--tarball=FILE] [--mirror=URL] [--arch=ARCH] [--distribution=NAME]
+[--package=PACKAGE] [--custom-package=DEB] [--no-kernel]
+[--enable-dhcp | --no-enable-dhcp] [--root-password=PASSWORD]
+[--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]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B vmdebootstrap
installs a basic Debian system into a virtual disk image,
.PP
You need to run
.B vmdebootstrap
-as root.
+as root. If the \-\-verbose option is not used, no output will be
+sent to the command line. If the \-\-log option is not used, no
+output will be sent to any log files either.
.PP
To use the image,
you probably want to create a virtual machine using your preferred
Then start the virtual machine,
and log into it via its console to configure it.
.PP
-The image will be using
+Unless the \-\-no\-extlinux option is specified, the image will use
.BR extlinux (1)
as a boot loader.
-It has an empty root password.
-The image will not have networking configured.
+The imagehas an empty root password and will not have networking configured.
Set the root password before you configure networking.
.SH OPTIONS
+.IP \-\-output=FILE
+write output to FILE, instead of standard output
+.IP \-\-verbose
+report what is going on
+.IP \-\-image=FILE
+put created disk image in FILE
+.IP \-\-size=SIZE
+create a disk image of size SIZE (1000000000)
+.IP \-\-tarball=FILE
+tar up the disk's contents in FILE
+.IP \-\-mirror=URL
+use MIRROR as package source (http://cdn.debian.net/debian/)
+.IP \-\-arch=ARCH
+architecture to use (amd64)
+.IP \-\-distribution=NAME
+release to use (stable)
+.IP \-\-package=PACKAGE
+install PACKAGE onto system
+.IP \-\-custom-package=DEB
+install package in DEB file onto system (not from mirror)
+.IP \-\-no-kernel
+do not install a linux package
+.IP \-\-enable-dhcp
+enable DHCP on eth0
+.IP \-\-root-password=PASSWORD
+set root password
+.IP \-\-customize=SCRIPT
+run SCRIPT after setting up system
+.IP \-\-hostname=HOSTNAME
+set name to HOSTNAME (debian)
+.IP \-\-user=USER/PASSWORD
+create USER with PASSWORD
+.IP \-\-owner=OWNER
+change the owner of the final image from root to the specified user.
+.IP \-\-serial\-console
+configure image to use a serial console
+.IP \-\-serial-console-command
+set the command to manage the serial console which will be appended to
+/etc/inittab. Default is "/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 115200 vt100", resulting in a line
+.BR "S0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 115200 vt100"
+.IP \-\-sudo
+install sudo, and if user is created, add them to sudo group
+.IP \-\-bootsize=BOOTSIZE
+If specified, create a /boot partition of the given size within the image. Debootstrapping will fail if this is too small for the selected kernel package.
+.IP \-\-boottype=FSTYPE
+Filesystem to use for the /boot partition. (default ext2)
+.IP \-\-foreign=PATH
+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.
+.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.
+By default, mksquashfs is allowed to use all processors which may result
+in high load. Run mksquashfs separately if you need to control the number
+of processors used per run.
+.IP\-\-configure\-apt
+Use the specified mirror and distribution to create a suitable apt source inside
+the VM.
+.SH Configuration files and settings:
+.IP \-\-dump-config
+write out the entire current configuration
+.IP \-\-no-default-configs
+clear list of configuration files to read
+.IP \-\-config=FILE
+add FILE to config files
+.SH Logging:
+.IP \-\-log=FILE
+write log entries to FILE (default is to not write log files at all);
+use "syslog" to log to system log, or "none" to disable logging
+.IP \-\-log-level=LEVEL
+log at LEVEL, one of debug, info, warning, error, critical, fatal (default: debug)
+.IP \-\-log-max=SIZE
+rotate logs larger than SIZE, zero for never (default: 0)
+.IP \-\-log-keep=N
+keep last N logs (10)
+.IP \-\-log-mode=MODE
+set permissions of new log files to MODE (octal; default 0600)
+.SH Peformance:
+.IP \-\-dump-memory-profile=METHOD
+make memory profiling dumps using METHOD, which is one of:
+none, simple, meliae, or heapy (default: simple)
+.IP \-\-memory-dump-interval=SECONDS
+make memory profiling dumps at least SECONDS apart
.SH EXAMPLE
To create an image for the stable release of Debian:
.nf
.IP
-sudo ./vmdebootstrap --image test.img --size 1g \\
+sudo vmdebootstrap --image test.img --size 1g \\
--log test.log --log-level debug --verbose \\
--mirror http://mirror.lan/debian/
+.PP
+To run the test image, make sure it is writeable. Use the \-\-owner option to set mode 0644 for the specified user or use chmod manually:
+.IP
+sudo chmod a+w ./test.img
+.PP
+Execute using qemu, e.g. on amd64 using qemu-system-x86_64:
+.IP
+qemu-system-x86_64 ./test.img
+.PP
+(This loads the image in a new window.)
+.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
+.B debootstrap
+will download all the apt archive files into the apt cache and does not remove them before starting the configuration of the packages. This can mean that debootstrap can fail due to a lack of space on the device if the VM size is small. vmdebootstrap cleans up the apt cache once debootstrap has finished but this doesn't help if the package unpack or configuration steps use up all of the space in the meantime. Avoid this problem by specifying a larger size for the image.
+.PP
+Note that if you are also using a separate /boot partition in your options to vmdebootstrap, it may well be the boot partition which needs to be enlarged rather than the entire image.
+.PP
+It is advisable to change the mirror in the example scripts to a mirror closer to your location,
+particularly if you need to do repeated builds.
+.PP
.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.BR debootstrap (8).
+.BR debootstrap (8)
+,
+.BR qemu (1)
+.
+.SH BUGS
+Please provide the config section of the logfile when reporting bugs, as well as the complete command line.
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