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## using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

Stuff that has not yet gone into the official build.
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11 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2

### using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by meandean » Sat Oct 06, 2012 6:03 am

in the isolinux.cfg file union=aufs should be changed to union=unionfs
not sure the best way to handle this though

meandean
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### Re: using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by fsmithred » Sat Oct 06, 2012 12:21 pm

Right now, the way to do it is set edit_boot_menu="yes" in refractasnapshot.conf, and make the change manually. The config file will open in an editor before the filesystem is squashed. You can also set the editor in the config file. Defaults are nano and geany.
If you can say anything about the difference between aufs and unionfs, and why it needs to be changed, that would be helpful. (Save me some time.)

fsmithred
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### Re: using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by meandean » Sat Oct 06, 2012 4:12 pm

Hard to explain...or think how to explain...
One of those backend things that merges disparate elements into a single usable system. Some choose to use aufs others use unionfs.

meandean
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### Re: using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by meandean » Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:34 am

I think what I am going to do is just create a boot option for both choices.
label default
menu label knockoff (aufs systems)
kernel /live/vmlinuz
append initrd=/live/initrd.img boot=live ip=frommedia union=aufs quiet splash
label unionfs
menu label knockoff (unionfs systems)
kernel /live/vmlinuz
append initrd=/live/initrd.img boot=live ip=frommedia union=unionfs quiet splash

meandean
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### Re: using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by fsmithred » Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:15 pm

Does anyone here know of any other debian-based live distros that are using unionfs instead of aufs? Should this option be added to refractasnapshot?

fsmithred
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### Re: using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by meandean » Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:39 pm

I don't play with many others so not much help.
I know puppy went back and forth, not sure which they stopped on though.
The easiest way to check is download an iso and look at the isolinux.cfg file(s) to see which they are using. I can't even find the appropriate file in a lubuntuuuu image I have though.

meandean
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### Re: using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by fsmithred » Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:08 am

'buntu must be using aufs, because snapshot worked when I tried it (using refractasnapshot-9.0.6, which I think is in the testing folder at ibiblio.) I'll wait until somebody complains, then I'll tell them how to fix it.

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### Re: using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by fsmithred » Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:41 pm

I downloaded SolusOS-x86-1-2.iso (Eveline) and installed it with refractainstaller-gui-9.0.5. The installation booted, but it never got to the desktop or a proper login screen. I could drop to console with ctrl-alt-Fn. Tried restarting gdm3, tried stopping gdm3 and using startx or xinit, but with either of those, I got "command not found." Tried using apt-get, apt-cache and dpkg, but got messages about /var/lib/dpkg missing. Maybe the excludes file is too restrictive for solus, but that's just a guess.
Reinstalled using the native installer, and then I was able to create a snapshot (using refractasnapshot-gui-9.0.5) with "union=unionfs" in the boot line, and the iso booted normally. All this was done in vbox.
If you edit /usr/lib/refractasnapshot/iso/isolinux/isolinux.cfg and then upgrade refractasnapshot-base to a newer version, it'll overwrite the changes. There's a setting in the config file to use a different iso directory, so it's safer to copy the iso folder and make the changes in the copy, then point the script to the copy.
If you use the config option to edit the boot menu, it'll edit the copy in $work_dir, so any changes will be lost after the script finishes running, unless you set $save_work to "yes".

fsmithred
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### Re: using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by meandean » Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:18 pm

> fsmithred wrote:I downloaded SolusOS-x86-1-2.iso (Eveline)

You are doing better than me, I wasn't sure which was which. Like a dummy I ended up with alpha2! My tools seemed to work fine with alpha2 once I tweaked them a bit.

> and installed it with refractainstaller-gui-9.0.5. The installation booted, but it never got to the desktop or a proper login screen. I could drop to console with ctrl-alt-Fn. Tried restarting gdm3, tried stopping gdm3 and using startx or xinit, but with either of those, I got "command not found." Tried using apt-get, apt-cache and dpkg, but got messages about /var/lib/dpkg missing. Maybe the excludes file is too restrictive for solus, but that's just a guess.

Thats odd. I have been lazy in regards to playing with the refracta tools as I have trouble following the code in them. So not much I can figure out, mess with, help with...

> Reinstalled using the native installer, and then I was able to create a snapshot (using refractasnapshot-gui-9.0.5) with "union=unionfs" in the boot line, and the iso booted normally. All this was done in vbox.

Good to know.

> If you edit /usr/lib/refractasnapshot/iso/isolinux/isolinux.cfg and then upgrade refractasnapshot-base to a newer version, it'll overwrite the changes. There's a setting in the config file to use a different iso directory, so it's safer to copy the iso folder and make the changes in the copy, then point the script to the copy.

Got it.

> If you use the config option to edit the boot menu, it'll edit the copy in $work_dir, so any changes will be lost after the script finishes running, unless you set $save_work to "yes".

Hey I think I understood that.
I had some questions about forcefully installing grub to a partition but I will see if we have a more appropriate thread as I recall reading about that.
Where the heck is Nadir at anyway?

meandean
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### Re: using snapshot with SolusOS and probably others

by fsmithred » Wed Oct 10, 2012 3:45 pm

See page 4 of the zenity bloat thread for grub-in-partition discussion. I have a summary in my last post. Haven't done anything with it for awhile.
Saw your thread at SolusOS forum, and I'm thinking maybe it's not such a great idea to try to make the tools universal. There are many differences in the different debian-based distros, and it does make the code a lot harder to maintain and harder for a user to understand which options they might need to tweak. But I'm not giving up on it just yet. Might have to expand the documentation a bit to account for the differences (once I understand what they are.)

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