FAQ for grml
Up2date: applies to Grml version 2024.02
- What is Grml?
- What are grml32 / grml64 and grml96?
- What is the difference between grml-full and grml-small?
- Where do I get Grml?
- What does Grml mean?
- What about the release name?
- Requirements for running Grml
- Which boot options does Grml support?
- Why is Grml using systemd?
- Are there any known issues with this release? How about reporting bugs?
- How do I boot Grml from a USB stick?
- Is it possible to store my settings?
- What are the passwords of users on Grml?
- How do I find out the version of Grml
- How do I change the language/keyboard settings?
- Which window managers can I use?
- Where are my LVM devices?
- Where are my Software-RAID devices?
- Which ways exist to boot Grml?
- How do I configure timezone on my Grml system?
- Is it possible to install Grml to harddisk?
General
What is Grml?
Grml is a bootable live system (Live-CD) based on Debian. It is not necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Grml includes a collection of GNU/Linux software especially for system administrators. It specializes on administrative tasks like installation, deployment and system rescue.
What are grml32 / grml64 and grml96?
- grml32-full: 32bit version (kernel and userspace)
- grml64-full: 64bit version (kernel and userspace)
- grml96-full: multi boot version (featuring the grml32-full and grml64-full ISOs combined on one ISO)
Unless you've a good reason to really choose the 32bit flavour we strongly encourage you to use either the grml64 or the grml96 flavour.
What is the difference between grml-full and grml-small?
grml-small provides a reduced set of available software compared to grml-full. It provides the same Linux kernel image as grml-full and is fully binary compatible. Choose the grml-small flavour if size - for whatever reason - really matters to you.
Where do I get Grml?
Grml is open source, you can download it from the mirrors listed at grml.org/download/.
What does Grml mean?
Grml comes close to 'argl' or 'grrr' in English. People use this when they want to express their dissatisfaction with software (amongst other things).
What about the release name?
Codename of Grml 2024.02 is "Glumpad". This is an austrian word for odds and ends, bits and pieces, useless stuff. Related words in Austrian are "Klumpert" and "Krimskrams", though the 'glum' and 'pad' might make the pronunciation more interesting.
Requirements for running Grml
- Intel-compatible CPU (i686 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher; although some i586 processors e.g. the 'AMD Geode' are still supported)
- >=576MB of RAM (>=1GB recommended)
- either a bootable CD-/DVD-ROM drive, a USB-boot capable system or a network card for booting via network/PXE (check out grml-terminalserver)
What does accessibility at Grml mean?
The Grml kernel includes support for speakup. For software, brltty and espeakup are included.
Which boot options does Grml support?
Check out the grml-cheatcodes file (also available via grml.org/cheatcodes/). Of course the command-line parameters of the Linux kernel applies to Grml as well.
Why is Grml using systemd?
The switch from file-rc to systemd happened for various reasons. Grml used file-rc for many years, mainly because it provided a better way to control startup behavior via its /etc/runlevel.conf configuration than with using sysvinit. Though for us Grml developers this also meant that whenever there have been any changes in Debian's startup configuration we had to compare our /etc/runlevel.conf setup with what a normal Debian system would give us. Users who wanted to remaster Grml with a custom startup procedure as well had to practically fork maintenance of the /etc/runlevel.conf file. This didn't only mean tracking new features/services, but also solve any possible issues around it - duplicating efforts and wasting developers time unnecessarily. Lately we also started to see problems that no one else seemed to have (or cared about enough), for example with multiple network cards we ran into race-conditions with resolvconf. Problems like that turned out to be release stoppers for us.
systemd on the other hand provides great documentation, service supervision, takes care of parallel service startup and is the default init system on most Linux distributions nowadays. This means more users, better testing and integration. Logging, startup time investigation (to get a fast boot procedure) and identifying failed service startups with sysvinit/file-rc was always hard, unreliable or even impossible under certain conditions. bootlogd was unreliable (while `journalctl -b` is available out-of-the-box with systemd), bootchart was not nicely integrated (while systemd-analyze blame/critical-chain works out-of-the-box) and we aren't aware of any equivalence for e.g. `systemctl --failed`.
It also turned out that it gives users who want to remaster Grml (or build their very own ISOs from scratch using grml-live) more flexibility and control over the startup process. systemd's override.conf mechanism and preset feature provides the flexibility to overwrite unwanted behavior, without losing the option to use existing defaults.
We think it's good that systemd is actively maintained and receives attention. The sysvinit/file-rc ecosystem was stagnating/non-existent for too many years. Grml used its own initrd implementation in its very beginnings, until a more broadly available initramfs-tools / live-boot solution appeared, broadening the user base, sharing goals amongst different (live) distributions. Back in the days Grml - like many other live distributions - had to implement hardware recognition on its own. While udev received lots of complaints back then, its integration actually solved all the hardware recognition problems for the good. systemd's vision of stateless systems is something which helps building live systems like Grml.
While we don't claim that systemd is perfect and doesn't have its issues and drawbacks (like any software), we're happy about its existence and more than happy about development and support by Debian's systemd folks.
Are there any known issues? How about reporting bugs?
Please visit the bug webpage.
Features
How do I boot Grml from a USB stick?
Check out the grml2usb manpage and the grml-wiki page "Boot Grml from usb-stick/firewire-device".
Is it possible to store my settings?
Yes, using the persistency feature.
What are the passwords of users on Grml?
There are no default passwords - all accounts are locked by default for security reasons. Even local logins are not possible (unless you set a password or create new user accounts as root). You can create valid passwords using "sudo passwd [username]" from the shell individually. With the boot option 'ssh' a password for the users 'root' and 'grml' is and SSH login is enabled.
How do I find out the version of Grml
Run 'grml-version' or use the following command:
$ cat /etc/grml_version
How do I change the language/keyboard layout?
The default language of the Grml system is English (en_US.UTF-8). All other locales are removed by default. But it is possible to change the keyboard layout via either using 'grml-quickconfig', the boot option(s) 'lang', 'keyboard' and 'xkeyboard' or via executing grml-lang when Grml is already running.
Boot option examples:
grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
# german keyboard layout and german $LANG, $LC_ALL,
# $LANGUAGE...
grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
# and you will get german keyboard and austrian
# language variables
'grml-lang' example:
% grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
Note: Run 'grml-setlang' to get a dialog based frontend for '/etc/default/locale'.
Which window managers can I use?
Starting with the 2011.12 release Grml provides Fluxbox as window manager.
Where are my LVM devices?
LVM (Logival Volumes) is not started by default to avoid any possible damage to your data. To activate present LVM devices execute (replace "$name" with the name of the PV):
# Start lvm2-pvscan@$name
or if you don't know its name and to enable all present ones, use:
# vgchange -ay
If you want to enable LVM by default just boot using the 'lvm' boot option which automatically enables LVM.
Where are my Software-RAID devices?
Software-RAID (usually known as the mdadm stuff) is not started by default to avoid any possible damage to your data. To get access to present SW-RAID devices just execute:
# mdadm --asssemble --scan
If you want to enable SW-RAID by default just boot using the 'swraid' boot option which enables automatic assembling of software raid arrays.
Which ways exist to boot Grml?
Of course running from CD/DVD is a common way to boot Grml. But Grml provides many more ways to boot:
It is possible to boot Grml via USB (e.g. USB stick or harddisk), firewire, or running from a Compact Flash disk. It works out of the box; you don't need to modify anything. Check out the usb webpage in the grml-wiki for more details.
Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a floppy disk? Take a look at btmgr, ubcd4win or sbm. They provide support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy disk.
grml-terminalserver makes it possible to boot your system via network using PXE (Preboot Execution Environment). If your network card does not provide support for booting via PXE you can still boot it either using the provided grub image by grml-terminalserver (for example via floppy drive) or using gPXE. For more information, refer to the grml-terminalserver webpage.
How do I configure timezone on my Grml system?
Availabe boot options:
grml utc # set UTC, if your system/hardware clock is set to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) grml localtime # Hardware Clock is set to local time (LOCAL), this is the default grml tz=$option # set timezone to corresponding $option, usage example: tz=Europe/Vienna, defaults to UTC if unset
Further information: manpages hwclock(8), tzselect(1) and tzconfig(8); Debian GNU/Linux System Administrator's Manual Chapter 16 - Time and TimeZoneChanges in the Debian-Wiki.
Is it possible to install Grml to harddisk?
No. If you want to get a Debian system take a look at grml-debootstrap (or use the Debian Installer instead).
Software
Which package(s) and which version is available?
If you want to get details about the provided packages and the package versions without booting the Grml ISO check out the dpkg_... files in the Debian-Information section on grml.org/files/.
Why is Zsh the default shell?
Short answer: because Zsh rocks, really!
Long(er) answer: If you don't know Zsh take a look the Grml Zsh reference card.
If you are a Bash user and don't know Zsh yet, don't be afraid. Bash is largely a subset of Zsh and you don't have to throw away your knowledge about shell stuff.
Support / Unanswered stuff
Further questions
Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or in the provided documentation (execute "grml-info" on your Grml system for offline documentation)? Also check out 'grml-tips $KEYWORD' on your Grml system. Take a look at the Grml website and the grml-wiki. A good place to become part of the community is the Grml mailinglist.
Commercial Support
You want to deploy Grml in your data center, use it as part of your business or have an emergency case? You're happy with Grml but would like to get your very own live system (providing your favourite software selection, special configuration, setup and a custom bootsplash)? Please get in touch with us.
