Archuseriso

A collection of Bash scripts for creating bootable Arch Linux images and USB drives with desktop environments. Also includes tools to compress an installed Arch Linux system into a bootable disk image.

• AUR Repository
• ISO Images
• IMG Disk Images
• iPXE Network Bootloader Images
• ZFS Packages

Based on Archiso.

Features

• Desktop profiles
• Language configuration
• Data persistence
• Filesystem choices: Ext4, Btrfs, F2FS, ZFS
• Data encryption
• ISO and IMG images
• ZFS support

Profiles

• Console
• Cinnamon
• Cutefish
• GNOME
• i3
• KDE Plasma
• LXQt
• MATE
• Sway
• Xfce

Installation

Archuseriso is available on the AUR: archuseriso.

Online images at http://dl.gnutux.fr/archuseriso include archuseriso.

Building ISO and Disk Images

Synopsis

aui-mkiso [options] <profile path>

Examples

Xfce ISO with default options (both commands work):

sudo aui-mkiso xfce
sudo aui-mkiso /usr/share/archuseriso/profiles/xfce/

KDE Plasma ISO with German language:

sudo aui-mkiso --language=de kde

GNOME ISO with additional packages and custom package directory:

sudo aui-mkiso --add-pkg=firefox-ublock-origin,ntop --pkg-dir=~/mypackages gnome

Xfce disk image:

sudo aui-mkiso -m 'img' xfce

See Writing Disc Images and Burning DVDs.

Creating a Bootable USB Drive with Persistence

Synopsis

aui-mkusb [options] <archuseriso iso image> <usb device>

Example

sudo aui-mkusb aui-xfce-linux_5_7_10-0724-x64.iso /dev/sdc

Disk Partitioning

GPT layout:

Partition	Filesystem	Content
#1	Ext4	Squashfs image
#2	EFI FAT	Boot
#3	Ext4/Btrfs/F2FS	Persistence

Btrfs Details

Two subvolumes for persistence: rootfs and home.

Installing to a USB Drive

Synopsis

aui-mkinstall [options] <archuseriso iso image> <usb device>

Example

sudo aui-mkinstall aui-xfce-linux_5_10_9-0121-x64.iso /dev/sdc

Disk Partitioning

GPT layout:

Partition	Filesystem	Content
#1	EFI FAT	Boot
#2	Ext4/Btrfs/F2FS	System

The systemd journal is configured in volatile mode to reduce disk I/O.

Disk Image

Bootable disk image with persistence.

Write to USB device (e.g., /dev/sdc):

cat aui-xfce-linux_6_2_8-fr_FR-0327-x64.img > /dev/sdc

Important: Resize the GPT partition table on the USB drive using parted, fdisk, or gparted.

Using parted:

echo Fix | sudo parted /dev/sdc ---pretend-input-tty print

The persistence partition is 128 MiB by default. Resize as needed.

See Writing Disk Images.

iPXE Network Bootloader

Network boot the latest live Xfce desktop from the Archuseriso server.

Download an iPXE image from http://dl.gnutux.fr/archuseriso/ipxe:

• aui-ipxe.iso: CD-ROM for legacy BIOS
• aui-ipxe.img: USB for legacy BIOS
• aui-ipxe-efi.iso: CD-ROM for x64 UEFI
• aui-ipxe-efi.img: USB for x64 UEFI
• aui-ipxe.efi: x64 UEFI binary

Boot the media to load the iPXE menu and start the live Xfce desktop.

For wireless on laptops, use USB tethering (iPXE Wi-Fi not supported).

Adding ZFS Support

Two methods:

1. Use --zfs-support to auto-build and add ZFS packages.
2. Use --pkg-dir <path> with pre-built ZFS packages.

Example:

sudo aui-mkiso --zfs-support xfce

Building ZFS Packages

Build zfs-utils, zfs-linux, and zfs-linux-headers against the current kernel:

sudo aui-buildzfs

ZFS Root Filesystem

Install to ZFS root using an ISO with ZFS support:

sudo aui-mkinstall --rootfs=zfs --username=foobar aui-xfce-linux_6_0_9-1123-x64.iso /dev/sdc

Using Docker

Download the Dockerfile from sources. Build the image:

sudo docker build -t archuseriso .

Run in container:

sudo docker run --privileged --rm -it archuseriso
[root@4dd3aab1018b /]# pacman -Q archuseriso

Limitation: Building ZFS packages in Docker does not work.

Compressing an Installed Arch Linux System

Mount the root filesystem (and home if separate) under a mount point.

Synopsis

aui-hd2aui [options] <path to root filesystem>

Example

For system on /dev/sdc2 (root) and /dev/sdc3 (home):

sudo mount /dev/sdc2 /mnt/rootfs
sudo mount /dev/sdc3 /mnt/rootfs/home
sudo aui-hd2aui /mnt/rootfs/

Disk Partitioning

GPT layout:

Partition	Filesystem	Content
#1	-	Stage 2 bootloader (Legacy)
#2	EFI FAT	Boot
#3	Ext4	Squashfs image
#4	Ext4	Persistence

Testing

Use aui-run to test ISOs or USB drives in QEMU.

Examples

Test ISO in BIOS legacy mode:

aui-run -i aui-xfce-linux_5_10_7-0116-x64.iso

Test ISO in UEFI mode:

aui-run -u -i aui-xfce-linux_5_10_7-0116-x64.iso

Test USB /dev/sdc in BIOS legacy mode:

sudo aui-run -d /dev/sdc

Test USB /dev/sdc in UEFI mode:

sudo aui-run -u -d /dev/sdc

Programs

• aui-hd2aui: Compress an Arch Linux system to a bootable disk image.
• aui-mkiso: Build bootable ISO or disk images.
• aui-mkusb: Create bootable USB with persistence from ISO.
• aui-mkinstall: Install to USB from ISO.
• aui-mkhybrid: Create hybrid bootable USB (combines aui-mkusb without persistence and aui-mkinstall).
• aui-buildzfs: Build ZFS packages from upstream OpenZFS sources.
• aui-run: Test ISOs and USB drives in QEMU.

Documentation

Limited to this README. Refer to Archiso documentation.

Key files:

• profiles/<profile name>/packages.x86_64: Package list
• profiles/<profile name>/profiledef.sh: Profile configuration

Known Issues

rEFInd Boot Manager may fail on some firmware.