Tazinst Manual¶

NAME¶

Tazinst — Tiny autonomous zone installer manager

SYNTAX¶

tazinst [command] <setting> <value> <file>

DESCRIPTION¶

Tazinst is a lightweight SliTaz HDD installer. It installs SliTaz to a hard drive from any local media such as a Live-CD, a LiveUSB key, an ISO image located on one of your disks, or from the web by automatically downloading a SliTaz image.

Tazinst can format the target partition to ext2, ext3 or ext4. The home partition can be installed on another partition and if need be, formatted before installation into any one of the available formats. Tazinst may upon request install a bootloader on the target disk. A dual-boot with an existing Windows™ partition is possible — finding the Windows™ partition can either be done automatically or manually specified.

Tazinst can also update SliTaz installed on a hard disk partition which is handy in case of version changes. In this case, SliTaz is updated, any data in /home is preserved and additional packages are reinstalled on to the new version.

Tazinst was created independently for the needs of the SliTaz GNU/Linux mini distribution.

Tazinst is written from scratch in shell script and is compatible with Busybox Ash and Bash. Tazinst is licensed under the GNU Free GPL v3.

Known limitations¶

Tazinst doesn’t allow SliTaz to boot on (U)EFI systems (mostly Windows™ 8 systems), except in BIOS compatibility mode.

SETTINGS¶

Tazinst installer is able to perform an installation automatically based on a few settings.

mode:

Installation mode that will be performed by tazinst. Type tazinst help mode in order to have a list of supported modes.

media:

The media containing the SliTaz source files, either cdrom (SliTaz LiveCD), usb (SliTaz LiveUSB), iso (ISO image of SliTaz), or web (ISO image on the Web).

source:

The name of the source file containing SliTaz. It depends on the type of media:

cdrom:	unused
usb:	name of the partition on the host USB device. Type tazinst list usb to list USB partitions.
iso:	name of the ISO file, example: `~/slitaz-rolling.iso`. Type tazinst list iso to list ISO files on your disks.
web:	name of the image on the web, example: `stable cooking rolling base core gtkonly justx`, for a full list type tazinst list web, or enter the full URL of the image, example: `http://mirror.slitaz.org/iso/cooking/slitaz-cooking.iso`.

root_uuid:

The name of the target partition SliTaz will install to. Type tazinst list uuid to list partitions on your disks.

root_format:

Optional. If this setting is used, the target partition will be formatted in the file system specified, otherwise the partition will be cleaned and /home will be preserved. Type tazinst help format to get the list of all supported filesystems, and tazinst list root_format to see filesystems already installed on your system.

home_uuid:

Optional. A separate home partition may be created if needed. This setting indicates if need be, the name of the partition to receive the /home directory.

home_format:

Optional. If this setting is used, a separate /home partition will be created, this partition will be formatted in the file system specified.

hostname:

Optional. Hostname of the system, slitaz by default.

root_pwd:

Optional. Superuser [root] password, root, by default.

user_login:

Optional. First user name, tux by default.

user_pwd:

Optional. First user password, tux by default.

bootloader:

Optional. Install a bootloader. Usually you should set it to auto unless you want to use an already installed bootloader on your system, install a bootloader by hand yourself or install a specific bootloader. In this case type tazinst help bootloader to list supported bootloaders.

winboot:

Optional. If a bootloader is installed, this setting indicates the partition containing Windows™ to implement a dual-boot. It can also be set to auto, in this case the dual-boot will be on the first Windows™ partition. Type tazinst list winboot to see values tazinst automatically detects.

COMMANDS¶

new:

Generates a new self-documenting install file containing settings which, when set up as required by the user, will allow tazinst to execute an unattended installation. The default file is ./tazinst.rc, but an optional file name may be given as a parameter.

Examples:

tazinst new
tazinst new /var/lib/tazinst.conf

set:

Assign a new value to a given setting.

Examples:

tazinst set mode install
tazinst set mode install /var/lib/tazinst.conf

unset:

Unset, clears a setting.

Examples:

tazinst unset mode
tazinst unset mode /var/lib/tazinst.conf

get:

Get the value of a setting. Without a parameter, gets the values of all settings.

Examples:

tazinst get
tazinst get mode
tazinst get mode /var/lib/tazinst.conf

check:

Check a setting for errors. Without a parameter, checks all settings.

Examples:

tazinst check
tazinst check mode
tazinst check mode /var/lib/tazinst.conf

list:

List the system resources. Resources are:

mode	Available modes of install
media	Available media to install from. Example: cdrom is not listed on systems with no cdrom drive
usb	Partitions of USB disks
iso	ISO images located on local drives, in `/root`, and in all user’s home and first subdirectory
web	Predefined names of ISO images to download automatically from the Internet
format	Installed filesystems
bootloader	Available bootloaders
partition_table	Partition table schemes of local disks
winboot	Bootable Windows™ partitions

Examples:

tazinst list
tazinst list media

execute:

Performs a SliTaz install on a HDD based on data in the install file. If you selected to format your HDD, all data will be lost. If you do not, all data except for any existing /home directory will be removed, (the home directory will be kept as is).

Examples:

tazinst execute
tazinst execute /var/lib/tazinst.conf

clean:

Remove installation and log files.

Examples:

tazinst clean
tazinst clean /var/lib/tazinst.conf

log:

Display the last log file contents and exit.

Example:

tazinst log

version:

Print the version information and exit.

Example:

tazinst version

usage:

Print a short help and exit.

Example:

tazinst usage

help:

Print a short help for a given setting and exit. Without an argument, print a short help for all settings.

Example:

tazinst help mode

EXAMPLES¶

Install¶

How to Install SliTaz on a partition of your hard disk drive. The root partition is not formatted, all data except for any existing /home directory will be removed, (the home directory will be kept as is).

Create an install file:
```
# tazinst new
```
Set the mode as install:
```
# tazinst set mode install
```
Use a CD-ROM as source:
```
# tazinst set media cdrom
```
Select the partition to install SliTaz on:
```
# tazinst set root_uuid /dev/hda1
```
Install a bootloader:
```
# tazinst set bootloader auto
```
Execute an installation:
```
# tazinst execute
```

Complex Install¶

How to Install SliTaz on your hard disk drive with a separate home partition and a Windows™ dual-boot. The /home and root partitions are both formatted, (all existing data will be lost).

Create an install file:
```
# tazinst new
```
Set the mode as install:
```
# tazinst set mode install
```
Use a Live USB as source:
```
# tazinst set media usb
```
Select a partition on the Live USB:
```
# tazinst set source /dev/sda1
```
Select the partition to install SliTaz on:
```
# tazinst set root_uuid /dev/hda1
```
Format / as ext4:
```
# tazinst set root_format ext4
```
Use a separate /home partition:
```
# tazinst set home_uuid /dev/hda2
```
Format /home as ext2:
```
# tazinst set home_format ext2
```
Install a bootloader:
```
# tazinst set bootloader auto
```
Set up a Windows™ dual-boot:
```
# tazinst set winboot auto
```
Execute an installation:
```
# tazinst execute
```
Remove any traces behind:
```
# tazinst clean
```

Upgrade¶

How to upgrade an already installed SliTaz system on your hard disk drive. Your /home /etc /var/www directories will be kept, all other directories will be removed. Any additional packages added to your old SliTaz system will be updated as long you have an active internet connection.

Create an install file:
```
# tazinst new
```
Set the mode as upgrade:
```
# tazinst set mode upgrade
```
Use web as source:
```
# tazinst set media web
```
Select the stable image:
```
# tazinst set source stable
```
Select the partition containing SliTaz to upgrade:
```
# tazinst set root_uuid /dev/hda1
```
Install a bootloader:
```
# tazinst set bootloader auto
```
Execute an installation:
```
# tazinst execute
```

Tips¶

Not all settings are used depending on the mode of install. List all settings to see which you need to edit:
```
# tazinst get
```
Check your settings before executing install:
```
# tazinst check
```

FILES¶

INSTALL FILE¶

Settings are saved in the install file, then used by tazinst to execute an unattended installation. The default file is ./tazinst.rc, but an optional file name may be given as a parameter. The install file is self-documented. The clean command erases this file.

SYSTEM FILE¶

The /etc/slitaz/tazinst.conf configuration file allows you to change the default settings of tazinst in case you want to use default custom values.

All settings are customisable, if a particular setting is missing, just add the name of the setting in caps and enter the new value.

Example:

If you intend to always install SliTaz from the same ISO on the web, you just have to modify or add the following values:

MEDIA="web"
SOURCE="stable"

LOG FILE¶

The file /var/log/tazinst.log contains a log of the install process. The clean command erases this file.

MAINTAINERS¶

Christophe Lincoln <pankso@slitaz.org>
Dominique Corbex <domcox@slitaz.org>