About

This project builds a Debian bootstrap for use as the build base for TurnKey GNU/Linux appliances.

A bootstrap is the minimal root filesystem in which packages can be installed. TurnKey uses the default Debian debootstrap tool to build a "minbase" variant Debian bootstrap, with the addition of a couple of packages.

Current supported architectures are:

• amd64 - aka x86_64
• arm64 - aka aarch64

An amd64 host can build both amd64 & arch64 bootstraps; an arm64 host can only build arm64.

Install

Requirements

An internet connection is required to download the Debian packages when building the bootstrap. There are also some dependencies that can be installed via apt. If running on a non-TurnKey system you will need to add the TurnKey apt repo to install the 2 TurnKey dependencies.

• TurnKey packages (from TurnKey apt repo):

  • fab
  • pool

• Debian packages - native arch builds - amd64 on amd64 / arm64 on arm64:

  • debootstrap

• Debian packages - arm64 built on amd64:

  • qemu-debootstrap
  • qemu-system-arm
  • qemu-user-static
  • binfmt-support

When building an arm64 bootstrap on amd64, the fab install-arm-on-amd-deps script can be used to install all deps.

** debootstrap Debian release transition note **

During a transition to a new Debian release occasionally you may need a newer version of debootstrap` than the one packaged for your host system. If the bootstrap fails to build for a Debian release newer than the host system, try upgrading to the debootstrap version of the bootstrap you are building. Installing a newer debootstrap deb is fine as it is a collection of shell scripts with minimal dependencies.

Download the newer deb and install with apt. E.g. to install the Debian 14/Forky debootstrap package on a v19.x TKLDev (Debian 13/Trixie):

# where XXXX is the debootstrap version

wget http://deb.debian.org/debian/pool/main/d/debootstrap/debootstrap_XXXX_all.deb
apt update
apt install ./debootstrap/debootstrap_XXXX_all.deb

Clone this repo

Once dependencies are installed, then simply clone this repo:

cd /turnkey
git clone https://github.com/turnkeylinux/bootstrap.git

Usage

This project uses a Makefile so building is as simple as running make. A few common usage scenarios are covered below, but for full details about the possible env vars that can be used to control the process can be viewed via:

make help

Build and copy bootstrap

When building a bootstrap for local use build to the install target. I.e.:

make clean
make install

That will build the bootstrap, remove the paths noted in the removelist and copy to a directory named <DEBIAN_CODENAME>-$ARCH in BOOTSTRAPS_PATH. The default value of BOOTSTRAPS_PATH is $FAB_PATH/bootstraps/ (usually /turnkey/fab/bootstraps/) so the full path of a trixie amd64 bootstrap will be /turnkey/fab/bootstraps/trixie-amd64/

Build tarball

If you wish to share your bootstrap, do not specify a make target. With no target noted, it will generate a tarball of the bootstrap as an additional step. I.e.:

make clean
make

Build an alternate release bootstrap

To build a bootstrap for a Debian release other than the host, set the value of RELEASE. E.g. to build a Debian forky release on a v19.x (trixie) TKLDev:

make clean
RELEASE=debian/forky make install

Build arm64 bootstrap on amd64

To build a non-native arch bootstrap, set the value of FAB_ARCH. E.g. to build an arm64 forky bootstrap on v19.x TKLDev:

make clean
FAB_ARCH=arm64 RELEASE=debian/forky make install