*** DRAFT ***

Contents

  1. Installation & Requirements
  2. Using
  3. Setup
  4. Customization
    1. Boot Screen
    2. Gnome
    3. Apt
    4. Optimization
    5. LiveCD
    6. Modules

Installation & Requirements

Download the reconstructor package. If using the tar.gz package, extract it using either the window manager's utilities or open a shell, and run tar zxvf reconstructor.tar.gz . Reconstructor can run from any directory. If using the debian package, open a shell and run sudo dpkg -i reconstructor.deb (dpkg will resolve dependencies).

/!\ Note: Reconstructor has only been tested on Ubuntu 6.06 and up. Results may vary...

Reconstructor depends on the following packages:

(!) To install these packages in Ubuntu, add the Universe and Multiverse repositories and run sudo apt-get install squashfs-tools gcc rsync libbogl-dev usplash-dev gpg dpkg-dev fakeroot apt-utils

Using

To run Reconstructor, open a shell, change directory (cd) into where it's extracted, and run sudo python reconstructor.py. To start Reconstructor with a language different from the system default, run LANGUAGE=[code] sudo python reconstructor.py, where [code] is the language code. For example, to run Reconstructor in French, run LANGAUGE=fr sudo python reconstructor.py.

r_welcome

Setup

The setup section creates the working directories for customization. /!\ You must select the "Create Remaster", "Create Root", and "Create Initial Ramdisk" options the first time (and anytime you remove the working directory). This creates the cd-rom directory tree, the root filesystem directory tree, and the initial ramdisk tree.

(!) If you are continuing from a previous session and want to keep the customizations, de-select the options. This will keep all previous customizations including installed software.

To use an ISO file (recommended; much faster) instead of a physical cd-rom, either enter the path to the ISO file in the LiveCD ISO filename textbox, or browse to the file and select it.

r_live_setup

Customization

Boot Screen

The boot screen section allows customization for the cd splash screen (the first one that is shown) as well as the usplash boot screen (the image shown after selecting boot options.) To generate a usplash library, click the "Generate" button. Select the source image (.png) and select where to save the library to. Reconstructor will generate the library and copy it to the remaster directories.

(!) For information on creating a usplash theme, see the Ubuntu Documentation.

r_live_customization_boot

Gnome

The Gnome section allows login, theme, and font customization. The Login section allows customization of GDM through themes as well as options such as XDMCP, sounds, and root login. To customize the GDM theme, either select one of the default themes or click the "..." button next to the theme selection combo box and import a custom theme. The custom theme can be a tar.gz or tar.bz2 package. Reconstructor will extract and install the theme into the live cd environment. You can then select the custom theme from the selection box. The same applies for the "Theme" section to select and import custom window themes and icons. The "Desktop" section allows for font and wallpaper customization.

(!) For GDM themes, window manager themes, icons, wallpaper and more, check Gnome-look.org.

r_live_customization_gnome

Apt

The APT section is for selecting Apt Repositories that will be available to the live cd during customization. Reconstructor will automatically select the correct repositories for your version of Ubuntu. For example, Reconstructor will add the Dapper repositories if you are using Ubuntu Dapper, the Edgy repositories if using Edgy, and so on and so forth.

/!\ You must also select the desired repositories here for the Modules to work (see the Modules section for more info).

r_live_customization_apt

Optimization

/!\ (currently for Dapper only)

The Optimization section if for advanced customization of startup and shutdown. Select the "Enable" checkbox to enable the startup options. Check the "Optimize Shutdown" checkbox to optimize the shutdown process. (!) These are experimental settings and you may or may not notice a difference.

(!) For more info on startup optimization look here and for shutdown optimization look here.

LiveCD

The LiveCD section is to customize the live environment. Options such as name, username, hostname, and password can be set here. This can be very useful for applications such as secure shell (ssh) where remote access is needed.

(!) Any value that is left blank will use the previously specified value or the Ubuntu default value. Blank passwords are not allowed for security reasons.

r_live_customization_livecd

Modules

Modules are basically shell scripts, which run inside the chrooted environment. This means, that it is possible to do nearly anything with these modules, which can be done with a shell script. A detailled documentation about the programming of Modules can be found at HowToModules.

r_live_customization_modules

It is possible to either execute the module directly in the chrooted environment or to process the module on the startup of the LiveCD (RunOnBoot). This is due to licensing issues, when the user has to accept the license of the package(s) installed by the module (e.g. Java).

Each module can be checked if it is up-to-date and it is automatically updated, when the "Update" button is clicked. The "View" button provides a view to the module source. The "Add" button can be used to add new Modules (see HowToModules) to the selection.

There is also the chance to install or remove any package by using the "Custom Apt-Get" lines. The installation/removal is pretty straight forward and is always executed directly, so there is no "RunOnBoot"-option for the custom packages.

The modules are sorted in different categories, which provides a good overview.

Docs/Using Reconstructor (last edited 2007-01-17 14:46:08 by EvanHazlett)