# Created 2024-03-06 Wed 13:12 #+title: Carbs Linux Installation Guide #+author: Cem Keylan These are the step-by-step instructions for installing Carbs Linux. It can be acquired as plain-text to be viewed offline with a pager from [[https://carbslinux.org/install.txt]]. #+begin_src sh curl -sL https://carbslinux.org/install.txt | less #+end_src #+toc: headlines 3 local * Preparing Environment To install Carbs Linux, you will need a Live Linux ISO. For that purpose, you can obtain a Gentoo or Void Linux live image. You can follow their instructions to boot and setup your network. You will need the following programs in order to install Carbs Linux: - tar - wget - xz - some form of base utilities (coreutils, sbase, busybox, etc.) Rest of these instructions will assume that you have set all of these up, and will continue on that point. ** Download First, we need to download the rootfs tarball. You can do the following in order to obtain the rootfs. If you are using an i686 machine, replace the =x86_64= with =i686=. We are setting this in a URL variable so that we don't have to write it every time. #+begin_src sh URL=https://dl.carbslinux.org/releases/x86_64 wget $URL/carbs-rootfs.tar.xz.sha256 sha256sum -c carbs-rootfs.tar.xz.sha256 #+end_src ** Signature verification It is highly recommended to verify the signature of the tarball. You will need the OpenBSD tool =signify(1)= for this. Many distributions provide a package for it, if you are using a Carbs Linux host, you can also install the package =otools= which provides =signify=. Download the signature first. #+begin_src sh wget $URL/carbs-rootfs.tar.xz.sig #+end_src The signature file should say something similar to #+results: : untrusted comment: verify with carbslinux-2023.02.pub : RWTe38zmx+iyuKEL5T84MJ5Y24jqenkTtQLJxbaMzOBS/NkGVl5J+Vn2B6vTV/gJK7LYBPS+IOXV5sEf+YLGCMcBYAGHCcP4xQ8= Grab the key (which probably should be the latest one) that is written on the file from [[https://dl.carbslinux.org/keys/]] so you can verify the signature. The latest Signify public key is also available on the [[https://git.carbslinux.org/repository][package repository]], so you can check the validity of the public key from multiple locations, or just copy paste that portion to a file and use that instead. #+begin_src sh PUBKEY=carbslinux-2023.02.pub wget https://dl.carbslinux.org/keys/$PUBKEY #+end_src You can now verify the distribution tarball with signify. #+begin_src sh signify -V -m carbs-rootfs.tar.xz -p $PUBKEY #+end_src If everything went alright, this should output: #+begin_example Signature Verified #+end_example ** Extracting the tarball You will need to extract the tarball to your desired location. For partitioning, you can follow [[https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Partitioning][this guide]]. This will assume that you will be mounting your root partition to =/mnt=. #+begin_src sh mount /dev/sdx1 /mnt tar xf carbs-rootfs.tar.xz -C /mnt #+end_src * Chroot Chroot into Carbs Linux by running the chroot helper inside the rootfs! #+begin_src sh /mnt/bin/cpt-chroot /mnt #+end_src ** Setting up repositories Newest tarballs do not come with repositories, so you will need to manually obtain them, and set your =CPT_PATH= environment variable. Carbs Linux repositories can either be obtained by =git= or =rsync=. While rsync repositories are overall faster and smaller, git offers the whole history of the repository and a means to manipulate your repository as you like it. If you want to obtain the git repository, you will need to install =git= itself. The following guide will assume that you put the repositories into =~/repos/= directory, but you can put the repositories into any directory you want. So go ahead and create that directory: #+begin_src sh mkdir -p $HOME/repos #+end_src *** Obtaining from git Carbs Linux git repositories can be found both from the main server and GitHub (mirror). Here are both their repository links. You can clone any of them. - https://git.carbslinux.org/repository - https://git.sr.ht/~carbslinux/repository #+begin_src sh git clone git://git.carbslinux.org/repository $HOME/repos/carbs #+end_src *** Obtaining from rsync Carbs Linux rsync repositories live in rsync://carbslinux.org/repo. In order to obtain it, run the following: #+begin_src sh rsync -avc rsync://vaylin.carbslinux.org/repo $HOME/repos/carbs #+end_src *** Making the package manager use the repositories In your shell's configuration file, or in your =~/.profile= file, add the following lines: #+begin_src sh CPT_PATH=$HOME/repos/carbs/core CPT_PATH=$CPT_PATH:$HOME/repos/carbs/extra CPT_PATH=$CPT_PATH:$HOME/repos/carbs/wayland CPT_PATH=$CPT_PATH:$HOME/repos/carbs/community export CPT_PATH #+end_src ** Updating packages It is good practice to make sure your system is up to date, especially before building new packages. If there is an update for the package manager you will need to update twice. #+begin_src sh cpt-update && cpt-update #+end_src ** Installing packages Since you are operating on a really small base, you might need to build and install new programs to extend the functionality of your system. In order to build and install packages new packages in Carbs, you need to execute the following. "Package" is not actually a package and is given as an example. #+begin_src sh cpt-build package cpt-install package #+end_src ** Essential Software Here is a small list of software that you might want to have on your system as you are setting up. You might want to check the *Software* section in the full documentation to learn more about other packaged software. *BOOTLOADERS* - efibootmgr - grub *FILESYSTEMS* - e2fsprogs - dosfstools - ntfs-3g *NETWORKING* - dhcpcd - wpa_supplicant *TEXT EDITORS* - nano - vim *DOCUMENTATION* - carbs-docs - man-pages - man-pages-posix ** Obtaining the documentation All the documentation for Carbs Linux can be found on a single info manual to be viewed offline. You can obtain either =texinfo= or the =info= packages in order to view the documentation. #+begin_src sh # Install the documentation. cpt b carbs-docs && cpt i carbs-docs # Install either texinfo or the info package. We will be installing standalone info # as it doesn't need perl. cpt b info && cpt i info # You can then run info and navigate through the documentation. info carbslinux #+end_src * System Configuration After you have finished installing some extra packages, you can configure your system to your liking. ** Configuring hostname You might want to add a hostname, especially in a networked environment. Your hostname will default to 'carbslinux' unless you set this. #+begin_src sh echo your-hostname > /etc/hostname #+end_src ** Hosts file You can edit your /etc/hosts file, which is the static lookup table for host names. By default, there are two entries for localhost which are OKAY. You can replace the 'localhost' part of these entries to your hostname. #+begin_example 127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost ::1 localhost.localdomain localhost ip6-localhost #+end_example ** Creating a user Creating a new user is not strictly necessary, but it is highly recommended. Especially for building packages, it is the safest option to create an unprivileged user and using =doas= for doing operations that require =root= privileges. The code block below describes how to create a user (named =foo=), add them to the wheel group, and to give doas permissions to the wheel group #+begin_src sh # Create the new user adduser foo # Add the user to the wheel group addgroup foo wheel # Give root permission to the wheel group using doas echo permit persist :wheel >> /etc/doas.conf #+end_src You are also advised to take a look at the doas configuration file and the manual page of doas. After you are finished you can switch to the new user by running #+begin_src sh su foo #+end_src * Kernel Kernel isn't managed under the main repositories, even though you could package one for your personal use. Here is an [[https://github.com/cemkeylan/kiss-repository/tree/master/personal/linux][example kernel package]], which you will need to reconfigure for your specific setup if you want to make use of it. ** Obtaining the kernel sources You can visit the [[https://kernel.org]] website to choose a kernel that you want to install. Though only the latest stable and longterm (LTS) versions are supported. Note that kernel releases are quite rapid, and the version below is likely outdated, so don't run it verbatim. #+begin_src sh # Download the kernel and extract it wget https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/linux-5.19.4.tar.xz tar xJf linux-5.19.4.tar.xz # Change directory into the kernel sources cd linux-5.19.4 #+end_src *NOTE:* If you want to validate the kernel signature, install the =gnupg2= package, and follow the instructions provided at [[https://kernel.org/category/signatures.html]]. ** Kernel dependencies In order to compile the kernel you will need to install some dependencies. You will need =libelf=, and =bison= to compile the kernel. If you want to configure using the menu interface you will also need =ncurses=. #+begin_src sh # The package manager asks to install if you are building more than one package, # so no need to run 'cpt i ...' cpt b libelf ncurses #+end_src In the vanilla kernel sources, you need perl to compile the kernel, but it can be easily patched out. You will need to apply the following patch. Patch was written by [[https://github.com/E5ten][E5ten]]. You will need to obtain and apply the patch in the kernel source directory. #+begin_src sh wget https://dl.carbslinux.org/distfiles/kernel-no-perl.patch patch -p1 < kernel-no-perl.patch #+end_src ** Building the kernel Next step is configuring and building the kernel. You can check Gentoo's [[https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Kernel/Configuration][kernel configuration guide]] to learn more about the matter. Overall, Gentoo Wiki is a good place to learn about configuration according to your hardware. The following will assume a monolithic kernel. #+begin_src sh make menuconfig make install -Dm755 $(make -s image_name) /boot/vmlinuz-linux #+end_src * Making your system bootable In order to be able to boot your fresh system, wou will need an init-daemon, init-scripts and a bootloader. The init daemon is already provided by busybox, but you can optionally change it. ** Bootloader In the main repository, there is efibootmgr and grub to serve as bootloaders. efibootmgr can be used as a standalone bootloader, or can be used to install grub in a UEFI environment. efibootmgr is needed unless you are using a device without UEFI support (or you really want to use BIOS for a reason). *** GRUB BIOS installation #+begin_src sh cpt b grub && cpt i grub grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sdX grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg #+end_src *** GRUB UEFI installation #+begin_src sh cpt b efibootmgr && cpt i efibootmgr cpt b grub && cpt i grub grub-install --target=x86_64-efi \ --efi-directory=esp \ --bootloader-id=CarbsLinux grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg #+end_src ** Init scripts Only thing left to do is installing the init-scripts, and now you are almost ready to boot your system! #+begin_src sh cpt b carbs-init && cpt i carbs-init #+end_src ** Fstab You can now manually edit your fstab entry, or you can use the genfstab tool. If you want to use the tool, exit the chroot and run the following: #+begin_src sh wget https://github.com/cemkeylan/genfstab/raw/master/genfstab chmod +x genfstab ./genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab #+end_src * Post-installation The base installation is now complete, you can now fine tune your system according to your needs. Rest of these instructions are completely optional. You can check the rest of the documentation to learn more about the system. ** IRC The IRC channel for Carbs Linux is located in =#carbslinux= on [[https://libera.chat][libera.chat]]. You can install the =catgirl= package from the repository, or use a client of your preference to join. Feel free to ask for help, or have a general chat. ** KISS repositories There have been recent changes to the =kiss= package manager that breaks compatibility with =cpt=. These changes throw away the entire premise of their "static" packaging system. =cpt= will never implement those changes, so don't expect any KISS package that was changed during or after July 2021 to work with =cpt=.