archiso/docs

INDEX
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* Transfer ISO file to target medium (configs/releng)
  * To -> CD / DVD / BD
  * To -> USB-key / SD / HDD / SSD
    * PC-BIOS (MBR)
    * PC-BIOS (ISOHYBRID-MBR)
    * PC-EFI (GPT) [x86_64 only]
    * PC-EFI (ISOHYBRID-GPT) [x86_64 only]



*** Transfer ISO image to target medium (configs/releng)

ISO images names consist of: archlinux-<YYYY>.<MM>.<DD>-x86_64.iso

Where:
    <YYYY> Year
    <MM> Month
    <DD> Day


** To -> CD / DVD / BD

Note: All ISO images are booteable on a PC-BIOS via "El Torito" in no-emulation mode,
      All x86_64 ISO images are booteable on a PC-EFI via "El Torito" in no-emulation mode.

Nomeclature:
    <B> scsibus number
    <T> target number
    <L> lun number
    (Note: see cdrecord -scanbus, for these numbers)


1) Write it directly using your favorite recording program.
# cdrecord dev=<B>,<T>,<L> -dao archlinux-<YYYY>.<MM>.<DD>-x86_64.iso


** To -> USB Flash Drive (USB-key) / Memory card (SD) /
         Hard-Disk Drive (HDD) / Solid-State Drive (SSD)

Note: These steps are the general workflow, you can skip some of them,
      using another filesystem if your bootloader supports it,
      installing to another directory than "arch/" or using more than
      one partition. Just ensure that main boot params options
      (archisolabel= and archisobasedir=) are set correctly according to your setup.

Nomeclature:
<DEV-TARGET>:   Device node of the drive where ISO contents should be copied
                (example: /dev/sdx)
<DEV-TARGET-N>: Device node of the partition on <DEV-TARGET>
                (example: /dev/sdx1)
<MNT-TARGET-N>: Mount point path where <DEV-TARGET-N> is mounted
                (example: /mnt/sdx/1)
<ISO-SOURCE>:   Path to the ISO file archlinux-<YYYY>.<MM>.<DD>-x86_64.iso
                (example: ~/archlinux-2017.03.01-x86_64.iso)
<FS-LABEL>:     Represents the filesystem label of the <ISO-SOURCE>
                (example: ARCH_201703)


* PC-BIOS (MBR):

Note: Using here a MBR partition mode as example, but GPT should also works
      if machine firmware is not broken.
      Just ensure that partition is set with attribute "2: legacy BIOS bootable"
      and use gptmbr.bin instead of mbr.bin for syslinux.

1) Create one partition entry in MBR and mark it as "active" (booteable).
Note: Type "b" for FAT32, "83" for EXTFS or "7" for NTFS.
# fdisk <DEV-TARGET>

2) Create a FAT32, EXTFS or NTFS filesystem on such partition and setup a label.
Note: COW is not supported on NTFS.
# mkfs.fat -F 32 -n <FS-LABEL> <DEV-TARGET-N>
# mkfs.ext4 -L <FS-LABEL> <DEV-TARGET-N>
# mkfs.ntfs -L <FS-LABEL> <DEV-TARGET-N>

3) Mount target filesystem.
# mount <DEV-TARGET-N> <MNT-TARGET-N>

4) Extract ISO image on target filesystem.
# bsdtar -x --exclude=isolinux/ --exclude=EFI/ --exclude=loader/ -f <ISO-SOURCE> -C <MNT-TARGET-N>

5) Install syslinux bootloader on target filesystem.
# extlinux -i <MNT-TARGET-N>/arch/boot/syslinux

6) Unmount target filesystem.
# umount <MNT-TARGET-N>

7) Install syslinux MBR boot code on target drive.
# dd bs=440 count=1 conv=notrunc if=/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/mbr.bin of=<DEV-TARGET>


* PC-BIOS (ISOHYBRID-MBR):

Note: This method is the most easily, quick and dirty, but is the most limited
      if you want to use your target medium for other purposes.
      If using this does not work, use PC-BIOS (MBR) method instead.

1) Dump ISO file to target medium.
# dd if=<ISO-SOURCE> of=<DEV-TARGET>


* PC-EFI (GPT) [x86_64 only]

Note: Using here a GPT partition mode as example, but MBR should also works
      if machine firmware is not broken.

1) Create one partition entry in GPT (of type "ef00")
# gdisk <DEV-TARGET>

2) Create a FAT32 filesystem on such partition and setup a label.
# mkfs.fat -F 32 -n <FS-LABEL> <DEV-TARGET-N>

3) Mount target filesystem.
# mount <DEV-TARGET-N> <MNT-TARGET-N>

4) Extract ISO image on target filesystem.
# bsdtar -x --exclude=isolinux/ --exclude=EFI/archiso/ --exclude=arch/boot/syslinux/ -f <ISO-SOURCE> -C <MNT-TARGET-N>

5) Unmount target filesystem.
# umount <MNT-TARGET-N>


* PC-EFI (ISOHYBRID-GPT) [x86_64 only]

Note: This method is the most easily, quick and dirty, but is the most limited
      if you want to use your target medium for other purposes.
      If using this does not work, use PC-EFI (GPT) method instead.

1) Dump ISO file to target medium.
# dd if=<ISO-SOURCE> of=<DEV-TARGET>