AryaLinux is a Linux distribution that is built from scratch using readily available online source code. This makes AryaLinux independent of any other Linux distribution out in the wild. There are two aspects to using AryaLinux:
While using AryaLinux as a general purpose distro makes it similar to other distributions, where AryaLinux stands out is in its capability to churn out a distribution from scratch. The resulting distribution has very little dependency on AryaLinux itself and can exist independently and behave as a generic distribution where everything needs to be built from source. This means you can have a custom Linux like a custom car or bike – you decide the components that would go into the finished Linux, the systems on which it would run, the applications that would be packaged by default and also things as advanced as the kernel modules that needs to be built.
This article outlines the process of building a distro using the AryaLinux. The aryalinux builder DVD packages all the tools and scripts that one would need to carry out such a project. These scripts and tools make the whole process extremely simple and the entire process finishes in hours other than in weeks/months if carried out manually. One can also build AryaLinux from any existing distribution but it is recommended to use the AryaLinux live DVD for builds because the live DVD comes with all dependencies and pre-requisites installed in order to build AryaLinux.
Pre-requisites
You need to download the aryalinux builder DVD ISO and write it to a pen-drive or burn it to a DVD. If you are in windows then you can use unetbootin to write the ISO image to a pen-drive and if you are in Linux you can use the dd command to do the writing:
dd if=aryalinux-builder-2017-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdb
Here replace /dev/sdb with the device that corresponds to your pen drive. The ISO image can be burnt onto a DVD using any ISO image writing software on Windows or Linux.
Once you are done with the bootable live media, you need to boot your computer into the newly created bootable media(pen drive or DVD). On booting you would presented with a blue menu with options to boot into the builder and to boot into the builder in debug mode. Try booting in normal mode. It should work in most cases. In case you fail to get to the desktop, reboot the system and this time try the debug mode. Once the boot process is complete you would be taken to the desktop.
This is the XFCE desktop which has been configured slightly differently from the default to give a more Gnome2 like look. This is where we would be building AryaLinux.
Right click on the desktop to open up the terminal. In the terminal, type the following commands:
sudo su
cd /root/aryalinux/base-system
Once you are at the base system start the build script by running the following command:
./build-arya
The build script would take you through a series of questions that need to be answered before proceeding. The inputs that are needed are as follows:
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Input needed
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Description
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Example
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Bootloader Device
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The device on which bootloader(grub) would be installed. Usually this is your hard disk.
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/dev/sda
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Root Partition
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The root partition on which arya would be built and installed. You need to have an empty partition already created. This partition would be formatted so make sure you backup any data that you might need later that’s present in this partition
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/dev/sda1
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Home Partition
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The partition that would be used for /home.
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/dev/sda2
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Format Home partition
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If you respond ‘y’ to this question, the home partition would be formatted. Answer no to this question in case you have data in this partition that you would not like to loose. The default answer is ‘n’
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n
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Swap Partition
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The swap partition is used as virtual memory when RAM runs out. Usually swap partitions have size twice that of the RAM. If your system has more than 4 GB RAM there are good chances you don’t need this.
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/dev/sda3
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Format Swap Partition
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Answer ‘y’ to this question if you want the swap partition to be formatted
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‘y’
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Locale
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Your system locale. Locale is a code combination for your language and country.
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en_US.utf8
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OS Name
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You could give a name for your OS. Type it here. In case you do not give a name its assumed to be AryaLinux
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AryaLinux
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OS Version
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This is where you specify the version of your OS
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2017
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OS Codename
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A Codename is a fancy name for your current version.
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Spectrum
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Domain Name
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In case your system is a part of a network domain type it in here.
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aryalinux.org
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Keyboard Layout
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The code for your keyboard layout
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us
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Printer paper size
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The default paper size. Letter or A4
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A4
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Full Name
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Enter your full name here. In case you do not enter a name, the default is assumed to be AryaLinux
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AryaLinux
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Username
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Enter the username that you would use to log in. You should not use special characters in the username and no spaces. Usually by convention this is all lower-case.
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aryalinux
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Computer name
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This name would identify your computer in the network. The computer name should not contain spaces.
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aryalinux-spectrum
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Create backups
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Respond to this question with a ‘y’ if you want backups to be created at different stages like backup of the base-system, backup of base-system with x-server(in case you are going for it), backup of base-system with x-server and desktop environment(again if you are opting for it). Its safe to respond with a ‘n’ to this question. You need to have at least 50GB space in your root partition in case you respond with a ‘y’ here.
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n
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Install X Server
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In case you are planning on building Arya that would be deployed on a server, then respond with a ‘n’ here, else respond with a ‘y’. X-Server is that component of Linux systems that provides a Graphical user interface on top of the system.
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n
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Install Desktop Enviornment
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This is where you make your choice of desktop environment. There are four choices you can make here – XFCE, Mate, KDE and Gnome.
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–
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Advanced build options – Kernel configuration
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In case you choose ‘y’ for this question you would be asked to choose how the kernel would be configured. You can either make an appropriate choice here or go with the default option. |
1 |
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Root Password
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Enter the root(administrator) password for the system. |
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User Password
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Enter the password for the username you entered previously. |
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Timezone
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Respond to a series of questions about your location(continent and country) to specify your timezone. |
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Once all these questions are answered the build process would start off. You would see a lot of messages scrolling up the terminal. This is pretty normal. In fact if the messages stop scrolling for a very long time, it might be an indication that something is not normal. If your inputs are correct the process would take some time to complete depending on what components you chose and in the end you would have your Linux ready. Time for completion may vary drastically depending on the speed of the system and resources available as well as the internet connection speed. These are rough time estimates on an i3 system with 4GB RAM:
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Component
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Time taken
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Base System
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~ 5 hours
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Base System with X-Server
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~ 7 hours
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Base System with X-Server and desktop environment
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~ 15 – 18 hours depending on the desktop environment, XFCE being the least and Gnome being the most.
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Once the process is done you can restart the system and log in to your newly built arya(or your own Linux whatever you want to call it). The boot menu would be shown in the beginning from where you could choose the first option to log into your freshly built system.
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