From c196fb2841ae69818ae7367489858546cad90fa3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: macmpi Date: Tue, 16 May 2023 22:29:06 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] Update readme with improved state preservation --- README.md | 24 +++++++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index ff87050..e182ec4 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,16 +1,16 @@ -# Deploy Alpine Linux on a headless system +# Install (or rescue) Alpine Linux on a headless system [Alpine Linux documentation](https://docs.alpinelinux.org/user-handbook/0.1a/Installing/setup_alpine.html) assumes **initial setup** is carried-out on a system with a keyboard & display to interract with.\ However, in many cases one might want to deploy a headless system that is only available through a network connection (ethernet, wifi or as USB ethernet gadget). -This repo provides an **overlay file** to initially boot such headless system (leveraging Alpine distro's `initramfs` feature): it starts a basic ssh server to log-into from another Computer, in order to then perform actual system setup. +This repo provides an **overlay file** to initially bootstrap[^1] a headless system (leveraging Alpine distro's `initramfs` feature): it starts a basic ssh server to log-into from another Computer, so that actual install on fresh system (or rescue on existing disk-based system) can then be performed remotely. ## Install procedure: Please follow [Alpine Linux Wiki](https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Installation#Installation_Overview) to download & create installation media for the target platform.\ Tools provided here can be used on any plaform for any install modes (diskless, data disk, system disk). -Just add [**headless.apkovl.tar.gz**](https://github.com/macmpi/alpine-linux-headless-bootstrap/raw/main/headless.apkovl.tar.gz)[^1] overlay file at the root of Alpine Linux boot media (or onto any custom side-media) and boot-up the system.\ +Just add [**headless.apkovl.tar.gz**](https://github.com/macmpi/alpine-linux-headless-bootstrap/raw/main/headless.apkovl.tar.gz)[^2] overlay file at the root of Alpine Linux boot media (or onto any custom side-media) and boot-up the system.\ With default network interface definitions (and SSID/pass file if using wifi), system can then be remotely accessed with: `ssh root@`\ (system IP address may be determined with any IP scanning tools such as `nmap`). @@ -19,21 +19,23 @@ From there, actual system install can be performed as usual with `setup-alpine` Extra files may be added next to `headless.apkovl.tar.gz` to customise boostrapping configuration (check sample files): -- `wpa_supplicant.conf`[^2] (*mandatory for wifi usecase*): define wifi SSID & password. -- `interfaces`[^2] (*optional*): define network interfaces at will, if defaults DCHP-based are not suitable. -- `ssh_host_*_key*` (*optional*): provide custom ssh keys to be injected (may be stored), instead of using bundled ones[^1] (not stored). Providing an empty key file will trigger new keys generation (ssh server may take longer to start). -- `unattended.sh`[^2] (*optional*): create custom automated deployment script to further tune & extend actual setup (backgrounded). +- `wpa_supplicant.conf`[^3] (*mandatory for wifi usecase*): define wifi SSID & password. +- `interfaces`[^3] (*optional*): define network interfaces at will, if defaults DCHP-based are not suitable. +- `ssh_host_*_key*` (*optional*): provide custom ssh keys to be injected (may be stored), instead of using bundled ones[^2] (not stored). Providing an empty key file will trigger new keys generation (ssh server may take longer to start). +- `unattended.sh`[^3] (*optional*): create custom automated deployment script to further tune & extend actual setup (backgrounded). -**Goody:** seamless USB bootstrapping for PiZero devices (or similar supporting USB ethernet gadget networking):\ -Just add `dtoverlay=dwc2` in `usercfg.txt` (or `config.txt`), and plug USB cable into Computer port.\ +**Goody:** seamless USB-ethernet gadget boostrapping (PiZero for instance):\ +On supporting Pi devices, just add `dtoverlay=dwc2` in `usercfg.txt` (or `config.txt`), and plug USB cable into Computer port.\ With Computer set-up to share networking with USB interface as 10.42.0.1 gateway, one can log into device from Computer with: `ssh root@10.42.0.2` Main execution steps are logged in `/var/log/messages`. -[^1]: About bundled ssh keys: as this package is essentially intended to **quickly bootstrap** system in order to configure it, it purposely embeds [some ssh keys](https://github.com/macmpi/alpine-linux-headless-bootstrap/tree/main/overlay/etc/ssh) so that bootstrapping is as fast as possible. Those (temporary) keys are moved in RAM /tmp, so they will **not be saved/reused** once permanent configuration is set (with or without ssh server voluntarily installed in permanent setup). +[^1]: Initial boot fully preserves system's original state (config files & installed packages): a fresh system will therefore come-up as unconfigured. -[^2]: These files are linux text files: Windows/macOS users need to use text editors supporting linux text line-ending (such as [notepad++](https://notepad-plus-plus.org/), BBEdit or any similar). +[^2]: About bundled ssh keys: as this package is essentially intended to **quickly bootstrap** system in order to configure it, it purposely embeds [some ssh keys](https://github.com/macmpi/alpine-linux-headless-bootstrap/tree/main/overlay/etc/ssh) so that bootstrapping is as fast as possible. Those (temporary) keys are moved in RAM /tmp, so they will **not be saved/reused** once permanent configuration is set (with or without ssh server voluntarily installed in permanent setup). + +[^3]: These files are linux text files: Windows/macOS users need to use text editors supporting linux text line-ending (such as [notepad++](https://notepad-plus-plus.org/), BBEdit or any similar). ## How to customize ?