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macmpi f7571ac6e5
Merge pull request #16 from macmpi/dev
Update README.md
2023-08-02 17:05:02 +02:00
macmpi aa87d4b540
Update README.md 2023-08-02 17:04:00 +02:00
macmpi 545118421a
Merge pull request #15 from macmpi/dev
Update README.md
2023-08-02 16:12:26 +02:00
macmpi bfd9056fed
Update README.md 2023-08-02 16:10:52 +02:00
macmpi c8c85d6e23
Merge pull request #14 from macmpi/dev
Update README.md
2023-08-02 16:05:19 +02:00
macmpi 49a9f625ca
Update README.md 2023-08-02 16:01:12 +02:00
1 changed files with 6 additions and 5 deletions

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@ -3,21 +3,22 @@
[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 bootstrap[^1] a headless system (leveraging Alpine distro's `initramfs` feature): it starts a 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.
This repo provides an **overlay file** to initially bootstrap[^1] a headless system (leveraging Alpine distro's `initramfs` feature): it starts a 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.\
An optional script may be launched at startup, to perform automated actions/setup.
## Setup 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)[^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@<IP>`\
Just add [**headless.apkovl.tar.gz**](https://is.gd/apkovl_master)[^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](#extra-configuration) if using wifi), system can then be remotely accessed with: `ssh root@<IP>`\
(system IP address may be determined with any IP scanning tools such as `nmap`).
As with Alpine Linux initial bring-up, `root` account has no password initially (change that during setup!).\
From there, actual system install can be performed as usual with `setup-alpine` for instance (check [wiki](https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Alpine_setup_scripts#setup-alpine) for details).
## Extra configuration:
Extra files may be added next to `headless.apkovl.tar.gz` to customise boostrapping configuration (check sample files):
- `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.
@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ Main execution steps are logged in `/var/log/messages`.
[^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 ?
## Want to tweak more ?
This repository may be forked/cloned/downloaded.\
Main script file is [`headless.start`](https://github.com/macmpi/alpine-linux-headless-bootstrap/blob/main/overlay/etc/local.d/headless.start).\
Execute `./make.sh` to rebuild `headless.apkovl.tar.gz` after changes.