Todo list. Please add things, we can think about prioritising later.
Web and Documentation
- Please document somewhere the username/password of the default Debian live system user (i.e. "user"/"live"): some live systems are configured with a lockscreen that requires entering the user password to be unlocked
After every git commit, the live-manual is updated on https://live-team.pages.debian.net/live-manual/html/live-manual/index.en.html
Open: regularly publish the Debian packages and include in devel-manuals (807954)
- Will there be 32-bit live images for Bookworm (and later)?
No, unless volunteers are found. See https://lists.debian.org/debian-live/2023/09/msg00029.html
- Documentation of goals and supported features
- These need to be moved from this Wiki to a more suitable place
- Supported/maintained by the debian-live team
- Reproducible images for oldstable, stable, testing and unstable when using rebuild.sh
- Installation to HD using each installer: d-i and Calamares
- Installation to HD without a network adapter present
- Availability of all locales (via kernel parameters)
- Installation using regular d-i (all questions will be asked) via kernel parameters (currently untested)
Support for dracut instead of initramfstools (lb config --initramfs dracut-live)
- Support for architectures: amd64 and arm64
- Support Debian Blends: Debian Junior
- Support Debian Blends: Debian Hamradio
Weekly builds of testing images (https://get.debian.org/images/weekly-live-builds/amd64/iso-hybrid/)
Weekly tests of the testing images (https://openqa.debian.net/group_overview/18?only_tagged=1)
Regular tests for reproducibility (on Jenkinks), followed by functionality tests on openQA (daily: unstable, weekly: testing, monthly: stable, oldstable)
- Supported by others
Support for architecture: ppc64el (857047)
Support for architecture: riscv64 (https://salsa.debian.org/live-team/live-build/-/merge_requests/383)
Support for architecture: loongarch64 (https://salsa.debian.org/live-team/live-build/-/merge_requests/336)
Bug triaging
All: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?maint=debian-live%40lists.debian.org
Pseudo package: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?pkg=debian-live
live-build: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?pkg=live-build
live-config: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?pkg=live-config
live-boot: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?pkg=live-boot
live-manual: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?pkg=live-manual
Found with OpenQA: https://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/bts-usertags.cgi?user=debian-qa%40lists.debian.org&tag=openqa&format=html#results
live-wrapper
live-wrapper is no longer present in bookworm and later (due to the Python2->3 migration)
- Use its predecessor and successor instead: live-build
live-build
Status
live-build is used to generate the official live images for bookworm (see live-setup) and the weekly images for trixie.
The generated images are reproducible, when using test/rebuild.sh (see the instructions)
- The images are generated regularly by Jenkins and live-setup and tested for functionality on openQA
Todo
- Enable rebuild.sh to name the ISO file directly, which would (re)enable zsync
- Enable/Offer more localisation options in GRUB
- Test the images that are generated by live-setup on openQA (in addition to the images generated by Jenkins)
Investigate whether eatmydata (or apparently the more modern the dpkg option force-unsafeio) will speed up building the images
eatmydata will automatically be used by debootstrap if it is found on the host
Issue with Calamares installer -> in openQA use the icons instead of typing the command line
Issue with Calamares installer -> it should use geoip for the location, but always uses New York
live-config
- Bug triaging: see above
live-boot
Designated contact: evgeni
- Bug triaging: see above
live-manual
- Add History section.
- Try not to break translations in the process.
Every git commit will update https://live-team.pages.debian.net/live-manual/
Web live images builder
Host a replacement for the former web live images builder. (807957)
Automated testing
- Teach live-setup to automatically add the daily images to openQA
- Test an installation scenario that requires LUKS
- Test an installation scenario with pre-installed Windows 10/11
- Test whether the installed programs will start for desktops other than GNOME and KDE
- Extend the list of tested programs with all programs that are present on the live image
Content of the live images
Many locales are present, but not easily accessible for non-technical users, see https://lists.debian.org/debian-live/2023/09/msg00014.html
- This is especially visible in the GNOME Welcome screen
When an image is booted without persistence, much network traffic can be avoided 1051527
- Make the boot menu more similar to the live-wrapper menu
- Add a 'persistent' option (as seen in Kali)
- Keep the accessibility improvements made in the live-wrapper boot menu (automatic selection + hot keys)
- Verify the package lists
- e.g. the Debian Reference is installed for es and it, but not en
- Rename the GRUB installer entry to make clear that is it not the regular installer but a copy of the live image (and perhaps add a 'regular' installer entry)
Support file system transposition, as mentioned in https://salsa.debian.org/live-team/live-build/-/merge_requests/323
The option -follow-links to xorriso does replace all links (adding only 3MB for 105MB content), but does not work as intended. The debian symlink (to .) will make the naive copy take twice the size of the ISO file (so the 3.1GB ISO file needs at least 6GB free on the USB medium)
- Instead, the firmware files need to be made with hard links instead of symlinks
To be tested: are debian and dists/* really required?