Reconstructor, your LiveCD Ubuntu for half an hour without dancing with a tambourine. Part 2
The last time I told you about the Ubuntu Customization Kit distribution tool for the Ubuntu Customization Kit, I also mentioned a similar package of the Reconstructor. This weekend I had a great opportunity to get acquainted, as well as with the package for the installed system, and with the online service. So I hasten to share my impressions and a comparison of the current options for customizing the Ubuntu distribution kit further.
I’ll start with the online service build.reconstructor.org . Following the tempting offer to register for free, after entering your data and confirming registration by email, we find ourselves on a very ascetic page, looking like different IDEs.
Taking into account the work on the netbook, the design in terms of usability is worthy of admiration, but the capabilities of this service are also interesting. To create a new project you will need to specify:
Name of the project;
Version;
Short description;
The base distribution (a choice of Debian 5.0 × 86 and amd64 are offered, as well as Ubuntu versions 9.04 and 9.10, also x86 and amd64);
Type (can be Disk image or Live CD);
The working environment (for selection are presented: Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Text Only. Not much, but I think more than enough).
Later, you can always edit the project, and several new items will appear for editing:
Adding your own logo;
The ability to publicly view the project and the ability to publicly download the builds of the distribution;
You can also open a project for collaborative development in a previously created team.
In addition, you can import / export the project settings file.
Now in more detail, what allows to customize this service.
First of all, we can easily install the packages we need into the base distribution from the official repositories. The web menu for installation looks very similar to Synaptic, but unfortunately it does not show already installed packages, does not show dependencies, does not make it possible to remove excess packages from the base distribution. Monitoring the size of the future distribution is also not possible.
Additional functionality provides a system of modules.
Some modules, such as installing pre-downloaded files, adding additional repositories, can be added to the project more than once. More details about the modules can be found in the help section of the service. In addition, the modules allow you to easily upgrade the distribution package to the current version, which is also very good.
Having finished working with modules, it is possible to add your own scripts to finalize the system, they just can be written to remove unnecessary packages, or install packages from newly added repositories in modules.
After all, you can safely click on the Build icon and your iso will be built on a dedicated server in just a few minutes.
In general, the capabilities of the service are impressive, but as it turned out, not everything is as rosy as it seems at first glance. In a burst of joy from working with such a friendly service, I never ceased to wonder how such functionality can be free, who pays for the server for builds and the distribution of the distribution, as well as additional files. The answer was found quickly enough, during registration you are allocated $ 5, which are then charged for the use of disk space, as well as the build of the distribution kit and its downloading.
And if the first time waiting for building a distribution was insignificant, then the second time my build was in the queue for several hours. Also, for a slightly larger fee, it is possible to set your task as the highest priority. In addition, you can use the services of partners of the service, for example, order from On-Disk cd / dvd / usb-flash with your distribution and colorful design of the media. To replenish the account on the service, you can use PayPal. The first $ 5 is basically enough for the eyes to build your own version of the distribution.
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Not very upset, I continued my familiarization with the site and with the Reconstructor documentation and came across an offline version of the service, which can be downloaded here . In essence, this is a similar UCK python script in the form of a wizard, however, it seemed to me more friendly and providing more features. I will not describe every step of a given wizard, as it’s really easy to work with him, so I’ll draw your attention to its distinctive features.
Like UCK, Reconstructor allows you to work with Ubuntu distributions (although I did not try to distribute Debian distributions to it), besides, if there is no iso distribution image, you can use the LiveCD disk ubuntu inserted into the drive, while running the package creates its own ~ / reconstructor directory, where it unpacks in the root directory of your future distribution (you can easily copy the necessary files, deb-packages), as well as remaster and initrd directories. For installing your own themes, wallpapers, icons and other decorations, the Reconstructor has everything ready.
You can also change the Boot Screen, add additional repositories.
The Optimization tab allows you to speed up the stopping and loading of the system by selecting the necessary services to start, and the Live CD allows you to create your own system user, as well as specify the hostname. In addition, you can update the LiveCD core.
As well as in the online service there are modules. In fact, these are regular bash scripts that can be executed at certain stages, so it’s easy to write additional ones yourself. Examples of ready-made scripts are in / usr / share / reconstructor / modules.
But most of all I liked the ability to run the console with chroot ~ / reconstructor / root / (roughly speaking, it will allow you to work with the future system as if you already have it installed). And also the ability to run the X-session with a future distribution, but unfortunately this option is in active development and may not always work. (I was unable to start the X-session, perhaps due to the peculiarities of the settings of my system, so I could not check it)
Having finished working with the settings of the distribution kit, we must click Apply and click Next, after which we will be asked to name the distribution kit, its architecture, and also select the file and the path to save. In addition, it is possible to remove all Win32 versions of applications, as in UCK.
Further, depending on the power of your computer, after a while you will get an iso image of your version of Ubuntu.
In general, I really liked the offline version of Reconstructor, it is possible to constantly monitor the size of the final distribution, a lot of settings, some of which allow you to change the system with a couple of clicks. The rich features of the package really allow you to disconnect from unnecessary things that could not be better automated, and come to grips with creativity, in this regard, UCK seems to be a monster.
I’ll start with the online service build.reconstructor.org . Following the tempting offer to register for free, after entering your data and confirming registration by email, we find ourselves on a very ascetic page, looking like different IDEs.
Taking into account the work on the netbook, the design in terms of usability is worthy of admiration, but the capabilities of this service are also interesting. To create a new project you will need to specify:
Name of the project;
Version;
Short description;
The base distribution (a choice of Debian 5.0 × 86 and amd64 are offered, as well as Ubuntu versions 9.04 and 9.10, also x86 and amd64);
Type (can be Disk image or Live CD);
The working environment (for selection are presented: Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Text Only. Not much, but I think more than enough).
Later, you can always edit the project, and several new items will appear for editing:Adding your own logo;
The ability to publicly view the project and the ability to publicly download the builds of the distribution;
You can also open a project for collaborative development in a previously created team.
In addition, you can import / export the project settings file.
Now in more detail, what allows to customize this service.
First of all, we can easily install the packages we need into the base distribution from the official repositories. The web menu for installation looks very similar to Synaptic, but unfortunately it does not show already installed packages, does not show dependencies, does not make it possible to remove excess packages from the base distribution. Monitoring the size of the future distribution is also not possible.
Additional functionality provides a system of modules.
Some modules, such as installing pre-downloaded files, adding additional repositories, can be added to the project more than once. More details about the modules can be found in the help section of the service. In addition, the modules allow you to easily upgrade the distribution package to the current version, which is also very good.Having finished working with modules, it is possible to add your own scripts to finalize the system, they just can be written to remove unnecessary packages, or install packages from newly added repositories in modules.
After all, you can safely click on the Build icon and your iso will be built on a dedicated server in just a few minutes.
In general, the capabilities of the service are impressive, but as it turned out, not everything is as rosy as it seems at first glance. In a burst of joy from working with such a friendly service, I never ceased to wonder how such functionality can be free, who pays for the server for builds and the distribution of the distribution, as well as additional files. The answer was found quickly enough, during registration you are allocated $ 5, which are then charged for the use of disk space, as well as the build of the distribution kit and its downloading.
And if the first time waiting for building a distribution was insignificant, then the second time my build was in the queue for several hours. Also, for a slightly larger fee, it is possible to set your task as the highest priority. In addition, you can use the services of partners of the service, for example, order from On-Disk cd / dvd / usb-flash with your distribution and colorful design of the media. To replenish the account on the service, you can use PayPal. The first $ 5 is basically enough for the eyes to build your own version of the distribution.
')
Not very upset, I continued my familiarization with the site and with the Reconstructor documentation and came across an offline version of the service, which can be downloaded here . In essence, this is a similar UCK python script in the form of a wizard, however, it seemed to me more friendly and providing more features. I will not describe every step of a given wizard, as it’s really easy to work with him, so I’ll draw your attention to its distinctive features.
Like UCK, Reconstructor allows you to work with Ubuntu distributions (although I did not try to distribute Debian distributions to it), besides, if there is no iso distribution image, you can use the LiveCD disk ubuntu inserted into the drive, while running the package creates its own ~ / reconstructor directory, where it unpacks in the root directory of your future distribution (you can easily copy the necessary files, deb-packages), as well as remaster and initrd directories. For installing your own themes, wallpapers, icons and other decorations, the Reconstructor has everything ready.
You can also change the Boot Screen, add additional repositories.
The Optimization tab allows you to speed up the stopping and loading of the system by selecting the necessary services to start, and the Live CD allows you to create your own system user, as well as specify the hostname. In addition, you can update the LiveCD core.
As well as in the online service there are modules. In fact, these are regular bash scripts that can be executed at certain stages, so it’s easy to write additional ones yourself. Examples of ready-made scripts are in / usr / share / reconstructor / modules.
But most of all I liked the ability to run the console with chroot ~ / reconstructor / root / (roughly speaking, it will allow you to work with the future system as if you already have it installed). And also the ability to run the X-session with a future distribution, but unfortunately this option is in active development and may not always work. (I was unable to start the X-session, perhaps due to the peculiarities of the settings of my system, so I could not check it)
Having finished working with the settings of the distribution kit, we must click Apply and click Next, after which we will be asked to name the distribution kit, its architecture, and also select the file and the path to save. In addition, it is possible to remove all Win32 versions of applications, as in UCK.
Further, depending on the power of your computer, after a while you will get an iso image of your version of Ubuntu.
In general, I really liked the offline version of Reconstructor, it is possible to constantly monitor the size of the final distribution, a lot of settings, some of which allow you to change the system with a couple of clicks. The rich features of the package really allow you to disconnect from unnecessary things that could not be better automated, and come to grips with creativity, in this regard, UCK seems to be a monster.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/77517/
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