dist-mode is overwriting some custom settings

[lmaudio]

If i use remastersys in backup-mode and install the new system from the livesystem-image, there will be given the username and password given from the livesystem, doesn't matters which name and pw i gave in the install process!

Btw: never tried the remastersys installer while we use the default ubiquity-gtk that all Debian based systems used to install their systems.

Is it possible to use the backup-mode and if i give a different/new username and pw during install process, it will be taken?

Easier: is this a problem of our customizations and skel inputs or is it normal in backup mode, that only the first given username in the remastered system is used?

What can i modify to get a new fresh install from remastered livesystem with a new username WITHOUT using distro mode??

[lmaudio]

What can i edit that the remastersys installer icon is NOT set on livesystems desktop?

[nerun]

What can i edit that the remastersys installer icon is NOT set on livesystems desktop?

In Settings (GUI), change desktop icon from 1 to 0.

[nerun]

If i use remastersys in backup-mode and install the new system from the livesystem-image, there will be given the username and password given from the livesystem, doesn't matters which name and pw i gave in the install process!

Of course, it's a backup!

Btw: never tried the remastersys installer while we use the default ubiquity-gtk that all Debian based systems used to install their systems.

Is it possible to use the backup-mode and if i give a different/new username and pw during install process, it will be taken?

No, it's a backup. It's like a xerox/fotocopy. And I should remember to remove user creation from installation GUI when Live CD is a backup.

Easier: is this a problem of our customizations and skel inputs or is it normal in backup mode, that only the first given username in the remastered system is used?

It's normal. It's a full copy of your system, NOT a distro. That's the purpose of a backup.

What can i modify to get a new fresh install from remastered livesystem with a new username WITHOUT using distro mode??

You MUST use distro mode to create distributions. I will not help with such "hack". There would be a lot of details to change and what you are looking for is a distro mode that really works. So this should be my focus.

[nerun]

Moved from issue #14:

So hey, here i am back again with a little "offtopic" question, don' t wanna open a new thread for this:

As i wrote you, we choosed the backup-mode in remastersys many years to build our distro to get all customizations, while the dist-mode mostly is overwriting some custom settings (Wallpapers, menues, settings) and bringing back the Debian or Ubuntu/Linux Mint default settings, doesn't matter what we copied to skel!

Maybe it's not the best or recommend way to build a distro, but the last 3 releases wee really great and stable and used by some hundreds peoples around the globe.

As now we made a new and updated version of our distro with remastersys 4.9 we found a last standing problem:

If i install our system from remastered livesystem, it doesn't matter which username or password i gave in installprocess - in the installed system the user and password of our LIVESYSTEM is staying.

Could you give me a tip what to do, to have a new user after install the system that was made with remastersys in backup mode, please??

In the past there was no problem with this and if i gave a new name in install process it was there and given instead of the old username and password.

[nerun]

Could you give me a list of custom settings that are not copied to live system in dist-mode?

[lmaudio]

I made a customized Mate Menu and the appdock Plank should be leftside.

If i use dist-mode, the default Mate Mintmenu comes back after install and plank is downside.

Also some customized settings in the Browser , but this is not important..

For the first problem i will go in Linux Mint forums, but maybe you like to know.

So it's not really about what your program is doing as more what i missed to do..

So hey, we customized a lot, sources.lists, apps, kernels,..and remastering a distro is really complex, that's true.

But also like to learn and having a good and stable result at the end.

Thank's for helping us

[nerun]

Distro mode has a list of settings that should be copied by default. You can see this list by reading the script responsible to copy settings to /etc/skel:

• /usr/bin/remastersys-skelcopy

Apparently browser settings are deleted by default. I want to say, they are copied to /etc/skel, then they are deleted because, in thesis, nobody want to copy personal profiles, passwords, certificates etc to a distro.

Look lines 98-100:

        rm -rf /etc/skel/.config/chromium
        rm -rf /etc/skel/.config/gcalendar
        rm -rf /etc/skel/.config/google-chrome

You can comment lines 98 and 100:

#        rm -rf /etc/skel/.config/chromium
        rm -rf /etc/skel/.config/gcalendar
#        rm -rf /etc/skel/.config/google-chrome

Alternatively, you can comment ALL lines 98-116.

If some app or configuration is still missing, you should discover where their settings are store in the system and add them to be copied to /etc/skel, by adding a line bellow line 97:

Lines 97-98:

        rsync -a --ignore-missing-args .mplayer /etc/skel/
        rm -rf /etc/skel/.config/chromium

Adding a new software setting:

        rsync -a --ignore-missing-args .mplayer /etc/skel/
        rsync -a --ignore-missing-args <FOLDER CONTAINING SOFTWARE SETTINGS> /etc/skel/
        rm -rf /etc/skel/.config/chromium

[nerun]

If want to COPY EVERYTHING and be sure that ALL your custom setttings will be copied:

• delete all lines 78-116
• replace by these ones:

        rsync -a --ignore-missing-args .* /etc/skel
        [ -f /etc/skel/.xscreensaver ] && sed -i -e "s/$SKELUSER//g" /etc/skel/.xscreensaver
        rm -rf /etc/skel/.cache
        rm -rf /etc/skel/.local/share/Trash

Better don't touch lines 117-131:

        # Gnome 2 keyrings
        rm -rf /etc/skel/.gnome2/keyrings/{*,.[^.]*}
        # Gnome 3 keyrings
        rm -rf /etc/skel/.local/share/keyrings/{*,.[^.]*}
        find /etc/skel/ | grep "$SKELUSER" | xargs rm -rf '{}'
        find /etc/skel/ -name "*socket*" | xargs rm -rf '{}'
        find /etc/skel/ -name "*cache*" | xargs rm -rf '{}'
        grep -Rl "$SKELUSER" /etc/skel | xargs rm -rf '{}'
        chown -R root:root /etc/skel

[lmaudio]

Thank you so much! With this information we could get it.

So yes, it's clear: our system is customized and we used the usersettings from a fresh install with a full copy n paste of the homefolder to /etc/skel..but clearing all personal data (keyrigs, networksettings, ..) before.

So now as the backupmode was the wrong decision, we test our new build in distromode we made last night.

If there will be overwritten customizations we will try with more edits in remastersys settings, as you wrote above.

[lmaudio]

Why you recommend: rm -rf /etc/skel/.cache

If i want ALL customizations!?

[nerun]

Actually rm -rf /etc/skel/.cache is include in find /etc/skel/ -name "*cache*" | xargs rm -rf '{}' that you can see at line 123. It's a good idea to exclude caches, but it's up to you. For example, cache include browser cache, pages visited, cookies etc.

[nerun]

I am working in a revised skelcopy script. It will include all settings by default, but excluding cache, history files, log files, steam folder, wine folder etc.

[lmaudio]

Great.

Is it possible to rename your installer so that it becomes the name of the distro!?

Why you don't use the default Debian/ubuntu/Linux mint installer? We have a customized ubiquity installer with slightshow.

But great, to have your installer as an Option too.

Btw:

Grep: /root/etc/hostname: no such file or directory ..is a never seen before error message in livesystem during boot

Is it possible and ok to have the hostname in livesystem?

What to do to not have this error message during boot of the livesystem?

[nerun]

Is it possible to rename your installer so that it becomes the name of the distro!?

Look at ls -l /usr/share/applications/Remastersys*, open those files with text editor and rename Name=Remastersys Installer to what you need. Should be enought.

Why you don't use the default Debian/ubuntu/Linux mint installer? We have a customized ubiquity installer with slightshow.

Uh... Maybe in the future i add something like Calamares don't know. Not in the plans now.

Grep: /root/etc/hostname: no such file or directory ..is a never seen before error message in livesystem during boot

DETAILS ALWAYS

Logs, more details, never forget it. What you have done, how many changes did you to the code etc. Options you have used, dist/backup mode etc.

Is it possible and ok to have the hostname in livesystem?

I think yes.

What to do to not have this error message during boot of the livesystem?

I don't know.

[lmaudio]

Your installer rocks a lot and fixes the thing with the hostname and our little initramfs problem during install. Great. But next problem:

You going the recommend "old School" way with swap-partition. But Linux Mint choosed some versions before to use a /swapfile and so we would have some mode thinkings too: some days before we used this old School way with extra swap partition before we switching back to default LM /swapfile Methode, because the result was a problem with the new uuids for swap and that people after install have to modify fstab and initramfs.d in /etc, what is not a good Start with a new distro.

Could we modify the installer-script, so that a swap partition is not needed (if the remastered livesystem uses /swapfile)!?

Also we try to keep it running with our own ubiquity installer - but yours is more optimized for remastersys...and Debian of course.

Copying all data from our clean but customized userfolder to skel in distmode brought a really great result.

[lmaudio]

..just the "bug" with the hostname errornessage in remastered livesystem. And a swapfile incompability of the installer with Linux mint default settings.

The installer icon should autoremove after Install in fresh system, but this is more "cosmetical". People could delete the icon by default

[nerun]

NOTE TO MYSELF: hostname missing is related to issue #17.