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PLoP Linuxpage update: 05/Jan/2010
Print version IntroductionPLoP Linux is a small distribution that can boot from CD, DVD, USB flash drive (UFD), USB harddisk or from network with PXE. It's designed to rescue data from a damaged system, backup and restore operating systems, automate tasks and more. Current stable: v4.0.2 If you need help, post it to the forum or send me a message with the contact form. System requirements
Features
Directory structure
This is an overview about required and not required files for PLoP Linux.
Create bootable PLoP Linux CD/USB device with LinuxPLoP Linux can boot from CD/DVD or an USB device. Booting from floppy is no longer supported. Last version with boot from floppy was v3.2.1. and it's still available for download.
1. Create a PLoP Linux CD/DVD
There are 2 solutions to boot from CD/DVD. The first solution is to use the existing PLoP Linux ISO image. If you don't need any personal files, F-PROT or Avast, then you can use it. If you want more power, then you have to create your personal ISO image in a few steps. That's the second solution. 1.1. Burn an ISO imageYou have to download the file ploplinux-v4.0.2.iso K3b is an easy to use GUI for the linux burner programs. You can simply burn the ISO to a disc with a few mouse clicks. If you prefer the command line, then use the following commands. 1.1.1. Burn on CDcdrecord is the linux tool to burn CD ISO images.
Burn the ISO with cdrecord:
Example: 1.1.2. Burn on DVDgrowisofs is the linux tool to burn DVD ISO images.
Command:
Example: 1.2. Create a new ISO imagemkisofs is the required tool. It's a part of cdrecord. 1.2.1. Download and extract
You have to download the file
ploplinux-v4.0.2.tgz to your
home directory. tar xfvz ploplinux-v4.0.2.tgz 1.2.2. Adding filesThe directory ploplinux-v4.0.2/ with the PLoP Linux directories and files is created and you can add your personal files and the F-PROT and Avast files to the pluspacks/ directory. Personal scripts should be placed in ploplinux/myscripts/. 1.2.3. Create the ISO imageThe following command creates the ISO image. Run it from the commandline in your home directory.
mkisofs -J -r -V PLoPLinux-v4.0.2 \ You can download the script make-cd-noemul.sh if you don't want to type the whole stuff. Run sh make-cd-noemul.sh 4.0.2 from the command line in your home directory to create the ISO image ploplinux-v4.0.2.iso. When creating the ISO was successful, then burn it. see 1.1. Burn an ISO image 2. Create a bootable PLoP Linux USB device
There are no differences between the USB mass storage devices. The instructions are the same for an USB flash and an USB harddisk. Requirements to make an USB device bootable: 2.1. Make an USB device bootable step-by-step
You have to do the following steps from a commandline. Login as root to be sure to have all rights. After those steps, you should be able to boot from USB with PLoP Linux. Create bootable PLoP Linux CD/USB device with WindowsPLoP Linux can boot from CD/DVD or an USB device. Booting from floppy is no longer supported. Last version with boot from floppy was v3.2.1. and it's still available for download.
1. Create a PLoP Linux CD/DVD
There are 2 solutions to boot from CD/DVD. The first solution is to use the existing PLoP Linux ISO image. If you don't need any personal files, F-PROT or Avast, then you can use it. If you want more power, then you have to create your personal ISO image in a few steps. That's the second solution. 1.1. Burn an ISO imageYou have to download the file ploplinux-v4.0.2.iso or use your own ISO file. You can use Nero, the free CDBurnerXP or any other burner program that supports "burning ISO images". Use an option like Burn ISO to Disc or Copy ISO to Disc. Then select the PLoP Linux ISO image and burn it to the disc. 1.2. Howto create a new ISO image
mkisofs.exe is the required tool to create a ISO image. It's a part of cdrtools. 2. Create a bootable PLoP Linux USB device
There are no differences between the USB mass storage devices. The instructions are the same for an USB flash and an USB harddisk. Requirements to make an USB device bootable: 2.1. Make USB device bootable step-by-step
You must have administrator rights to finish all steps. Install to harddiskYou can install PLoP Linux to your harddisk with installplop. Start it from your running PLoP Linux. F-PROT Antivirus for LinuxThe F-PROT Antivirus is a free Antivirus program for personal users. Read the details at http://www.f-prot.com. How to use it with PLoP LinuxDownload the latest linux version from http://www.f-prot.com/products/ and copy the tar.gz file into the pluspacks/ directory.
Download Home: see here When PLoP Linux has started, then run usefprot. Now the F-PROT files will be extracted and you can run fpscan. Place your antivir.def into the pluspacks/ directory to use the latest definitions. Avast Antivirus for LinuxThe Avast Antivirus is a free Antivirus program for non-commertial use. Please read their licence agreement http://www.avast.com. To run Avast from PLoP Linux, you need the following
Create the following file in the PLoP Linux pluspacks/ directory.
Filename: avastrc
[licence] key=your key Copy the Avast file avast4workstation-1.0.8.tar.gz in the pluspacks/ directory. To use avast you need the latest antivirus database file from avast. There are different solutions to get the latest file.
1. Update the antivirus database with LinuxYou need a working linux. This can be the linux you are working with or PLoP Linux. It's required to have a connection to the internet and a valid Avast licence. If you use the linux you are working with then you have to be sure that avastrc is placed in your user home directory ~/.avast/. PLoP Linux copies the avastrc file to the required position during the boot process from pluspacks/avastrc. 1.1 From the command lineRun avast-update to download the latest antivirus database file. avast-update downloads the file 400.vps and saves it to ~/.avast/. 1.2 With a graphical user interfaceYou can use avastgui to update the antivirus database file. avastgui saves the file 400.vps in your home directory ~/.avast/. 2. Update the antivirus database with Windows
Update the antivirus database with the Avast graphical user interface.
Right mouse click at the Avastball bottom right in the taskbar.
Then click at Update and then iAvast
update. When you got the latest 400.vps, then copy this file to the pluspacks/ directory from PLoP Linux. When PLoP Linux has started, then run useavast. Now the Avast files will be extracted and you can run avast. Backup/restore Windows with PartimageThis example shows you how to backup/restore a NTFS partition. The Imagefile will be saved on a NTFS formatted USB Harddisk. Make a backup of your data on a CD/DVD or anything else. If you make a mistake, you can loose your data.
Basic conditions:
Preparations:
With the following instructions, you are able to create/restore partitions
1. Create a Partimage image1.1. Batch mode
Create an image with the filename windowsXP_20070425 from
the partition /dev/sda1. 1.2. User interface
2. Restore a partition2.1. Batch mode
Restore the partition /dev/sda1 from the file
windowsXP_20070425.000. 2.2. User interface
Backup/Restore Windows with fsarchiverBackup: fsarchiver savefs windows.fsa /dev/sda1 Restore: fsarchiver restfs windows.fsa /dev/sda1 Boot from network (PXE, DHCP, TFTP, NFS, Samba/Windows network share) - Linux ServerThe software requirements to boot from network are
Basic conditions for this example setup:
It works with other IP addresses too! Here are configfiles for a linux test system in an archive: pxeconfs.tgz
1. Extract the PLoP Linux filesExtract the file ploplinux-v4.0.2-pxeboot.tgz to your root directory tar xfz ploplinux-v4.0.2-pxeboot.tgz -C / Now you have the basic directory structure and files in /tftpboot. Extract the file ploplinux-v4.0.2.tgz to /tmp tar xfz ploplinux-v4.0.2.tgz -C /tmp Move the files to /tftpboot/ploplinux/ mv /tmp/ploplinux-v4.0.2/* /tftpboot/ploplinux/ Now you should have the following directories and files
/tftpboot/
/ploplinux/
/bzimage
/pxelinux.0
/boot.msg
/memtest
/initrfs.gz
/plpbt
/plpinstc
/ploplinux/
/bin.sqfs
/etc.sqfs
/lib.sqfs
/ploplinux
/myscripts/
/pluspacks/
/pxelinux.cfg/
/default
If you copy the opt.sqfs to the pluspacks directory, then you are able to run gnome over the network and use firefox and other tools. 2. Setup the DHCP serverYou need the DHCP server software. If your distribution has none then you can use
dhcp-3.1.3
(or search for the latest on the net) and
compile it.
This is the example dhcp server configuration.
ddns-update-style ad-hoc;
subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
option routers 10.0.0.1;
}
allow booting;
allow bootp;
# Standard configuration directives...
option domain-name "plop";
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
option broadcast-address 10.0.0.255;
option domain-name-servers 10.0.0.1;
option routers 10.0.0.1;
# Group the PXE bootable hosts together
group {
# PXE-specific configuration directives...
next-server 10.0.0.1;
filename "/ploplinux/pxelinux.0";
# You need an entry like this for every host
# unless you're using dynamic addresses
host testpc {
hardware ethernet 00:0C:6E:A6:1A:E6;
fixed-address 10.0.0.250;
}
}
To start the dhcp server simply run dhcpd 3. Setup the TFTP serverDownload the latest TFTP server from ftp://www.kernel.org/pub/software/network/tftp/ and install it with ./configure --prefix=/usr && make && make install To start the TFTP server we use xinetd Here is the base xinetd config file Filename: /etc/xinetd.conf#
# Simple configuration file for xinetd
#
# Some defaults, and include /etc/xinetd.d/
defaults
{
log_type = SYSLOG daemon info
log_on_success = PID HOST DURATION
log_on_failure = HOST
instances = 100
per_source = 20
}
includedir /etc/xinetd.d
And the configuration for the tftp server.
# default: off
# description: The tftp server serves files using the trivial
# file transfer \
# protocol. The tftp protocol is often used to boot diskless \
# workstations, download configuration files to
# network-aware printers, \
# and to start the installation process for some operating systems.
service tftp
{
socket_type = dgram
protocol = udp
wait = yes
user = root
#only_from = 10.0.0.1
server = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
server_args = -s /tftpboot
disable = no
per_source = 11
cps = 100 2
}
To start xinetd simply run xinetd 4. Boot with NFSBasic configs for your NFS server, without security aspects Filename: /etc/exports /tftpboot/ploplinux 10.0.0.250(ro) Filename: /etc/hosts.allow portmap: 10.0.0.0/255.255.255.0 lockd: 10.0.0.0/255.255.255.0 rquotad: 10.0.0.0/255.255.255.0 mountd: 10.0.0.0/255.255.255.0 statd: 10.0.0.0/255.255.255.0 Filename: /etc/hosts.deny portmap:ALL lockd:ALL mountd:ALL rquotad:ALL statd:ALL
Filename: /tftpboot/ploplinux/pxelinux.cfg/default default linux display boot.msg timeout 100 prompt 1 label linux kernel bzimage append initrd=initrfs.gz vga=1 nfsmount=10.0.0.1:/tftpboot/ploplinux label linuxfb kernel bzimage append initrd=initrfs.gz vga=0x318 nfsmount=10.0.0.1:/tftpboot/ploplinux label hd localboot 0x80 append - label plp linux plpbt.bin label plpinst linux plpinst.com label memtest kernel memtest If the dhcp, xinetd and nfs server are running correct you should be able to boot PLoP Linux via network. If you copy the opt.sqfs to the pluspacks directory, then you are able to run gnome over the network and use firefox and other tools. 5. Boot with Samba/Windows network shareBasic configs for your Samba server, without security aspects Filename: /etc/samba/smb.conf ;=== CUT ===== [ploplinux] path = /tftpboot/ploplinux writable = no read only = no ;=== CUT =====
Filename: /tftpboot/ploplinux/pxelinux.cfg/default default linux display boot.msg timeout 100 prompt 1 label linux kernel bzimage append initrd=initrfs.gz vga=1 smbmount=//10.0.0.1/ploplinux:SMBUSER:SMBPASSWORD label linuxfb kernel bzimage append initrd=initrfs.gz vga=0x318 smbmount=//10.0.0.1/ploplinux:SMBUSER:SMBPASSWORD label hd localboot 0x80 append - label plp linux plpbt.bin label plpinst linux plpinst.com label memtest kernel memtest If the dhcp, xinetd and samba server are running correct you should be able to boot PLoP Linux via network. If you copy the opt.sqfs to the pluspacks directory, then you are able to run gnome over the network and use firefox and other tools. Boot from network (PXE, DHCP, TFTP, Windows network share) - Windows ServerThe software requirements to boot from network are
Basic conditions for this example setup:
It works with other IP addresses too!
1. Extract the PLoP Linux filesExtract the file ploplinux-v4.0.2-pxeboot.zip to c:\ Now you have the basic directory structure and files in c:\tftpboot. Extract the file ploplinux-v4.0.2.zip to c:\tftpboot\ploplinux Rename ploplinux-v4.0.2\ to ploplinux\. This Directory is after renaming c:\tftpboot\ploplinux\ploplinux\ Now you should have the following directories and files
c:\tftpboot\
\ploplinux\
\bzimage
\pxelinux.0
\boot.msg
\memtest
\initrfs.gz
\plpbt
\plpinstc
\ploplinux\
\bin.sqfs
\etc.sqfs
\lib.sqfs
\ploplinux
\myscripts\
\pluspacks\
\pxelinux.cfg\
\default
If you copy the opt.sqfs to the pluspacks directory, then you are able to run gnome over the network and use firefox and other tools. 2. Setup the DHCP and TFTP server
Use TFTPD32 from http://tftpd32.jounin.net/. This is a DHCP and TFTP server in one program. TFTPD32 settings: Setup DHCP: 3. Boot with Windows network shareShare the directory c:\tftpboot\ploplinux with the share name ploplinux. The last step is to edit the file c:\tftpboot\ploplinux\pxelinux.cfg\default
Filename: c:\tftpboot\ploplinux\pxelinux.cfg\default default linux display boot.msg timeout 100 prompt 1 label linux kernel bzimage append initrd=initrfs.gz vga=1 smbmount=//10.0.0.1/ploplinux:SMBUSER:SMBPASSWORD label linuxfb kernel bzimage append initrd=initrfs.gz vga=0x318 smbmount=//10.0.0.1/ploplinux:SMBUSER:SMBPASSWORD label hd localboot 0x80 append - label plp linux plpbt.bin label plpinst linux plpinst.com label memtest kernel memtest If the tftpd32 is running correct you should be able to boot PLoP Linux via network. If you copy the opt.sqfs to the pluspacks directory, then you are able to run gnome over the network and use firefox and other tools. Xorg, Gnome, Fluxbox, gparted and moreI created a opt.sqfs with Xorg, Gnome, Fluxbox, gparted, a picture viewer, firefox, mplayer and other programs. You simply have to download opt.sqfs and copy it to the pluspacks directory. You can start Gnome with startx. The opt.sqfs will be optimized in the future. ploplinux-v4.0.2-X.iso is a LiveCD with Gnome. Screenshot:
x64 (64bit) versionploplinux-v4.0.2-x64.iso is the 64bit version of PLoP Linux. The kernel has 32bit emulation activated. This means, you are able to run all programs from the 32bit PLoP Linux. This 64bit version can be used to chroot to a 64bit linux and run programs there. Replace the files from ploplinux-v4.0.2-x64-diff.tgz or ploplinux-v4.0.2-x64-diff.zip with the files in your 32bit PLoP Linux to enable the 64bit mode. Locale settingsAdd locale-archive.gz to the pluspacks/ directory. Extract it with gunzip locale-archive.gz Example to setup german locale in runme.sh:
setfont lat0-16 -m 8859-1
loadkeys de-latin1
echo export LANG=de_DE.UTF8 >> /etc/profile
Perl modulesAdd perl5.tar.gz to the pluspacks/ directory. Extract it with tar xfz perl5.tar.gz Welcome textEdit the file myscripts/welcome.txt to change the text. C compilerI created a opt.sqfs for you with gcc to compile software. You simply have to download opt.sqfs and copy it to the pluspacks directory. ploplinux-v4.0.2-X.iso is a LiveCD with gcc. Adding software with example of adding alsa, mp3blaster and mplayer to play music and videosThera are 2 ways to add software. The quick and dirty way, or the clean way. 1. Quick and dirty
2. The clean wayThe clean way is to compile the programs and install them to /opt. You need some experience for this way. I provide you an example how to install libraries and programs to PLoP Linux. 2.1. Compile to /opt
2.2. Example: adding alsa, mp3blaster and mplayer to play music and videos
2.3. Using mplayer and mp3blaster with PLoP Linux
Special commands
Boot parameter
FAQ's - Frequently asked questions
ChangeLogDownload: ChangeLog DownloadYou can download all files here. |
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