Image Creation For Beginners

MeeGo Image Creator is the tool we use to create Mer images. Here are the simple steps on how to create a Mer image. For more in-depth information, go to the main Image Creator developer's guide: Image Creation

This page needs updating when the Mer Tools repo is setup correctly : see https://bugs.merproject.org/show_bug.cgi?id=117

Creating a Mer Image

STEP 1 - Install Meego Image Creator (MIC2)

See the mic installation guide

STEP 2 - Get Mer .ks File

KickStart (.ks) configuration files are passed to MIC to create images.

There is a page with links to the official Mer kickstart files

For details about how to modify the ks file, please refer: http://wiki.meego.com/Image_Configurations_-_KickStart_Files

STEP 3 - Create a bootstrap area

MIC has to have the right tools - rather than package these for every distribution Mer uses a bootstrap area for mic. This area is currently based on MeeGo but will migrate to Mer soon.

Here is the command to create a Mer bootstrap image:

mic-create-bootstrap -n trunk -k /var/cache/mic -r http://repo.meego.com/MeeGo/builds/trunk/latest/repos/oss/ia32/packages/ -o /var/cache/meego-bootstrap

STEP 4 - Create Mer rootfs Image

To create a Mer rootfs image that you can untar onto a device, usb stick etc:

sudo mic-image-creator --config=mer-default.ks --format=rootfs --cache=/var/cache/meego-bootstrap

A file named??? will be created.

You can also create raw disk images, usb images or just create a filesystem under a directory.

Diagnostic note: If you see something like:

Package SOMETHING.rpm is damaged:
 /var/tmp/cache/packages/mer-core-i586/noarch/SOMETHING.rpm

This means a checksum mismatch was seen and the package was re-downloaded automatically - nothing to worry about.

Configure Proxy and Other Variables

~/.mic2.conf is a configuration file that can make your life easier by specifying proxy settings, cache directories, and other variables that you normally would have to re-type in your command-line.

Copy and paste this into a file called: ~/.mic2.conf

Replace with your own relevant values.

[main]
cachedir=/home/user1/mycache
tmpdir=/home/user1/mystorage/tmp
outdir=/home/user1/mystorage
proxy=http://my.proxy.com:911/
no_proxy=localhost,127.0.0.0/8,.mysite.com,172.16.0.0/16

cachedir

directory where the cached repo(s) will reside. With this variable set, you do not need to pass the --cache flag in the command-line.

tmpdir

temporary directory used by mic2 when creating images. With this variable set, you do not need to pass the --tmpdir flag in the command-line.

outdir

where your images will reside once they are created. With this variable set, you do not need to pass the --outdir flag in the command-line.

proxy

specify your proxy if you're behind a behind a firewall.

no_proxy

specify what domains should not sure the proxy setting.

Note: When specifying proxy and no_proxy, you do not need to use the --proxy flag in your .ks files when referring to repos.

---FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON MIC, PLEASE VISIT THE MIC DEVELOPER'S GUIDE HERE: Image_Creation---