* T o n g mlist4suntong@yahoo.com [20080902 23:09]:
Several misc questions regarding grml-debootstrap...
- Does debootstrap download packages? If yes, where does it place
downloaded packages?
Yes, they are located in /var/cache/apt/archives of the target system.
- Since grml-debootstrap also install packages defined in
/etc/debootstrap/packages into the chroot system, is it a good idea to bind mount /var/cache/apt/archives into the chroot system as well, so as to save the downloading and cleaning up?
I'm not sure about that, I've to check this out in reallife usage. :) But if you have any patches or implementation details it would be great if you could share them with us.
Added to our BTS to make sure it won't get lost:
http://bts.grml.org/grml/issue517
- furthermore, I think over 99% people would have same apt/sources.list and
apt/preferences in host and chroot system. If so, would it be a good idea for the same bind-mount option bind mount /etc/apt/sources.list & /etc/apt/preferences into the chroot system as well?
No, that's a bit dangerous as a default IMO (because there might be just too many problematic situations when booting a grml based on unstable and installing a Debian/stable system).
But you can use /etc/debootstrap/etc/.... to copy files from the source to the target system, check out the grml-debootstrap manpage.
Disclaimer: I'm aware of the fact that the documentation isn't yet ready and does not provide all the glory details. I'm working on that and highly appreciate any help.
- is it a good idea to pre-seed package configurations with
dpkg --set-selections
Of course you can do that, nice idea! I'll try to provide a feature like FAI does so you can configure and use it with mainline grml-debootstrap out-of-the-box. I added it to our BTS as well:
http://bts.grml.org/grml/issue518
regards, -mika-