Using snapshot to shrink size for iso

[Member seaken64]

I was thinking about what I could do to make sure I can get an antiX iso on a CD, even if the download size ends up larger than a standard CD. Currently the Full version is too big for a CD but the Base version does fit on the CD.

If I wanted to use the Full iso (or if, gods forbid, the base system grows to be too big – hypothetical) can I use the “snapshot” program to create a new iso after trimming out stuff I don’t want/need? I think the answer is yes and I am going to try some experiments.

But how do I know what size the iso will end up being after the snapshot process? Is this going to just be by trial and error? Or is there some math I can apply to give me an idea of what size iso I will end up with?

Seaken64

• This topic was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by seaken64.

[Anonymous]

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trial and error. Hey… is this another “How long is a piece of string?” question?

variables:

1) types and percentage of files on your system which are highly-compressible filetypes, vs not

2) whether or not you tweak the (snapshot.conf) compression method, and options

forumsearch “localepurge” will find my past posts containing tips or, better yet, forums.mxlinux.org
searchterm: localepurge
author: skidoo

Take a baseline and, after applying those tips, create another snapshot ~~ post back and lemme know the result.
If it’s still too large for CD, I can mention some additional, more drastic, “tips”.
(probably quietly, via PM. Some of the drastic cuts, if applied casually {sloppily}, bring dire consequences)

ps:
linuxdaddy just posted a related howto here: removing-drivers-to-trim-memory-usage/
Also related, the posts here mentioning removal of preinstalled extraneious firmware: topic/antix-19-ps_mem-py

[Member eugen-b]

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Not the exact answer to your question, but instead of using a CD you could try to boot the ISO from the HDD if you have an existing Linux+Grub installation on it. You can edit /etc/grub.d/40_custom, add the following code for the Grub menu entry

menuentry "antiX-19.b1 x64 ISO" {
  set root='hd1,gpt6'
  set isofile='/ISO/antiX-19.b1_x64-full.iso'
  search --no-floppy --file --set=root $isofile
  loopback loop $isofile
  set gfxpayload=1920x1080
  linux (loop)/antiX/vmlinuz quiet toram from=hd blab='DataHDD' fromiso=$isofile
  initrd (loop)/antiX/initrd.gz
}

and run sudo update-grub. Reboot and you will have the new menu entry antiX-19.b1 x64 ISO in Grub menu.
Assumptions: The ISO file will be saved in the folder /ISO on a partition 6 (“gpt6”, likewise “msdos6”) of the second disk (“hd1”), blab=’DataHDD’ being the disk label of the partition where the ISO is, toram is optional (better remove it, because you probably don’t have enough RAM for the whole ISO plus the running system).

• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by eugen-b.

[Member seaken64]

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eugen-b,

So, your approach would be to install antiX Core, or Debian Net, and then use Grub? Okay, makes sense. I’ll try both methods and see which works best for me.

Thanks skidoo and eugen-b.

Seaken64

[Anonymous]

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boot the ISO from the HDD

or frugal install to HDD…

[Member seaken64]

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My thought was that I could not get antiX installed if I could not read a USB or DVD but only had a CD. Maybe I can figure out how to snapshot a system that started out as a larger-than-CD iso. I had not considered using Grub. That may work. But I am also concerned about hard disk size for the initial iso file to boot from the Grub. Frugal may allow this to work better since it will be a smaller footprint. Once the frugal install is in place I can remove the original iso file to recover HD space.

No time right now to try this. Just considering ideas. I will report back when I have time to do the experiments.

Seaken64

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