Re: Cut down Linux (Debian)

On 2006-07-07, markp <map.nospam@xxxxxxx> wrote:

I'm working on a firewall/NAT router project using Debian Sarge 3.1.
Currently I have a hard disk based system, but I'd like it to run with a
128Mbyte CF card in a mini-ITX box. The firewall is working, but the
standard installation system is a little on the large side.

Someone suggested I could replace the init process with a user script and
only load those things I need, but init enables quite a few facilities, like
gracefully shutting down/ booting up, gettys etc., so I'd like to keep it
but maybe reduce the number of scripts run in /etc/rcS.d, and /etc/rc2.d
directories, and then remove all the packages and files I don't want.

Is this a sensible approach and is there an easy way to do this cutting
down? Would another init replacement, like runit, be better? I don't really
know enough yet to build it up from scratch and I really need the firewall
installed soon!

It's not the init scripts that you need to worry about, but saving space
by removing unnecessary packages.

Get the full installed package list with

dpkg --get-selections

and then review each one. If you don't need it, purge it. This should
trim down the system quite a bit. You won't be able to remove
everything, because some "unnecessary" packages will be required by
other packages you do need.

You can also save more space by removing unwanted documentation and
locales; simply rm /usr/share/doc/$package and use localepurge to remove
locales you don't need.


--
Roger Leigh
Printing on GNU/Linux? http://gutenprint.sourceforge.net/
Debian GNU/Linux http://www.debian.org/
GPG Public Key: 0x25BFB848. Please sign and encrypt your mail.
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