buildiso tips

GlennChugg

I really REALLY like BigLinux, but I wan’t to customise my install disk. I have build a Manjaro from it’s iso-profiles but trying to do the same with biglinux’s profiles doesn’t result in a bootable ISO:

Steps I took:

Download: https://github.com/biglinux/iso-profiles and extract it to ~/iso-profiles
Run terminal command below:
sudo pamac install –no-confirm manjaro-tools-base manjaro-tools-iso manjaro-iso-profiles-base

sudo mkdir -p $PWD/Build
sudo mkdir -p $PWD/ISO

sudo buildiso -p kde -r $PWD/Build -v -x

#WAIT After building OS (So I can customise it I make it stop at building the ISO here) -
Run this in terminal once ready:
sudo buildiso -p kde -r $PWD/Build -t $PWD/ISO -v -zc

The ISO created is 4.2GB and boots, but the grub theme is missing, then it stops on a grub terminal.

Can I please have a step by step to get the exact DVD produced that you release (with any newer packages used for it to be up to date)?
I just want to start with your base and build on it before I contribute back to your github.

I did try and use Penguins Eggs to get a Bootable ISO produced instead, but I’ve never managed to get it to work properly with non Debian Distro’s, Calamares has issues and the live user can’t always be set as chroot seems to misbehave on the squishfs for me.

What I am really asking for is a clone of your actual build folder you use, instead of a bunch of parts that need constructing, although any help to get it to work would be great. I’ve spent 10 months making LastOSLinux and thought I’d have another go at BigLinux as the rolling release appeals to me, not to mention the Arch/Manjaro base is pretty nice. I did play with Nobara, but the mock builds don’t allow stopping mid build and you MUST use packages, no access to the overlays that buildiso offers.

I am still learning as I’ve only been in linux since early July last year.

Thanks.

Ruscher

GlennChugg The ISO created is 4.2GB and boots, but the grub theme is missing, then it stops on a grub terminal.

I have a copy of the theme
https://github.com/ruscher/iso-profiles/tree/main/grub/themes

Hope this helps!

Thank you for your time
Rafael Ruscher

GlennChugg

Thanks, I am yet to successfully build a working BigLinux ISO using my method above, my assumption is that the config files are incomplete? Or some of the repository packages are not available or different to the release one? or it may just be the overlay folders aren’t populated, whatever it is, I haven’t been able to build a boot to the desktop ISO.

So it’s less about the grub theme and more about how to make the LiveOS actually start, the grub menu does show fine without a theme, but the boot chain falls flat, the ISO looks like it’s complete, but the screenshot above shows what I get instead of a Live OS Desktop.

I was asking if someone could either make a youtube video or a document with step by step instructions (or both). I mean for me to contribute to this project, I’ll need to be able to build and test it. As I’ve said, I’ve built Nobara, Debian, Mint and even made my own OS builder (debian based), but BigLinux just wont boot (the buildiso runs to completion without errors, so I know it’s something missing and nothing with what’s on github).

Do I need to preconfigure any of the iso-profile files and configs for it to work properly? - Like I said for now I just want a updated build of BigLinux public ISO, I’ll do the customising once that is working for me.

talesam

See if this can help you — I built a tool to build ISOs easily using CI/CD: https://github.com/big-comm/gitrepo

You can also check the iso-profiles; there’s a KDE version here: https://github.com/big-comm/iso-profiles

And here is the ISO builder — you can just use the build-iso.sh script if you want to build it locally: https://github.com/big-comm/build-iso

GlennChugg

Thanks, I’ll download it all and give it a run through. I saw the community for Big is quite impressive, if this works you have my Big thanks 😃 , I’ll get back here and let you know after a couple of days so I have time to give it a full build and test.

GlennChugg

./build-iso.sh -a ./build-iso.sh: line 680: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 43: msg: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 58: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 58: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 639: msg: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 647: msg_info: command not found :: Synchronizing package databases... biglinux-update-stable is up to date core is up to date extra is up to date multilib is up to date biglinux-stable is up to date warning: archiso-83-1 is up to date -- skipping warning: calamares-3.3.14-4 is up to date -- skipping warning: calamares-tools-0.1.0-1 is up to date -- skipping warning: cdrtools-3.02a09-6 is up to date -- skipping warning: manjaro-tools-base-git-r3045.7e49d96-1 is up to date -- skipping warning: manjaro-tools-iso-git-r3045.7e49d96-1 is up to date -- skipping warning: manjaro-tools-pkg-git-r3045.7e49d96-1 is up to date -- skipping warning: manjaro-tools-yaml-git-r3045.7e49d96-1 is up to date -- skipping warning: mkinitcpio-39.2-4 is up to date -- skipping warning: mktorrent-1.1-7 is up to date -- skipping warning: ncurses-6.5-3 is up to date -- skipping warning: shfmt-3.11.0-1 is up to date -- skipping warning: squashfs-tools-4.6.1-2 is up to date -- skipping there is nothing to do ./build-iso.sh: line 664: msg_ok: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 66: msg: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 75: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 77: die: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 85: die: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 91: msg: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 119: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 119: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 165: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 107: msg_info: command not found sed: can't read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso.sh: No such file or directory ./build-iso.sh: line 111: msg_info: command not found sed: can't read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso.sh: No such file or directory ./build-iso.sh: line 228: msg: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 231: msg_info: command not found mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/.config’: Permission denied ./build-iso.sh: line 233: /.config/manjaro-tools/iso-profiles.conf: No such file or directory chmod: cannot access '/.config/manjaro-tools/iso-profiles.conf': No such file or directory cat: /.config/manjaro-tools/iso-profiles.conf: No such file or directory ./build-iso.sh: line 235: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 238: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 242: msg_info: command not found mkdir: cannot create directory ‘’: No such file or directory chmod: cannot access '': No such file or directory ./build-iso.sh: line 253: msg_info: command not found ./build-iso.sh: line 256: msg_info: command not found find: ‘’: No such file or directory find: ‘’: No such file or directory ./build-iso.sh: line 261: msg_info: command not found find: ‘’: No such file or directory ./build-iso.sh: line 265: msg_info: command not found find: ‘’: No such file or directory find: ‘’: No such file or directory ./build-iso.sh: line 282: msg_info: command not found sed: can't read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util.sh: No such file or directory sed: can't read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util.sh: No such file or directory sed: can't read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util.sh: No such file or directory ./build-iso.sh: line 288: msg_info: command not found sed: -e expression #1, char 42: unknown option tos’
./build-iso.sh: line 292: msg_info: command not found
sed: can’t read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso.sh: No such file or directory
sed: can’t read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso.sh: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 297: msg_info: command not found
sed: can’t read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso.sh: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 301: msg_info: command not found
sed: can’t read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso-image.sh: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 305: msg_info: command not found
sed: can’t read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso.sh: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 309: msg_info: command not found
sed: can’t read /usr/share/manjaro-tools/mkinitcpio.conf: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 368: msg: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 387: msg_warning: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 393: msg: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 421: msg_info: command not found
sed: can’t read /Packages-: No such file or directory
sed: can’t read /Packages-: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 451: msg_info: command not found
sed: can’t read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso-boot.sh: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 474: msg_info: command not found
sed: can’t read /Packages-: No such file or directory
sed: can’t read /Packages-: No such file or directory
sed: can’t read /Packages-*: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 694: msg_info: command not found
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/shared’: Permission denied
tee: /shared/pacman.conf: No such file or directory
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/root-overlay’: Permission denied
./build-iso.sh: line 482: /root-overlay/etc/big-release: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 496: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 501: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 504: msg_info: command not found
sed: can’t read /profile.conf: No such file or directory
sed: can’t read /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso.sh: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 530: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 558: msg: command not found
########################## SUMMARY #################################
BUILD COMMAND : buildiso -p -b -k
PROFILE_PATH :
PROFILE_PATH_EDITION :
DISTRONAME :
EDITION :
MANJARO_BRANCH :
BIGCOMMUNITY_BRANCH :
BIGLINUX_BRANCH :
KERNEL_VERSION_DOT :
KERNEL_NAME :
SCOPE :
OFFICE :
./build-iso.sh: line 574: replicate: command not found
WORK_PATH :
WORK_PATH_ISO_PROFILES :
PATH_MANJARO_ISO_PROFILES:
ISO_BASENAME :
./build-iso.sh: line 579: replicate: command not found
DEBUG :
BUILDUSER_RUN_DIR : N/A
./build-iso.sh: line 582: replicate: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 552: die: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 588: msg_info: command not found
usage: sudo -h | -K | -k | -V
usage: sudo -v [-ABkNnS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-u user]
usage: sudo -l [-ABkNnS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-U user]
[-u user] [command [arg …]]
usage: sudo [-ABbEHkNnPS] [-C num] [-D directory]
[-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-R directory] [-T timeout]
[-u user] [VAR=value] [-i | -s] [command [arg …]]
usage: sudo -e [-ABkNnS] [-C num] [-D directory]
[-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-R directory] [-T timeout]
[-u user] file …
usage: sudo -h | -K | -k | -V
usage: sudo -v [-ABkNnS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-u user]
usage: sudo -l [-ABkNnS] [-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-U user]
[-u user] [command [arg …]]
usage: sudo [-ABbEHkNnPS] [-C num] [-D directory]
[-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-R directory] [-T timeout]
[-u user] [VAR=value] [-i | -s] [command [arg …]]
usage: sudo -e [-ABkNnS] [-C num] [-D directory]
[-g group] [-h host] [-p prompt] [-R directory] [-T timeout]
[-u user] file …
./build-iso.sh: line 600: die: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 603: msg_ok: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 608: msg: command not found
find: ‘’: No such file or directory
find: ‘’: No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 607: : No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 621: : No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 624: msg_info: command not found
mv: cannot stat '': No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 625: msg_warning: command not found
mv: cannot stat '': No such file or directory
./build-iso.sh: line 626: msg_warning: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 629: replicate: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 630: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 631: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 632: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 633: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 634: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 635: replicate: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 709: msg_ok: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 710: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 711: msg_info: command not found
./build-iso.sh: line 712: msg_info: command not found
`

I am having a hard time to get it to find what it needs to run. Any chance of a step by step for this please. My base OS is BigLinux KDE (biglinux_2025-05-04_k614.iso). Pretty much all the tools it needs are missing; /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso.sh I did have /usr/lib/manjaro-tools/util-iso-image.sh but that’s not the same thing.

I understand how it works but the preconfig in the forums, github and even google results do not tell me what I need to preinstall with pamac etc. Like you said, I only want to build it locally, none of the github integration, just running scripts on my local machine, I have no intention of uploading my work back to you guys until I feel it’s worthy of sharing, so I don’t need the latest updates etc, just a snap shot in time. Maybe once I get a successful bootable/installable ISO made I can begin helping. But as a brand new user of non Debian OS’s, I found how good BigLinux is and really wanted to use that as a base instead of Mint, I just can’t get it to do what I expect. Nobody has a list of instructions from a vanilla OS to a working builder, isn’t that something the Big community should want?

Even this line on github isn’t a file I can find, I got the latest and installed that but “sudo pacman -U build-package-3.0.0-1-any.pkg.tar.zst” instead I double clicked https://github.com/big-comm/gitrepo/releases/download/25.04.28-2329/gitrepo-25.04.28-2329-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst and installed that one. Obviously it’s not right. But I have nothing else to go on.

This is what I have currently tried to run to add what I needed to do a default manjaro ISO (which works) but doesn’t work with BigLinux:

sudo pamac install –no-confirm manjaro-tools-base manjaro-tools-iso manjaro-iso-profiles-base

sudo pamac install –no-confirm manjaro-tools

I never expected it to work, I am trying everything to get this to do it’s thing 🙂

Thanks again

talesam

Let’s break it down.

Nothing is missing:

The gitrepo package in the ISO generation function sends a request to the workflow (edition.yml) located inside the .github directory in the build-iso repository.
1.1 Note that in edition.yml, there’s a Docker image being used (image: talesam/community-build:1.7.0), based on Manjaro, which I use to generate ISOs and packages. The tools that weren’t found are either inside that image or listed as dependencies in the build-iso.sh script.

The edition.yml workflow runs and calls action.yml, which in turn calls build-sh to perform the ISO build.

Using gitrepo is optional — you can manually set the parameters for ISO building, but in that case, you’ll need to know what they are and adjust them accordingly.

The functions that weren’t found during your execution might be due to them not being grouped together — one file calls another. I’m not sure how you set things up. Personally, I don’t like building ISOs locally — I only build them on GitHub — but it’s possible to do it locally; you’ll just have to adapt the code.

I use gitrepo to select the parameters, but you’ll need to configure your owniso-profiles if you don’t want to use the current ones, and also set up a GitHub token. That part can be a bit tedious, but you only need to do it once.

There are functions to send messages to Telegram — you don’t need to use any of that, you can remove or comment them out.

GlennChugg

I have not been able to get your build (docker) or otherwise install for me.

Here’s where I am up to.

I’ve installed BigLinux on a laptop.

I’ve downloaded the gitrepo https://github.com/big-comm/gitrepo/releases/tag/25.04.28-2329 zst file

I ran sudo pacman -U gitrepo-25.04.28-2329-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

I tried double clicking it and installing

Then I tried running buid-iso

Nothing, it’s not installed any of the builder to my OS. So I moved on to part two

https://github.com/big-comm/build-iso <- I cloned this repo by downloading the code zip and extracted it to my home folder.

When I run ./build-iso.sh from terminal it just brings up options and exit=1, no signs of the GUI controls.

Look I know this is out of my ability to figure out as I’ve never used docker - let alone had it the environment to build within, I have only used mock and chroot to do the same locally.

I still insist there is some steps missing for getting this to work? Is it due to me using BigLinux to build BigLinux, should I be using Endeavour or something fully arch based to get this all just happening or whats the way to get it able to add to a vanilla OS and build, as the Git step by steps are referencing old packages and it’s really disheartening that I am stuck modding Linux Mint, because I don’t want to mod Nobara (it’s not as stable as BigLinux) and I really love the fact you include overlay’s into the build scripts, unlike Fedora/s mock environment, that requires me to make everything a package, I really don’t want to move to that yet as I am experimenting and haven’t ever setup a local repository (although I’ve watched youtube guides on how to do so). But I thought I’d ask one more time to see if the task of building BigLinux is possible for someone who wasn’t here from the start of making builders for it, and who only knows English, so I am unable to see if anyone else has asked questions that could help me.