The deploy failed with "grub-install: command not found" in the chroot —
the installed rootfs archive was built BEFORE the BOOT/grub injection, so
it had no bootloader at all. build-iso.sh / build-image.sh only rebuilt
the rootfs when the archive was missing, never when sources changed, so
development fixes were silently absent from deployed images.
- build-rootfs.sh: incremental staleness check — skips a rebuild only when
no input (scripts/, btrfs/, overlays/, editions/<e>/, versions.mk,
toolchain debs) is newer than the artifact; FORCE=1 rebuilds anyway.
- build-iso.sh / build-image.sh: always delegate freshness to
build-rootfs.sh instead of gating on file existence.
- deploy-disk.sh: defensive check that grub-install exists in the deployed
rootfs, with a clear "stale archive — rebuild" message instead of a bare
"command not found".
- docs/building.md: incremental-build note (FORCE=1 / make clean).
The ISO now boots straight into a GTK installer instead of dropping to a
tty. Structure:
- installer/arcline-installer: small GTK3 (Python) frontend that drives
scripts/deploy-disk.sh — pick a disk, choose boot mode, type the device
path to confirm, watch the deploy log, reboot. Pure helper logic is
tested against lsblk (lowercase keys, pseudo-devices filtered).
- scripts/build-live.sh: builds build/rootfs/<edition>-live by cloning the
CLEAN rootfs and layering on live-boot, a minimal X session (Xorg +
openbox), the installer, and the deploy tooling under /usr/lib/arcline
(deploy-disk.sh + btrfs/init.sh + edition fstabs, laid out so the
scripts' own path resolution works unchanged).
- overlays/live/: arcline-installer.service + session script that start
Xorg on vt1 (with -allow-root) and run the installer as the X client.
- build-iso.sh: builds the live rootfs for the squashfs AND stages the
clean rootfs archive into isofiles/install/ — the installer deploys the
clean archive, so what's installed is the hardened system, never the
live session with the installer in it.
- Refactor: ARCLINE_LIVE handling removed from build-rootfs.sh and
configure-system.sh (now lives entirely in build-live.sh).
- validate.sh now checks overlays shell scripts + installer python.
- docs updated (building.md, architecture.md, installer/README.md).
The edition package lists installed BOTH grub-pc and grub-efi-amd64
(+ shim-signed). Those provide the same bootloader role and conflict in
apt, so every rootfs build failed with "unable to correct problems, you
have held broken packages".
A rootfs now carries exactly ONE bootloader, chosen by the BOOT variable
(mirroring the existing --boot bios|efi deploy option):
- versions.mk / common.sh: BOOT := bios (bios -> grub-pc,
efi -> grub-efi-amd64 + shim-signed + mokutil), exported via the
Makefile.
- build-rootfs.sh validates BOOT early and injects the matching boot
packages into the apt install; the static package lists no longer
contain any grub package.
- deploy-disk.sh / build-image.sh / install.sh default --boot from the
same BOOT variable, so a rootfs and the artifact deployed from it can
never disagree (BOOT=efi make image-cloud produces a UEFI image).
- mokutil is now installed explicitly in the efi flavour (it was not
pulled in because we install with --no-install-recommends).
- docs updated (building.md knob + rationale, secureboot.md note).
Scaffold the Arcline OS build system ("the wires"): a transparent,
auditable pipeline that turns a Debian bookworm base into hardened OS
images for the server, workstation, and cloud editions.
- Makefile orchestrates everything (make iso-<edition>, check, test,
toolchain, clean); versions.mk is the single source of truth for
versions and paths.
- scripts/ is the plain-bash pipeline: debootstrap -> install packages
-> apply overlays -> in-chroot configure -> live ISO, plus a rootfs
archive along the way.
- ARCLINE_TOOLCHAIN=auto|skip|require controls whether the 11 Go tools
are bundled into an image (auto by default; minimal builds available
via make iso-<edition>-minimal).
- GPL-3.0 licensed, sponsored by Arcline IT LLC.
