Files

Blake Ridgway 0ea8b713dd feat: graphical installer in the live ISO

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).

2026-08-21 20:24:09 -05:00

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Arcline graphical installer

installer/arcline-installer is the GTK3 frontend that the live ISO boots into. It is a thin wrapper around scripts/deploy-disk.sh — the same, auditable deploy core the scripted installer and disk-image builder use.

How it works

 boot ISO → live session (Xorg on vt1) → installer window
   pick target disk → confirm device path → deploy-disk.sh → reboot

The installer extracts install/arcline-<edition>.tar.xz (the clean rootfs archive staged on the ISO by build-iso.sh) to a temp dir and runs:

/usr/lib/arcline/scripts/deploy-disk.sh <device> <rootfs> <edition> --boot <bios|efi>

streaming the deploy log into the window. Everything destructive lives in deploy-disk.sh, which the live image ships (with its dependencies) at /usr/lib/arcline:

/usr/lib/arcline/scripts/{common,deploy-disk,apply-fstab}.sh
/usr/lib/arcline/btrfs/init.sh
/usr/lib/arcline/editions/{server,workstation,cloud}/fstab

The layout mirrors the repo so the scripts' own path resolution works unchanged.

Building the ISO

make iso-server            # or iso-workstation / iso-cloud

build-iso.sh builds the clean rootfs, then build-live.sh clones it into build/rootfs/<edition>-live and layers on live-boot, a minimal X session (openbox), the installer, and the deploy tooling. The live session rootfs is never what gets installed — the installer always deploys the clean archive, so what you end up with on disk is exactly the hardened system, not the live session with the installer in it.

Autostart

overlays/live/etc/systemd/system/arcline-installer.service starts arcline-installer-session on boot: it launches Xorg on vt1 (with -allow-root, since the live session runs as root) and the installer as the X client. When the installer exits, X and the session end.

Manual run (for development / on a box without the ISO)

# on any Arcline system with the deploy tooling:
sudo /usr/local/bin/arcline-installer

The app refuses to run as a non-root user and errors if the deploy tooling is missing.

Notes

Disk discovery uses lsblk (util-linux); read-only devices are hidden.
Confirmation mirrors scripts/install.sh: you must type the exact device path before the install button will proceed.
Root is hidden by design; the installer runs before any user session.
For UEFI machines, pick "UEFI" boot mode (or use BOOT=efi when building); see docs/secureboot.md for signing the boot chain for Secure Boot.

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