Slack minimal install

Slax-Dude · 09-01-2010, 02:10 PM

Judging from the number of threads about it, there seems to be quite some people that want/need a minimal install of Slackware.
So, I made this little HowTo to make it easy for them.

Please note that this is only my way of doing so, and probably not even the best way to do it... but there it is.

Since I'm a noob with wordpress (this is hosted on my home internet line and SPAM scares me), I turned off comments to my blog, so if you have any questions about it, feel free to contact me here at LQ.

EDIT:
You can grab the tagfiles for slackware 13 and up, here.

My goal is to have a "as small as possible" Slackware install with the following requirements:

udev must be working, so hardware detection functions properly
pkgtools must be working, so expanding the base install is not a problem
slackpkg must be working, so getting/installing new packages is made easy
sshd must be working, so you can access your machine remotely
network must be working, see points 3 and 4

The package list, which after install will use around 335MB, is as follows:

Code:

aaa_base                                         
aaa_elflibs                                      
aaa_terminfo                                     
acpid                                            
apmd                                             
bash                                             
bin                                              
bzip2                                            
coreutils                                        
cpio                                             
dbus                                             
dcron                                            
devs                                             
dialog                                           
e2fsprogs                                        
etc                                              
findutils                                        
gawk                                             
glibc-solibs                                     
grep                                             
gzip                                             
kernel-huge-smp                                  
kernel-modules-smp                               
lilo                                             
logrotate                                                                              
module-init-tools                                
openssl-solibs                                   
pciutils                                         
pkgtools                                         
procps                                           
sed                                              
shadow                                           
slocate                                          
sysfsutils                                       
sysklogd
sysvinit
sysvinit-functions
sysvinit-scripts
tar
udev
util-linux-ng
which
xz
diffutils
nano
slackpkg
hal-info
ncurses
dhcpcd
gnupg
gnupg2
gpgme
iputils
net-tools
network-scripts
openssh
wget

TSquaredF · 09-01-2010, 10:41 PM

This is a topic that interests me. I used to keep a live-CD around to help me recover from any mistakes I might make in tweaking my system. Years ago I installed Slax-Frodo (a CLI system) to a 1G partition on my HD. I later replaced all the packages in that system with the ones from Slackware. Now Linus72 has a minimal list on his site, which I recently made tagfiles from & installed. He said it is under 700 MB, but it was just over 800 on my system, without a WM. I have not had a chance to compare my tagfiles with yours. How big is the system that yours installs?
Regards,
Bill

samac · 09-02-2010, 01:35 AM

You should cut and paste the howto (without the pictures) to this thread, also add a link to the parent directory of the tagfiles, so that people can download for their version of Slackware , and also list the files that are included. This would allow people to tailor the tagfiles for themselves, for example you ADD xfs but SKP jfs, others might prefer it another way.

Looks good.

samac

mjjzf · 09-02-2010, 02:36 AM

I can mirror it with full credits on writtenandread.net, if you are interested - and it is not a disgrace to put it on a Debian server...
You may also consider actually describing how tagfiles work. In my world, they are the way to go. Also, they make it easy to do a Slackware remix of your own.

Slax-Dude · 09-02-2010, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSquaredF

How big is the system that yours installs?

After installed, the system will take up about 335MB.
Updated my post with this information.

Slax-Dude · 09-02-2010, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjjzf

I can mirror it with full credits on writtenandread.net, if you are interested - and it is not a disgrace to put it on a Debian server...
You may also consider actually describing how tagfiles work. In my world, they are the way to go. Also, they make it easy to do a Slackware remix of your own.

You can mirror it if you want, but please keep a link to the original post.
As for tagfiles, users should read chapter 18.4 of the Slackbook here.

Slax-Dude · 09-02-2010, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samac

You should cut and paste the howto (without the pictures) to this thread

I don't believe it's necessary to replicate it here, as following a link is trivial.
Also, I might have to change something and that would mean correcting all the "mirrors". I simply don't have the time to maintain several copies of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samac

also add a link to the parent directory of the tagfiles, so that people can download for their version of Slackware , and also list the files that are included. This would allow people to tailor the tagfiles for themselves

Done

Quote:

Originally Posted by samac

for example you ADD xfs but SKP jfs, others might prefer it another way.

That was a mistake I made. I already removed xfsprogs from the tagfiles. Thx for catching it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by samac

Looks good.

Thx

Lufbery · 09-02-2010, 01:16 PM

Nice work, Slax-dude.

One quick comment/question: why use the -huge kernel instead of the -generic one? Typical practice with Slackware is to use the huge kernel for the initial boot and installation, but then make an initrd and boot one of the generic kernels for day to day running. You've got mkinitrd in your list, so why not the generic kernel?

Regards,

Slax-Dude · 09-02-2010, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lufbery

why use the -huge kernel instead of the -generic one? Typical practice with Slackware is to use the huge kernel for the initial boot and installation, but then make an initrd and boot one of the generic kernels for day to day running.

I experimented with different packages, but ultimately decided that using a huge kernel would be the fastest and less complicated way to install Slackware.
Note that after booting your new minimal system, you can always use slackpkg to download and install any package you want (that's one of my main goals).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lufbery

You've got mkinitrd in your list, so why not the generic kernel?

My mistake. I forgot to remove it from the final package list.
I fixed the tagfiles and the list on this post.

Thx for spotting that and for your comment

Lufbery · 09-02-2010, 02:41 PM

Glad to be of some little help.

<kidding>Now you just need to add Emacs and you've got yourself an operating system.</kidding>

Regards,

Ahmed · 09-02-2010, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lufbery

<kidding>Now you just need to add Emacs and you've got yourself an operating system.</kidding>

<kidding>An operating system lacking a decent editor</kidding>

*Ducks*

-A

igadoter · 09-02-2010, 03:23 PM

Hi,
I tried to do minimal X server installation. But what appeared to be enough and really minimal for Ati Radeon 7500 GPU on a box was not enough for an Intel 82xxxGM card on my notebook. Both computer are running on slack 13.1.

enine · 09-05-2010, 09:01 PM

I need to dig out my old system, it was 10.x IIRC and on a 128M flash card. I just installed the A set in setup then a package or two here and there from the rest.

igadoter · 09-06-2010, 01:46 AM

@enine
Thank for BackTrack 4. Never hear before. But I had look at website - looks nice.

gnashley · 09-06-2010, 02:45 AM

Slax-Dude, that's a very nice list there. It's the closest I've seen to a really minimal install since the one I used to have for slackware-9.1. the trouble with most minimal install package lists is in the fine print of what the authors' idea of 'minimal' is. Like you, I tried to pare the concept down as far as possible -bootable, with login being the most minimal of all(always using full packages instead of cut down ones). Of course extendability and minimal network capability are the next step. Beyond that, the term minimal doesn't really apply any more IMHO. It's a great learning exercise to produce such a list.