Currently, we are planning on creating our own Linux distribution (called distro) with some tools which we want our teams to be able to get and use better.

The idea came up from Backtrack, which itself is a distro based on Ubuntu. So we did a little scooting around to see which would be the best way to go ahead with this.

We found an excellent reference on how to create our own Distro here. This gave a wonderful insight into how we should go about, what should we keep in mind before planning on the distro and other technical and non-tech stuff. You should definitely give this one a read before you step into any distro creation.

They have mentioned about LFS (Linux From Scratch) project, where you can download the complete Linux source code, make changes, and finally distribute. But, for me, this seemed to be a daunting task, not to mention the learning curve, and also I dont have so much time with me.

The other option we tried out was Install Linux website. This is a wonderful site, where you can make a selection using a wizard, and then the code is auto generated and waiting for your friends to download! Its that simple!! But we found that there are quite a few limitations on this, the main one being, if we are say wanting apt-get for various tools on ubuntu, there is no option to specify all the software sources in this. So we need to manually add the PPAs and sources once we download the ISO. This means, everyone who's downloading the ISO will have to do this.

Then we encountered this tool: Remastersys. Check it out without fail. This was what I think we were looking out for! The concept is really amazing.

1. Install your favourite Linux on a box

2. Configure it to your heart's content

3. Once you are done with everything, download the install Remastersys on this Linux box

4. This has both CUI and GUI. To access the CUI, go to command prompt and enter #remastersys and for the GUI, you can get it from System > Administration > Remastersys. The GUI is pretty self-explanatory

What you only need to know is that if you are making a backup, then the data is also a part of it, where as if you are making a distro, the data is not a part! So, please ensure, if you have say, some python files or text data etc, you cant use the distro method.

Once done, you have a Live DVD ready to use!

On Ubuntu, the method to install remastersys will be:

As root - issue 'sudo su' in the terminal window prior to the following command.

Download and apply the repository gpg key.

wget -O - http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu/remastersys.gpg.key | apt-key add -

Add the following line that corresponds to your version of Ubuntu to your /etc/apt/sources.list

#Remastersys Lucid
deb http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu lucid main

Any questions, please feel free!!

WTHack

Can we hack you before the hackers do?