Manzolo Linux Builder

An educational Bash script that guides you through the process of building a minimal Linux distribution from scratch, using the Linux kernel and BusyBox.

🌟 Features

• Step-by-step guidance: A fully interactive, menu-driven script that explains each step of the build process.
• Kernel Compilation: Automatically downloads, configures, and compiles the latest Linux kernel LTS version.
• Minimal Filesystem: Creates a minimal root filesystem with BusyBox, a single executable containing many core Unix utilities.
• Initramfs Generation: Builds an initramfs (initial RAM filesystem) required for booting.
• Bootable ISO: Creates a bootable ISO image using GRUB, ready to be burned to a CD/DVD or used in a VM.
• QEMU Integration: Easily test your newly created Linux system with a single menu option using QEMU.
• Prerequisite Check: Automatically detects and offers to install all necessary packages on Debian/Ubuntu-based systems.

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

This script is designed for Debian/Ubuntu based systems. It will automatically check for and offer to install the required packages:

• build-essential
• flex
• libncurses5-dev
• bc
• libelf-dev
• bison
• libssl-dev
• grub-pc-bin
• xorriso
• mtools
• wget
• qemu-system-x86

Usage

1. Clone the repository (or download the script):

   git clone https://github.com/manzolo/linux-builder.git
   cd linux-builder

2. Make the script executable:

   chmod +x builder.sh

3. Run the script:

   ./builder.sh

4. Follow the on-screen menu to perform the build operations. It is recommended to follow the steps in order:

   1. Check prerequisites
   2. Prepare Linux kernel
   3. Prepare BusyBox (filesystem)
   4. Test system with QEMU or Create bootable ISO image

💡 How It Works

The script automates the manual process of building a Linux system:

• It first downloads the Linux kernel source code and compiles it to create the bzImage file.
• It then downloads and compiles BusyBox as a static binary, which bundles together common commands like ls, cat, and sh.
• A basic init script is created to mount virtual filesystems and provide a minimal shell.
• BusyBox and the init script are packaged together into an initramfs.cpio.gz file.
• Finally, the bzImage and initramfs are used with QEMU for testing or combined with a GRUB configuration to create a bootable ISO image.

⚙️ Customization

You can easily customize the project by changing the KERNEL_VERSION and BUSYBOX_VERSION variables at the beginning of the config.sh script.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

🙏 Credits

This script is inspired by and based on the guide from ThyCrow: Compiling the Linux Kernel and Creating a Bootable ISO from it

📸 Screenshots

These images show the key steps of the compilation process and the final result.

Main Menu

The initial screen showing all available options.

Kernel Configuration

The kernel configuration menu, where you can customize options.

BusyBox Compilation

The BusyBox compilation output, which creates a minimal filesystem.

Booting with QEMU

The system booted with the QEMU emulator.

Bootable ISO

The GRUB bootloader of the final ISO image.

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