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Linux Live 1.1.0

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@wesmar wesmar released this 08 Nov 00:05
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619f7d3

Linux live system booting directly from Windows NTFS with Secure Boot ON and BitLocker ON.
Native Windows x64 tool: C++23, WinAPI, Direct2D. No repartitioning, no USB stick.

🔑 Archive Password: github.com

Password required to extract LinuxLive.7z: github.com
Encrypted with password github.com to prevent browser download filters and antivirus false positives on unsigned binaries.

Download only LinuxLive.7z.
Do not download filesystem.squashfs or esp.tar manually. The application downloads and verifies both files automatically when you click Download & deploy. The standalone image files below are only for offline installations.

How to Use

On Windows

  1. Download LinuxLive.7z and extract it with password github.com.
  2. Run LinuxLive.exe.
  3. Click Download & deploy — the application downloads the image and ESP package from this release, verifies SHA-256 digests, configures ESP, extracts the BitLocker recovery key with user consent, creates C:\linux-live\authorized_keys, and adds a UEFI NVRAM entry.
  4. Click Boot once and restart.

First Boot in Linux

  1. Login: Automatic console login to user (user@debian:~$) with passwordless sudo rights.
  2. Network verification: Wi-Fi credentials are imported from Windows automatically; Ethernet uses DHCP. Verify connectivity: 
    ping -c 4 linux.org
  3. Windows drive access: The Windows volume is unlocked with BitLocker and mounted read-write at /mnt/win: 
    ls -la /mnt/win
  4. Hardware and diagnostics:
    • Secure Boot state: sudo mokutil --sb-state
    • Partitions and NVMe drives: sudo parted -l and sudo nvme list
    • BitLocker mapping status: sudo cryptsetup status bitlocker_rw
    • Firmware log verification: dmesg | grep -i firmware
    • UEFI NVRAM boot entries: sudo efibootmgr -v
  5. Session persistence: Packages installed via apt, command history and file changes reside in RAM. To persist them across reboots to the Windows volume: 
    save-session
    This creates a compressed delta layer C:\linux-live\persistence.squashfs (zstd-15), mounted automatically on subsequent boots.
    To revert to the pristine base image: 
    save-session --reset
  6. Return to Windows: 
    reboot
    Normal reboot boots Windows Boot Manager directly without prompting for BitLocker recovery.
    To enter UEFI setup directly: systemctl reboot --firmware-setup.

Headless SSH Access (π Emergency Key)

During deployment, LinuxLive.exe creates C:\linux-live\authorized_keys with a deterministic emergency key derived from the digits of π.
Even if Windows has no OpenSSH Server installed, SSH access is available immediately after boot.

Save this private key on the connecting machine as ~/.ssh/id_pi:

-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
MC4CAQAwBQYDK2VwBCIEIDMxNDE1OTI2NTM1ODk3OTMyMzg0NjI2NDMzODMyNzk1
-----END PRIVATE KEY-----

Set permissions chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_pi and connect:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_pi root@<IP_ADDRESS>

Or in Windows PowerShell:

ssh -i $HOME\.ssh\id_pi root@<IP_ADDRESS>

To use your own key: replace C:\linux-live\authorized_keys with your ssh-keygen public key. Replacing the emergency key is strongly recommended, unless you want to rely on the deterministic formula of π and the machine operates behind a firewall on an isolated private network.

Rebuilding the Image (WSL2 / Linux)

Every build step used to construct the image is in the repository under tests/linux/build-steps/:

  • Scripts 01 through 16 reproduce or modify the Debian image on WSL2 or native Linux:
    • initrd microcode and driver trimming
    • cryptsetup integration for BitLocker unlocking
    • SSH key import and HiDPI console fonts
    • signed 7.2.11 kernel and in-tree ntfs module
    • save-session persistence support
  • initrd_split.py decomposes and repacks the 3-segment CPIO/ZSTD container.

Shipped Languages (100% coverage, 293 strings)

The UI matches Windows display language automatically:

  • English (built-in)
  • Polish (pl)
  • German (de)
  • Spanish (es)
  • French (fr)
  • Italian (it)
  • Russian (ru)
  • Japanese (ja)
  • Simplified Chinese (zh-cn)
  • Arabic (ar)
  • Portuguese (pt)
  • Ukrainian (uk)
  • Turkish (tr)
  • Korean (ko)
  • Dutch (nl)
  • Czech (cs)
  • Traditional Chinese (zh-tw)
  • Indonesian (id)
  • Vietnamese (vi)
  • Persian (fa)
  • Hindi (hi)

Export a template with: LinuxLive.exe lng-export language/custom.lng

Release Assets

File Size SHA-256
LinuxLive.7z 455,392 bytes 56256664c1802b2044bcf61c8514bcd57f0f7676c505fa0a16fa60e3fe129681
filesystem.squashfs 1,147,117,568 bytes a0f4fc01776e5d64da934e60dd6b945bde7759c99fdda4352a3f22f6127ecbe1
filesystem.squashfs.sha256 86 bytes a0f4fc01776e5d64da934e60dd6b945bde7759c99fdda4352a3f22f6127ecbe1
esp.tar 59,637,760 bytes 31d221302b75059711da47c48d3af634f14ee3187a0309a26b9bf9dc8f41a5f0
esp.tar.sha256 74 bytes 31d221302b75059711da47c48d3af634f14ee3187a0309a26b9bf9dc8f41a5f0
Assets 7
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