ubuntu-defaults-image(1)

📦 version 0.57, in ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 ubuntu-defaults-image(1) 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this is the manual page for ubuntu-defaults-image, and it's genuinely so good. it's a General Commands Manual entry, and it's about to become your whole personality for the next like 3 GB of disk space. let's go ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

ubuntu-defaults-image — create an installation image from a default settings package 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

ubuntu-defaults-image [ options ] --ppa lpusername/ppaname --locale fr_FR

ubuntu-defaults-image [ options ] --package /path/to/myproject-defaults_0.1_all.deb

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so the ubuntu-defaults-builder project? it lets you easily make a "default settings" package for Ubuntu and then build a customized image with it. slay. the main point of all this is to give you a standard and safe way to create localized Ubuntu images, or OEM custom projects. no cap, that's the whole vibe. 👑

if you wanna know how to actually make a "default settings" package with all your customizations in it, go read ubuntu-defaults-template(1) — that's the one. once you've got such a package, you can build installation images with it. obsessed. 🎀

now listen, this part matters: if you're planning to actually publish these images, you need to have the defaults package in an archive — either the Ubuntu archive itself or a personal package archive (PPA). that's how you get to provide updates for it post-release and properly support upgrades to newer Ubuntu releases. in that case you specify a package name with --package or a locale with --locale, which will then assume that the canonical defaults package name for locale ll_CC is ubuntu-defaults-ll-cc. iykyk 💜

if the defaults package you want isn't in Ubuntu but lives in a PPA, you can add that PPA to the image with the --ppa option. easy.

and while you're developing the defaults package and doing test image builds, you can also just hand it the full path to the .deb with --package projectdir/myproject-defaults_0.1_all.deb. this saves you from having to upload the defaults package to a PPA for every single test iteration — literally a lifesaver fr fr 🙈

⚠️ heads up bestie: running this program needs a lot of disk space, an order of 3 GB. it will create a lot of temporary files and a cache directory in the current directory you're running it in. so please, please change to an empty scratch directory first. main character energy includes good file hygiene. 💅

🌈 OPTIONS 🌈

  • --package package name or path — install this default settings package. can be a simple name (in which case the package needs to be apt-get'able) or a path to a local .deb package for testing. 🍓
  • --locale ll_CC — defaults packages for localized Ubuntu images should be named ubuntu-defaults-ll-cc. this option will install the corresponding defaults package for the given locale. ✨
  • --ppa lp_username/ppa_name — enable an additional personal package archive (PPA) on the image. this is usually the archive providing the defaults package. example: "joe/myproject-defaults". 💖
  • --arch architecture — specify the architecture of the image build, e. g. "i386" or "amd64". if not given, it builds for the host system architecture. 🧚
  • --release release — specify the Ubuntu release code name on which the image build is based on, e. g. "oneiric". if not given, it builds for the host system release. 🌸
  • --components component[,component...] — specify the archive components which are enabled during the image build. if not given, this uses "main,restricted", which is how standard Ubuntu images are built. however — if your defaults package is in universe, or has dependencies to universe packages, you need to use "main,restricted,universe". don't skip this one, it'll bite you. 💀
  • --keep-apt — do not remove apt indexes from the live system (/var/lib/apt/lists/*_Packages). this will significantly enlarge the resulting ISO image, but will make package related operations work without an initial apt-get update run. tradeoffs, bestie. ⚖️
  • --help — print a summary of the options. the classic. 🫶

🎀 EXAMPLES 🎀

as mentioned above, change to an empty scratch directory on a drive with at least 3 GB of free space. (not me repeating myself, it's just that important 😭)

for a first test, you can call

/usr/share/doc/ubuntu-defaults-builder/examples/make-example

to build an "defaults-builder-test" package with all the template example settings enabled. (please see ubuntu-defaults-template(1) for details.) 🔥

to build an iso out of this, run

ubuntu-defaults-image --package ./defaults-builder-test_0.1_all.deb --components main,restricted,universe

you need to enable universe because the defaults-builder-test has extra dependencies on some universe packages like "manpages-de". see? told you --components matters. 💅

for building a localized Ubuntu image for Chinese/China (i. e. with the "ubuntu-defaults-zh-cn" package), you use

ubuntu-defaults-image --locale zh_CN  --components main,restricted,universe

and since ubuntu-defaults-zh-cn is in the Ubuntu archive, you don't need to specify a --ppa. easy win. ⭐

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

ubuntu-defaults-template(1), live-build(7)

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DesktopTeam/Specs/Oneiric/LocalizedCDImageTools

👑 AUTHOR 👑

ubuntu-defaults-builder is developed by Martin Pitt <martin.pitt@ubuntu.com>. we stan. 🫶

and that's the whole thing, bestie — this page came to you courtesy of ubuntu-defaults-image(1), written by Martin Pitt, dated July 22, 2011. go build something iconic, and please clear some disk space first. mwah 💖✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from