archlinux-lts-zfs

An automated custom archiso build with a small number of changes compared to the official iso. The approach is based on the work of Arch user LenHuppe's bash script to create custom archisos.

Why use this image?

Installing Arch on ZFS (see Arch Wiki) has a hard requirement on installing openzfs packages onto a booted archiso. To make that process easier, tools eoli3n/archiso-zfs exist. That method however fails when any of the below occours:

• OpenZFS has not yet released a package for the current standard linux kernel shipped with Arch
• OpenZFS installed via dkms is not yet compatible or has ongoing compatibility issues with the standard kernel shipped by Arch
• The maintainer of the archzfs repository - which made OpenZFS releases available on Arch - disappears
• Tools like archiso-zfs are not updated in time to address any of the above
• An archiso with the LTS kernel is required, which will safeguard against ZFS issues on the most recent standard kernel

What are the changes compared to the official iso?

The following changes are applied during image build:

• The archzfs repository (currently trageting the experimental new releases on GitHub) is added to the image
• linux-lts, linux-lts-headers and zfs-linux-lts packages are added to the image
• linux, the standard kernel package, is not installed
• broadcom-wl and b43-fwcutter packages are removed because they depend on the standard linux kernel package
• PreLoader and HashTool (signed) are added to the iso to support SecureBoot
• The message of the day (motd) is modified to call out the OpenZFS support of the iso

How is the image build?

Creating this image follows a number of steps, namely:

1. Boot into an Arch Linux Docker image (archlinux:latest)
2. Install archiso package, which provides the official mkarchiso script
3. Modify the official archiso's releng image profile with the changes listed above
4. Run mkarchiso to create a custom archiso file
5. Modify the iso by including signed PreLoader and HashTool binaries
6. Save the sha256 checksum of the final iso to a file
7. Create a release on GitHub and push the iso and sha256 files into it

All of this is done inside a GitHub Action Workflow and can hence be audited.

When is this iso updated?

A new release will automatically get created on the 4th day of every month at 4.30 AM (Standard GitHub time).

Reasons for this delay primarily revolve around the unpredictablity of openzfs releases as well as standard-kernel compatibility issues. Choosing to release a few days after the official archiso gets refreshed also ensures Arch mirrors have had time to sync repositories.

Contributions

Contributions to this repository are welcome. Please do however create a GitHub issue first so we may discuss what needs to be done. PRs will be reviewed on a best-effort basis and priority will be given to those PRs that were discussed first.