[gentoo-dev] x86-build

[Jerry A!]

Hey all, I just finished building a system with the build iso and wanted
to share my install instructions with everyone.

First off, hats of to Daniel, Achim and everyone else whose
contributions went into making this the best Gentoo installation that
I've had to date.

Second, any mistakes in the following docs are mine and mine alone.

Third, while this'll be lengthy on slower machines, you can have a
perfectly functioning Gentoo system running instead of waiting for
the generic i486 version (for the impatient)...

So, here goes:

1. burn and boot cdrom
2. log in as root with "enter" for the password
3. configure network
    a. cd /etc/rc.d/config
    b. cp appropriate OFF_inet.*eth0 file to inet.eth0
        (I use dhcp b/c of my cable modem, so I copied
        OFF_inet.dhcp_eth0 to inet.eth0) -- also, I had to modify the
        file and add the -h option to the dhcpcd command line -- YMMV
        depending on broadband provider
    c. edit /etc/resolv.conf w/appropriate values
4. prepare the harddisk you'll be installing on with fdisk and mk*fs
    a. you can follow the i686-exclusive instructions for more details
5. mkdir /build (this will be the directory you chroot to)
    a. if you configured multiple partitions, you'll need to mkdir them
        (for example, I created /, /boot, /usr, /var, /tmp, /opt and
        /home as different filesystems, so I did a "mkdir /usr /var /tmp
        /opt /boot /home")
    b. if /tmp is a separate fs, remember to "chmod 1777 /build/tmp"
6. mount filesystems under /build
    a. mount whatever will be / first
    b. follow-up with remaining filesystems
7. unpack bootstrap tarball
    a. cd /mnt/cdrom/gentoo
    b. tar --numeric-owner -xvjpf build-ix86-*.tar.bz2 -C /build
8. setup chroot /etc/resolv.conf
    a. cp /etc/resolv.conf /build/etc/resolv.conf
9. chroot
    a. chroot /build /bin/bash
10. update and source environment
     a. env-update
     b. source /etc/profile
11. grab the portage tree
     a. emerge rsync
12. create basic devices
     a. cd /dev
     b. MAKEDEV generic-i386
13. configure make.conf
     a. vi /etc/make.conf
     b. change CHOST, CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS to desired values
14. compile bootstrap tools
     a. cd /usr/portage
     b. cp /usr/portages/files/bootstrap-xxxxxxxx.packages .
         (I chose bootstrap-20010617.packages) 
     c. ./bootstrap.sh bootstrap-xxxxxxxx.packages
15. configure make.conf again
     a. vi /etc/make.conf
     b. change USE to desired value
16. create the base system
     a. emerge system
     b. find something to keep you occupied for a while
         (I recommend "Star Wars-Super Bombad Racing" for the PS2)
17. make a kernel
     a. cd /usr/portage/sys-kernel/linux-sources
     b. emerge linux-source-xxxxxx.ebuild
         (I chose linux-sources-2.4.4.9)
     c. follow instructions from i686-exclusive for exacting details
18. edit /etc/fstab
     a. follow instructions from i686-exclusive
19. create timezone file
     a. follow instructions from i686-exclusive
20. create /etc/hostname
     a. follow instructions from i686-exclusive
21. change /etc/resolv.conf if needed
     a. follow instructions from i686-exclusive
22. create /etc/hosts
     a. follow instructions from i686-exclusive
23. configure network settings
     a. follow instructions from i686-exclusive
         (this should basically be a repeat from when you started down
         this yellow-brick road)
24. configure basic settings         
     a. follow instructions from i686-exclusive
25. configure grub
     a. follow instructions from i686-exclusive
26. create rc.* symbolic links
     a. rc-update autogen normal
     b. rc-update autogen boot
     c. rc-update autogen halt

Okay, I think that's about it.  I'm sorry I refered to the
i686-exclusive docs so much.  But they're accurate and applicable.  I
also wanted to show that there's not much difference between the two
processes.

If you have any questions about these instructions, please drop me an
e-mail.

Also, if I've missed anything obvious or if anyone has any
additions/corrections, please post them to the gentoo-dev list for
everyone's edification.

Happy Gentoo'ing...

        --Jerry

name:  Jerry Alexandratos         ||  Open-Source software isn't a
phone: [phone]               ||  matter of life or death...
email: jerry@×××××××.org          ||  ...It's much more important
                                  ||  than that!