Editing Debootstrap from foreign version or distribution

[[Category: HOWTO]]
[[Category: Templates]]
[[Category: Ubuntu]]
[[Category: Debian]]

This procedure (for Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives) is useful when need to create a template, and your host doesn't have that suite's script (in /usr/share/debootstrap/scripts). This situation can be caused because your host and your next template are from different distributions, or because your host is an older version than the next template you want to create (for example, creating an Ubuntu 10.04 template in an Ubuntu 8.04 host).

To do this, you need a computer to install a clean system or a virtual one with [http://www.qemu.org/ Qemu] or similar.

'''Step 1: install a system with the distribution & version you want for template'''

We will call it the "satellite system". You can do it also with another already installed computer with the same distribution & version you want. Also with a Live-CD with sufficient RAM memory available for a subsystem installation.

'''Step 2: debootstrap''' (in satellite system)
 cd /tmp
 sudo apt-get install debootstrap
 mkdir newsystem
 # The parameter ''--variant=minbase'' is optional. You may want it to make a minimal template.
 sudo debootstrap --variant=minbase $(lsb_release -cs) newsystem

'''Step 3: package for moving'''
 cd newsystem
 sudo tar czf /tmp/debootstrap_$(lsb_release -is | tr "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]")-$(lsb_release -rs)-$(uname -m)''_minbase''.tar.gz .
 cd ..
 sudo rm -R newsystem
Now you have a package like "debootstrap_ubuntu-10.04-i686.tar.gz" to copy to the OpenVZ host/server.

'''Unpacking for a new templaye''' (example for 777 container, in the OpenVZ server)
 sudo mkdir -p /vz/private/777
 cd /vz/private/777
 sudo tar xf /tmp/debootstrap_ubuntu-10.04-i686.tar.gz

'''Next''' steps are the usual for [http://wiki.openvz.org/Category:Templates creating a template].