The first ISO build didn't boot. Three root causes: 1. No squashfs-as-root mechanism — the custom initramfs hook mounted boot media but had no way to use the squashfs as the root filesystem. Fix: add live-boot + live-boot-initramfs-tools to debootstrap includes. This is ~100KB and provides proven squashfs-as-root with overlayfs. 2. Broken initramfs — update-initramfs needs /proc, /sys, /dev mounted in the chroot to detect modules and generate a working initrd. Fix: bind-mount virtual filesystems before update-initramfs. 3. Missing kernel parameters — GRUB and ISOLINUX configs lacked boot=live components, so live-boot never activated. Fix: add boot=live components to all kernel command lines. Also: add all_video/efi_gop/efi_uga modules to GRUB EFI image for display output on real hardware, and update installer wrapper to check /run/live/medium first (where live-boot mounts the ISO). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Archipelago OS Image Recipes
Build scripts for creating bootable Debian Linux OS images for Archipelago Bitcoin Node OS.
Quick Start
Build the ISO
# 1. Sync latest configs from live dev server
./sync-from-live.sh
# 2. Build components
./scripts/build-backend.sh
./scripts/build-frontend.sh
# 3. Build the ISO
./build-debian-iso.sh
This creates a bootable Debian Live ISO with Archipelago pre-installed.
Write to USB
# Using dd (recommended)
./write-usb-dd.sh /dev/diskN
# Or use Balena Etcher to flash the ISO
See the ISO-BUILD-CHECKLIST.md for a comprehensive build workflow.
See the Architecture documentation for detailed system information.
What's Included
- Debian Linux Base: Stable Debian 12 (Bookworm) distribution
- Podman: Container runtime for apps (rootless by default)
- Archipelago Backend: Rust-based API server
- Archipelago Frontend: Vue.js web interface
- Systemd Services: Automatic service management
- Network Configuration: NetworkManager for easy setup
Build Output
results/archipelago-debian-12-x86_64.iso- Bootable hybrid ISO image
Supported Platforms
- x86_64: Dell OptiPlex, HP ProDesk 400 G4 DM, Start9 Server Pure, and other x86_64 machines
- Build Systems: macOS (requires Docker) and Linux (native or Docker)
Installation Methods
1. Live USB Boot
Boot from USB, run in live mode to test, or install to disk.
2. Full Disk Installation
From the live environment, run:
sudo /archipelago/install-to-disk.sh
This installs Archipelago to a target disk using debootstrap.
Directory Structure
image-recipe/
├── build-debian-iso.sh # Main ISO builder
├── write-usb-dd.sh # Write ISO to USB with dd
├── create-fat32-usb.sh # Alternative USB creation
├── archipelago-scripts/ # Scripts included in ISO
│ ├── install-to-disk.sh # Disk installer
│ └── setup-bitcoin.sh # Bitcoin Core setup
├── scripts/ # Build helper scripts
│ ├── build-backend.sh # Compile Rust backend
│ ├── build-frontend.sh # Build Vue.js frontend
│ └── check-dependencies.sh # Verify build requirements
└── results/ # Built ISO output
Requirements
- Docker (for macOS builds)
- xorriso (for ISO creation):
brew install xorriso - 7zip (for ISO extraction):
brew install p7zip