SMLinux Guide
1. Intro
SMLinux is an experimental linux distribution based on the musl C library using a simplified build and packaging system, aimed at intermediate and advanced users. In some package-specific scenarios, patches from several musl C library-based linux distributions are used for bug fixing, consistency and better support with the musl C library.
2. Credits and Acknowledgements
a. Organisations
b. People
And many many more unnamed people (and in some cases, people who chose not to be named) on the internet.
3. Support
Kindly join the #smlinux channel on irc.libera.chat from your preferred IRC client. In case you don't have an IRC client, you may use libera network's webchat interface from a popular javascript-enabled web browser to connect with us.
4. Legal Disclaimer
The author expressly disclaims any liability arising out of the use of the content, including any material and instructions contained in this guide. Their usage is strictly at the user's own risk. The content, although all reasonable care has been taken to be factually correct, may have errors and inaccuracies. The user is advised to backup all data on the target computer and proceed with sufficient caution before or while putting any of the content to use.
All copyrights and trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Use of any term in this guide should not be regarded as affecting the validity of or infringing any such copyright or trademark, neither should their mention here be seen or regarded as endorsements.
5. Features
- Uses busybox runit as the default init system
- Low on system resources
- Stable distribution release cycle
- Uses busybox runit as the default init system
- Improved service management using runit's sv with backward compatibility for rc-like init scripts
- Uses refined and automated package build system written from scratch to alleviate the shortcomings of Slackware's packaging tools
6. System Requirements
- An x86_64 Intel/AMD machine with Legacy BIOS support
- Minimum 1GB RAM
- Minimum 4GB storage
7. Getting SMLinux
7.1 Git
Please visit https://pktsurf.in/git/pktsurf/smlinux to view and follow latest developments.
Additionally, you may clone the repo using:
# git clone https://pktsurf.in/git/pktsurf/smlinux.git
7.2 Source Code
Complete source code including build files, source tarballs and binary packages are available for direct downloads here
7.3 Rsync and bulk downloads
The rsync mirror is currently WIP
8. Installation
All SMLinux images can be used for offline/standalone installation. No pre-installation network setup is required. After downloading, decompress using the unzip utility. The x86_64 image can be dd'd onto a flash drive. This entire section assumes that /dev/sdb is your target storage device.
The x86_64 image does not support booting from UEFI yet. Support for UEFI coming soon.
The x86_64 image also has two partitions with the above partition layout. However, this image comes with a separate package directory /root/packages containing the packages that can be installed onto the target system. dd the x86_64 image to a flash drive of a size 4GB or larger:
# dd if=smlinux-x86_64-1.0.img of=/dev/sdb
Once dd'd, please run sync to flush buffers to the flash drive.
Boot up the target system, select "Boot from USB" or equivalent BIOS boot up option for flash drives. Once SMLinux is initialized, at the end of the boot, at the tty1 login,
Username: root
Password: smlinux
Partition the target storage drive using a tool of your choice. If using syslinux, you need two partitions:
- /boot to be formatted as an FAT32 partition and
- / to be formatted as any journalling partition
Then format the partitions, assuming /dev/sdb is your hard disk/SSD
# mkfs.fat /dev/sdb1
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb2
Creation and formatting of RAID partitions or encryption partitions is beyond the scope of this guide.
# mkdir /mnt/boot
# mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/boot
# mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt
The installer packages for the target rootfs are available in /root/packages/x86_64 of the SMLinux boot drive. Install them using installpkg.
# cd /root/packages/x86_64
# installpkg --root /mnt */*
Install the bootloader on /dev/sdb:
# dd if=/lib/syslinux/bios/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdb
If you use syslinux, assuming you have TWO partitions, one FAT for /boot and one journalling partition for /
# syslinux -i /dev/sdb1
OR
If you use extlinux, assuming you have on ONE journalling partition, like ext4 for /
# extlinux -i /dev/sdb1
9. Post-Install Tasks
9.1 Basic Networking
After a reboot, login when presented with a tty1 prompt:
Username: root
Password: smlinux
This section assumes that the system has eth0 network interface.
To setup hostname for the current session, run
# hostname example.com
Edit /etc/hostname with your choice to set it permanently.
DHCP
dhclient is a wrapper around the busybox udhcpc DHCP client. Run the following to get a DHCP lease:
# dhclient eth0
Static IP
Use the ifconfig/route commands from the old net-utils package or the new ip command from the iproute2 package
# ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.2525.0
# route add default gw 192.168.0.1
# ifconfig eth0 up
OR
# ip addr add 192.168.0.2/24 dev eth0
# ip route add default via 192.168.0.1
# ip link set eth0 up
Add your DNS servers to /etc/resolv.conf
# vi /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 8.8.8.8
Verify network connectivity
# ping google.com
Add all your preferred connectivity method(s) to /etc/rc.d/rc.local
9.2 Setting up Time Zone
The default timezone is UTC. The timezone can be changed permanently in two ways
-
By creating a symlink:
-
# ln -sf /user/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Kolkata /etc/localtime
OR
By adding export TZ="Asia/Kolkata" to /etc/profile
9.3 Set System Time and NTP
Run the date command to set the correct time and date -
# date -s "2025-01-01 12:00:00"
Optionally, you can use chrony to keep the clock more accurate. Delete the service down file to auto start chrony at boot time.
# rm /etc/service/chrony/down
Edit /etc/chrony.conf and start the chrony daemon
# sv start chrony
Chrony daemon customisation is beyond the scope of this guide. Run # man chronyd.conf for detailed options.