Ubuntu Server for Joggler
Latest Release: 27th October 2011
Ubuntu Server 10.04.3 – (170MB) MD5
In developing the Joggler reflash tool it was obvious I’d need a relatively lightweight Linux which would actually run the script. There are distributions that are a lot more lightweight than Ubuntu Server, but because I’m used to using it and there was no startup cruft to clear out, it’s the one I went for.
This has the happy side effect that those people interested in running a Joggler as some type of server-only device can grab a copy of this and get started quickly.
The Details
I’ve set this version of Ubuntu Server up with Jools Wills’ 2.6.38.4joggler1 kernel, which was the latest version at the time of writing. The filesystem consists of a 128MB FAT16 boot partition with the remainder formatted as ext2, so there’s no journal to worry about on flash devices. The fstab mounts the FAT16 partition to /boot on startup, just like Jools’ GUI releases. There is no swap on this system, so if you plan to use it long-term, that’s something you should probably add.
There are a few minor differences between this and a vanilla Ubuntu Server straight from Canonical; firstly, I’ve removed apparmor and ureadahead. You can apt-get them back on if you want them. Secondly, there is a script in /etc/init.d called jogglermaint which is used to trigger the reflashing script if it’s been placed in /boot/reflash. If that’s not there, it just displays a message and the Joggler’s IP address before returning to the login screen. These additions can be removed like this:
sudo update-rc.d -f jogglermaint remove
sudo rm /etc/init.d/jogglermaint
sudo rm -rf /boot/reflash
sudo rm -rf /var/reflash
Once you’ve done that the system is completely vanilla, save for Jools Wills’ joggler-eth.conf file in /etc/init which creates a MAC address for the wired ethernet interface. You’ll need to keep that otherwise you may not get a working wired connection.
Writing to a Device
If you’re playing about with Ubuntu Server, I’m going to assume that you don’t need to be told how to do this. The image has been created to fit on even the stingiest 1GB USB device. If you need help, read ‘Part 1: Create the Reflashing Device’ on the Reflashing Tool page.
I know I’ll be asked this next question though. The answer is ‘yes’ – it would be perfectly possible to write this to the Joggler’s internal 1GB flash. I haven’t tried it, but good luck to you – please let us know how it goes in the comments.
- Please leave a comment to let others know how you’re using this, but as this is intended to be a platform for your own projects, I can’t provide any specific support beyond getting it to boot. Please ask your questions either on the Joggler Forum or the Ubuntu Forums. As usual, this software is used entirely at your own risk.
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