Other Help Topics :: So far so good..

It may be overkill but here is what I backup to retain user/password information on my frugal installs.

etc/gshadow
etc/gshadow-
etc/passwd
etc/passwd-
etc/shadow
etc/shadow-

Chris

Quote

I place my /etc/shadow file in the same folder as the .dsl extensions I need, but when booting up the new CD, the password that worked with the "old" setup, doesn't work with the new.
...
ps. and one more thing: If I place my .xinitrc and bootlocal.sh files in the same folder as the .dsl extensions when using mkmydsl, will they be "copied" into the new ISO?

You have the right idea for the location, but just putting files there will not work. In order for DSL to use them they must be in a mydsl format, which means a gzipped tar file (*.tar.gz,*.tgz, or *.dsl) with the file paths and permissions intact. The simplest way to do this, as far as I know, is to make sure the files you want are listed in /home/dsl/.filetool.lst and then run the backup/restore tool.

I feel kinda stupid, but I don't understand what you're saying.

If I start the backup tool it asks my for a device, but seeing as I have no harddrive in this box, I don't know what to write.

And how can I keep paths and permissions intact if I bundle up the various config files in a zipped tarball? And what does the .filetool.lst file do? I've added /etc/ to the list, but that didn't help.

Maaan, I feel so stupid not understanding this. I'm sure it's all fairly simple, but I just don't get it.

Basically I just need to place a custom bootlocal.sh file and a .xinitrc file in my new DSL ISO. I can live without the password stuff, as that is only needed for SSH access to the box. If I can put my own .xinitrc file in the new ISO, I can just fire up the VNC server.

Thomas

I think I've figured it out..

Thomas

original here.