Building the AcreetionOS ISO

Reproduce the official image or fork it — the builder is ordinary tooling.

Prerequisites

  • Arch-family host (AcreetionOS itself ideal; x86_64)

  • ~20 GB free disk, some patience for package downloads

  • Root-capable account

sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel archiso grub squashfs-tools
git clone https://github.com/AcreetionOS-Code/acreetionos.git
cd acreetionos

The build loop

./build.sh                    # orchestrates everything; read it first — it's short
# outputs land per script convention (work/out style dir)
ls -lh out/*.iso
sha256sum out/*.iso           # compare against your own build log

What happens inside: packages resolve from repo-main per packages.x86_64 → airootfs overlay applied → squashfs (XZ) compression → ISO hybrid with GRUB/SYSLINUX + recovery entries → optional build-info stamping (generate-build-info.sh).

Customizing safely

Want to change Touch

Package set

packages.x86_64 (commented sections guide placement)

Live defaults/services

airootfs/ overlay paths mirror target system layout

Bootloader branding/menus

grub/, syslinux/

Install-time behavior

installer/calamares config + postinstall hooks

Keep Changes.md entries coming with PRs — that log IS institutional memory.

Testing your artifact

  1. VM boot first (Virtual Machines on AcreetionOS) — UEFI AND BIOS profiles both

  2. Installer run to completion in VM before touching real media

  3. USB write test via Creating Bootable USB Media patterns

  4. Recovery Environment entry boots? (easy to break during airootfs edits)

Common build failures

  • Stale host keyring → update host fully first (rolling discipline)

  • Disk exhaustion mid-squashfs → the 20 GB guidance exists

  • Package conflict surprises → your packages.x86_64 edit vs repo state; resolve versions explicitly