BlackBox-Linux

Blackbox Linux

A minimal, ultra-lightweight Linux distribution. ( This Project is in Alpha. Only use for testing purposes. Many fatures listed are not available yet. )

ISO SIZE: ~35 MB

Project Size ~3 GB

About

Blackbox Linux is a challenge for Linux professionals and enthusiasts. If you can master this minimal OS with only essential Unix utilities, you’ve truly proven your Linux expertise.

Features

Minimal footprint - Only the essentials included
Lightweight - Perfect for resource-constrained environments
Pure Linux - No bloat, no package managers, no hand-holding

What’s NOT Included

Package managers
Pre-built binaries
Desktop environments
Additional utilities
No Documentation

Issues

No Internet. To be Patched. You can edit source code to add it your self.

Getting Started

Currently, pre-built ISO files are available for few beta versions which are unstable.

Needed:

Arch Linux

User named bbox.

Installation

Download the latest from the Releases page.

WARNING: At least the user must know the basic commands of linux. E.g. (ls, cp, ,v, tar, wget, etc.)

Making The Enviornment

Create the user bbox:

sudo useradd -s /bin/bash -m bbox
Set password for the user. ( Make sure the user has sudo privliges )

Run this to create a file called .bash_profile:

 cat > ~/.bash_profile << "EOF"
 export BB_ROOT="$HOME/blackbox-linux"
 export BB_SYSROOT="$BB_ROOT/sysroot"
 export BB_TOOLS="$BB_ROOT/cross-tools"
 export TARGET="x86_64-linux-musl"
 export PATH="$BB_TOOLS/bin:$PATH"
 EOF
    

Note: Every time you open a new terminal or reboot/shutdown ( suspend as well if you really want to be safe ) run:

source~/.bash_profile

DO NOT RUN THIS COMMAND NOW!

Create a new folder called blackbox-linux and cd into it.
Then download the latest package unzip it into your directory using tar.
Then run cd .. && source ~/.bash_profile && cd blackbox-linux

Making Directories

Create the following directories as git does not allow empty directories!

    
 mkdir $BB_ROOT/rootfs/proc
 mkdir $BB_ROOT/rootfs/sys
 mkdir $BB_ROOT/rootfs/dev
 mkdir $BB_ROOT/rootfs/run
 mkdir $BB_ROOT/rootfs/tmp
      

Cleaning Up

Clear out some prebuilt files ( This will remove the premade ISO )
```
    
  rm -f blackbox.iso 
  rm -rf iso_root#
    
```
Adding Stuff

Now if you want to make changes you are free to do so. But according to the Apache 2.0 License.

Also instead of editing the init file at $BB_ROOT/rootfs/ edit the file init_config at $BB_ROOT/rootfs/etc/. When the OS starts the init file runs source /etc/init_config

Packing Initramfs

Go to rootfs
Run the following command

    find . | cpio -o -H newc | gzip -9 > ../initramfs.cpio.gz

Go back to /home/bbox/blackbox-linux/

Staging the ISO

Now if you are done run these. ( If you set anything else up that needs aditional commands to be run during this step then do those as well )

Create a directory iso_root/boot/isolinux with the -p tag.
Copy the initramfs.cpio.gz to iso_root/boot/
Copy the bzImage file at /home/bbox/blackbox-linux/linux-6.18.21/arch/x86/boot to iso_root/boot/

Inastalling Packages and Forgeing the ISO

Install the following packages:
```
 sudo pacman -Syu qemu-full xorriso
```

Forge the ISO using this:

    
 xorriso -as mkisofs \
   -o blackbox.iso \
   -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin \
   -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat \
   -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
   -R -J iso_root
    

Testing (QEMU)

WARNING: DO NOT GO BARE METAL. THIS OS IS NOT TESTED FOR IT YET. BOOT AT OWN RISK.

Use qemu to boot, install or play around.

    
    qemu-system-x86_64 \
      -cdrom blackbox.iso \
      -m 5G -smp 5 \
      -netdev user,id=net0 -device e1000,netdev=net0 \
      -nographic
      

Have FUN!

Contribute

Found an issue? This is your opportunity to prove your Linux prowess!

Please report bugs and issues in the Issues tab so they can be patched.

Challenge accepted? Install Blackbox Linux and show the world you’re a true Linux pro.

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