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Just Enough Chimera Linux

This article provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to installing a minimal, encrypted Chimera Linux system with ZFS and ZFSBootMenu. It highlights Chimera's unique architecture, including musl, dinit, and FreeBSD userland, appealing to advanced Linux users and system administrators. The guide is particularly valuable for those seeking to build a robust, customized, and secure foundation for their computing environment.

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The Lowdown

This detailed guide, "Just Enough Chimera Linux," walks through the process of setting up a minimal, encrypted Chimera Linux installation utilizing ZFS for the filesystem and ZFSBootMenu for booting. It emphasizes Chimera's distinctive features, such as its use of musl libc, dinit init system, and a FreeBSD-derived userland, aiming to provide a solid base for various computing needs.

Key steps covered in the installation include:

  • Acquiring and preparing the Chimera Linux base install image on a USB medium.
  • Configuring the live environment, including setting console parameters, connecting to the internet, and enabling remote SSH access.
  • Preparing the disk by defining variables, wiping existing data, and creating a two-partition layout: a 2GB EFI System Partition (ESP) and a ZFS pool partition.
  • Creating an encrypted ZFS pool (zroot) with specific properties like ashift=12, autotrim=on, and AES-256-GCM encryption, along with ZFS datasets for ROOT, home, and data.
  • Performing the base system installation using chimera-bootstrap.
  • Configuring the installed system within a chroot environment, setting root and superuser passwords, installing essential packages like microcode updates, configuring console fonts and keyboard layouts, setting timezone and hostname, and enabling core services like syslog-ng, dhcpcd, and sshd.
  • Formatting and mounting the ESP, then setting up ZFSBootMenu by installing a prebuilt executable and configuring EFI boot entries.
  • Finalizing the installation by exiting chroot, unmounting filesystems, exporting the zpool, and rebooting the system.
  • Post-installation configuration includes setting up zram for swap space.

The article aims to empower users to create a highly tailored, secure, and performant Linux system from the ground up, leveraging modern filesystem and boot technologies.