Exton|Defender Super Rescue System (SRS) Files

Exton|Defender (SRS) version 241208 based on Fedora Rawhide (upcoming Fedora 42) with LXQt 2.0 DE, version 241210 based on Fedora stable (41) with the Gnome 47 and Cinnamon 6.2 Desktop Environments and the RLRH version 231211 based on Rocky Linux 9.2 with the Gnome 40 Desktop Environment (DE) 

ABOUT Exton|Defender BUILD 241210, which replaces BUILD 240331
Exton|Defender SRS - based on Fedora 41 stable, 64 bit - is a Linux system available as a Live USB/DVD for administrating or repairing your system and data after a crash. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the hard disk partitions. It comes with a lot of Linux software such as system tools and basic tools (editors, Midnight Commander, network tools). Exton|Defender can, however, also be used as a normal Linux Desktop System. It requires no installation, but can be installed to hard drive if you like. Desktop Environments: Special versions of Gnome and Cinnamon made by Fedora. Used kernel when running the System LIVE is 6.12.1-amd64-exton. After a hard drive installation Fedora's orginal kernel 6.11.10-300.fc41 can be used.

MORE NEWS 241210 ABOUT Exton|Defender Rawhide (Fedora 41)
I've made a new version of Exton|Defender 64 bit based on Fedora stable. Fedora 41 stable was released 241029. This new version uses the Cinnamon and Gnome Desktops. Log in to the Desktop environment you prefer. Study all other installed packages: https://defender.exton.se/fc41/exton-defender-fc41-installed-packages-241210.txt
MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE: I've installed Refracta Snapshot in Exton|Defender, which means that you can create your own Fedora 41 System! I mean change everything to your liking and then create a new ISO.
NOTE1: For Refracta Snapshot to work you have to run "my" kernel 6.12.1-amd64-exton when Refracta Snapshot is running. (It won't work with Fedora's kernel 6.11.10-300.fc41).
NOTE2: Version 241210 of Exton|Defender can run on really old computers. As an example I could run it on my 17 years old laptop Acer Aspire 5102 WLMi. 
NOTE3: This version of Exton|Defender uses GDM Login Manager. It means that you can log in to Gnome or Cinnamon as root (if you want to).
NOTE4: I have replaced the Deepin DE with Gnome 46. Deepin doesn't perform well in Fedora 41.
NOTE5: I have finally managed to install Calamares Installer. It means that you can install Exton|Defender in any language. Many well-known Linux distributions use Calamares as well.
NOTE6: As an alternative you can use Refracta Installer. It will give you an exact copy of Exton|Defender. 
NOTE7: I have kept the Anaconda Installer. It will give you a "standard" Fedora installation. I.e. without the possibility to create your own Fedora System.

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ABOUT Exton|Defender Build 241208
Exton|Defender - based on Fedora "Rawhide" (upcoming Fedora 42), 64 bit, is an extra version built mainly because I finally found a way to install Calamares Installer in Fedora and make it work. This build is not really a "Defender SRS" system. You can, however, install all the rescue tools you may need also when running this version live. (I.e. from a USB stick or a DVD). The ISO file is only of 1400 MB, which means that you should be able to run the system in RAM also on older computers. Fedora 41 was released in a stable version on October 29, 2024. So Exton|Defender fc42 (being based on upcoming Fedora 42) should be very "unstable". I have, however, not noticed anything special. I.e. programs won't crash or anything like that.

REFRACTA SNAPSHOT
You can create your own Fedora 42 system using Refracta Snapshot, which is pre-installed. I.e. change everything to your liking and then create a new ISO. That can be done after a hard drive installation. If you have plenty of RAM it is also possible to create a new ISO while running Exton|Defender fc42 live. 

CALAMARES INSTALLER
Calamares is very simple to use. Just start it from the menu and follow the instructions. If you are installing Exton|Defender on a UEFI computer you should read my general install instructions in advance: https://www.exton.se/how-to-multi-boot-linux/
If you want to make your own Fedora distro (with Refracta Snapshot) you should install Exton|Defender on a partition of about 30 GB and use a SWAP space of about 2 GB. Do not create special home or boot partitions. When Calamares starts it will look like this: https://defender.exton.se/exton-defender-fc42-lxqt-start-calamares-241208.jpg
If you want to use Calamares in your own distro you'll have to reinstall it. That is done with the command "sudo dnf install calamares". Watch this screenshot: https://defender.exton.se/exton-defender-fc42-lxqt-calamares-reinstall-241208.jpg

REFRACTA INSTALLER
If you want an exact copy of Exton|Defender fc42 you should use Refracta Installer. Preferably in VirtualBox/VMware or if you already have one Linux system installed on you computer and use Grub as boot loader. No need to reinstall Calamares then.

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NEWS ABOUT Exton|Defender BASED ON Rocky Linux - Build 231211
Exton|Defender RLRH is a LIVE version of Rocky Linux 9.2 which is also compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux®. "Rocky Linux is an open-source enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux®. It is under intensive development by the community". 

LIVE LINUX SYSTEM
You can run Exton|Defender RLRH live (i.e. from a DVD or USB stick) on EFI and non-EFI computers. (Rocky Linux is not a LIVE system). From Wikipedia: "A live CD or live DVD is a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive". 

CREATE YOUR OWN Rocky Linux System
You can also create your own Rocky Linux system using Refracta Snapshot, which is pre-installed. I.e. change everything to your liking and then create a new ISO. That can be done after a hard drive installation. If you have plenty of RAM it is also possible to create a new ISO while running Exton|Defender RLRH live. 

MORE ABOUT Exton|Defender RLRH Build 231211
Gnome 40 is used as DE. Two kernels are installed – 6.5.3-1.el9.elrepo.x86_64 and 6.5.10-amd64-exton. Use the one you prefer (after a hard drive installation).
IMPORTANT NOTES: 1) Unfortunately you can't achieve persistence while installing Build 231211 to a USB stick. Which you can as regards Exton|Defender Build 241210/241208 - see below (NEWS 231111).
2) Almost all System Tools installed in Build 241210 are also installed in Build 231211. So Build 231211 can also be used as a Super Rescue System (SRS). Study all installed packages: https://defender.exton.se/rlrh/exton-defender-rlrh-installed-packages-231120.txt
3) Exton|Defender RLRH is UNIQUE. I.e. there is no other live version of Rocky Linux around (as far as I know). At least not with Refracta Snapshot pre-installed. In version 231211 also with a GUI!

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231111: HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU!
Today I discovered (by chance) that you can install Exton|Defender Build 231109 (now 241210/241208) to a USB stick with persistence! I.e. all your system changes will be saved directly on the USB stick. Even big system upgrades! That will make it unnecessary to install Exton|Defender to hard drive (which can be a bit tricky). Just run the System from a big enough USB stick and be happy! Do it like this: 
1. Use Rufus 4.6 (https://rufus.ie/en/) for the installation.
2. Set a Persistent partition size of about 3GB before you start the installation. Watch this screenshot: https://defender.exton.se/usb-persistence/exton-defender-rufus-4.3.jpg
3. Run Exton|Defender from your created USB stick. Be sure boot up the System in Legacy mode. You can run the System also in UEFI mode, but unfortunately persistence won't be enabled then.
4. Test run Exton|Defender and change some things. For example new bookmarks in Firefox. Reboot!
5. You changes should be left if you have done what I said above. Now you can upgrade the whole system with "sudo dnf upgrade --refresh". About 230 packages can be upgraded as of 231111. Watch this screenshot: http://defender.exton.se/usb-persistence/exton-defender-dnf-upgrade-231110-4.jpg
6. Finally you can make a new ISO (your own) if you want. Be sure to change /etc/refractasnapshot.conf first. You must see to that the new ISO file and the work environment will be created on another partition. Watch this screenshot: http://defender.exton.se/usb-persistence/exton-defender-refractasnapshot-231110.jpg
7. Start Refractasnapshot from the menu. Follow the instructions. After a few minutes your ISO will be ready. Watch this screenshot: http://defender.exton.se/usb-persistence/exton-defender-refractasnapshot-finished-231110.jpg
NOTE1: For Refracta Snapshot to work you have to run “my” kernel 6.12.1-amd64-exton when Refracta Snapshot is running. (It won’t work with Fedora’s kernel 6.11). 
IMPORTANT NOTE: Actually you CAN run Fedora’s original kernel 6.11 and still use Refracta Snapshot. Just don’t uninstall/remove “my” kernel 6.12.1-amd64-exton before running Refracta Snapshot. And don’t remove the links /vmlinuz and /initrd.img to my kernel. Your new ISO will then be created without problems. When running your new ISO live (i.e. from a USB stick/DVD or in VirtualBox/VMware) my kernel will be used. If you install your new Fedora/Exton|Defender System to hard drive Fedora’s kernel 6.9-rc1 (now 6.11.10-300.fc41) will be used. Watch this screenshot: https://defender.exton.se/build-240331/exton-defender-gnome-liveuser-240331.jpg

ABOUT the Cinnamon Desktop Environment
Cinnamon is a "free and open-source desktop environment for Linux and Unix-like operating systems, deriving from GNOME 3 but following traditional desktop metaphor conventions". Read more about Cinnamon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_(desktop_environment)
And a review of Cinnamon 6.2: https://9to5linux.com/cinnamon-6-2-desktop-environment-released-heres-whats-new

ABOUT the Gnome 47 Desktop Environment
Read about GNOME 47 ("Denver"): https://release.gnome.org/47/

SYSTEM TOOLS INCLUDED (not in Build 241208)
NTFS-3g, GParted, Shred, Sfdisk (util-linux-ng), Rsync, Ddrescue, FSArchiver, TestDisk and Midnight Commander. Other programs (among many others): Emacs, NetworkManager, Firefox, Gimp, Parole Media Player, Samba, kernel headers and many compilation tools. Study all installed packages: https://defender.exton.se/fc41/exton-defender-fc41-installed-packages-241210.txt

INSTALL Exton|Defender to a USB STICK 
Use Rufus in Windows. About persistence - see above.

INSTALL Exton|Defender to HARD DRIVE using Refracta Installer
Using Refracta Installer is the best way to install to hard drive if you want an EXACT copy of Exton|Defender, which you later on can change to your liking. Be sure though to install on a partition formatted with the ext3 filesystem - see above. Not necessary in VirtualBox though.

PASSWORDS and LOGIN
The password for user/liveuser is live. The password for root is root. If you (for some reason) want to run Exton|Defender as root you can do so. Choose "Other" and then root. At the GDM login screen you can choose if you want to log in to Cinnamon or Gnome. Default DE is Cinnamon.
NOTE: As regards Exton|Defender Build 231211 you can also log in as root to Gnome 40 from GDM's login screen.
NOTE2: In Build 241208 you can only log in to LXQt DE from SDDM as liveuser with password live. The password for root is root.

CONFIGURING X
X is auto-configured during the boot from the DVD disc or USB stick. If not you'll end up in console mode. Run the command sudo X -configure followed by sudo mv xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Then run startx. 

SAMBA
In Exton|Defender version 241210/241208 you can use PCManFM (file manager) to connect to your Windows computers in your Home Network. Watch this screenshot: https://defender.exton.se/exton-defender-fc42-lxqt-samba-241208.jpg
NOTE: In Build 231120 you can use Thunar to achieve the same thing.

WIRELESS connections
NetworkManager makes it easy to configure wireless connections. Give your WEP/WAP password and connect. That’s it! You’ll find the NM-applet to the right in the panel.

DEFAULT LANGUAGE
The default language (locale) is set to English in both versions. 

The ISO-file (Fedora 41 stable, Build 241210, with Cinnamon and Gnome) is of 2660 MB. (A lot of packages are pre-installed). The Rocky Linux version released 231211 is of 3230 MB. The LXQt version from 241208 is of 1400 MB.

FEEDBACK
Rocky Linux 9.2 and Fedora 41/42 is at least as "good" as Ubuntu 24.04/Linux Mint and/or OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. (In my opinion). Tell me what you think of Exton|Defender SRS in combination with the Cinnamon and Gnome Desktops. Did you find the included System Tools useful?

THE IMPORTANCE OF Exton|Defender Build 241208 being based on UPCOMING fc 42
Programs won't "crash" or anything like that. And I haven't noticed any "bugs". That said you should of course be a bit careful. Version 241208 of Exton|Defender is for people who like to use "cutting-edge" software and the latest kernels etc. You will always have the latest Linux/Fedora software installed if you regularly run the command "sudo dnf upgrade".

READ MORE - especially about how to use Refracta Snapshot and Calamares/Refracta Installer in all Exton|Defender SRS versions - at https://defender.exton.se

READ ABOUT MY OTHER BUILDS WITH ANDROID
https://andex.exton.net - Run Android on PC's
https://raspex.exton.se - Android for Raspberry Pi


exton /241210