Ubuntu Customization Kit / News: Recent posts

check the full announcement on Fabrizio's blog:
http://fabrizioballiano.net/2011/04/04/uck-2-4-4-is-out/

check out the official announcement
http://fabrizioballiano.net/2010/12/29/uck-2-4-3-is-out/

check out the full announcement on Fabrizio's blog:
http://fabrizioballiano.net/2010/07/20/ubuntu-customization-kit-2-2-1-is-out/

• GUI:
  * If you don't select a language pack to install, you're not asked
  to choose what desktop manager is installed in the ISO
  * Some messages referring to currently installed distro codename
  were made dynamic
  * If an error happens calling running console application UCK
  tries to run the fallback xterm

• Backend:
  * No error is thrown if no language packs are going to be installed
  * No language packs are removed from the rootfs if you don't provide
  at least a language pack to install (otherwise you'll have an ISO
  with no languages at all)
  * No language selection are removed from gfxboot if you don't choose
  at least a language pack to install
  * If you don't choose a default boot language UCK does not pass a
  DEFAULT_LANG variable when rebuilding gfxboot, this won't modify
  gfxboot default
  * No warning are thrown if "remove_win32_files" file is not present
  in the remastering scripts directory
  * a bug with the kernel image selection was solved (now the latest
  is always selected automatically) (thanks to Dion Stempfley)
  * the way we retrive gfxboot-theme-ubuntu was rewritten using bazaar
  (the official ubuntu development tool)
  * /var/run was added to the pseudo filesystem that are mounted in
  the chroot environment
  * all previously mounted pseudo filesystems are now unmounted
  before starting the remastering process if a previous
  remaster-root directory exists... read more

Ubuntu Customization Kit is a tool that helps you customizing official Ubuntu Live CDs (including Kubuntu/Xubuntu and Edubuntu) to your needs. You can add any package to the live system, for example language packs, or applications.

CHANGELOG:

• Package:
  • every uck-* binary file now has a man page (docs/man)
  • no need to remove the debian/ dir from upstream tarball
  • uck-* binaries moved from /usr/share/uck to /usr/bin... read more

Today is a great day for our beloved project, thanks to the work of Alessio Treglia (http://www.alessiotreglia.com/), UCK has been uploaded to the Ubuntu's Universe repository for the upcoming Ubuntu 9.04 (http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/uck)!

This is a great leap ahead for UCK, we're about to reach millions of Ubuntu users who'll be able to install UCK directly from their package manager, without having to download it from UCK's website!

Changelog:

• Package:
  • HTML docs were moved from docs dir to docs/html
  • absolute paths were removed from uck.desktop file
  • uck-48.png logo was moved from /usr/share/uck to /usr/share/pixmaps/uck.png

Download:
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/uck/uck_2.0.7_all.deb

Changelog:

• GUI:

  • a message about zenity was fixed (thanks to Cesare Tirabassi)
  • a bug with dialog file chooser was fixed (thanks to norsetto)
  • some info messages were rewritten (thanks to Andrew Sayers)

• Package:

  • some dependencies were added (thanks to norsetto and Alessio Treglia)
  • copyright notes were added in some files
    (thanks to norsetto and Alessio Treglia)

Download:
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/uck/uck_2.0.6_all.deb

Changelog:

• GUI:

  • UCK version number fix

• Backend:

  • uck-remaster script now outputs UCK version
    for a better debugging
  • minor fix to download-gfxboot-theme-ubuntu
    (thanks to Alessio Treglia)

• Package:

  • minor fixes to uck.desktop (thanks to Alessio Treglia)
  • some license/copyright issues were fixed (thanks to Alessio Treglia)

Download:
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/uck/uck_2.0.5_all.deb

Changelog:

• Backend:
  • initrd detection was updated to intrepid
  • ISO mime type detection was updated to intrepid
  • langlist was updated to intrepid

Download:
http://tinyurl.com/6j79os

some minor updates over 2.0.2, take the new release here:
http://tinyurl.com/6ocuau

We worked on 2 tasks for this release:

• Hardy support
• license switch to GPL3

Download UCK 2.0.2 here:
http://tinyurl.com/5loqpb

read the official announce on Fabrizio's blog:
http://fabrizioballiano.wordpress.com/2007/11/26/ubuntu-customization-kit-201/

changelog:

• GUI:

  • The question about which desktop environment will be used to manually
    customize the ISO was removed, this is now autodetected by the backend
  • Fix for bug 116018 (--nofork option for adept)
  • A question about removing win32 files was added
  • "others" option was added to the desktop choice to allow a better
    usage with Ubuntu derivatives

• Backend:

  • remaster-live-cd script was renamed uck-remaster
  • A script for every part of the remastering process was created:
    uck-remaster-unpack-iso, uck-remaster-unpack-rootfs, uck-remaster-unpack-initrd,
    uck-remaster-chroot-rootfs, uck-remaster-pack-rootfs, uck-remaster-pack-initrd,
    uck-remaster-pack-iso, uck-remaster-clean
  • Support for alternate cd remastering was added:
    • uck-remaster-unpack-initrd and uck-remaster-pack-initrd automatically
      detect if you're remastering a desktop or alternate cd and read/put files
      in the right places
    • uck-remaster-prepare-alternate script was added to allow you create the
      directory you need to put extra packages in the alternate iso
    • uck-remaster-finalize-alternate script was added to regenerate the packages
      indexes and re-sign the release with your GPG key
  • REMASTER_HOME is the new default variable every single script can receive as
    parameter, the variable contains the directory where all part of the remaster
    will be stored (default is ~/tmp)
  • Log/error messages got more consinstancy
  • Unuseful error messages were removed to gain readability of the log file
  • uck-remaster-pack-iso now supports PPC, x86_64, ia64
  • Package manager and console applications run inside the livecd are now
    autodetected
  • uck-remaster-remove-win32-files script was added
  • Support for Xubuntu/XFCE was enhanced
  • Bug #53721 was fixed, now gfxboot-theme-ubuntu is downloaded from inside
    the chrooted environment avoiding possible incompatibilities between the host
    system and the remastered system
  • Gutsy images are now recognized
  • uck-remaster-pack-rootfs has the -c (--clean-desktop-manifest) option
    (default is OFF) allowing you to delete "live only" packages from the system
    once that is will be installed on hard disk... read more

Changes since beta5:

• Gutsy ISO images are now recognized

Download:
http://tinyurl.com/38h6kb

Changes since beta3:

• some minor bugfixes

Download:
http://tinyurl.com/2d55ef

Changes since beta2:

• Bug #53721 was fixed, now gfxboot-theme-ubuntu is downloaded from inside the chrooted environment avoiding possible incompatibilities between the host system and the remastered system
• gfxboot-theme-ubuntu dependency was dropped, available languages list was imported under uck

Download:
http://tinyurl.com/24gtd6

Changes since beta1:

• GUI:
  • The question about which desktop environment will be used to manually
    customize the ISO was removed, this is now autodetected by the backend
  • Fix for bug 116018 (--nofork option for adept)
  • A question about removing win32 files was added
  • "others" option was added to the desktop choice to allow a better
    usage with Ubuntu derivatives
• Backend:
  • Package manager and console applications run inside the livecd are now
    autodetected
  • uck-remaster-remove-win32-files script was added
  • Support for Xubuntu/XFCE was enhanced... read more

Changelog:

• Backend:
  • remaster-live-cd script was renamed uck-remaster
  • A script for every part of the remastering process was created:
    uck-remaster-unpack-iso, uck-remaster-unpack-rootfs, uck-remaster-unpack-initrd,
    uck-remaster-chroot-rootfs, uck-remaster-pack-rootfs, uck-remaster-pack-initrd,
    uck-remaster-pack-iso, uck-remaster-clean
  • Support for alternate cd remastering was added:
    • uck-remaster-unpack-initrd and uck-remaster-pack-initrd automatically
      detect if you're remastering a desktop or alternate cd and read/put files
      in the right places
    • uck-remaster-prepare-alternate script was added to allow you create the
      directory you need to put extra packages in the alternate iso
    • uck-remaster-finalize-alternate script was added to regenerate the packages
      indexes and re-sign the release with your GPG key
  • REMASTER_HOME is the new default variable every single script can receive as
    parameter, the variable contains the directory where all part of the remaster
    will be stored (default is ~/tmp)
  • Log/error messages got more consinstancy
  • Unuseful error messages were removed to gain readability of the log file
  • uck-remaster-pack-iso now supports PPC, x86_64, ia64

Download:
http://tinyurl.com/3ye79o

Changelog:

• GUI:
  * Fig for bug 109021 (multiple languages failure on feisty, zenity frontend)

• Package:
  * a menu icon was added to allow users to find uck easily

Download:
http://tinyurl.com/3dozlt

Changelog:

• GUI:
  • Fix for bug 73950 (uck fails on starting adept) - added checking
    if adept or adept_manager is installed and running package app
    appropriately.
  • Changed messages to apply to customization menu.
  • Changed information about upgrading kernels - now upgrading kernel should
    be possible.
  • Added check for running GUI as root.
  • Added function for reporting gui errors.
  • Added check for CD size at the end of build process - implements
    wish 56132.... read more

Changelog:

• GUI:
  • Fixed bug 60130 (Cannot create /home directory, file exists) by
    passing name of user in some other variable.
• Backend:
  • Fix for bug 61600 (Checksum errors for generated ISO image)
    (Krzysztof Lichota).
  • Fixed bug 55981 - partially matching language names have been
    added to boot languages (Krzysztof Lichota).
  • Fixed bug 55693- Edgy languages list file position is now
    correctly detected (Fabrizio Balliano)... read more

Changelog:

• GUI:
  • Added ability to use package manager inside CD image to customize packages installed (Krzysztof Lichota).
  • Support for gtk has been added (using zenity). (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • Some info messages were updated. (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • now we ask user if he wants to keep remaster directories to evetually do some manual customization in a second time. (Fabrizio Balliano)
• Backend:
  • a bug with initrd customization was fixed, now temporary initrd.gz is removed after use. (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • a bug with initrd script calling was fixed, now all variables are available in the script too. (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • if a previous remastering directories are found the system continues a previous session. (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • libraries splitting and file reorganization. (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • successful building message was added with the path to the ISO. (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • md5sum is now generated also for the final ISO. (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • proc and sys are now mounted in the chrooted environment. (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • Fixed bug 49612, now if no dialog/kdialog/xdialog is detected an error message is printed out. (Fabrizio Balliano)
  • Added possibility of running X programs from CD image in user's X server (Krzysztof Lichota).
  • Added unmounting all filesystems upon exit (Krzysztof Lichota).... read more