In our previous post about customized Linux Distros we got you to a web app for creating customized linux distros based on ubuntu.

Maybe you’re not an ubuntu fan but an OpenSUSE fan..Well we still have another one for you.

Make your way to SuseStudio. It’s my personal favorite.

You get a nice intuitive ajax/jquery powered GUI and interface specifically designed to help you customize your very own openSuse distro.

Although at this moment they are constantly reaching their capacity and the only way you can gain access is by requesting an invitation from them.  As far as I remember it did not take very long (maybe a week or two at most?) to get my invitation.  From then on you can sign in using your google account and others.

The first part is where you decide what the purpose of your build will be.  Will it be a server?  Will it be a desktop GUI environment?  What are you going to use it for?

These are all the thoughts I had going through my head when I first started customizing my version of OpenSUSE.

You get to pick between Server, GNOME Desktop, KDE Desktop, Just Enough OS or Minimal (for the most part).  Again, this is just a baseline of what your disc will contain.

The rest of the software configuration is up to you later on in the setup of your custom OpenSuse LiveCD or install disc.

You will get to start out on the general configuration tab where you get to choose network settings and have it set as static, DHCP client, and whether or not you want the firewall on by default. as well as default language, keyboard, and time zone.  You will also have a chance to edit the default users.

Root will of course be there by default with a default password of “linux” which should be changed.  You can also add and delete extra users, set their passwords and home directories as well as their groups.

One of the phases that may come next (or later if you don’t care for it much) is to customize the look and feel.

This basically amounts to setting a custom logo and setting a custom wallpaper for it to use by default.

Unfortunately in terms of customization of looks this is pretty much as far as it goes since there is no *desktop theme* customization feature (for now anyways).

Either way the customization is one of the more exciting aspects because you know someone, even if it’s just you, will see it each time it’s booted up.

At the appliance tab of the configuration menu you can customize settings as if you were going to run it as a virtual machine.

Select memory size and amounts, add Live installers, VMWare support as well as Xen support.

Startup configuration is…well, startup configuration.  Although it sounds promising it only allows the configuration of the user modes and whether or not you want it to show a customized EULA.

The EULA part I like as well as choosing which run-level it starts in but I still think it needs some more customization to startup.

The run levels you have to choose from… Single User (1), Multi user / No Network (2), Normal Console (3), and Graphical (5).

The software customization tab is obviously the most useful piece of this entire “distro-generator”.  Add software packages, add programs, add repositories, etc.  It’s all there and it’s all for the adding (or removing).

This of course is the main feature of any distribution authoring/editing/remixing web-app or third party software.

..and alas, the easiest part is building the distro because of course all you have to do now is wait.

You can have it built a few different ways.  ISO format for easy burning, VMDK for virtual machine disk images as a quick loading type (also a good way to test it), a Xen guest or a USB thumb flash drive.

Since there’s a few different ways to have it built it really cuts back on the whole *oh great I have to convert it 4 times* factor.

Also, after it is done being built, you can have susestudio open it in a virtual machine-esque web app for up to an hour.  You can then SSH to it and use the desktop GUI (if required) to check it out and make sure everything is A-OK before you download it.

Plenty of tools out there but OpenSUSE Studio is by far my favorite.

Go sign up for OpenSUSE Studio invites.

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Once again another free (up to a point) web application for use for customizing a Linux distribution for whatever you want.

Reconstructor isn’t as pretty as some of the other Linux distro customization services I’ve seen but it gets the job done.  You still have the ability to customize the way it looks, operations, modules, addons, etc.

For the amount you can do it is certainly useful.  Not to mention it has been around since before 2007.

Reconstructor is a GNU/Linux distribution customization and creation toolkit. It allows for the customization of the Ubuntu andDebian GNU/Linux distributions. Customizations include boot logo image and text color, wallpaper, themes, icons, applications, and more.

To start using Reconstructor (it’s free) go to https://build.reconstructor.org and signup.

The reason I said it is free up to a point is that they do charge for the service but they give each account a $5 limit per month (for free).  Anything over that will have you paying up front for it.

Here is an overlook of their “Fees” page…

Fees

The following are the fees for using the Reconstructor services. Please note: each account balance will get up to a $5 credit each month (ending balance after credit will be no more than $5). Each transaction will deduct from your account credit. To add more funds, click the “Add Credit” button in your account details window (accessed by clicking your username in the upper right after you login).

• Upload and store a project file: $0.02 per MB per month
• Build a project: $0.30
• Download a built project: $0.45 per GB
• Priority build service: $5.00 (enabled for one month) Note: This charge is prorated based upon the remaining days in the month.

Project Hosting

• File storage: $0.45 per GB per month
• Download: $0.35

So yes for a one or two time use I would say the service isn’t that bad.  There’s still a lot of customization you can do and a lot you can get out of it.  However, the entire fee thing isn’t really the best but you have to understand the kind of loads you can put on servers when doing these kinds of operations.

Reconstructor

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You must admit; one of the most popular activities among the IT world is downloading and trying new operating systems.  Why?  Because we are looking for one that meets all requirements of what we do.  This would include..

1. Easy to use..
2. Easy to configure and set up..
3. Easy to manage and above all..
4. AS SECURE AS POSSIBLE.

What if that isn’t your goal?  Maybe your goal is to have something as vulnerable as possible so that you can LEARN to secure nearly any Linux OS.  That is the goal of Damn Vulnerable Linux.

DVL is a linux distribution based off Backtrack 2.0.  It’s filled with all sorts of tools and exploits as well as all the services such as SSHD and Apache that are out-dated and vulnerable to attacks.  The main goal of this distro is to teach you how to secure, reverse engineer code, and most of all…LEARN.

This is by far one of the coolest things I have come across and I am recommending it highly.

Damn Vulnerable Linux (DVL) is everything a good Linux distribution isn’t. Its developers have spent hours stuffing it with broken, ill-configured, outdated, and exploitable software that makes it vulnerable to attacks. DVL isn’t built to run on your desktop – it’s a learning tool for security students.

The main idea behind DVL was to build up a training system that I could use for my university lectures. My goal was to design a Linux system that was as vulnerable as possible, to teach topics such as reverse code engineering, buffer overflows, shellcode development, Web exploitation, and SQL injection.

Of course one of the obvious warnings they give you is to not use it as an actual operating system and if you ask me that goes without saying.

Give it a shot and see what you can learn.  I’m having fun on it already!

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UNetbootin is free software aimed at anyone looking to create USB-Bootable installs for Linux distributions.

“UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without burning a CD. It runs on both Windows and Linux. You can either let UNetbootin download one of the many distributions supported out-of-the-box for you, or supply your own Linux .iso file if you’ve already downloaded one or your preferred distribution isn’t on the list.”

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

The wonderful thing about UNetbootin is the fact that this does not just work for linux distributions that I have found but it also works for any other boot-cd you might find.  As long as you have an ISO of a disk that is supposed to boot on startup, it can make it so.

Therefore, you are not limited to just ISO’s of Fedora, Ubuntu, etc.  I have created USB bootable flash drives with MultiBoot, Hirens, and others as well as Windows XP, Windows 7, etc.  Why you need to do this?  Want to install Windows XP on your netbook?  Need to remove a windows password?

Download it Here.

If you have already used it before, leave a comment about what you have done with it.

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