[arch-general] How to create archlinux install CD?

[Michael Towers]

Karolina Lindqvist wrote:
> I have a new i586 machine and want to install archlinux i586 on it. So I want 
> to recreate the archlinux install CD.  But how do i do it? I have unpacked 
> the install ISO, and is replacing all the packages, but when it comes to 
> inird.img, the instructions in the wiki do not work. I cannot mount the 
> unzipped inird.img. What should I do? file say that it is a cpio archive, but 
> how do I unpack and mount it? And then, what is lowcore.img?
> 
> Of course I could do it by booting debian, or something, and then replacing it 
> with archlinux, but actually having an archlinux install CD would be pretty 
> handy for my i586 machines.
> 
> 
> 
cpio:
As I always forget the command to unpack cpio archives I generally use 
mc to look inside them. That's quite a good idea anyway, as some are 
badly built so that they unpack to / and make a mess of your file system 
if you are not careful. You don't need to (can't) mount it.
I expect the command to unpack a cpio is on the man page. The correct 
command to recompress it after you've done your adjustments can be found 
floating around on the internet ... I think it's something along the 
lines of:

cd image
find . | cpio -o -H newc | gzip > ../initrd.img