Custom Live ISO for Remote Support

jwesleycooper · 2012-02-04 18:58:54

Hey everyone,

I've been wanting to make a custom CLI-only Linux live disk image for remotely supporting client computers that would allow me to remotely connect and work on their (often Windows) systems after they boot from it; and seeing as Arch is known for being both cutting edge and is easily customized, I have decided to use it as the basis for this. Currently, I'm installing Archiso from the git repos, as the wiki has indicated, but I would like some additional advice as to which packages I should use on this disk and how I should implement the scripting that will make it simple for the user on the other end.

In order to have the user's computer initiate the connection, I plan on making a simple util that will send an encrypted signal message to my own IP, containing the original IP of the source as well as the passkey needed to log in. A daemon on my end should be able to pick up the transmission, decrypt it, then initiate the connection for me automatically. This is more or less my first network-level programming attempt though, so I could use some advice and resources.

Also, I wanted to integrate FreeDOS into this system, for the purpose of running hardware diagnostic utilities; I think I've seen that this can be done somewhere ... but I'm not quite sure how or which packages I would need.

Finally, is there a package that installs the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor? I know it's linux-based, and would be quite invaluable in windows repairs, but I really could use some advice on how to build it, should there not be a binary package available.

I appreciate any input and advice you can give me on this!

nomorewindows · 2012-03-04 22:29:00

You could have them boot iPXE over the internet to your PXE server, which is easy to configure using Arch, they will have to have iPXE to get their system to start. Then you would have SSH installed, so that when they connect, you can ssh in to their machine. This assumes that their machine is working well enough to boot at all. If you create an ISO they would have to be able to download it and burn it, which may not work, regardless of what you put onto it. What are you going to do with FreeDOS? If you have yaourt installed, you can use it to find the chntpw onto your live installation.

nomilieu · 2012-03-05 16:09:38

I would just use iPXE for this. You can grab the boot files from a web server and use an NFS root.
You'd just need your NFS to run a script at startup to notify you that someone has booted their system in this fashion.

chntpw is in the Arch repos.
I don't know anything about FreeDOS, so I can't help you there.

I do have the means set up to boot machines in this fashion, but I've honestly not had any need for it.
I just walk around with a flash drive.

Last edited by nomilieu (2012-03-05 16:10:00)

jwesleycooper · 2012-03-06 04:04:52

Ok, well I wanted to use freedos so I can use dos-based hardware diagnostic utilities if necessary ... and does the chntpw package include the offline registry tools as well, or just the password reset tool?

Can anyone direct me to a good tutorial/howto on setting up a PXE Webserver on Arch? It isn't exactly something I've done before ...

EDIT: Also, I have another small issue ... I wanted to make the iso image 32-bit only, so I can have the minimum packages that will work on the most systems possible; yet by the instructions on the Wiki Page for Archiso, my 64-bit VM only wants to make 64-bit setups. Can somebody please tell me how I can force pacman to set up a 32-bit sys when I create the chroot? I've tried manually specifying a modified pacman.conf file with the arch set to i686 with the -C option, but that only makes it refuse to create it whatsoever.

Last edited by jwesleycooper (2012-03-06 04:11:10)

ewaller · 2012-03-06 04:25:33

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PXE

nomorewindows · 2012-03-07 21:31:26

jwesleycooper wrote:

Ok, well I wanted to use freedos so I can use dos-based hardware diagnostic utilities if necessary ... and does the chntpw package include the offline registry tools as well, or just the password reset tool?
Can anyone direct me to a good tutorial/howto on setting up a PXE Webserver on Arch? It isn't exactly something I've done before ...
EDIT: Also, I have another small issue ... I wanted to make the iso image 32-bit only, so I can have the minimum packages that will work on the most systems possible; yet by the instructions on the Wiki Page for Archiso, my 64-bit VM only wants to make 64-bit setups. Can somebody please tell me how I can force pacman to set up a 32-bit sys when I create the chroot? I've tried manually specifying a modified pacman.conf file with the arch set to i686 with the -C option, but that only makes it refuse to create it whatsoever.

When placing your files in your tftpboot, point pacman to the directory as specified in the PXE wiki document, and add --arch=i686 to the pacman command-line. This will force downloading of the 32-bit architecture into the nfs client that will be setup. You can even point the --cachedir into your normal directory to keep it out of the tftpboot directory for the client. When making modifications with pacman to the NFS client, the arch argument is important to keep from breaking the nfs client with the different architectures.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-02-04 18:58:54

Custom Live ISO for Remote Support

#2 2012-03-04 22:29:00

Re: Custom Live ISO for Remote Support

#3 2012-03-05 16:09:38

Re: Custom Live ISO for Remote Support

#4 2012-03-06 04:04:52

Re: Custom Live ISO for Remote Support

#5 2012-03-06 04:25:33

Re: Custom Live ISO for Remote Support

#6 2012-03-07 21:31:26

Re: Custom Live ISO for Remote Support

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