live Arch Linux builder
GUI Tab: Installation
Package selection
There are two main areas in this tab, one concerning packages to be installed (a feature of the profile) and one concerning the location of the package repositories - where the packages are to be fetched from (which is a project feature).
The profile files 'addedpacks' and to a lesser extent 'vetopacks' determine which packages will be installed. The 'base' group of packages will always be installed automatically, unless there are entries in 'vetopacks' to veto certain of these (this will have no effect if a vetoed package is required by one selected for installation). 'addedpacks' is simply a list of additional packages to install, their dependencies will be installed automatically. Both these files are simply one package name per line, empty lines and lines starting with '#' being ignored.
'pacman.conf' and 'mirrorlist'
The larch repository must be available for building the live system, i.e. it must be included in the 'pacman.conf' used for the installation process. To ease the incorporation of updates to the structure of the file 'pacman.conf' a split version is used. The header part is extracted from the default pacman.conf (distributed with the 'larch' package) and the repository list is kept separately. Both parts can be edited separately, by clicking on the corresponding button, and altered versions are then stored within the profile.
The repository-list file is called 'pacman.conf.larch'. It is supplied in the larch packages 'data' directory, and when it is edited the new file is saved in the working directory (normally ~/.config/larch/working_dir).
If there are 'Include' lines in the repository list in 'pacman.conf', the corresponding 'mirrorlist' file must be present and suitably configured. By default the host's /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist will be used, but it is also possible to use an edited version - which is not stored within the profile, but in larch's working directory.
Package 'mirrors' and cache
Adjustments to the repository addresses and cache location are treated as 'advanced' options, because in many cases the defaults will be perfectly adequate.
Using different mirrors/repositories for the installation
In order to use an alternative mirror-list (for installation only!), the 'Include' entries in pacman.conf.larch must be set to their default, '/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist'. When the 'Edit mirrorlist' button is clicked the file 'mirrorlist' file in the working directory is opened in the editor. If this file does not yet exist it is copied from /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist (on the host) - if this file doesn't exist (presumably only on non-Arch hosts, the version supplied in the 'data' directory of the larch package is used.
An alternative is to specify a complete path to a mirror ('Use special mirror for installation'), which must then include all needed repositories. Note that this substitution is just for the installation - the resulting live system will use the pacman.conf and mirrorlist as set in the profile. The path entered for this build mirror can contain the variables "*platform*" and "*repo*", these being substituted automatically by larch.
Package cache
Normally the host's standard package cache will be used for the installation, but it is possible to use a non-standard location. I guess, however, that this will not normally be necessary.