Grml is a Linux- based live operating system , created specifically for system administrators. However, although it is based on Debian, this operating system is updated very rarely, compared to Debian which receives frequent updates.
Today, almost two years after the last Grml update, Michael Prokop, lead developer of the operating system, announced the release of the new version – Grml 2020.06 'Ausgehfuahangl'.
The new operating system is based on a testing distribution of Debian 11 'bullseye'. As a result, the operating system now uses the Debian kernel and packages, instead of the old custom kernel. In addition to this, the latest release also contains 30 new Debian packages. Some of the most important packages that were added are: avahi-utils, borgbackup, cloud-init, iperf3, qemu-system-gui, qrencode, mate, zstd and wireguard. A detailed list of all the packages that were 'stolen' from Debiancan be found here.
Along with the addition of new packages, many of the old Grml packages have been updated. Some examples are dash, fuse3, vim-gtk3, ruby2.7, as well as python3.8.
Since Python2 stopped being developed in early 2020, Grml 2020.06 no longer supports this language and its tools. However, all tools such as grml2usb, grml-paste and grml-x have been integrated into Python 3.8.
Additionally, the latest version of the operating system also offers cloud-init support, which can be used for various network configurations, SSH access keys, and SSH hostnames. You can enable this serviceby using the services=cloud-init at boot time. However, if you want a static network configuration, you should choose nonetworking services=cloud-init,networking.
Another important change in version v2020.06 is the new default system mount point. The operating system now uses the mount point /lib/live/mount/medium, instead of /run/live/medium.
Download Grml 2020.06 'Ausgehfuahangl':
If you want to try the new version of the operating system, you should first download the ISO file. Then, create a bootable USB, and choose to boot from the USB device.
