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Tutorial Using Syslinux to make bootable media

The SYSLINUX Project is a suite of lightweight master boot record (MBR) boot loaders for starting up IBM PC compatible computers with the Linux kernel. Primarily developed by H. Peter Anvin, the SYSLINUX bundle consists of several separate systems used for different purposes, including ISOLINUX, PXELINUX and EXTLINUX. (source wikipedia)

Create a bootable iso using syslinux

Getting the required files

To make a bootable iso using Syslinux, some files are required :

syslinux is the main package containing all syslinux filesize
isolinux is the isolinux.bin used to boot by Syslinux
genisoimage is the bin used to build the iso, it replace mkfsiso (obsolet)

Using Syslinux official files

Syslinux files are available on their web site : http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Download
For all Syslinux version, you can find them on https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/

Using Debian Jessie packages

apt-get install syslinux isolinux genisoimage -y

For this tutorial i will use the lasted stable files available when this article is wrote, that mean Syslinux 6.03

Prepare ISO content file structure

you need to create the CD structure, and then set files. For this tutorial i will use the folder Workspace as the main folder and ISO the folder which will contain the iso files.

Preparing files from official download files :

copy to clipboard

#Create the Workspace folder in /var/tmp
mkdir -p /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux
#Get the files
wget https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/syslinux-6.03.tar.gz -P /var/tmp/Workspace/
#Extract the files
tar -C /var/tmp/Workspace/ -xvzf /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03.tar.gz
#Copying require files
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/core/isolinux.bin /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/menu/menu.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/libutil/libutil.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/elflink/ldlinux/ldlinux.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
#Create empty configuration file
touch /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/isolinux.cfg

Preparing files from debian jessie packages :

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#Get the files
apt-get install syslinux isolinux genisoimage -y
#Create the Workspace folder in /var/tmp
mkdir -p /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux
#Copying require files
cp /usr/lib/ISOLINUX/isolinux.bin /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/menu.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/libutil.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/ldlinux.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
#Create empty configuration file
touch /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/isolinux.cfg

Some comments about thoose files :

If you use another Linux distribution (or even older Debian), files can be find in some other directories, you may have to search them before.
File are taken from the BIOS directory, the boot process won't work if EFI files are used instead.

The structure result should be :

Workspace +
          |- ISO +
                 |- isolinux +
                             |- isolinux.bin
                             |- menu.c32
                             |- ldlinux.c32
                             |- libutil.c32
                             |- isolinux.cfg

Edit isolinux.cfg file and set the menu which will be displayed (at the moment empty, it is just for testing boot process)

isolinux.cfg content : copy to clipboard

cat <<EOF > /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
UI menu.c32

MENU TITLE "THIS IS A TEST"

LABEL TEST
	MENU LABEL Back to boot proccess
	MENU DEFAULT
	LOCALBOOT 0
	TEXT HELP
		Exit and continue normal boot
	ENDTEXT
EOF

This menu isolinux.cfg is just displaying one entry, which when selected it launch the local hard drive boot process.
Some more explanation :

UI menu.c32 is the interface used to render the boot menu
MENU TITLE is the boot menu title
LABEL TEST is the declaration of an entry to boot menu
MENU LABEL is the displayed title of boot menu entry
MENU DEFAULT mean this entry will be selected by default
LOCALBOOT 0 is the command to exit and continue boot process
TEXT HELP is the tooltip text displayed when the boot menu entry is selected

LOCALBOOT 0 will continue the boot process order, so if you have CDrom,USB,Hard disk as boot order, when you leave CDrom menu you will continue on USB boot
Menu entries can be found there : http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Comboot/menu.c32

Make a bootable iso from files

genisoimageWill be used to create the bootable iso file.

This is the command copy to clipboard

genisoimage -rational-rock -volid "Testing ISO" -cache-inodes \
-joliet -full-iso9660-filenames -input-charset UTF8 \
-b isolinux/isolinux.bin \
-c isolinux/boot.cat \
-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
-output /var/tmp/Workspace/bootable.iso /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/

If no error occured, You should see now a file called bootable.iso in /var/tmp/Workspace/

genisoimage has replace mkfsiso, but it works the same with mkfsiso, the command line should be a little different, but the result should be (almost) the same.

Result

Once the iso is generated, it can be tested.
To test you can use for example a virtual machine with boot on CDrom option and the iso mounted in CDrom.

This is the result that should be displayed once the virtual machine started :
Boot menu test result

Automation

By the way, the script can be put in a single bash file to make the whole process.

makeBootableIso.sh copy to clipboard

#Create the Workspace folder in /var/tmp
mkdir -p /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux
#Get the files
wget https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/syslinux-6.03.tar.gz -P /var/tmp/Workspace/
#Extract the files
tar -C /var/tmp/Workspace/ -xvzf /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03.tar.gz
#Copying require files
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/core/isolinux.bin /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/menu/menu.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/libutil/libutil.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/elflink/ldlinux/ldlinux.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/
#Create empty configuration file
touch /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/isolinux.cfg

#Set configuration file content
cat <<EOF > /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
UI menu.c32

MENU TITLE "THIS IS A TEST"

LABEL TEST
	MENU LABEL Back to boot proccess
	MENU DEFAULT
	LOCALBOOT 0
	TEXT HELP
		Exit and continue normal boot
	ENDTEXT
EOF

# Create bootable.iso from ISO folder to Workspace
genisoimage -rational-rock -volid "Testing ISO" -cache-inodes -joliet -full-iso9660-filenames \
-b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat \
-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -input-charset UTF8 \
-output /var/tmp/Workspace/bootable.iso /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/

This script can be customized and using Debian Syslinux package instead of official Syslinux download files for example ...

Do not forget that if you work in Windows, you may have trouble with line break "\r\n" (chr(10)chr(13)) characters
So you can clean you file using this little script :
remove windows \r copy to clipboard

tr -d '\r' < makeBootableIso.sh > temp.$$ && mv temp.$$ makeBootableIso.sh

Troubleshooting

stuck on copyright "Peter Anvin et Al"

You may have a trouble in your isolinux.cfg, for exemple a bad use of INCLUDE can make infinite loop.
Try to comment some part of code until iso boot, you may find the problematic line.

stuck on copyright "Peter Anvin et Al" and _ is displayed right after

That mean you are using the wrong files (EFI files), you have to use BIOS files and not EFI to have a working bootable support that is started by computer BIOS.

"Failed to load COM32 file Menu.c32"

That mean some files are missing, check your isolinux folder, it should contain the following files from syslinux bios folder :

isolinux +
         |- isolinux.bin
         |- menu.c32
         |- ldlinux.c32
         |- libutil.c32
         |- isolinux.cfg

error message "all to search_tree_file with an absolute path, stripping initial path separator. Hope this was intended... genisoimage: Uh oh, I cant find the boot catalog directory '/var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux'!"

The argument to -b has to be relative to the root of the filesystem you are creating, so use '-b isolinux/isolinux.bin' and it should work. The same thing applies to -c, you need '-c isolinux/boot.cat'. (source from internet)
In other words
genisoimage will take the parameters -b isolinux/isolinux.bin & -c isolinux/boot.cat based on /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/ path
Example : the option "-b /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/isolinux.bin" will search isolinux.bin in "/var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/isolinux.bin"

error message "genisoimage: Uh oh, I cant find the boot catalog directory 'isolinux'!"

Check your Workspace structure, you should have the same structure, and check files in isolinux folder :

Workspace +
          |- ISO +
                 |- isolinux +
                             |- isolinux.bin
                             |- menu.c32
                             |- ldlinux.c32
                             |- libutil.c32
                             |- isolinux.cfg

Trouble with local boot

Some models of computers, sometimes specific to BIOS and BIOS extension versions, do not work well with at least certain (but sometimes all) LOCALBOOT options (as of v3.70, available in all variants however PXELINUX interprets the option differently). As a workaround, use chain.c32 like this:

LABEL localboot
	MENU LABEL Exit and continue boot process
	COM32 chain.c32
	APPEND hd0

This method requier to copy chain.c32 file to isolinux folder :

cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/chain/chain.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/

source : www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Hardware_Compatibility

Adding Entries to menu

Now you know how to create bootable iso, but it need to be more usefull than just offering an option to boot on local hard drive.
So next step is to add stuff to boot menu, customizing it, and then export the result to USB !

Adding entries to boot menu

We will keep the boot basis from the previous chapter

Basic bin

To not download/install more stuff, we will basically use the one from Syslinux files.
We will use reboot.c32 (reboot the compuer) & poweroff.c32 (shutdown the computer) files from Syslinux.
We will put them in a specific folder to have stuff ordered :

Workspace +
          |- ISO +
                 |- isolinux +
                 |           |- isolinux.bin
                 |           |- menu.c32
                 |           |- ldlinux.c32
                 |           |- libcom32.c32
                 |           |- libutil.c32
                 |           |- isolinux.cfg
                 |
                 |- tools    +
                             |- reboot.c32
                             |- poweroff.c32

Copying the files copy to clipboard

mkdir -p /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/tools
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/modules/reboot.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/tools/
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/modules/poweroff.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/tools/
#requirement to have reboot & poweroff works
cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/lib/libcom32.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/

Files are taken from BIOS folder, once again if files are taken from EFI folders, it won't works !

Adding the new entries to the boot menu copy to clipboard

LABEL Reboot
	MENU LABEL ^Reboot computer
	KERNEL /tools/reboot.c32
	TEXT HELP
		Reboot the computer (you can use CTRL+ALT+SUPPR too)
	ENDTEXT

LABEL Shutdown
	MENU LABEL ^Shutdown computer
	KERNEL /tools/poweroff.c32
	TEXT HELP
		Shutdown the computer
	ENDTEXT

You can do this with almost all linux .bin files, like the most known example memtest+86.bin

KERNEL path/to/the/bin/memtest+86.bin

Extracting iso files (optional)

For the next steps, iso file can be used, i will explain in this part how to extract files from an iso, but if you use a compressed package (like tar.gz) this step can be skipped.

Mounting an iso file

Using command line copy to clipboard

#Create a directory to serve as the mount location
mkdir /media/iso
#Mount the ISO in the target directory
mount -o silent,loop,ro path/to/iso/file/YOUR_ISO_FILE.ISO /media/iso
#To Unmount the ISO:
umount /media/iso

You can access to iso file on the mounted folder

Uncompress the iso file

You need a tool for this like 7zip copy to clipboard

#Installing 7zip
sudo apt-get install p7zip-full
#Extracting the iso
7z x disk.iso

Using graphical interface

There is some tools available to extract iso content like Furius ISO mount
You can find some other by searching on internet.

Using command line copy to clipboard

apt-get install furiusisomount

or download it from launchpad.net/furiusisomount/+download

On Windows system

There is lot of tools available to do this, the most common is to use Winrar to open an iso file, or Daemon tools to mount an iso file.
You can find some other by searching on internet.

Live system & software

For this section, I will use Lubuntu live & Commodo recue disk as example.
Commodo rescue disk will be boot from an iso file, download can be found on official website www.comodo.com/
Lubuntu will be boot from a squashfs file, download can be found on official website lubuntu.net/

For an iso, it will be easy, just the iso requier to be copied on the Workpsace and will be start using the tool memdisk from Syslinux files.
For a live CD like lubuntu only some files are requiered (squashfs, initrd, vmlinuz found in casper folder).

Copying memdisk copy to clipboard

cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/memdisk/memdisk /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/

Files are taken from BIOS folder, once again if files are taken from EFI folders, it won't works !

This is how the workspace should look like

Workspace +
          |- ISO +
                 |- isolinux +
                 |           |- memdisk
                 |           |- isolinux.bin
                 |           |- menu.c32
                 |           |- ldlinux.c32
                 |           |- libutil.c32
                 |           |- isolinux.cfg
                 |
                 |- images   +
                             |- lubuntu   +
                             |            |- filesystem.squashfs
                             |            |- initrd.lz
                             |            |- vmlinuz.efi
                             |
                             |- commodo   +
                                          |- comodo_rescue_disk_2.0.275239.1.iso

Adding the new entries to the boot menu copy to clipboard

LABEL Lubuntulive
    MENU LABEL ^Lubuntu x64 live
    KERNEL /images/lubuntu/vmlinuz.efi
    INITRD /images/lubuntu/initrd.lz
    APPEND boot=casper live-media-path=/images/lubuntu/ ignore_uuid splash
    TEXT HELP
        Live boot on Lubuntu
    ENDTEXT
	
LABEL Comodo
    MENU LABEL ^Comodo rescue disk
    KERNEL memdisk
    INITRD /images/iso/comodo_rescue_disk_2.0.275239.1.iso
    APPEND iso raw 
    TEXT HELP
        Live boot on Comodo rescue disk
    ENDTEXT

Some explanation:
- KERNEL will be the kernel used for boot process
- APPEND are the parameters passed
- live-media-path mean where the squashfs file will be taken from loaded support, this is important if you use "file", "toram" or any options it might not works
- boot mean the type of boot, casper is for ubuntu distribution, debian distribution use live instead
- splash mean the splash screen will be displayed
- ignore_uuid prevent search squashfs file to be sreached in CD image by UUID but accept any other root device
- other option exist most of the time it depends of the program you are using
There is other ways to boot on squashfs file, but with some inconvenient:

APPEND boot=casper file=/casper/filesystem.squashfs ignore_uuid
This requier casper folder & file to be at the root of the medium, so you can't have a multiboot with multiple casper folder at the medium root

APPEND cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent boot=casper file=/cdrom/casper/filesystem.squashfs ignore_uuid splash
Same as previsouly, casper folder has to be at the root of the medium

System installer

For this section, I will use Debian Jessie as example.
Debian files can be download on the official web site www.debian.org
It require to be a netboot version. for exemple http://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/jessie/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz

Workspace +
          |- ISO +
                 |- isolinux +
                 |           |- isolinux.bin
                 |           |- menu.c32
                 |           |- ldlinux.c32
                 |           |- libutil.c32
                 |           |- isolinux.cfg
                 |
                 |- images   +
                             |- debian    +
                                          |- vmlinuz
                                          |- initrd.gz

Using netboot

Adding the new entries to the boot menu copy to clipboard

LABEL DebianInstallN
	MENU LABEL ^Debian x64 net installer
	KERNEL /images/debian/linux
	INITRD /images/debian/initrd.gz
	TEXT HELP
		Debian netboot installer
	ENDTEXT

Using preseed

Adding the new entries to the boot menu copy to clipboard

LABEL DebianInstallP
	MENU LABEL ^Debian x64 preseed installer
	KERNEL /images/debian/linux
	INITRD /images/debian/initrd.gz
	APPEND preseed/url=http://192.168.0.2/debian/preseed.cfg
	TEXT HELP
		Debian installer using preseed
	ENDTEXT

preseed file cas be set in different way but with restriction :
preseed/url=http://host/path/to/preseed.cfg
preseed/url=tftp://host/path/to/preseed.cfg
preseed/file=/cdrom/preseed.cfg
preseed/file=/hd-media/preseed.cfg
A checksum can be added too
more information on preseed at :

Using full installer

At the moment i didin't found how to install from the full installer with a custom path, an error occur : "Incorrect CD-ROM detected. The CD-ROM drive contains a CD which cannot be used for installation"

Full configuration combined

This is how the workspace should look like

Workspace +
          |- ISO +
                 |- isolinux +
                 |           |- memdisk
                 |           |- isolinux.bin
                 |           |- menu.c32
                 |           |- ldlinux.c32
                 |           |- libcom32.c32				 
                 |           |- libutil.c32
                 |           |- isolinux.cfg
                 |
                 |- tools    +
                 |           |- reboot.c32
                 |           |- poweroff.c32
                 |							 
                 |- images   +
                             |- debian    +
                             |            |- linux
                             |            |- initrd.gz
                             |							 
                             |- lubuntu   +
                             |            |- filesystem.squashfs
                             |            |- initrd.lz
                             |            |- vmlinuz.efi
                             |
                             |- commodo   +
                                          |- comodo_rescue_disk_2.0.275239.1.iso

This is how the isolinux.cfg look like copy to clipboard

UI menu.c32

MENU TITLE "THIS IS A TEST"

LABEL TEST
    MENU LABEL Back to boot proccess
    MENU DEFAULT
    LOCALBOOT 0
    TEXT HELP
        Exit and continue normal boot
    ENDTEXT

LABEL Reboot
    MENU LABEL ^Reboot computer
    KERNEL /tools/reboot.c32
    TEXT HELP
        Reboot the computer (you can use CTRL+ALT+SUPPR too)
    ENDTEXT

LABEL Shutdown
    MENU LABEL ^Shutdown computer
    KERNEL /tools/poweroff.c32
    TEXT HELP
        Shutdown the computer
    ENDTEXT		
	
LABEL Lubuntulive
    MENU LABEL ^Lubuntu x64 live
    KERNEL /images/lubuntu/vmlinuz.efi
    INITRD /images/lubuntu/initrd.lz
    APPEND boot=casper live-media-path=/images/lubuntu/ ignore_uuid splash
    TEXT HELP
        Live boot on Lubuntu
    ENDTEXT
	
LABEL Comodo
    MENU LABEL ^Comodo rescue disk
    KERNEL memdisk
    INITRD /images/commodo/comodo_rescue_disk_2.0.275239.1.iso
    APPEND iso raw 
    TEXT HELP
        Live boot on Comodo rescue disk
    ENDTEXT	
	
LABEL DebianInstallN
	MENU LABEL ^Debian x64 net installer
	KERNEL /images/debian/linux
	INITRD /images/debian/initrd.gz
	TEXT HELP
		Debian netboot installer
	ENDTEXT

LABEL DebianInstallP
	MENU LABEL ^Debian x64 preseed installer
	KERNEL /images/debian/linux
	INITRD /images/debian/initrd.gz
	APPEND preseed/url=http://192.168.0.2/debian/preseed.cfg
	TEXT HELP
		Debian installer using preseed
	ENDTEXT

Now the new iso can be generated using genisoimage command

# Create bootable.iso from ISO folder to Workspace
genisoimage -rational-rock -volid "Testing ISO" -cache-inodes -joliet -full-iso9660-filenames \
-b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat \
-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -input-charset UTF8 \
-output /var/tmp/Workspace/bootable.iso /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/

Result

Once generated, you can test the iso file on a virtual machine for example.
This what should be deisplayed when the iso is booted :
Boot menu full result

And each entries should works !

More example ...

You can find more example (that need to be adapted, but that could be a good exercice) looking at the page Linux PXE on Windows Deployment Services

Troubleshooting

The common error message is initramfs unable to find a medium containing a live file system theat mean the APPEND parameter line should contain errors.
Be sure ignore_uuid command is present in APPEND line, and check the path you set in the isolinux.cfg file.
Check the command live-media-path, it must point on sqhashfs file folder, and not directly on the file.

Customizing boot menu

Ok, now the content is there, but display is like from the 80's, it really need to be pimped to look like modern stuff !
We will see how in this part ^_^

Syslinux menu main commands

Lots of options are available to set your Syslinux menu, all commands can be found on the official web site : http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Menu
This is the main commands :

LABEL

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#Set a line selected as default, with text help on selection over
LABEL Local
	MENU LABEL ^Back to boot proccess
	MENU DEFAULT
	LOCALBOOT 0
	TEXT HELP
		Exit and continue normal boot
	ENDTEXT

MENU BEGIN

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#Create a menu entry (sub level of menu)
MENU BEGIN sTools
	MENU TITLE ^System Security Tools
	INCLUDE isolinux/menu_stools.cfg
MENU END

MENU EXIT

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#back to parent menu (exit a sub level)
LABEL Back
	MENU LABEL ^Back to main menu
	MENU EXIT
	TEXT HELP
		Go back to main menu
	ENDTEXT

INCLUDE

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#include a file content into the menu
INCLUDE isolinux/com_conf.cfg

MENU SEPARATOR

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#add a separator line
MENU SEPARATOR

INDENT

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LABEL Shutdown
	MENU LABEL ^Shutdown computer
	MENU INDENT 2
	KERNEL /tools/poweroff.c32

KERNEL

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LABEL Reboot
	MENU LABEL Reboot computer
	KERNEL reboot.c32

KERNEL recognized extension (case sensitive)

.0	PXE bootstrap program (NBP) [PXELINUX only]
.bin	"CD boot sector" [ISOLINUX only]
.bs	Boot sector [SYSLINUX only]
.bss	Boot sector, DOS superblock will be patched in [SYSLINUX only]
.c32	COM32 image (32-bit COMBOOT)
.cbt	COMBOOT image (not runnable from DOS)
.com	COMBOOT image (runnable from DOS)
.img	Disk image [ISOLINUX only]

source : www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=SYSLINUX#KERNEL_file

Note :
MENU DEFAULT will be the default menu selected ^ before menu title is used to Highlight the first letter
it doesn't works on MENU BEGIN and all first letters have to be unique, else only the first occurence will be highlighted
\ can be added at the end of line to split the line command
More command can be found at : www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Comboot/menu.c32

Some more informations on command APPEND

The command APPEND accept parameters depending of what you are using in KERNEL, to illustrate I will use debian based options (for information ubuntu is debian based) :

APPEND debian-installer/language=fr console-setup/layoutcode=fr local=fr_FR quiet splash

Will set local as FR (french) with keyboard FR (azerty) no verbose and display the splash screen

Using vesamenu.c32

To enhance interface, we need to use more than menu32.c32 which is limited, there is some libraries to do it, but for the next steps we will use vesamenu.c32 available in syslinux package.
You can set an background image to make the display look really better.

copying vesamenu.c32 file copy to clipboard

cp /var/tmp/Workspace/syslinux-6.03/bios/com32/menu/vesamenu.c32 /var/tmp/Workspace/ISO/isolinux/

This is my menu configuration : copy to clipboard

#Enable advanced display
UI vesamenu.c32

###[ Text ]###
MENU TITLE The hand made ISO !
MENU TABMSG Select the desired operation

###[ Configuration ]###
#no prompt (value = 0/1)
PROMPT 0
#no timeout (not required)
TIMEOUT 0
#disable ESC from the keybord (value = 0/1)
NOESCAPE 1
#display TAB options (not required value = 0/1)
ALLOWOPTIONS 1

###[ Display ]###
MENU BACKGROUND /isolinux/frogg.png
MENU RESOLUTION 800 600
MENU MARGIN 20

# Text position
#MENU WIDTH 200 (replace the 100% width with fixed width ... not that good)
#MENU ROWS 28 (doing nothing ?)
#MENU ENDROW 15 (doing nothing ?)
MENU CMDLINEROW 34
MENU HELPMSGROW 29
MENU TABMSGROW 28
MENU PASSWORDROW 8

# Color
MENU COLOR BORDER		0 #00000000 #00000000 none
MENU COLOR TITLE		0 #FFFF9900 * *
MENU COLOR SEL			0 #FFFFFFFF #85000000 *
MENU COLOR UNSEL		0 #FFFFFFFF * *
MENU COLOR HOTKEY		0 #FFFF9900 * *
MENU COLOR HOTSEL		0 #FFFFFFFF #85000000 *
MENU COLOR TABMSG		0 #FFFF9900 * *
MENU COLOR HELP 		0 #FFFFFFFF * *
MENU COLOR PWDHEADER		0 #FFFF9900 #FF006400 std
MENU COLOR PWDBORDER		0 #AAFF9900 #AA006400 std
MENU COLOR PWDENTRY		0 * * *

#I don't know what this could be, but i tried
MENU COLOR CMDLINE		0 #FF006400 * *
MENU COLOR CMDMARK		0 #FF006400 * *
MENU COLOR MSG07		0 #FF006400 * *
MENU MSGCOLOR 			  #FF006400 #80ffffff std

Full configuration file

isolinux.cfg copy to clipboard

DEFAULT menu.c32

#Enable advanced display
UI vesamenu.c32

###[ Text ]###
MENU TITLE The hand made ISO !
MENU TABMSG Select the desired operation

###[ Configuration ]###
#no prompt (value = 0/1)
PROMPT 0
#no timeout (not required)
TIMEOUT 0
#disable ESC from the keybord (value = 0/1)
NOESCAPE 1
#display TAB options (not required value = 0/1)
ALLOWOPTIONS 1

###[ Display ]###
MENU BACKGROUND /isolinux/frogg.png
MENU RESOLUTION 800 600
MENU MARGIN 20

# Text position
#MENU WIDTH 200 (replace the 100% width with fixed width ... not that good)
#MENU ROWS 28 (doing nothing ?)
#MENU ENDROW 15 (doing nothing ?)
MENU CMDLINEROW 34
MENU HELPMSGROW 29
MENU TABMSGROW 28
MENU PASSWORDROW 8

# Color
MENU COLOR BORDER		0 #00000000 #00000000 none
MENU COLOR TITLE		0 #FFFF9900 * *
MENU COLOR SEL			0 #FFFFFFFF #85000000 *
MENU COLOR UNSEL		0 #FFFFFFFF * *
MENU COLOR HOTKEY		0 #FFFF9900 * *
MENU COLOR HOTSEL		0 #FFFFFFFF #85000000 *
MENU COLOR TABMSG		0 #FFFF9900 * *
MENU COLOR HELP 		0 #FFFFFFFF * *
MENU COLOR PWDHEADER		0 #FFFF9900 #FF006400 std
MENU COLOR PWDBORDER		0 #AAFF9900 #AA006400 std
MENU COLOR PWDENTRY		0 * * *

#I don't know what this could be, but i tried
MENU COLOR CMDLINE		0 #FF006400 * *
MENU COLOR CMDMARK		0 #FF006400 * *
MENU COLOR MSG07		0 #FF006400 * *
MENU MSGCOLOR 			  #FF006400 #80ffffff std

###[ lubnutu live ]###
LABEL Lubuntulive
    MENU LABEL ^Lubuntu x64 live
    KERNEL /images/lubuntu/vmlinuz.efi
    INITRD /images/lubuntu/initrd.lz
    APPEND boot=casper live-media-path=/images/lubuntu/ ignore_uuid splash
    TEXT HELP
        Live boot on Lubuntu
    ENDTEXT
	
###[ Debian net installer ]###		
LABEL DebianInstallN
	MENU LABEL ^Debian x64 net installer
	KERNEL /images/debian/linux
	INITRD /images/debian/initrd.gz
	TEXT HELP
		Debian netboot installer
	ENDTEXT

###[ Debian preseed installer ]###			
LABEL DebianInstallP
	MENU LABEL ^Debian x64 preseed installer
	KERNEL /images/debian/linux
	INITRD /images/debian/initrd.gz
	APPEND preseed/url=http://192.168.0.2/debian/preseed.cfg
	TEXT HELP
		Debian installer using preseed
	ENDTEXT

###[ blank spacer ]###	
MENU SEPARATOR		
	
###[ comodo rescue disk ]###	
LABEL Comodo
    MENU LABEL ^Comodo rescue disk
    KERNEL memdisk
    INITRD /images/commodo/comodo_rescue_disk_2.0.275239.1.iso
    APPEND iso raw 
    TEXT HELP
        Live boot on Comodo rescue disk
    ENDTEXT	
	
###[ blank spacer ]###	
MENU SEPARATOR	
	
###[ Local boot ]###		
LABEL Localboot
    MENU LABEL Back to boot proccess
    MENU DEFAULT
    LOCALBOOT 0
    TEXT HELP
        Exit and continue normal boot
    ENDTEXT

###[ Reboot ]###		
LABEL Reboot
    MENU LABEL ^Reboot computer
    KERNEL /tools/reboot.c32
    TEXT HELP
        Reboot the computer (you can use CTRL+ALT+SUPPR too)
    ENDTEXT
	
###[ Shutdown ]###	
LABEL Shutdown
    MENU LABEL ^Shutdown computer
    KERNEL /tools/poweroff.c32
    TEXT HELP
        Shutdown the computer
    ENDTEXT

The menu option doesn't offer a nice display, the trick is to remove all borders and backgrounds and then add to the Image fake border and background for the menu

Result

Going further

Make an USB bootable from bootable iso file

So, now we have a bootable iso with lot of stuff on it, what could we do more ?
The next step will be send this iso to an USB bootable key, so you can now have your custom software in your pocket, to be able to use them at any moment...(you can/need :P)
You need to know that the following method will make the key not readable on Windows system. The key can be formated on Windows if need to works on it, but data cannot be read !

isohybrid Installation

To convert the iso in hybrid iso you will need isohybrid

command : copy to clipboard

apt-get install syslinux-utils

find your usb key

To find your usb on the system, yuo must have connected it first, then you can find it using command lines.
There is multiple ways to do it.
Whatever the command you use for it, be really sure to know where your USB key is, else you could lost data by doing bad manipulation

using the command "lsblk"

typing lsblk should display all your drive medium :

NAME   MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
fd0      2:0    1    4K  0 disk 
sda      8:0    0   25G  0 disk 
├─sda1   8:1    0   24G  0 part /
├─sda2   8:2    0    1K  0 part 
└─sda5   8:5    0  1,1G  0 part [SWAP]
sdb      8:16   1  7,6G  0 disk 
└─sdb1   8:17   1  7,6G  0 part /media/user/USB DISK

using the command "fdisk -l"

typing fdisk -l should display all your drive medium :

Device     Boot Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1          56 15851519 15851464  7,6G  b W95 FAT32

In my case, USB Key is /dev/sdb

un mount the usb key

umount /dev/sdb1

format your USB Key to be fat32

mkdosfs -n 'Bootable Key' -I /dev/sdb -F 32

make the iso as hybrid iso

The iso is working on CDrom device, but it requier to be hybrid iso to be recognized by BIOS

isohybrid /var/tmp/Workspace/bootable.iso

copy iso to USB Key

dd if=/var/tmp/Workspace/bootable.iso of=/dev/sdb

Make sure you are copying iso to USB Key (sdb in my case), not on his partition (sdb1).

Result

Now you can test it, by booting on it (by the way not all computer can do this operation).
To set computer boot on USB Key you have configure computer BIOS boot order.
Once done, this should appear : Boot menu full result

Troubleshooting

Trouble with local boot

As USB is considered as LOCALBOOT 0, the LOCALBOOT 0 entry won't work correctly, this is how you can pass through :

LABEL localboot
	MENU LABEL Exit and continue boot process
	LOCALBOOT -1

-1 (minus one) : Cause the boot loader to report failure to the BIOS, which, on recent BIOSes, should mean that the next boot device in the boot sequence should be activated.
Source : www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=SYSLINUX#LOCALBOOT_type

Trouble with shutdown

Error message :

APM not present

Syslinux use APM to shudown the computer if it is disabled or doesn't available, shutdown won't work.
You can try to replace shutdown.c32 from Syslinux by acpioff.c32

Using a script automation

Based on this article, here you can find a bash script to automatize Multiboot generation and create an ISO file that can be exported to an USB Key :
Source on Gitub
As the code is in bash it is open source and easy to modify if required.
By the way I allow to use and modify it without any credits, for any kind of use (private or even commercial).

the USB selector is based on the post unix.stackexchange.com/questions/60299/how-to-determine-which-sd-is-usb

This script might not work for all live/install files, but i try to do it ! Make test once done to be sure ^_^

Script in action

Other applications

There is lot of possibilities with Syslinux, you can find here 2 applications :

Once finished, don't forget to clean your Workspace !

Any questions...?

You can use the contact form to ask question

The easy way

You can find tools with graphical interface which automatize USB Key creation from iso files, like :

Multi system/
MultiBoot USB
YUMI
Win to flash
and some more other...

References

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