On the road to 2023.08:
Environment Changes:
- implemented dialog progressbars
setup:
- implemented progressbars
- reactivated firmware and systemd-boot on aarch64
2023.07 Highlights:
- kernel 6.4.x
- grub 2.12rc1-1
- New interactive login routine
- added Sway to preconfigured desktop environments
- added ttyd remote http terminal support
Environment Changes:
- run Basic Setup scripts on first login
- preserving Basic Setup values when running kexec task
- added launcher, network, pacsetup script
- renamed archboot-locale script to localize script
- merged km into localize script
- renamed tz to clock script
- renamed initramfs to initrd
- stripped off archboot from kernel name
- renamed Locale Mode to Offline Mode
- removed custom grub package
- removed uninstalled packages
- use BLAKE2b/b2sum instead of sha256sum
- shortened MOTD and init message
- load archboot.com and wiki.archlinux.org on firefox and chromium startup
- added Ventoy support
- added used kernel to image name
- silenced systemd messages
- added shutdown / reboot wall messages
- enabled MulticastDNS=yes mdns support -> archboot.local
- run GNU screen on all remote connections automatically
- don't show MOTD on tmux startup
localize:
- removed font selection
- fixed abort dialog
clock:
- GeoIP based timezone setting
- always enable timesyncd by default
pacsetup:
- GeoIP based mirror listing
update:
- trigger kernel module loading after -full-system run
- lower RAM requiremens for graphical environments
- remove reinstalled packages too from package cache
- added qxl module detection
- allow -full-system on local medium
- removed avahi leftovers
setup:
- silence _LSBLK errors
- switched to infobox on reboot and poweroff
- removed network code
- removed localization code
- added titles to all menus
- removed and renamed cancel buttons
- switched most msgboxes to infoboxes
- removed menu points covered by Basic Setup routine
- fixed ^[[I showing on infoboxes with ssh connection
---
2023.06 Highlights:
- New domain https://archboot.com with new w3c conform html layout
- systemd 253.5
- grub 2.06.r533.g78bc9a9b2
- aarch64 switched to new Arch Linux GIT layout
Environment Changes:
- synced custom getty and serial-getty with latest systemd version
- added custom systemd-sysusers.service, which runs before dbus.socket launches
- removed old custom autovt.service and old tty1 configuration
- disabled root autologin login message
- disabled lastlog login message
- made systemd initrd-switch-root routine bullet proof
- fixed /run/nouser leftovers
- disabled/masked systemd mounts:
  configfs, debugfs, fuse, hugetablefs ,mqueue, tmp and tracefs
- disabled/masked systemd targets:
  cryptsetup first-boot-complete integritysetup swap veritysetup
- disabled/masked systemd services:
  binfmt boot-random-seed firstboot hwdb-update machine-id-commit
  pcrmachine pcrphase pcrphase-sysinit repart
- disabled/masked proc-sys-fs-binfmt_misc.automount
- disabled/masked nfs3 support:
  rpcbind.service, rpcbind.socket, rpcbind.target and nfs-server.service
- switch to default graphical.target
- only mount /dev/sr0 on detection
- unmount /dev/sr0 and UUID 1234-ABCD after copying initramfs files
- fixed ethernet firmware loading
- included /drivers/net/usb modules
- renamed grub menu entries
- updated /etc/motd
- updated /etc/issue
- fixed /etc/os-release
update-installer:
- updated messages on -full-system call
- updated elinks, chromium and firefox starting page to archboot.com
- rename update-installer.sh to update
setup:
- replaced findmnt -vno SOURCE with _FINDMNT
- replaced lsblk -rnpo with _LSBLK
- fixed create missing directories in bootloader routine
- added custom grub package for Secure Boot on x86_64.
  Upstream Grub(2) is broken atm!
- log efibootmgr messages to VC
- allow cancel on grub configuration step
- added EXIT menu with options
- cleaned up partition functions
- fixed mountpoint checks on EFI directory
- renamed Auto-Prepare to Quick Setup
- disabled Select Source and Network Configuration in Local Mode
- always run pacman -Sy on package installation
- restart systemd-networkd and systemd-resolved on network setup
- fixed /efi /boot mounting order in Quick Setup mode
- disable broken systemd-boot and UKI bootloaders on aarch64
- fixed empty UCODE in grub config
---
2023.05 Highlights:
- linux 6.3.x
- systemd 253.4
- Amazing reduction of !100M RAM to boot the normal image
  => The new requirement dropped to 700M RAM for x86_64
- Amazing shrinking of the image files:
  => The results in comparison to 2023.04 iso files:
     - aarch64:
       normal image: 356M => 312M
       local image:  559M => 532M
       latest image: 157M => 128M
     - riscv64:
       normal image: 502M => 417M
     - x86_64:
       normal image: 517M => 417M
       local image:  833M => 753M
       latest image: 252M => 182M
- updated to new Arch Linux repository layout
Environment changes:
- load modules and firmware files from the main initramdisk on ISO boot
- removed parport, pata, pcmcia and staging modules
- cleanup init ramdisk modules
- cleanup crypto, input, hid, network and scsi modules
- cleanup firmware files
- fix font flickering during boot process
- added more messages during boot process
---
2023.04 Highlights:
- grub 2.06.r499.ge67a551a4-1
Environment changes:
- switch to archboot-cpio.sh for image/initramfs building
- switch to ukify script for UKI creation
- enable colors in pacman
- remove firewire modules
setup:
- enable FIRMWARE bootloader option for aarch64 architecture
- switch to ukify script for FIRMWARE bootloader support
- edit /etc/kernel/cmdline and /etc/ukify.conf before UKI creation
- enable automatic UKI building as run_ukify.service on installed system
---
2023.03 Highlights:
- linux 6.2.x
- added system wide locales: be, bg, cs, da, de, en, el, es, fi, fr, hu, it,
  lt, lv, mk, nl, nn, pl, pt, ro, ru, sk, sr, sv, uk
Environment changes:
- implemented emergency shell with messages and with big font detection support
- implemented new zram routine for all boot types
- added kms to archboot_init, to avoid font flickering, which was introduced 
  in kernel 6.0.x series
- added speed and permission patches for uid/gid to mkinitcpio functions
- only use KEXEC_LOAD it's way faster, than KEXEC_FILE_LOAD
- don't run kexec on local image, use systemd's switch_root instead
- added archboot-locale script for system wide locale switching
- readd kernel and /EFI to iso filesystem for virtualbox UEFI support
update-installer:
- implemented free RAM detection for kexec tasks
km:
- removed main menu
tz:
- removed main menu
setup:
- remove redundant welcome message
- fixed kernel detection with [testing] repository enabled
- show progress of creating new environment on used console
---
2023.02 Highlights:
- Use zram for rootfs on ISO/IMAGE boot. This enables finally booting the normal image
  with 800M RAM. !500M less RAM \o/! The requirement to boot is now equal to archiso.
  This also fixes the grub boot issues, with failing on using a big initramdisks
  and firmware incompatibility.
- Unified Kernel Images / UKI files are provided now
- Unified Kernel Image setup is supported in EFISTUB menu now
- grub 2:2.06.r456.g65bc45963-1
- archboot-setup.sh works on installed system as System Setup tool
Environment changes:
- switch to Terminus as default font
- show full initrd line in grub menu
- added fbset, terminus-font, bash-completion, tpm2-tss and pinentry
- removed refind, grub, pcre, zsh, grml-zsh-config, chntpw, fsarchiver 
  and ddrescue
- switch to bash as default shell
- added normal bash layout with /root/.bash* files
- custom bash options are provided by /etc/profile.d/custom-bash-options.sh
- new MOTD with listed architecture and Manage Archboot section
- new grub boot layout, no redundancy anymore
- remove not installed packages from local pacman database
update-installer:
- added network check
- added bash completion
setup:
- add Terminus font to font selection dialogs
- major code cleanup of blockdevice.sh
- major code cleanup of mountpoints.sh
- outsourced help texts to files
- added new help texts for partitioning GUID/GPT and BIOS/MBR
- new systemd compliant mounting dialogs with /efi or /boot as ESP
- don't format already existing ESP
- don't format already existing swap partition
- added sanity checks for ROOT DEVICE and ESP
- Auto-Prepare mode is systemd-gpt-auto-generator compliant now
- Auto-Prepare calculates now with M sizes
- Auto-Prepare added a minimum of 350M for /home
- skip ESP on BIOS mode
- devices are listed with their SIZE in menus
- enable custom bash options on installed system
- autodetect packages mdadm, lvm2 and cryptsetup
- install neovim and nano on selection
- added bash-completion to defaults file
- added autodetection of ucode package
- added Unified Kernel Image suppport in EFISTUB menu
- new efibootmgr routine
- disable unsafe menu entries on installed system
- don't show installation message on installed system
- added new menu title, if running on installed system
- fixed automounted ESP and /boot detection on installed systems
- don't ask for network, sources and mkfs on installed sytems
- fix LANG= add .UTF-8 to parameter
- only copy kernel and other files to ESP while doing systemd-boot and rEFInd
- only add BIOS or UEFI Windows entry to grub.cfg
- remove efi shell from grub.cfg
---
2023.01 Highlights:
- linux 6.1.x
- mkinitcpio v34
- grub 2:2.06.r403.g7259d55ff-1
- replaced netctl with systemd network stack
- added memtest86+
Environment changes:
- downgrade to fedora shim 15.4-5, due to not working SB on some boards
- removed kexec memory gap on aarch64
- only provide full UEFI shell on grub menu
- removed netctl with depends: wpa_supplicant, dhcpcd, ifplugd, usb_modeswitch
- added new systemd network stack: systemd-resolved, systemd-networkd, iwd
- removed GRAPHIC packages from local image,
  new grub respects linux max_initrd_size which is 0x37FFFFF (around 940MB).
- lower RAM requirement for local image to 2.7GB
- removed network stack from local image pre kexec
- removed bind, dnsmasq, nmap, tcpdump, inetutils, net-tools, b43-fwcutter,
  ntp and wireless_tools
- removed xfs_scrub, arpd, archinstall, testdisk, ntfs-3g, python and perl
- removed old and unmaintained dmraid support, use mdadm instead
- fixed /etc/request-key.d directory addition
- use systemd defaults for shadow, gshadow and passwd
- use system's shells file
- disable audit function on boot commandline
- enabled syntax highlighting in nano editor
- replaced vim editor with neovim editor
- added neovim lastplace plugin
setup/quickinst changes:
- check kernel to trigger menu with updating environment
- fixed riscv64 package installation with disabling ucode packages
- fixed GPT NAMESCHEME listing on fresh disks
- fixed sub-keymap listing
- reordered/cleaned up timezone regions
- reordered manage devices menus
- removed netctl support
- added systemd-networkd, systemd-resolved, iwd support
- removed old and unmaintained dmraid support, use mdadm instead
- cleaned up mountpoints and btrfs function
- new btrfs configuration implemented, subvolume is now mandatory
- redone filesystem mounting dialogs
- replaced vim editor with neovim editor
- install neovim editor instead of vim editor to installed system
- add nano editor syntax highlighting on installed system
- simplified bootloader dialogs and menus
- fixed kernel, initramdisk and ucode copying to separate EFISYS partition
- refind switched to only refind.conf usage for configuration
- added dialogs to separate uefi system partition actions
---
2022.12 Highlights:
- grub 2:2.06.r380.g151467888-1
- mkinitcpio 33-1
- Autodetect high resolution screens with setting 32 font size by default
  during boot
- Better Localization support:
  new Keymap, Console Fonts, Timezone and System-Wide Locale dialogs
- major code cleanup with merging script parts
  and remove redundancy
- fixed performance regression in mkinitcpio 33
Environment changes:
- release year/month logo without kernel version
- added rpcuser
- fixed locale setting on aarch64
- use latarcyrheb-sun16 font as default console font
- use latarcyrheb-sun32 font on high resolution screens
  as default console font
- removed archboot's MOK key with signing kernel and grub on ISO,
  this broke reproducibilty
update-installer changes:
- more output on updating scripts
setup/quickinst changes:
- new root password handling at the beginning of configuration:
  - added check to avoid locked root account
  - added check to avoid empty password
  - don't allow empty root password
- new Date and Time setting routine:
  - splitted into Region and Timezone
- new Keymap routine:
  - splitted into locale and variants
- new Console Font routine:
  - only use latarcyrheb-sun(16,32) and eurlatgr font
  - Autodetect high resolution screens with setting big font by default
- new System-Wide locale setting dialog on configuration step
- fixed partial broken autoconfiguration
- show more information dialogs on doing pre/autoconfiguration
- rearranged most autoconfiguration to last step of install packages
- run mkinitcpio and locale-gen only when needed
- fixed netlink up detection by ping www.google.com
- fixed broken bootloader installation menu call
- switch to zstd compression as first option on btrfs dialog
- reformat btrfs boxes
---
New 2022.11 images uploaded:
Highlights:
- Linux 6.0.x
Environment changes:
- new logo Linux 6.0.x
- removed obsolete dhclient
- removed redundant vi
- updated to mkinitcpio 32
update-installer changes:
- reformated output on X/Wayland startup
- added check for working network
- added new logic for local image with less than 4096 GB RAM,
  which allows XFCE environment.
setup/quickinst changes:
- removed dhclient support
---
2022.10 Highlights:
- New RISC-V riscv64 architecture support
- possibility to turn system into a full
  Arch Linux system with -full-system parameter
  By using: # update-installer -full-system
  Every Archboot strip down gets reverted by reinstalling all packages to a zram /usr with readding of man/info pages and localization.
Environment changes:
- new logo including RISC-V 64
- possibility to choose between firefox and chromium
  with _STANDARD_BROWSER option in defaults file
- firefox as new default standard browser for all architectures
- fix ca-certificates on updates
---
2022.09 Highlights:
- Big end of summer cleanup this time:
  cleanup dependencies: 47 less packages installed (316 packages -> 269 packages)
  removed packages: linux-atm, ppp, pppoe, xl2tpd, wvdial, vpnc, openconnect,
                    openvpn, pptpclient, libgssglue, snarf, cracklib,
                    ipw2100-fw, ipw200-fw, gnu-netcat, cpio and fuse(3)
  saved booted space: 16MB (689 MB -> 673 MB)
- pacman keyring handling improvements
- use qemu-static-user from [extra] for aarch64 iso assembling
  (thanks David for implementing this in qemu package)
Environment changes:
- updated grub to 2.06.r322.gd9b4638c5-4
- fixed pacman keyring on aarch64
- updated OVMF_VARS.secboot.fd from fedora to 20220526git16779ede2d36-5
- added missing base programs:
  nscd, archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync, makepkg-template, getsubids,
  update-pciids, ninfod, sln, lsfd
- fixed xorg and wayland startup
- implemented checking of missing base binaries
- simplified zram function for /usr directory mounting
setup/quickinst changes:
- always install latest archlinux keyring package(s),
  before doing pacman tasks
- abort on package installation or keyring failure
- added keyring initialization checks
- removed filesystem and systemd-sysvcompat hacks
---
2022.08 Highlights:
Environment changes:
- new background image
- kernel 5.19.x
- shim 15.6-2
- added kmod fix from mkinitcpio
---
Highlights 2022.07:
- added all graphical environments to local images
- autodetection of RAM with according actions on login
- only show kexec memory gap on aarch64: 3950 MB - 4299 MB
- all images have network(LAN),dhcpcd and ssh support already on first boot.
- speedup gpg pacman initialization
- also log messages from update-installer.sh to ssh too (/dev/pts/0)
- always show Local mode on login
Environment changes:
- added all graphical environments to local image
- autodetection of RAM with according actions on login
- show kexec memory gap on aarch64: 3950 MB - 4299 MB
- fixed kexec memory gap on x86_64
- only download graphical packages on -latest-install
- added kexec arithmetic for choosing KEXEC_FILE_LOAD
- all images have now network(LAN),dhcpcd and ssh support already on bootup
- speedup and reuse of gpg pacman initialization
- log messages from update-installer.sh to ssh (/dev/pts/0)
- always show Local mode on login
- rename -kde options to -plasma
- rename _KDE_PACKAGES to _PLASMA_PACKAGES
- rename archboot_repo to archboot
- rename update-installer.sh to update-installer
- shorten xorg environment options: -gnome, -plasma and -xfce
- only allow one graphical environment on local image < 4.5 GB RAM
- updated welcome messages
- updated bootloader menu entries
- updated background image
- added archboot MOK key
- update fedora shim to 15.6-1
- update grub to 2.06.r261.g2f4430cc0-1
Setup changes:
- allow archboot environment update with 2600 MB RAM
- new f2fs defaults added based on Arch Linux wiki
- efi default size on autoprepare mode set to 512 MB
- changed filesystem order
- fix autoprepare on mmc blockdevices
- fix device listing to not showing install media
- better wifi dialogs and menus
- speedup network link detection
Environment changes:
- adopted glibc changes with C.UTF-8 locale
Setup changes:
- allow environment update with 2600 MB RAM