Back Story

So in my previous post I shared how to setup a very small footprint Linux server called Linux Core: Installing Core Linux – Zewwy’s Info Tech Talks

but…… I tried getting docker running on it was hit with an error “Line 1: ELF: File not found”.

AI, after giving all the required command to do a “manual install”, stated, “duuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrr docker don’t give 32 bit binaries”, to which I was replied huh… I guess I installed 32 bit Core Linux… do they have 64bit versions?

It gave me some dumb link to some dumb third party source.. the answer is yes.. here: Index of /16.x/x86_64/release/

So here we go again….

Installing CorePure64

Step 1) Download Install image CorePure64-16.0.iso

Step 2) get x64 bit hardware, or create a VM that supports 64 bit. I have 64 bit hypervisors, so I will create a VM as I did in my first post.

This time 2 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 60GB HDD, thin, VMparavirtual scsi controller, EFI enabled with secure boot, let’s see if this works out…. No boot… Flip boot settings to BIOS mode… ISO boots.. ah man FFS its x64 based but still relies on BIOS for booting… that sucks… of well moving on….

Booting and Installing Core Linux

Attach ISO boot. Core Linux boots automatically from ISO:

For some reason the source doesn’t tell you what to do next. type tc-install and the console says doesn’t know what you are talking about:

AI Chat was kind enough to help me out here, and told me I had to run:

tce-load -wi tc-install

Which required an internet connection:

However even after this, attempting to run gave the same error.. mhmm, using the find command I find it, but it needs to be run as root, so:

sudo su
/tmp/tcloop/tc-install/usr/local/bin/tc-install.sh

C for install from CDrom:

Lets keep things frugal around here:

1 for the whole disk:

y we want a bootloader (It’s extlinux btw located [/mnt/sda1/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf}):

Press enter again to bypass “Install Extensions from..”

3 for ext4:

Like the install source guide says add boot options for HDD (opt=sda1 home=sda1 tce=sda1)

last chance… (Dooo it!) y:

Congrats… you installed TC-Linux:

Once rebooted the partition and disk free will look different, before reboot, running from memory:

after reboot:

Cool, the install process was 100% the same as the 32bit process…

but running uname -m we see we are now 64 bit instead of 32 bit.

Changing TC Password

Step 1) Edit /opt/.filetool.lst (use vi as root)
– add etc/passwd and etc/shadow

Step 2) run:

filetool.sh -b

Step 3) run

passwd tc

Step 4) run

filetool.sh -b

Now reboot, you may not notice that it applied due to the auto login, however, if you type exit to get back to the actual login banner, type in tc and you will be prompted for the password you just set. Now we can move on to the next step which is to disable the auto login.

Disable Auto-Login

Step 1) Run

sudo su
echo 'echo "booting" > /etc/sysconfig/noautologin' >> /opt/bootsync.sh

Step 2) Run

filetool.sh -b
reboot

K on to the next fun task… static IP…

Static IP Address

For some reason AI said I had to create a script that runs the manual step… not sure if this is the proper way… I looked all over the Wiki: wiki:start – Tiny Core Linux Wiki I can’t find nothing.. I know this works so we’ll just do it this way:

Step 1) Run:

echo "ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.69 netmask 255.255.255.0 up" > /opt/eth0.sh
echo "route add default gw 192.168.0.1" >> /opt/eth0.sh
echo 'echo "nameserver 192.168.0.7" > /etc/resolv.conf' >> /opt/eth0.sh
chmod +x /opt/eth0.sh
echo "/opt/eth0.sh" >> /opt/bootlocal.sh
filetool.sh -b

Step 2) reboot to apply and verify.

It didn’t work, but is I add “sleep 2” just before /opt/eth0.sh in the bootsync.sh file, then it works, not the greatest but I’ll take it for now.

Updates?

Tiny Core Linux, updating is a bit different from traditional distros. Here’s how it works:

🔄 Updating Tiny Core Linux

Tiny Core doesn’t have a single tc-update command for the whole system, but it does have tools for updating extensions and managing packages:

🧰 Extension Update

Use the tce-update command to update installed extensions:

bash

tce-update

This checks for newer versions of your installed .tcz extensions and updates them.
📦 Other Useful Commands

tce-load: Loads extensions from your /tce directory.
tce-ab: Opens the AppBrowser (if you have GUI).
tce-audit: Audits installed extensions.
tce-remove: Removes extensions.

🧱 Core System Update

To update the core system itself (like the kernel and initrd), you’ll need to manually download the latest bzImage and core.gz (or tinycore.gz) from the Tiny Core Mirrors then replace them in your boot partition.

Steps:

Download the latest files.
Mount your boot partition.
Replace bzImage and core.gz.
Update your bootloader config (e.g., GRUB or syslinux).
Reboot.