penguins-recovery

Unified Linux system recovery toolkit. Combines multiple recovery and rescue projects into a modular architecture with pluggable builders and distro-family adapters.

Structure

penguins-recovery/
├── adapters/                 # Layer recovery onto penguins-eggs naked ISOs
│   ├── adapter.sh            # Main entry point (auto-detects distro family)
│   ├── common/               # Shared adapter logic (extract, inject, repack)
│   ├── debian/               # apt-based installer
│   ├── fedora/               # dnf/yum-based installer
│   ├── arch/                 # pacman-based installer
│   ├── suse/                 # zypper-based installer
│   ├── alpine/               # apk-based installer
│   └── gentoo/               # emerge-based installer
├── bootloaders/              # Bootloader collection (system-packaged + source-built)
├── builders/
│   ├── debian/               # Debian-based rescue Live CD (from mini-rescue)
│   ├── arch/                 # Arch-based disk rescue image (from platter-engineer)
│   ├── uki/                  # Unified Kernel Image rescue (from rescue-image1)
│   ├── uki-lite/             # Lightweight UKI from host kernel (objcopy)
│   ├── lifeboat/             # Alpine-based single-file UEFI EFI (from lifeboat_linux)
│   └── rescatux/             # Rescatux live-build based rescue CD (from rescatux)
├── tools/
│   └── rescapp/              # GUI rescue wizard - Qt5/kdialog (from rescapp)
├── recovery-manager/         # Recovery partition management (from pop-os/upgrade)
├── common/
│   ├── tool-lists/           # Shared package definitions (all 6 distro families)
│   ├── scripts/              # Shared rescue scripts (chroot, GRUB, UEFI, passwords)
│   └── branding/             # Boot menus, splash screens, MOTD
└── integration/
    └── eggs-plugin/          # Integration hook for penguins-eggs

Adapters (penguins-eggs naked ISO support)

The adapter system layers recovery tools onto any penguins-eggs naked ISO. It auto-detects the distro family from /etc/os-release and uses the appropriate package manager.

Supported distro families

Family	Package Manager	Distros
Debian	apt	Debian, Ubuntu, Pop!_OS, Linux Mint, LMDE, Devuan, MX, Zorin, elementary
Fedora/RHEL	dnf/yum	Fedora, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, CentOS, Nobara
Arch	pacman	Arch, EndeavourOS, Manjaro, BigLinux, Garuda, CachyOS
SUSE	zypper	openSUSE Leap/Tumbleweed/Slowroll, SLES
Alpine	apk	Alpine Linux
Gentoo	emerge	Gentoo, Funtoo, Calculate

Usage

# Basic: layer recovery tools onto a naked ISO
sudo make adapt INPUT=naked-debian-bookworm-amd64.iso

# With custom output name
sudo make adapt INPUT=naked-arch-amd64.iso OUTPUT=recovery-arch.iso

# Include rescapp GUI wizard
sudo make adapt INPUT=naked-ubuntu-noble-amd64.iso RESCAPP=1

# With Plasma GUI profile (minimal, touch, or full)
sudo make adapt INPUT=naked-debian-bookworm-amd64.iso GUI=minimal
sudo make adapt INPUT=naked-ubuntu-noble-amd64.iso GUI=touch RESCAPP=1
sudo make adapt INPUT=naked-arch-amd64.iso GUI=full

# Direct script usage
sudo ./adapters/adapter.sh --input naked.iso --output recovery.iso --gui minimal
sudo ./adapters/adapter.sh --input naked.iso --gui touch --with-rescapp

# From a URL
sudo ./adapters/adapter.sh --input https://sourceforge.net/.../naked-debian.iso --gui full

How it works

1. Extracts the ISO and unsquashes the root filesystem
2. Detects the distro family from /etc/os-release
3. Installs recovery packages via the native package manager
4. Injects shared scripts, branding, and optionally rescapp
5. Repackages into a bootable hybrid ISO (BIOS + UEFI)

GUI Profiles

Built on KDE Plasma Nano with optional components from Plasma Mobile and Desktop.

Profile	Shell	RAM	Boot	Input	Use case
minimal	plasma-nano	~200MB	~5s	Keyboard	Servers, low-RAM, kiosk
touch	plasma-nano + mobile	~400MB	~10s	Touch + keyboard	Tablets, touchscreens
full	plasma-desktop	~800MB	~15s	Mouse + keyboard	Desktop/laptop

The recovery-launcher QML app provides a categorized grid of tasks across all profiles, with a terminal menu fallback when no Qt runtime is available.

See gui/README.md for architecture details.

Standalone Builders

Builder	Base	Build Tool	Output	Source
debian	Debian	debootstrap	ISO	loaden/mini-rescue
arch	Arch Linux	mkarchiso	ISO	RouHim/platter-engineer
uki	Arch Linux	mkosi	EFI executable	swsnr/rescue-image
uki-lite	host system	objcopy	EFI executable	—
lifeboat	Alpine Linux	custom shell scripts	~35 MB EFI executable	hugochinchilla/lifeboat_linux
rescatux	Debian	live-build	ISO	rescatux/rescatux

Tools

Rescapp

GUI rescue wizard (Python3/Qt5) with plugin-based rescue tasks: GRUB restore, Linux/Windows password reset, UEFI boot management, filesystem check, disk partitioning, Windows MBR restore.

All GTK dependencies converted to Qt (kdialog, PyQt5 DBus).

Shared Scripts

• chroot-rescue.sh -- Mount and chroot into an installed system (LUKS support)
• detect-disks.sh -- Display disk layout, LUKS, LVM, and EFI info
• grub-restore.sh -- Restore GRUB bootloader to MBR/EFI
• password-reset.sh -- Reset a Linux user's password from rescue
• uefi-repair.sh -- Check and repair UEFI boot entries

Building

make help              # Show all targets
make adapt INPUT=naked.iso    # Layer recovery onto naked ISO
make bootloaders       # Package system-installed bootloaders
make bootloaders-src   # Clone and build bootloaders from source
make bootloaders-all   # Build source bootloaders then package everything
make debian            # Build Debian rescue ISO
make arch              # Build Arch rescue ISO
make uki               # Build UKI rescue EFI image
make uki-lite          # Build lightweight UKI from host kernel
make lifeboat          # Build Alpine-based single-file UEFI EFI
make rescatux          # Build Rescatux ISO
make clean             # Remove build artifacts

License

GPL-3.0. The builders/uki/ directory retains its original EUPL-1.2 license (compatible with GPL-3.0 per the EUPL compatibility clause).

Origins

This project unifies:

• hugochinchilla/lifeboat_linux (Alpine-based single-file UEFI rescue EFI)
• pieroproietti/penguins-bootloaders
• loaden/mini-rescue
• RouHim/platter-engineer
• swsnr/rescue-image
• pop-os/upgrade
• rescatux/rescatux
• rescatux/rescapp
• pieroproietti/penguins-eggs (naked ISO support via adapters)
• KDE/plasma-nano (GUI base shell)
• KDE/plasma-mobile (touch profile components)
• KDE/plasma-desktop (full profile components)
• u-root/u-root (Go-based initramfs/bootloader toolkit)
• u-root/mkuimage (bootable kernel image builder)
• FyraLabs/submarine (Rust bootloader)
• nihalpasham/rustBoot (secure Rust bootloader)
• kexecboot/kexecboot (kexec-based bootloader)
• CloverHackyColor/CloverBootloader (UEFI bootloader)
• RefindPlusRepo/RefindPlus (enhanced rEFInd boot manager)
• RefindPlusRepo/RefindPlusUDK (RefindPlus UDK build env)
• openbootdotdev/openboot (open-source boot firmware)
• coreboot/coreboot (open-source firmware)
• u-boot/u-boot (Universal Boot Loader)
• linuxboot/linuxboot (Linux-as-firmware)
• linuxboot/heads (minimal boot firmware with TPM)
• 9elements/LinuxBootSMM (LinuxBoot with SMM support)
• systemd/systemd (systemd-boot UEFI boot manager)