Running Debootstrap in Cygwin

  1. Download and untar debootstrap_1.0.36.tar.gz

    cd /working/folder/in/cygwin/
    wget http://ftp.debian.org/pool/main/d/debootstrap/debootstrap_1.0.36.tar.gz
    tar xzf debootstrap_1.0.36.tar.gz
    cd debootstrap

     

  2. Save this file as debootstrap-patch in the debootstrap folder.

    1. Alternatively, you should be able to:

      wget -O debootstrap-patch "http://fieldeffect.info/w/Running-debootstrap-in-Cygwin?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=debootstrap-patch.txt"

       

  3. Patch debootstrap:

    patch -p1 <debootstrap-patch

     

  4. cd ..
    mv debootstrap deb
    export DEBOOTSTRAP_DIR=`pwd`/deb

     

  5. Run debootstrap. Use foreign to prevent installing. Don’t check GPG because Cygwin doesn’t have the proper tools.

    debootstrap --arch=ia64 --extractor=ar --foreign --no-check-gpg sid .

     

In this case I am installing into an NTFS partition because I’d like to boot Linux from NTFS (yeah, good luck!)