Post your bugs finding
7 months later
I just tried to use Obarun-mkiso but run into a problem / 4.86gb of 26.07gb /boot 49mb of 1gb /home 3.96gb of 148 when i compile it runs out of space on / i have moved this here
/home/kelvin/obarun/obarun-mkiso but it still compile in /var/lib and still runs out of space in / . Is their a way to get it to compile in the home or even another partition,
do you try to make an ISO directly from your host system? obarun-mkiso is not designed in this way.
First you need to make a partition on your DD or external DD or on USB stick or Ram disk, so it's up to you.
then mount it on e.g /mnt like a classic intallation.
Now you have two choice, first you can install the system with obarun-install with a templates or with your own templates, second copy your / to /mnt like e.g this : 
$ su
$ time cp -ax / /mnt
you can refer to the page https://obarun.org/wiki/install.html under the section manual install.

when you are ready launch obarun-mkiso, choose the number 1 and set it to /mnt. if it's not the first use of obarun-mkiso, do not forget to clean the working directory picking the number 13 before starting the ISO build.
it still compile in /var/lib
it's not possible to change this behaviour for the moment. Overthere, you can change the ISO save place in your /etc/obarun/mkiso.conf setting the variable OUT_DIR to the directory of your choice.
Sorry I'm a bit lost here with this ,Now you have two choice, first you can install the system with obarun-install with a templates or with your own templates, second copy your / to /mnt like e.g this :

$ su
$ time cp -ax / /mnt

also this does it not just copy my / directory. it takes my time to understand new things. or because I've mounted the new partition i launch it from there but that way it does not copy the home partition confige files i'm a bit lost.
Figured out the 1st part ran Obarun-mkiso all went well till I got to install extra packages it updated the pacman database then gave a message Error: Failed to install extra-packages
Cleaning up
-> Umount /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs
==>> Check mounted filesystem
-> Unmounting /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs/proc
-> Unmounting /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs/sys
-> Unmounting /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs/dev/pts
-> Unmounting /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs/dev/shm
-> Unmounting /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs/run
-> Unmounting /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs/tmp
-> Unmounting /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs/dev
-> Removing user usertmp
-> Restore your shell options
humm, i just tested and i cannot reproduce this issue. the extra packages needed is : efitools-1.7.0.3.g791e463-1 intel-ucode-20161104-1 memtest86+-5.01-2 mkinitcpio-nfs-utils-0.3-5 nbd-3.15.2-1.
this kind of issue is a little embarrassing because i cannot reproduce the issue. What is weird that pacman synchronize well the database.

the command used by the scripts to install extra packages is the following : 
pacman -r "${WORK_DIR}/airootfs" -Sy efitools intel-ucode memtest86+ mkinitcpio-nfs-utils nbd --config "$PAC_CONF" --cachedir "$CACHE_DIR" --noconfirm 2>/dev/null
where WORK_DIR is /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work. PAC_CONF and CACHE_DIR are defined on /etc/obarun/mkiso.conf.

Do you use the last obarun-mkiso version?

I do not see where the trouble come from...
also this does it not just copy my / directory. it takes my time to understand new things. or because I've mounted the new partition i launch it from there but that way it does not copy the home partition confige files i'm a bit lost.
forgot my last comment about it; do an simple copy of your / on your mounting point e.g. mnt (obviously, exclude from your copy the directory /dev,/proc,/sys,/tmp(maybe),/mnt,/run)
Head way has been made I was using a old ide drive as the storage vessel that is why it failed to build for some reason built fine on sata drive using defaults that is the good part,
Now the bad Pretty splash screen but that is all it does press enter splash just loops,
The entries on the original look more or less the same when I press tab Any idea on that?
==> ERROR: specified kernel image does not exist: `/boot/vmlinuz-linux
'cp: cannot stat '/var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/iso/arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz': No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat '/var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/iso/arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img': No such file or directory

Just another thought this script seem to of added usertmp that does not have a password. I start the installer with sudo or su even though it was started as root part way through making the iso it asks again for a password that can't be authenticated but carries on and now everything that need to be authenticated has a entry usertmp.
this error is...well... very very weird. So please, can me your entire process to create an ISO with as much as possible details and this from the beginning, i mean what partition is mounted, how is mounted, how do you install/copy thing in the mounting point, and so one.More, show me your mkiso.conf please
# Configuration file for obarun-mkiso package

# #################
# # Main variable
# #################

# allow to update the script when it launched [yes|no]
UPDATE="yes"

# git source of obarun-mkiso package
GIT_ADDR="https://github.com/Obarun/obarun-mkiso.git"

# gpg directory used during the installation
GPG_DIR="/var/lib/obarun/gnupg"

# Define pacman configuration to use
PAC_CONF="/var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/pacman.conf"

# Define the cache directory used by pacman
CACHE_DIR="/var/cache/pacman/pkg"

# Directory to copy on iso
NEWROOT="/mnt"

# #########################
# # Customization variable
# #########################

# Define the name of the iso
ISO_NAME="obarun"

# Define the version of the iso
ISO_VERSION="v0.0.1"

# Define the label of the iso
ISO_LABEL="OBARUN_$(date +%Y)-$ISO_VERSION"

# Define the publisher of the iso
ISO_PUBLISHER="Obarun-mkiso <http://www.obarun.org>"

# Define the applicatin name of the iso
ISO_APPLICATION="Obarun Linux Live/Rescue CD"

# Define the installation directory inside the iso
INSTALL_DIR="arch"

# Define the directory where the iso is saved
OUT_DIR="/var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/out"

# Define the image mode
IMAGE_MODE="sfs"

# Define the compression type used
SFS_COMP="xz"

# Define the verbosity output [yes|no]
VERBOSE="yes"
-------------------------------------------------------------------

sudo mount /dev/sdb5 /mnt

$ su
$ time cp -ax / /mnt wait for it to copy to /dev/sdb5 /mnt i have checked it is there i have removed the packages you suggested makes no difference
sudo obarun-mkiso
==>> Do you want to update obarun-mkiso package? [y|n]
y
==>> Check update for obarun-mkiso
From https://github.com/Obarun/obarun-mkiso
* branch master -> FETCH_HEAD
-> Git already up to date, nothing to do
-> Launch makepkg and install the new version if exist
Password: this is the problem I believe as the installer seems to of added usertmp, and it wants a passwor or your password,
does not matter what i put here it fails
then caries on

==>> Enter your choice :
11
==>> Start building iso
==>> Check if gpg key exist
-> Gpg key exist, Refresh it...
==> Updating trust database...
gpg: next trustdb check due at 2017-09-07
==>> Check mounted filesystem
-> Filesystem not mounted in /mnt
==>> Copy /mnt to /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs, this may take some time...

==> ERROR: specified kernel image does not exist: `/boot/vmlinuz-linux
'cp: cannot stat '/var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/iso/arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz': No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat '/var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/iso/arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img': No such file or directory

Then carries on with the build creates the ISO that just gets to the splash screen
==>> Prepare extra-packages for boot
==>> Set syslinux
==>> Set isolinux
==>> Prepare efiboot
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 895k 100 895k 0 0 126k 0 0:00:07 0:00:07 --:--:-- 145k
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 753k 100 753k 0 0 149k 0 0:00:05 0:00:05 --:--:-- 188k
==>> Set efiboot
mkfs.fat 4.1 (2017-01-24)
cp: cannot stat '/var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/iso/arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz': No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat '/var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/iso/arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img': No such file or directory
ok
Password: this is the problem I believe as the installer seems to of added usertmp, and it wants a passwor or your password,
humm, bad design from my part.
do you have this line uncommented in your /etc/sudoers file : 
# # Same thing without a password
%wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
if not not, please uncomment it when you use obarun-mkiso. usertmp user haven't password when it's created. i will rectify this behaviour in the future.

something is very strange in your output, normally you have this three more output after ==>> Copy /mnt to /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs, this may take some time... :
==> Install needed extra-packages
==> Set hook for initcpio
==> Prepare initial ramdisk boot

if those three functions is not used then the error message is absolutly normal. Do you have modified manualy the file /usr/lib/obarun/build_iso or other file from this obarun-mkiso package?
you can go to the channel too # obarun on freenode ;)
well i have done all i can think of at the moment it seems the user temp is the problem as it has no password the password prompt is looking for a su password not sudo i think that is the problem remember I use a multiuser login and setup.
the usertmp user is only used to update the package obarun-mkiso,for the rest of the script only root is used. your trouble about it do not resolv your trouble about the creation of initramfs. How have you resolved this trouble? i'm curious.

anyway can you try this on your machine please : 
$ su
$ useradd -m -g users -G "wheel,disk,storage,optical,floppy,network" -s /bin/bash "${named}" -p '*'
$ su usertmp
tell me if the usertmp passwd is asking please.

to delete the user 
$ su
$ userdel -r usertmp
it will be interesting to see if this command work on your system. Thanks in advance for the help.
done that what I did notice is /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs/boot/ their is only memtest
kelvin@ kelvin ~ % su
Password:
root@ kelvin kelvin # useradd -m -g users -G "wheel,disk,storage,optical,floppy,network" -s /bin/bash "${named}" -p '*'
useradd: invalid user name ''
root@ kelvin [3] kelvin # su usertmp
Password:
su: Authentication failure
root@ kelvin [1] kelvin # su
Password:
root@ kelvin kelvin # userdel -r usertmp
userdel: usertmp mail spool (/var/spool/mail/usertmp) not found
root@ kelvin kelvin #
arf, not my day , written error here

this : $ useradd -m -g users -G "wheel,disk,storage,optical,floppy,network" -s /bin/bash "${named}" -p '*'
should be this : $ useradd -m -g users -G "wheel,disk,storage,optical,floppy,network" -s /bin/bash usertmp -p '*'

sorry, can you try again please

about your /boot directory, you said me that you use a different partition for the boot, right? do you mount it on your e.g. /mnt/boot?
No difference I add the boot enteries to /mnt boot i get it to boot now but it drops to a shell saying specify file system, I tried chroot and install the files to /mnt same thing Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux.preset: 'default'
-> -k /boot/vmlinuz-linux -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-linux.img

==> ERROR: failed to detect root filesystem
findmnt: can't read (null): No such file or directory

cp: cannot stat '/usr/lib/initcpio/install/archiso': No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat '/usr/lib/initcpio/hooks/archiso_shutdown': No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat '/usr/lib/initcpio/install/archiso_shutdown': No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat '/usr/lib/initcpio/hooks/archiso': No such file or directorycp: cannot stat '/usr/lib/initcpio/hooks/archiso_loop_mnt': No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat '/usr/lib/initcpio/install/archiso_loop_mnt': No such file or directory
sed: can't read /var/lib/obarun/obarun-mkiso/work/airootfs/etc/initcpio/install/archiso_shutdown: No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat '/usr/lib/initcpio/install/archiso_kms': No such file or directory
stupid question : do you have archiso package installed on your system? I just saw that i forgot to implement this dependency on the obarun-mkiso PKGBUILD.
Funnily enough i thought about that yesterday and installed it, Then had a rest from trying to make a ISO and just finished another install on a single partition I will try tonight and see what happens.
Thank you for your help
Success using the new install on a single partition, No password is asked when it updates, a exact replica Live ISO is produced. This got me thinking the second install is single user no graphical login. when MDM is used its multi-user using another file manager the other partitions all are mounted thunar is also lighter than spacefm, polkit-Gnome works correct to open a partition on another drive it asks for a user password. When using obarun-mkiso as multiuser it asks for a password so it needs a exception added. This is also why Gparted has to be started terminal Sudo gparted as a single user as multi-user you are asked for the user password from polkit-gnome. so Obarun- polkit should ask for the root password, does not allow other file managers to mount and open other partitions without spacefm it looks like its only for single user use. The real show-stopper in single user mode /temp is not emptied upon reboot and every action is stored so you have multiple spacefm entries "I had 4gb of temp after 2 days use" or any other program used when you close the program it just stores everything in multi user /temp clears and empties as it should on reboot.
8 months later
I haven't studied this whole thread in detail but it is of high interest. Refracta snapshot in debian/devuan world, reliably makes an iso that you can use as a live image of your system and refracta installer can take a live system and install it back into a partition.
To make the snapshot of the system leaving out what you probably don't want to transfer and you can customize this, it adds what it needs to be a self-booting system off of a cd or dvd or usb stick. The space it needs to make the snapshot is at least twice what the system uses. A 3GB system would need about 6gb of space as work area, then once this is done it shrinks the whole workarea into a small image (maybe 1gB) and there is an option to erase the work area or keep it to make subsequent images much faster.
So maybe in a similar fashion that is why people complain of running out of space. You may have to make some temporary work area outside the partition. The snapshot does not transfer this work are to the image. You can have it transfer your home or the cache or leave it all out and create a new user for the live image, you can scrap you networking setup or you can include it.
Heavy use of rsync in the first part and xorisso in the second part.

I am eager to use the obarun tool and compare.

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