AnyBoot

Your Multi-Boot Workstation, Simplified.

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About AnyBoot

AnyBoot is a portable, live-bootable application designed to help users plan, configure, and execute advanced multi-boot workstation setups with ease. It operates from a USB drive containing a minimal Debian 12 environment and enables the installation of Windows, Linux, and BSD systems into real hardware partitions using controlled, virtualized installers (QEMU).

AnyBoot aims to remove the fear and complexity from multi-booting, providing a safe, guided environment to create powerful, customized workstation environments quickly and reliably.

The Problem We Solve

Setting up a multi-boot PC is powerful but often involves:

• Complex and risky manual partitioning.
• Potential bootloader conflicts breaking existing OSes.
• Time-consuming sequential installs and multiple reboots.
• Difficulty managing various OS installer ISOs.
• Challenges in achieving a consistent, reproducible setup.
• Limited options for BSD installation.
• Inability to handle complex partition layouts.
• Accessing network shares during the setup process to retrieve files or configurations can be difficult.

AnyBoot tackles these issues head-on by providing an integrated, guided, and safer installation process.

Key Features

• 🖥️ Live USB System: Boots into a minimal Debian 12 environment.
• 🖱️ Dual User Interface: Graphical (Firefox) & Text (Browsh) modes via a unified Next.js app.
• 💾 Persistent Storage: Uses dedicated USB partitions (incl. user-accessible exFAT) for ISOs, configs & logs.
• 📐 Layout Designer: Interactively plan target disk partitions.
• 🛡️ Virtualized Installation: Safely runs OS installers via QEMU targeting real partitions.
• ➕ Flexible & Incremental: Install one OS now, add more later, or setup all at once.
• 💾 Backup & Restore: Integrated Clonezilla for backing up/restoring disks/partitions to network shares (SMB/NFS/SSHFS).
• 🚀 rEFInd Integration: Automatically installs & configures the rEFInd boot manager.
• 🔄 ISO Management: Tools to download and update OS installation ISOs.
• 📝 Configuration Management: Save and load configurations for reproducible setups.
• 🛠️ Developer Tools: Includes QEMU, rEFInd, and other development tools.
• 📚 Documentation: Comprehensive documentation and guides.

Goals

• Simplify: Abstract away the complexities of partitioning and bootloader management.
• Enhance Safety: Minimize risks during installation using QEMU virtualization.
• Provide Flexibility: Support incremental, full, and potentially scripted setups.
• Ensure Portability: Run entirely from a USB with persistent, user-accessible data.
• Offer Accessibility: Cater to users via both GUI and Text interfaces.
• Facilitate Reproducibility: Allow saving and loading of configurations.

Technology Stack

AnyBoot leverages a modern web stack within a tailored Linux environment:

• Base OS: Debian 12 Live
• App Framework: Next.js (React)
• Backend/API: Next.js API Routes
• Async Tasks: Redis Queue
• Virtualization: QEMU/KVM + OVMF (UEFI)
• Databases: MongoDB (Config/State) & SQLite (Tracking)
• Bootloader: rEFInd

For a detailed breakdown, see project-techstack.md.

Components

ISO Manager (iso-manager)

The ISO Manager is a modular, multi-language suite of tools designed to simplify the management of OS installation images. It helps users find, download, verify, and organize ISO files for various operating systems.

Key Features

• Modular Architecture: Built with multiple specialized components, each under 500 lines of code for maintainability
• Hash Verification: Automatically verifies downloaded ISOs against SHA256/MD5 hashes
• Multi-OS Support: Handles Windows, Linux, and BSD distribution ISOs
• Command-Line Interface: Powerful CLI for automation and scripting
• Customizable: Configurable settings via iso-manager.conf

Components

• Core Scripts:

  • iso-manager.sh: Main Bash script for basic operations
  • iso-manager-utils.sh: Utility functions for the Bash component
  • iso-manager-core.js: Main Node.js script for advanced operations

• Specialized Modules:

  • iso-utils.js: Common utility functions
  • iso-downloader.js: Handles file downloads with progress tracking
  • iso-list-manager.js: Manages ISO lists and metadata
  • iso-hash-verifier.js: Verifies file integrity

Usage

# Basic ISO listing
./iso-manager.sh list

# Download an ISO with verification
./iso-manager-core.js download --download-dir ./ISO-Archive

# Verify an existing ISO
./iso-manager-core.js verify --hash-alg sha256

ISO Manager Web Interface (iso-manager-web)

The ISO Manager Web Interface provides a modern, user-friendly web application for managing OS installation images. It offers the same functionality as the command-line tools but with an intuitive visual interface.

Key Features

• Modern UI: Clean, responsive design with card-based layout and dark mode
• Visual Progress: Real-time download progress with speed and ETA indicators
• ISO Browsing: Visual catalog of available ISO images with filtering and search
• One-Click Downloads: Simple, guided download experience
• Integrated Verification: Built-in hash checking ensures file integrity

Components

• Server: Node.js Express server that communicates with the ISO Manager backend
• Frontend: Modern JavaScript application with responsive UI
• API: RESTful endpoints for ISO operations

Usage

# Start the web interface
cd iso-manager
./run-web.sh

# Access the interface at http://localhost:5001

Getting Started

AnyBoot is currently under active development. These are the intended steps:

1. Download: Obtain the latest AnyBoot USB image (.img file).
2. Flash: Write the image to a USB drive (minimum 16GB recommended) using tools like BalenaEtcher or dd.
3. Boot: Boot your computer from the prepared AnyBoot USB drive.
4. Setup Persistence: On first boot, follow the prompts to set up the persistent partitions on the USB drive itself.
5. Use AnyBoot: The main application will launch automatically. Use the interface (GUI or Text) to:
   • Design your target disk layout.
   • Select OSes and provide ISO download links.
   • Initiate the installation process.
   • Follow the on-screen instructions for each OS installation within the QEMU window.
6. Reboot: Once AnyBoot confirms completion and rEFInd setup, reboot your system (removing the AnyBoot USB) into your new multi-boot environment!

Current Progress & Roadmap

This project is in its early stages. Development progress, including planned features, epics, and user stories, is tracked in the Project Plan.

The initial focus (v1.0 target) is on delivering the core workflow for installing Windows 11 and common Linux distributions (e.g., Ubuntu) reliably.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Whether it's bug reports, feature suggestions, documentation improvements, or code contributions, your help is appreciated.

1. Issues: Please check the existing Issues before creating a new one. Use templates if available.
2. Pull Requests: For code changes, please open an issue first to discuss the proposed changes. Follow the guidelines in CONTRIBUTING.md (to be created) and ensure adherence to the Coding Guidelines.
3. Code Style: Please follow the guidelines outlined in coding-guidelines.md.

License

This project uses the Elastic License 2.0 (ELv2). We chose this license because:

• Open Source for Security: The source code is available for review and audit, enhancing security and trust.
• Free for Personal Use: Individuals can freely use AnyBoot for personal projects and non-commercial purposes.
• Commercial Use Available: For commercial use, please contact us to discuss licensing options.

See the LICENSE file for full details.

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Copyright 2025 Dataloes / Mikkel Georgsen