About

This experimental set of scripts attempts to sign and repack ISO files of Arch (and Arch based dirtibutions) for secure boot.

DISCLAIMER

Use this script at your own risk. Author will NOT be responsible to damages caused not limited to loss of data, corrupted files and others due to this script. To be run inside an Arch distro. Preferrably, inside an Arch Virtual Machine.

Steps to run

Create secure boot supported ISO file

• Download the ISO file. The script supports for Arch and Arch based distros. Other distros are not tested nor guaranteed to work
• Boot up an Arch or Arch based distro inside a VM. (Tested on Endeavour OS inside VirtualBox)
• Run:

git clone https://github.com/aerocyber/ArchSec.git
cd ArchSec
python3 make_secureboot_iso.py

Make an installed system secure boot ready

This section is under construction. Will be updated shortly.

After executing the script

Apart from building the secure boot supported ISO, you must enroll the DER file. This varies between PCs and distros. If you have mokutil installed on your distro, run:

mokutil --import MOK.cer

where MOK.cer is the certificate file created by the script or otherwise. This command is to be run where the ISO is to be run. Another way is to use the UEFI Firmware Interface. This varies between devices. Consult your manufacturer for how to enroll secure boot keys using UEFI on your device. Workflow looks like: Get into boot options > Go to secure boot section > Add keys

Additional Info

• If any of MOK.cer, MOK.crt or MOK.key is NOT found, the script will create them with openssl.
• Additionally, for the operations to be successful, the following packages must be installed:
  • shim-signed from AUR
  • libisoburn from Arch REPO
  • mtools from Arch REPO
  • openssl from Arch REPO

License

Copyright 2025 aerocyber

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.