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You can build the Debian-based PH4NTXM live ISO from a CachyOS host using Debian’s live-build. The CachyOS tutorial reports a successful Abyss build after installing the specified build tools and adding standard system directories to PATH. The resulting ISO is still Debian-based; CachyOS is only the build host.
Before you start
This procedure follows Steve Emms’s CachyOS build tutorial, published September 25, 2026. Its successful build and troubleshooting results are the author’s reported experience, not an independent reproducibility test. The tutorial configures PH4NTXM to use Debian live-build version 20250505+deb13u1.
Keep the two distributions’ build workflows separate: this process uses CachyOS to build PH4NTXM with Debian’s live-build. It is not the CachyOS project’s separate workflow for building a CachyOS ISO.
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Install the CachyOS build dependencies
Install the packages listed by the tutorial:
sudo pacman -S --needed git python util-linux debootstrap debian-archive-keyring cpio rsync wget xz bzip2 file squashfs-tools libisoburn syslinux grub mtools dosfstools dpkg po4aInstall the required Debian live-build version
Download and unpack Debian’s live-build release 20250505+deb13u1 from the Debian package pool, then install it. The tutorial reports that its first sudo make install attempt failed because the installer could not find po4a: CachyOS had placed it in /usr/bin/vendor_perl.
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For that situation, the author’s workaround is to add that directory to the installer’s PATH, then check the installed version:
sudo env PATH="/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin" make install
lb --versionAccording to the tutorial, the version check should report 20250505+deb13u1.
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Clone PH4NTXM and choose an edition
Clone the project and change into its directory:
git clone https://github.com/PH4NTXMOFFICIAL/PH4NTXM.git
cd PH4NTXMBuild Abyss
To run the optional preparation stage without creating an ISO, use:
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./build.sh --edition abyss --prepare-onlyWhen you are ready to build, run the command the tutorial reports as completing on CachyOS:
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sudo env PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin" ./build.sh --edition abyssThe extended PATH matters in the reported build: the tutorial says an unmodified run reached the EFI-image stage but stopped because mkfs.msdos could not be found. The author attributed that failure to the script expecting traditional system directories such as /usr/sbin in PATH, rather than to a missing package. Rerunning with standard system directories included completed the EFI stage and produced the ISO.
Build Ghost instead
To select Ghost, replace abyss in the build command with ghost. The tutorial describes Ghost as sharing Abyss’s packages and features while using a light appearance.
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Find the ISO and checksum
After the build, look in ~/PH4NTXM/output/. The tutorial reports that each export is placed in its own timestamped directory, containing the ISO and a SHA256SUMS checksum file. Use that file to check the exported ISO’s checksum.
Optional: test the ISO from a USB drive
A USB drive is not needed to build the ISO. If you want to test it on physical hardware, CachyOS’s official preparation guide documents ways to create bootable USB media and specifies at least 8 GB of available space for CachyOS installation media. That capacity is not established as a PH4NTXM-specific requirement.
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Sources
- Steve Emms’s LinuxLinks tutorial, “Building the PH4NTXM ISO on CachyOS” (September 25, 2026)
- PH4NTXM project repository
- CachyOS official USB preparation guide
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