Skip to main content

MULTI BOOT DRIVE MANAGEMENT

This document specifies the multi-boot drive management lifecycle capabilities exposed in iso-builder as defined in issue #2.

1. Feature Lifecycle Matrix​

iso-builder surfaces tacklebox multi-boot drive lifecycle subcommands through a unified native GUI panel ("Manage this drive") and platform execution bridge (runTackleboxArgs):

  • Status (tacklebox status <drive>): Identifies whether a drive is managed by tacklebox, listing installed OS environment IDs, boot targets, and allocated partition space.
  • Add (tacklebox add <recipe/img> <drive>): Installs an additional OS environment onto an existing multi-boot drive alongside existing installations without reformatting.
  • Update (tacklebox update <recipe/img> <drive> / update_all): Re-installs or upgrades an installed OS environment in place on the drive.
  • Remove (tacklebox remove <envID> <drive> --yes): Uninstalls a specific OS environment, freeing its space without affecting other environments. Correctly surfaces tacklebox safety refusal when attempting to remove the last remaining environment.
  • Verify (tacklebox verify <drive>): Performs integrity checks across GPT partition structures, systemd-boot entries, and environment payloads.

2. Cross-Platform Execution (runTackleboxArgs)​

  • Signature Contract: All three platform backends (exec_linux.go, exec_darwin.go, exec_windows.go) export the canonical runTackleboxArgs function: 
    func runTackleboxArgs(drivePath string, argsForDevice func(device string) []string, onLine func(string)) error
  • Linux Execution: Direct execution via sudo tacklebox <args...>.
  • macOS / Windows Execution: Drives attach into helper VMs / WSL2 instances to execute tacklebox natively.

3. UI Guardrails & Safety​

  • Busy State (busyGuard): Disables all action buttons during in-flight operations to prevent concurrent drive mutations.
  • Destructive Confirmation: Deletions and format operations prompt confirmation dialogs specifying the targeted drive path and environment ID.