🔥 Preheat

Predict. Preload. Perform.

Adaptive readahead daemon for Linux

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Installation Guide

This guide covers installing preheat on Debian-based Linux systems including Kali Linux, Debian, and Ubuntu.

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

Component Requirement
Operating System Debian-based Linux (Kali, Debian 11+, Ubuntu 20.04+)
Kernel Linux 2.6+ with readahead(2) support
RAM 2 GB minimum (4+ GB recommended)
Permissions Root access for installation and daemon operation

Build Dependencies

For building from source, you need:

# Essential build tools
build-essential    # gcc, make, etc.
autoconf          # Autotools configuration
automake          # Makefile generation

# Required libraries
libglib2.0-dev    # GLib development files
pkg-config        # Library detection

Installation Methods

The easiest way to install preheat:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/wasteddreams/preheat-linux.git
cd preheat-linux

# Run the installer (handles everything)
sudo bash setup.sh install

The install script will:

  1. Check and install dependencies
  2. Build preheat from source
  3. Install binaries and configuration
  4. Set up and start the systemd service

Method 2: Manual Build and Install

For more control over the installation process:

Step 1: Install Dependencies

# Debian/Ubuntu/Kali
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential libglib2.0-dev autoconf automake pkg-config

Step 2: Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/wasteddreams/preheat-linux.git
cd preheat-linux

Step 3: Build

# Generate configure script
autoreconf -fi

# Configure (use defaults)
./configure

# Optional: Configure with custom prefix
# ./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc

# Build
make -j$(nproc)

Step 4: Install

# Install files
sudo make install

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable preheat
sudo systemctl start preheat

Verify Installation

After installation, verify everything is working:

Check Service Status

sudo systemctl status preheat

Expected output:

● preheat.service - Adaptive readahead daemon
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/preheat.service; enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mon 2024-12-15 10:00:00 UTC
   Main PID: 1234 (preheat)
     Memory: 5.2M
        CPU: 124ms

Check Binary

preheat --version

Expected output:

preheat 1.0.1
Adaptive readahead daemon for Debian-based distributions

Check Logs

sudo tail -20 /usr/local/var/log/preheat.log

You should see startup messages and periodic scan activity.

Installation Paths

After installation, preheat files are located at:

File Type Path
Daemon binary /usr/local/bin/preheat
CLI tool /usr/local/bin/preheat-ctl
Configuration /usr/local/etc/preheat.conf
State file /usr/local/var/lib/preheat/preheat.state
Log file /usr/local/var/log/preheat.log
PID file /run/preheat.pid
systemd unit /usr/lib/systemd/system/preheat.service

Note: Paths may vary if you used a custom --prefix during configuration.

Configuration After Install

The default configuration works well for most systems. However, you may want to:

  1. Review configuration: sudo nano /usr/local/etc/preheat.conf
  2. Check if changes are needed based on your hardware

See Configuration Reference for all options.

Uninstallation

To completely remove preheat:

Using Make

cd preheat-linux
sudo make uninstall

Manual Removal

# Stop and disable service
sudo systemctl stop preheat
sudo systemctl disable preheat

# Remove files
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/preheat
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/preheat-ctl
sudo rm -f /usr/local/etc/preheat.conf
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/var/lib/preheat
sudo rm -f /usr/lib/systemd/system/preheat.service

# Reload systemd
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Common Installation Issues

Issue: Missing Dependencies

Symptom:

configure: error: Package requirements (glib-2.0 >= 2.16) were not met

Solution:

sudo apt install libglib2.0-dev pkg-config

Issue: Permission Denied

Symptom:

make install: cannot create regular file '/usr/local/bin/preheat': Permission denied

Solution:

sudo make install

Issue: Service Masked

Symptom:

Failed to start preheat.service: Unit preheat.service is masked.

Solution:

sudo systemctl unmask preheat
sudo systemctl enable preheat
sudo systemctl start preheat

Issue: Old State File Incompatibility

Symptom: After upgrading, daemon fails to start or behaves incorrectly.

Solution:

# Remove old state file (daemon will rebuild it)
sudo rm /usr/local/var/lib/preheat/preheat.state
sudo systemctl restart preheat

Upgrading

To upgrade to a newer version:

# Stop current service
sudo systemctl stop preheat

# Pull latest changes
cd preheat-linux
git pull origin main

# Rebuild
autoreconf -fi
./configure
make clean
make -j$(nproc)

# Reinstall
sudo make install

# Restart
sudo systemctl start preheat

Your learned state file is preserved during upgrades.

Next Steps

After successful installation:

  1. Quick Start - Verify operation and understand basics
  2. Configuration - Tune for your system
  3. How It Works - Understand the daemon’s behavior
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