There are many ways of installing Debian, this is just how I do it. This guide is dedicated to all the newbies out there, and users with old boxes. Update: Screenshots here.
Remember, if you break Debian, you get to keep both parts.
The net-installer-rc2 is still in beta (Release Candidate 2), the next
version will be the official installer, so you get a chance to know
what’s comming. You can download it from:
Sarge net-installer-rc2 (choose i386)
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
The type of installation I had in mind for my old machine is a minimal
one, installing light apps that will render my system lean and quick.
So, there will be no KDE, Gnome, splash screens, or little stars
titillating on the desktop. I will install IceWM, because it’s my
favorite; but XFCE4, WMaker, Fluxbox, are equally fast and excellent.
I want to install the kernel 2.4.27, my box is standard, there is
nothing complex, everything works with kernel 2.4.27.
During this installation you will have the options to install
Woody, Sarge, or Sid, and the kernels 2.4.27 or 2.6.8/2.6.9, depending
on the version of Debian you decide to install.
MY HARDWARE
Processor PII 266
128 MB RAM
Yamaha sound card
Realtek 8139 NIC
Riva 128 nVidia video card with 4 MB RAM
40 GB IDE hd (5400)
Optiquest V73 17″ monitor
PS/2 generic 3-button mouse
Logitech iTouch keyboard (spanish)
Monitor’s horizontal frequency (30-70)
Monitor’s vertical refresh rate (50-160)
ADSL connection
You can find your monitor’s frequencies from its manual or googling
for its brand and model, or manufacturer. DO NOT USE MINE.
It is a desktop, so users with laptops, adjust accordingly.
AT THE BOOT PROMPT
I inserted the installation CD and rebooted, it brought me to the boot
prompt. There, I pressed F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, and F8. I read
everything, and chose the following boot parameters:
boot: expert noapic nolapic bootkbd=es
debian-installer/framebuffer=false
expert-
will allow me to have more control on the installation, there will be
more options to choose from.
noapic nolapic-
will allow me, together with the installation of
‘apmd’ (the apm daemon), to shutdown my machine which has an old BIOS,
and refuses to shutdown automatically otherwise.
bootkbd=es-
will allow me to use my spanish keyboard from the start.
debian-installer/framebuffer=false –
will tell the installer NOT to
install the framebuffer, which hangs my system and has affected my
fonts in the past.
If you don’t understand any of this, it’s OK, just type:
expert (press Enter)
From here on, after choosing an answer (YES, NO, CONTINUE, CANCEL) with the
TAB key, press the key Enter.
All set, I press Enter, the installation begins, the first screen comes
up…
Choose your country or region <Panama>
Select a keyboard layout <PC-style or PS2 connector>
keymap to use <Spanish>
DETECT AND MOUNT CD-ROM
Modules <Continue>
Prompt for modules parameters <No>
Start PCI card services (unless you use a laptop) <No>
Unable to load some modules <Continue>
CD-ROM DETECTED <Enter>
LOAD INSTALLER COMPONENTS FROM CD <Enter>
Installer components to load <Continue>
Loading components… <it takes a few seconds>
DETECT NETWORK HARDWARE <Enter>
Module to load <Continue>
(here it shows the NIC module to be installed)
Prompt for module parameters <No>
Start PC card services <No>
Unable to load some modules <Continue>
CONFIGURE THE NETWORK <Enter>
Auto-configure network with DHCP <Yes>
(it configures it…)
Hostname <write something short, e.g. debian> <Enter>
Domain name <write your isp domain, e.g. pacific-bell.net>
DETECT HARDWARE <Enter>
Prompt for module parameters <No>
Start PC card services <No>
Unable to load some modules <Continue>
PARTITION DISKS <Enter>
a. Erase entire disk (hda)
b. Manually edit partition table
I’ve got no other OS, so I choose ‘a’ <Enter>
If you’ve got Windows or another operating system, choose ‘b’.
The installer will guide you.
The next screen will show the different partition schemes:
If you chose the option ‘a’ above, the next screen will be:
PARTITIONING SCHEMES
a. All files in one partition (recommended for newbies)
b. Desktop machine
c. Multi-user workstation
The installer will partition the hard drive automatically, without the
user’s intervention. Here’s how it will partition depending on your
choice:
a. It will create a root partition (/) and a swap one.
b. A root partition, swap, and /home.
c. It will create the following partitions:
/
/usr
/var
swap
/tmp
/home
All this without you moving a finger, pretty nifty!
Newbies choose ‘a’ and continue.
Of course, I chose “c”, always looing for sofmething different, I ended
up with this:
Ext 3 / 280 MB
Ext 3 /usr 5 GB
Ext 3 /var 3 GB
Ext 3 swap 390 MB
Ext 3 /tmp 399 MB
Ext 3 /home 31 GB
I wanted to use a different file system besides Ext 3.
So, I went up with the keyboard arrow, to the first partition, root (/),
once it was highlighted, I pressed Enter; on the second screen, I went up
with the arrow to the first line:
use as Ext 3 journalling file system
and pressed Enter again. This in turn, took me to a third screen,
which listed all the file systems available for my choosing:
Ext2
Ext3
ReiserFS
JFS
XFS
FAT16
FAT32
swap area
Physical Volume for LVM
Physical Volume for RAID
NOTE: in this installer, EXt2, Ext3, ReiserFS, and JFS, all work
flawlessly with GRUB, except XFS, so if you choose XFS, you will have
to choose LILO instead of GRUB from the main installation menu later on.
Naturally, this is the one I chose.
Once you choose your file system and press Enter, this will take you
back to the previous screen, go down with the arrow until you are at
the line:
Done setting up this partition <Enter>
This will take you back to the first partition screen, choose another
partition, and do the same all over again, until you have changed all
the partitions file system from Ext3 to your new file system, EXCEPT
swap. It only takes 2-3 minutes, once you get the hang of it, this
installer is hot!
If you choose “a” or “b” from the partitioning scheme, you
only have to change the file system on one or two partitions.
When you are thru with all the partitions, back at the original
partitioning screen, go down with the arrow, ALL THE WAY DOWN TILL THE
END OF THE SCREEN, otherwise, you might miss the following line,
select it, so it’s highlighted:
Finish partitioning and write changes to disk <Enter>
The next screen list the partitions to be formatted, and it says NO by
default for matters of safety, so you don’t accidentally make a mistake..
Choose <YES>
It begins formatting…
INSTALL THE BASE SYSTEM <Enter>
It starts installing the base system…
3/4 of the way in, it pop up a dialog box, asking you what kernel
you want, make your choice.
kernel-image 2.6.8-1-386
kernel-image 2.4.27-1-386
After this is finished, you’re back at the main installation menu, and
the next line is:
INSTALL THE GRUB BOOT LOADER ON A HARD DISK <Enter>
If you chose Ext3, ReiserFS, or JFS, GRUB will be the way to go,
install it to the MBR or choose another place of your liking.
If you chose XFS, skip this line and select the next one:
INSTALL THE LILO BOOT LOADER ON A HARD DISK (Enter)
A box will pop up asking you where you want to install LILO:
/dev/hda. Master Boot Record
/dev/hda2: new Debian partition
other choice (Advanced)
I chose the first one, and installed LILO to the MBR.
The CD ejects, close the CD-ROM <Continue> <Enter>
The machine starts rebooting…
It comes back with the screen:
DISPLAY INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE <Enter>
Welcome to your Debian System <Enter>
CONFIGURE YOUR TIME ZONE <Enter>
Is the hardware clock set to GMT? <No>
Are you in the Central America/Panama time zone? <Yes>
Is this information correct? <Yes>
SET UP USERS AND PASSWORDS <Enter>
Enable shadow passwords? <Yes>
Root password <enter it>
Re-enter your password
Create a normal user account now? <Yes>
Enter a full name for the new user <you can type anything>
Enter a user name for your account <do it>
Type a password for the new user <do it>
Re-type the same password <do it>
Set the hostname (already done) <Enter>
CONFIGURE APT <Enter>
It gives a list of options <ftp>
DEBIAN DISTRIBUTION TO USE
-stable
-unstable
-testing
I chose Testing <Enter>
Use non-free software? <Yes> (personal decision)
Mirror country <choose one close to you>
Choose the Debian mirror to use <choose one close to you>
Here, the screen goes black (console), and APT starts checking the
repositories for the Debian version you chose, it takes a few minutes.
Add another APT source? <No>
Use security updates from security.debian.org? <Yes>
If you chose Sid (unstable), you won’t need them.
SELECT AND INSTALL PACKAGES <Skip this line>
Here, I skipped this line with the arrow and installed my apps at the
end of the installation with apt-get.
CONFIGURE THE MAIL TRANSFER AGENT <Enter>
In the next few questions, just take the default answers, nothing to
write.
FINISH CONFIGURING THE BASE SYSTEM <Enter>
Thank you for using Debian <Enter>
It takes you to the console (black screen) with a debian login.
debian login: <write your username> Enter
password: <write your user password> Enter
(now you’ve become a user)
Example:
macondo@debian:~$
we have to become root in order to be able to install packages and edit
files. So type ‘su’ (switch user)
macondo@debian:~$ su <Enter>
password: <write your ROOT password> Enter
(now you’re ROOT)
debian:/home/macondo#
Ok, now I install my apps so I can enter the X environment.
The first thing I do is:
#apt-get update
#apt-get dist-upgrade
After this, your repositories’ database will be updated and the apps
already installed in the base installation, upgraded to the latest
version of the Debian version, you installed.
Now, I’m going to install some basic packages necessary to enter the X
environment, and also necessary to function in everyday life.
Here, you can go different ways, the first option is recommended for
newbies, it will come with xterm (terminal) and XDM (display manager).
So, now that you’re root:
Option 1:
#apt-get install x-window-system mozilla-firefox mozilla-thunderbird
icewm icewm-themes firehol nano
You can replace icewm with wmaker, xfce4, fluxbox, etc
Option 2 (my favorite, it’s much lighter):
#apt-get install x-window-system-core mozilla-firefox aterm menu icewm
icewm-themes iceme firehol aee apmd
I’ll install Pine later on.
After you come back, it’s time to configure X, I follow the
instructions from the article:
The Very Verbose Debian Installation Walkthrough
Sections 9 and 10
(it takes all of 15 minutes to read, and will save you hours if not days).
The reason I tell you to read this, it’s because nobody can explain
this better than Clinton De Young.
After reading this 2 sections, it’ll take you just a few minutes to
configure X.
So, I say NO to auto-detection, I have an old video card that only
works with 15 bit color depth.
CONFIGURATION OF XFREE86
Select the driver for your video card <nv>
Enter an identifier for your video card <nVidia Stb Riva 128>
Read the next screen <Accept>
Please enter the video card bus identifier <leave blank>
Enter the amount (in kb) of memory for your video card <4000>
Please select the set of rules XKB to be used <xfree86>
Read next screen <Accept>
Please select your keyboard model <Logitech iTouch>
Here, you can enter “PC104” for an American keyboard or “PC105 for a
European.
Please select the language (keymap) <es>
here you can enter “us” for American, or “gb” for British.
Please select your variant <leave blank>
Read the next screen <Accept>
Please select the options for your keyboard <leave blank>
Please show the port for your mouse </dev/psaux>
Please choose the option that better describes your mouse <ImPS/2>
this will activate the scroll wheel on your mouse.
Emulate a 3-button mouse? <Yes>
Activate the mouse wheel? <Yes>
Enter an identifier for your monitor <Optiquest V73>
Is your monitor LCD? <No>
Please select a method to configure your monitor <Advanced>
Enter your horizontal frequency range <30-70>
Enter your vertical refresh frequencies <50-160>
Choose your resolutions <1024×768>
Please choose the color depth in bits <15>
Read next screen <Accept>
Select the XFree86 modules that should be loaded by default <leave as is>
Next screen write Files section by default <Yes>
Write section DRI by default in the configuration file? <Yes>
After I’m thru configuring X, the firewall (firehol)
configuration is next. For this, I need to edit the file
/etc/default/firehol
So, as root, I launch the text editor:
#nano /etc/default/firehol
and edit it to look like this:
START_FIREHOL=YES
FIREHOL_LOG_MODE=”ULOG”
save/exit
in other words,
Ctrl+O <Enter>
Ctrl+X
The first line will activate Firehol, the second will divert the log
messages somewhere else, so the console screen will be free of them,
which is marvelous if you use “startx” (as I do) to enter the X environment..
We have to reconfigure the locales:
#dpkg-reconfigure locales
A list will come up, go down the list with the arrows, and select with
the spacebar all the instances of en_US (about 3) and any other
language you use, choose OK, and on the next screen, choose your
environment language (the language all your instructions will be in)
select OK and the locales will be generated.
SWITCHING KERNELS
The default kernel during the installation was:
kernel-image-2.4.27.-1-386
but my box is a PII, (processors PII, PIII, and P4 use 686) I want this
kernel optimized for my processor, so, I’ll install a 686 model:
#apt-get install kernel-image-2.4.27-1-686
If you installed Sarge with the 2.6.8-1-386, you can install the one
with the 686 flag at the end.
#apt-get install kernel-image-2.6.8-1-686
If you installed Sid, with 2.6.8-1-386, you can install the latest:
#apt-get install kernel-image-2.6.9-1-686
For those smart enough to install GRUB, you have to do nothing, no
questions to answer, it will install, update the grub menu
automatically, at the end, all you have to do is:
#reboot
It can’t get any better than this!
If you have LILO installed like me, and no other OS in the hd, just say
YES to the question asked,
then,
#lilo
#reboot
Later on, you can get rid of the old kernels with Synaptic or Debfoster.
When you reboot, you will come back with a new kernel, some basic
applications, and a working firewall. If you chose option 1, you will
come back to XDM to log in, on option 2, you’ll come to the console,
in text mode; login, and use “startx”.
I hope this helps a little bit.
Good Luck!
This article was written using the text editor aee (another easy editor).
woot no more 7 cds lol jk but it does sound very promising i might even try it tonight.
Nice article,
Debian is my distro of choice too, I like to be able to start with a “bare-bones” installation, and then just add exactly what I need.
Also, the Debian installer is getting better and better, clean, objective and simple. The wizards behind it managed to please both experts and newbees… Wanna control? You got it, from loading modules to setting up a LVM volume! Want a simple straightdforward install? You got it too, thanks to the improved hardware detection, assisted patitioning and GRUB detecting Windows and other OSes previous installations.
I wrote an guide to the new installer myself… it’s written in Brazilian Portuguese. Get it at http://www.debian-rj.org =)
(ps. sorry my broken english, I’m no native speaker!!)
I tried it too, but I found it too complex for absolute newbies and not powerful enough for a power user (a description which might also apply to debian in general).
This new installer is better than the old one, especially when it comes to partitioning and kernel modules.
Debian Woody can also be installed with a small netinstall image. You would only need a few floppy’s or a miniCD or something. The rest can be fetched from Internet.
Although I think articles like this get new people away from thinking they need 7 ISOs to install Debian, I figured this was going to explain netbooting (PXE) as well.
My laptop’s CDROM drive is busted, so about a year ago I read how to install Debian via PXE:
http://www.debianplanet.com/node.php?id=818
… and it resurrected my PC from the dead. From then on, PXE was the -only- way I ever installed Debian until I rolled to Arch Linux. No more ISO downloads, just the netboot kernel and initrd files. Debian makes it very, very simple. Even if you just install Woody, you’re just a bit of changes and an apt-get dist-upgrade away from unstable or testing.
Once you get the hang of it, you can install most anything this way too. After fighting the Arch setup, getting help from Freenode/#archlinux, and making a million initrd tests, I got Arch to install via PXE. It required hand-extracting the pacman package and zlib, along with some crazy symlinking, but it works.
[end ramble] Anyway, for those looking to get away from ISO installs, check out PXE booting.
you dont need all 7 CDs to have a fully working Linux desktop, i only download the first two CDroms, and add a debian mirror to apt-get, i download very little from the mirror – usually just updates that did not make to the weekly sarge ISO i have burned…
i have found the regular install (not expert) to be more than sufficient for any of my needs. in fact, the expert mode is not aimed at newbies and newbies prolly shouldnt be using it. why try to explain all the individual steps to somebody when all you need to explain is the partitioning? more steps mean more chances at problems.
I would like to note that going to expert mode is not how debian is usually installed.
First, you can change modes anytime during setup, second, it will give tons of mostly useless questions which is just waste of time (i.e. installer is choosing very sane defaults automaticly).
It’s nice to be able re-use 3 floppies that you’ve had for 15 years and go from there.
My old thinkpad has “issues” with CDs sometimes so last time I installed on it, I did a floppy/net install.
I get annoyed now with Fedora and other non debian based distros that use multiple disks. why does one need all those? just have a small image and then have the packages needed pulled to the computer. it is less annoying .
One needs all those if, for instance, one has a complex connection to the internet that’s beyond the scope of the network installer to cope with. Or if one has a slow internet connection, or a capped internet connection, or no internet connection. Many distros that come on CDs also have alternative install methods (I know you can install Mandrake and SuSE over the network, I’m sure the same is true for Fedora but I can’t vouch for it personally).
In what way is Debian “not powerful enough for a power user (a description which might also apply to debian in general)”?
Note – this is an honest question, not flamebait.
Debian Woody can also be installed with a small netinstall image. You would only need a few floppy’s or a miniCD or something.
You can even use TFTP to download the boot image (only ~ 8MB) and don’t use floppies or CDs at all provided you have a sane bootloader or ‘BIOS’ (LILO can’t do it IIRC).
I tried it too, but I found it too complex for absolute newbies and not powerful enough for a power user (a description which might also apply to debian in general).
Fortunately you don’t speak for the rest of us. I found the new installer quite powerful enough for the power user. Please inform us of just what it is lacking in the “power user” department? Maybe you can inform the installer team of any improvements that they should consider. As for the “too complex” for noobs, well just what is complex about it? Installing operating systems is not like installing a program, but there are many articles(like the one above) & docs that clearly explain the process for new potential Debian users.
Is there any significant advantage in using pure Debian rather than Ubuntu?
I have been using Redhat 7, 8, 9 now Fedora, is there an advantage to go over to Debian. Like more packages, multi-media and other stuff?
P2 266, Excuse me do you live in todays times. Even the curbside computers trashed in my neighbourhood are better than this.
I have been using Redhat 7, 8, 9 now Fedora, is there an advantage to go over to Debian. Like more packages, multi-media and other stuff?
Debian’s package management is a lot better than Fedora’s, things break at a much less frequency. The repositories are also much bigger for Debian.
I use Ubuntu, because it has the power of Debian, but makes it very easy to use and is truly beautiful.
I agree, the old P2 could not run X-windows the basic X-windows manager but NOT Gnome or KDE.
It would not have the memory nor the processing power. If so, it would take forever to load, then to load a app it would be using all the swap space.
So basically, Debian is an improvement over Fedore Core 3? Would it be worth the switch from what I am reading, is Debian much harder than Fedora/Redhat?
Very interested.
We switched from RedHat 8,9 at work to Debian after RedHat pulled RedHat Linux, for Fedora. I use unstable for my desktop at work, testing at home, and stable on the servers.
I think that Debian offers a huge repository, a very solid, stable system, and easy install (with RC2*). Not to mention the community and support.
Debian is not harder then Fedora. Some things will be different, but not harder. They both have there advantages and disadvantages. I would highly recommend trying Debian. You could test out Debian with UML instead of whipping your box, or you could jump in with both feet. 😉
We work with fedora every day with our customers (in tech support). Fedora has more problems by far and is much harder to fix than debian hands down. Plus fedora does not have near as many packages as debian and debian is much faster and eaiser if you ask me to install. If you found ten people that have worked with fedora and debian I bet nine of them would reccommend debian to you.
“Is there any significant advantage in using pure Debian rather than Ubuntu?”
With Debian (Sarge), you have instant access to around 15,000 packages, which can be downloaded and installed, with dependancies automatically resoved, through “apt-get”. I don’t think you get that with Ubuntu.
I’ve used the new installer, and I love it. As a non expert, I’m astonished at how easy it is to use compared to the days when I used to bluff my way through the old Woody CD installation. It won’t be long before all these light debian distros will be pretty superfluous. Anybody who can install SuSE will be able to install Debian– and I’m pretty convincved that a chimp could install SuSE.
Hi
I am wondering for years now why during the whole
installation procedure you will never be asked if
you have a dial up connection via DSL.
But you can fake this !
Just do all the things like mentioned in the tutorial.
So, when you come to the point to choose the APT repository
and Debian flavour like testing /sid, etc, just switch with ALT+F2 to the second console, log in as root
do “pppoeconf”, configure your DSL dial up, switch back to first console with ALT+F1 and then normally procede like mentonied in the tutorial.
This is how I am instaling Debian since woody.
Hope this helps someone.
Regards
paines
“I don’t think you get that with Ubuntu.”
Well, actually you do. Ubuntu is aproximately Debian + Installer with some default apps chosen for you + an Ubuntu controlled repository of packages.
But you can simply config you apt to use whatever repository you want and have basicly the same ‘good old’ Debian.
I am aware that I don’t speak for the rest out here. I’ve never pretended I did. It’s not that I don’t like the installer, it’s just that I miss certain features (as a power user), such as compiling a kernel myself. E.g. I see no point in installing a stock kernel if replacing it with a custom built kernel is the first thing I intend to do anyway. There’s just no way you can get a completely configured system, tailored at your needs without ommiting the installer itself.
With not being easy enough for newbies, I meant that, after installing, they end up with only half the system properly configured (most notably X & DRI). And that where the story ends alreay (for an absolute newbie).
By the way, these days I install debian (using the installer RC2) using just the “netboot.tar.gz” kit, the PXE method … served from my Mac OS X client system, all you have to do is turn on tftpd, set up the tftpboot directory, which (in 10.3.x) is pretty easy. I was glad to see that OS X includes bootpd, with which you can serve clients for Linux installations. With a decent Internet connection, this makes it quick to bring up a debian client, no disk images required.
Is there any significant advantage in using pure Debian rather than Ubuntu?
Ububtu specializes on Gnome — if your main desktop is Gnome, Ubuntu is probably a better option. But if you mainly use some other desktop (KDE, XFCE, WMaker, IceWM, Fluxbox), pure Debian might be a better choice. If you don’t use Gnome at all, there’s no reason to even consider Ubuntu. Another difference is that Debian is a community project — it has more developers and package maintainers and it is not dependent on any financiers or outside sponsors.
“P2 266, Excuse me do you live in todays times. Even the curbside computers trashed in my neighbourhood are better than this.”
Very much so, proof of it is that I can write an article about the installation of my favorite OS, in a language that is not my own.
I’m sorry if the hardware I use is not modern enough for your taste, but I live in a third world country where owning a computer in itself, it’s an accomplishment, and where PII and PIII are the most popular hardware.
I’m a translator, not a gamer, so a PII, is enough for me.
Maybe your folks understand what I mean, Anand, not everybody is from New Jersey.
The fact that Debian can be installed easily on a Pentium 2 just highlights the flexibility of the operating system. Also, as others have pointed out, the net installer is the way to go. No one should need to download all the iso images unless they are installing on a machine without an internet connection. An OS based totally on free software is the only type that could be installed that way. It makes installation and updating a breeze.
Another comment, the “expert” option is needed in some cases. I installed Debian on a Dell Inspiron laptop and had to use the “expert” option to install. The default options won’t work for my laptop.
Great article Luis!
The ability to run a modern OS on very old hardware is a sign of a powerful, portable OS. I’ve run very recent versions of Debian on a Pentium 90 MHz with 80 MB RAM. I’m currently running NetBSD 2.0 on a Pentium 200 MHz with 32 MB RAM. Operating systems with such low footprints transform old hardware into productive systems.
Well I read the article and also tried it out on a PII/300. Worked just fine! I’ll have to go in and clean up the menus, a min install leaves a lot of dead menu links! I’m using Ubuntu ‘Hoary’ and Debian ‘Sid’ at the moment, and must say I do like the Debian-based distros and there is a lot of them, they just work! SkoleLinux is also worth a mention because it has a thin client/server install option as standard, which I haven’t seen before. Very cool! Bee nice to see it also in Debian too!
Is cdrecord still broken.I installed Debian not so long ago with the netinstaller.Great OS,nevertheless after i had installed one of the 2.6 kernel images my dvd and cd drives weren’t detected anymore.The 2.4 kernel gave no problems.I just wondered if this particular issue still exists.
I think it’s a discover problem. I don’t know if it’s been fixed yet, but you can run as root “dpkg-reconfigure discover1” and tell discover that you don’t want it to manage cdrom related symlinks. Then make the relevant symlinks and directories in /media yourself and everything should be OK.