debian net-install tutorial

7/30/2019 Debian Net-Install Tutorial

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Beginner's Debian Net-Install

By Christopher M. Howard

Copyright 2009, Christopher M. Howard

This document is meant to be a very simple guide to installing the Debian GNU/Linux operatingsystem on your personal computer, by way of the net-install CD.

What does "net-install" mean?

There a large number of ways to install an operating system on your computer. In the "net-install"approach, only a small amount of the operating system data is written onto the install CD. Most of theoperating system data is downloaded from the Internet during the install process.

I selected the net-install route for this tutorial mainly because I think net-install is one of the most ideal

ways to learn to install your operating system. Net-install allows you to install only the bare-minimumcomponents of Debian if you wish. You will not be doing that here, but it will pay to know how to do anet-install later when you become more proficient in customizing Linux.

Assumptions

For the sake of simplicity, I will assume a few things about your current computer configuration:

Your computer is connected to a wired internet connection of at least DSL speed.

Your computer does not have any other operating system installed on it, nor does it contain anyspecial data that cannot be erased.

Your computer has at least 512 MB of RAM and at least 10 Gigabytes of hard drive space.

None of the above has to be true for you to install Debian on your PC. However, if these are not true,then the procedure for installing Debian will likely be different. And those procedures will not becovered in this document.

Preparation

Depending on a variety of factors, especially the speed of your computer and the speed of yourInternet connection, the installation process should take around three to four hours. Technically,though, you only need to be physically present for about an hour of this time.

Also, you will need a new, empty CD-ROM, and access to a computer which has a CD-writer (that is,it can write data to a CD-ROM).


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Navigation and other notes

We will be install Debian by way of a text-mode installer. What this means is that, rather than usingyour mouse to navigate, you will use the keyboard. To navigate between selections, use the arrow keysand the tab key until a selection is highlighted. Then press the enter key.

Also, I will provide a number of screen shot images to help guide you during the installation process.The screen shots should look roughly the same as what you see on your screen. However, my imagesalso have two gray bars, one at the top and one at the bottom of the images. This is because I installedDebian onto a virtual machine, which is a special program which allows me to install another copy ofDebian on my computer without damaging my existing Debian installation.

Creating the Debian Net-Install CD

Youwill need to create a Debian net-install CD. To do this, you need to obtain a Debian net-install ISOfile. An ISO is a large file which contains the data that will be written onto the CD. To obtain the ISO,

visithttp://www.debian.org/distrib/netinst from a computer that has a working Internet connection.

Under the "Small CDs" heading, click on the first hyper-link labeled "i386". (If you know that youhave a 64-bit AMD processor in your PC, select the "amd64" hyper-link instead.) Download the ISOfile to your computer.

Next you will need to "burn" (write) the ISO onto your blank CD. This process will vary depending onthe operating system used on the computer which you are working from, but it can always be doneusing free software.

Illustration 1: The internet installation website for Debian,inside my web browser.
http://www.debian.org/distrib/netinsthttp://www.debian.org/distrib/netinsthttp://www.debian.org/distrib/netinst


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Here is one guide for the Windows operating system:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/burnisofile.htm

The installation process

Starting the installation

To start this process, your computer must be set to allow "boot from CD". To test if this is the case,place the Debian net-install CD into your CD-writer tray, and start (or restart) your computer. If youeventually see the Debian boot menu screen, then you do not need to make any changes:

If not, then you need to adjust your computer's BIOS settings. I cannot cover how to do that here,because the process is different for each model of computer. However, here is one brief guide:http://www.wikihow.com/Change-Computer-BIOS-Settings .

Illustration 2: Debian boot menu screen.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/burnisofile.htmhttp://www.wikihow.com/Change-Computer-BIOS-Settingshttp://www.wikihow.com/Change-Computer-BIOS-Settingshttp://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/burnisofile.htm


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Basic settings

Once you have reached the Debian installer boot menu, select the "Install" option. After some textscrolls by, you should see a screen like this:

For the sake of simplicity, I am going to assume you are an English-reading person in the UnitedStates. So, select English from the menu using the arrow keys and the enter key on your keyboard.

In the next screen, select United States as your country. And in the next screen, select AmericanEnglish for your key map.

Network configuration

On the next screen, a window should appear briefly indicating that it is attempting to auto-configureyour network connection. That means it is trying to get internet addressing information from your

Illustration 3: The language selection screen.


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personal or office router (DHCP server). If the process fails, then you will see a menu asking you howthe network should be configured:

If network auto-configuration failed, that could mean that your network cable is not plugged into yourcomputer. If this is the case, plug the network cable back in, and then select "Retry networkautoconfiguration" from the menu.

Alternatively, a failure could mean that your network router does not provide automatic networkconfiguration information. If this is the case, you must select "Configure network manually", and thenyou will be asked to provide the following information: your IP address, subnet mask, gateway, andname-server information. You will need to get this information from either your Internet serviceprovider, or from your local systems administrator.

Following this, you will be asked to enter the host name of your computer. You can use any name foryour computer. However, do not use spaces, punctuation, special symbols, or capitalization. A goodexample would be "alphabox" or "agent006". (If you are very concerned about following good naming

Illustration 4: On some networks, you may have to configure the network settings manually.


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practices, you can read this lengthy FYI RFC: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1178 ).

Next you will be asked to enter your domain name. If you are at home, the default "local domain" willbe fine. If you computer is on an office network, you should find out what your domain name is fromyour systems administrator.

In the next screen, you will be asked to select your timezone. (For example, Eastern time, Mountaintime...)

Partitioning

The next few steps will set up partitioning on your computer. Partitioning means that the installer willdecide how data is to be arranged on your computer. The next screen you see should ask you what kindof partitioning method should be used.

Illustration 5: Setting the host name on your computer. (Actually using your personal name in ahost name is generally not recommended.)
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1178http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1178


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Important reminder: I am assuming here that you do not have another operating system installed onyour PC, and that there is no data on the disk that cannot be safely erased. If this is not the case,following my instructions could result in the loss of all your important data.

Select "Guided - use entire disk" from the menu. In the next screen, select the disk which Debian will

be installed onto. Next, you will be asked to select a partitioning scheme. Choose the "All files in onepartition" option. Finally, you will be presented with a summary of the partitioning changes to be made.Simply select "Finish partitioning and write changes to disk". You will be asked one more time if youare sure you want to proceed. Select yes.

Partitioning will begin. The time needed for this process will vary depending on the size of your harddrive.

Illustration 6: Select "Guided - use entire disk" for a beginner friendly partitioning experience.


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Installing software

After partitioning, the installer will begin installing the base (essential) software for your system. Theprocess should take about five to ten minutes.

Then you will be asked to enter a "root" password. The root password (sometimes called super-user or

administrator password) gives the person who knows the root password complete control over thecomputer. Consequently, you should make sure not to forget whatever password you use here, andshould not lightly share that password with others.

Next the installer will want to create a regular user account for you. Your regular user account is theone you will use to log into the computer, and it will be allowed less control over your computer. Thisis good, because it means you will not be able to, say, accidentally delete all the system files on yourcomputer, unless you enter your root password first.

So provide the installer with your full user name, for example, "Joe Cool". (Or, "Jill Cool" if you are a

Illustration 7: The installer will need to create a regular user account for you.


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girl.) Then provide the installer with a user name, which will be the name you use to log in with. Irecommend a lowercase, shortened version of your full name. For example, use "jcool" if your name is"Joe Cool". You will then need to provide a password for the account, which should, for securityreasons, be different than the one you provided as a root password.

After this, the installer will ask you which archive mirror you wish to use. This will tell the installer

where on the Internet it should download the rest of the software from. Select "United States", and thenselect the first mirror that appears in the list.

A window will appear indicating that the installer is "Configuring apt". That means it is preparing forsoftware installation. The process should take about five to twenty minutes, depending on the speed ofyour Internet connection. The installer may install a few more base system packages.

Next Debian will ask you if you want your computer to participate in the "popularity contest". If youselect "Yes", then every week your computer will communicate with the Debian developers, tellingthem which packages are installed on your system. This is simply a way for you to help the Debian

Illustration 8: Selecting the first mirror in the list will be fine.


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developers collect statistics and improve Debian, at the cost of some of your privacy. If you have anyreservations about this, simply select "No".

In the next step, you will be asked to select software to install:

You can "check" and "uncheck" boxes on the menu using the space bar and the arrow keys. Only

"Desktop environment" and "Standard system" should be checked. If you are installing Debian on alaptop, check the "Laptop" box as well. Then select "Continue".

Now, in the final stage of the installation process, the installer will download the basic software neededto run a desktop environment on your PC. All the software must be downloaded from the Internet andinstalled. So unless you have a very fast Internet connection, the software installation should takebetween two to three hours. This would be a good time to order a pizza and watch a movie.

When software installation is done, the Debian installer will ask you if you want to install the GRUB

Illustration 9: The nice thing about a net-install is that you can choose what you want yourcomputer to become even before the operating system first runs!


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boot loader. Select yes.

All done!

After the GRUB boot loader installation, the installer will tell you that it is time to remove your CDfrom the CD drive. Do this, and then select "Continue". Your computer will reboot, then (after the bootup process is complete) you should see a login screen:

Illustration 10: You need to have what is called a "boot loader" or your computer will not knowhow to start Debian next time you power up your system.


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Type your user name into the center box, press enter, type your password, and press enter again. Thisshould take you to your Debian desktop.

Illustration 11: Press enter after typing in your user name, then enter again after typing in yourpassword.


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For more information about how to use Debian, please see the Debian documentation page athttp://www.debian.org/doc/ . If you have specific questions about Debian, please visithttp://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ where thousands of Linux users are available to help.

LegalThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0United States License.

The author does not guarantee the accuracy or usability of information provided in this document. Thereader uses this document at his or her own risk, and the author will not take responsibility for anydamages arising from the use or misuse of this document.

Illustration 12: Your desktop. Click on the "Applications" menu to see what software is installed bydefault. Use the System >> Administration >> Add/Remove Applications menu selection to see whatother cool, free software you can install on your computer!
http://www.debian.org/doc/http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/http://www.debian.org/doc/http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/

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