Debian Installation Guide

In this guide, I will try to show to those of you who chose to install a Debian Linux as your first Linux distribution, a few tips about the installation process.

This guide is only for the basic installation, no configuration of the system will be presented.
The installation presented here is for i386 machines.

Before we begin, if you have a fast network connection (broadband or better), it's enough to have the 'Net Install' disc, which is around 100 MB in size. I've got the two i386 DVDs for this installation, but I will only need the basic installation software for them, the rest I will download from the Internet.


Good, now restart your computer, insert your disc in the CD/DVD drive and boot from it. The whole process will be made in text mode, there is no graphical installation for this version of Debian; in the next release, 4.0, there will be a graphical installer. Anyway, even if it's in text mode, the installation steps are very easy. First you'll be presented with a nice Debian artwork and some boot options. You can hit the F1 button and read some of the options; there are also some minimum requirements, but I suggest to push the ENTER button and begin the installation process.


First, it will ask you for the installation language (default is English), then you'll need to select your region and, after that, the keyboard layout. Now it will begin some automated processes for hardware detection, it will scan the CD/DVD-ROM and it will load the components for the Debian installer.

Then, it will start to configure your network. If you have a DHCP network (please ask your provider if you don't know), then this procedure will be very easy, mostly automatical. Even if you have DHCP, you will be asked about the computer hostname; default is 'debian', but it can be anything you want (e.g. michael, pc, computer, linux, etc.).

If you don't have DHCP, you'll need to know the IP address, Netmask, Gateway and DNS servers of the network, from your provider, and setup the network manually.


After you have setup the network, you will have to partition the hard drive. If you never did a linux partitioning process before, I will suggest to have an empty drive; that means no other operating system on it or other data, because everything will be erased. Hit ENTER on the default option 'Erase entire disk:...'. After you have pressed the ENTER button, it will ask to partition the disks. I suggest, as the installer also suggests, choosing the 'All files in one partition (recommended for new users)' option. Then it will show how the hard drive has been partitioned and it will ask if you want to finish the partitioning process; hit ENTER. Then it will ask again for confirmation of the changes; hit OK.


When you are done with the partitioning process, it will immediately begin with the basic installation, which will take a couple of minutes. When the basic packages are installed, you will be asked if you want to install the bootloader; just hit YES here.

Congrats, the basic installation is complete now, just press the Continue button; the CD/DVD will be ejected and the machine will reboot.


When the machine has rebooted, you'll enter in your new Debian system. The bootloader will appear, hit ENTER or wait 5 seconds and it will automatically boot into the new system. You will see a lot of text on the screen; don't worry because it's a normal process, then it will welcome you into your new Debian system and you'll need to do some basic configuration of the machine, like setup the time, choose the root password and create a default user for this machine. The configuration process it very straightforward, please read every step of the configuration carefully.


Remember that the root password is very important, and, the longer it is, the better. Please write it down somewhere or memorize it.


After this step, you will be asked from where you want to install the rest of the packages for a complete functional system. As I said at the beginning of this guide, we will install a Desktop system, not a server. Now, if you have the two DVDs, select the first option 'cdrom', if you have a good network select http or ftp and choose the location that is closer to you. After you have selected the location, it will automatically test the apt sources. Then you'll have to choose the software you want to be installed. I suggest selecting, with SPACE, the first option, 'Desktop environment', and hit ENTER, then the software installation process will begin.


Of course that you can also check the 'manual package selection' option and select the software you want to be installed, but it will take a long time to navigate tru the whole packages (more than 16.000) and it's also for advanced users.


When the software installation process is over, you will have to set some more settings for the X11, like choosing a video driver, mouse and monitor autodetection. For an LCD monitor you will need to setup a few more settings like resolution and frequency.

When you are done with this settings, don't be scared if you see again more text scrolling on the screen, it's normal, it continues the process of software installation. This will take some time, so don't do anything; when it's done, there is one more configuration required, send/receive mail setup. I suggest selecting the last option, ‘no configuration at this time’, and finishing the installation process.


At the end, you will be congratulated; hit OK and the system will enter immediately into the Desktop. Now log-in with the user and password you’ve created.


Remember: at log-in, choose from the 'Session' menu KDE (before you log-in). You will then be prompted by a little wizard to set up the desktop environment for your needs. Please check out the pictures below, to see what I have chosen.


Have fun with your new Debian Linux desktop.


MORE RELATED ARTICLES: How to Install XGL on Fedora Core Fedora Desktop Customization Fedora Core 5 Installation Guide Installing A Linux Distro to An USB Drive Flash Player for Linux Configuring the Ethernet Interface from The Command Line How-to Use Your Partitions in Linux