Installing Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 For Intel x86 --------------------------------------------- Bruce Perens Sven Rudolph Igor Grobman James Treacy Adam Di Carlo version 3.0.24, 18 December, 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract -------- This document contains installation instructions for the Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 system, for the Intel x86 (``i386'') architecture. It also contains pointers to more information and information on how to make the most of your new Debian system. The procedures in this document are _not_ to be used for users upgrading existing systems; if you are upgrading, see the Release Notes for Debian 3.0 (http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/i386/release-notes/). Copyright Notice ---------------- This document may be distributed and modified under the terms of the GNU General Public License. (C) 1996 Bruce Perens (C) 1996, 1997 Sven Rudolph (C) 1998 Igor Grobman, James Treacy (C) 1998--2002 Adam Di Carlo This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version. This manual is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but _without any warranty_; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. See the GNU General Public License for more details. A copy of the GNU General Public License is available as `/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL' in the Debian GNU/Linux distribution or on the World Wide Web at the GNU website (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html). You can also obtain it by writing to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA. We require that you properly attribute Debian and the authors of this document on any materials derived from this document. If you modify and improve this document, we request that you notify the authors of this document, via . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents -------- 1. Welcome to Debian 1.1. What is Debian? 1.2. What is GNU/Linux? 1.3. What is Debian GNU/Linux? 1.4. What is Debian GNU/Hurd? 1.5. Getting Debian 1.6. Getting the Newest Version of This Document 1.7. Organization of This Document 1.8. This Document Has Known Problems 1.9. About Copyrights and Software Licenses 2. System Requirements 2.1. Supported Hardware 2.2. Installation Media 2.3. Memory and Disk Space Requirements 2.4. Network Connectivity Hardware 2.5. Peripherals and Other Hardware 2.6. Purchasing Hardware Specifically for GNU/Linux 3. Before Installing Debian GNU/Linux 3.1. Overview of the Installation Process 3.2. Back Up Your Existing Data! 3.3. Information You Will Need 3.4. Planning Use of the System 3.5. Meeting Minimum Hardware Requirements 3.6. Pre-Partitioning for Multi-Boot Systems 3.7. Installing Debian GNU/Linux from a Unix/Linux System 3.8. Pre-Installation Hardware and Operating System Setup 4. Obtaining System Installation Media 4.1. Official Debian GNU/Linux CD-ROM Sets 4.2. Downloading Files from Debian Mirrors 4.3. Creating Floppies from Disk Images 4.4. Preparing Files for Hard Disk Booting 4.5. Preparing Files for TFTP Net Booting 4.6. Automatic Installation 5. Booting the Installation System 5.1. Boot Parameter Arguments 5.2. Booting from a CD-ROM 5.3. Booting from Floppies 5.4. Booting From a Hard Disk 5.5. Booting from TFTP 5.6. Troubleshooting the Install Process 5.7. Introduction to `dbootstrap' 5.8. ``Choose The Language'' 5.9. ``Release Notes'' 5.10. ``Debian GNU/Linux Installation Main Menu'' 5.11. ``Configure the Keyboard'' 5.12. Last Chance! 6. Partitioning for Debian 6.1. Deciding on Debian Partitions and Sizes 6.2. The Directory Tree 6.3. PC Disk Limitations 6.4. Recommended Partitioning Scheme 6.5. Device Names in Linux 6.6. Debian Partitioning Programs 6.7. ``Initialize and Activate a Swap Partition'' 6.8. ``Initialize a Linux Partition'' 6.9. ``Mount a Previously-Initialized Partition'' 6.10. Mounting Partitions Not Supported by `dbootstrap' 7. Installing the Kernel and Base Operating System 7.1. ``Install Kernel and Driver Modules'' 7.2. NFS 7.3. Network 7.4. NFS Root 7.5. ``Configure PCMCIA Support'' 7.6. ``Configure Device Driver Modules'' 7.7. ``Configure the Network'' 7.8. ``Install the Base System'' 8. Booting Into Your New Debian System 8.1. ``Make System Bootable'' 8.2. The Moment of Truth 8.3. Debian Post-Boot (Base) Configuration 8.4. Configuring your Time Zone 8.5. MD5 Passwords 8.6. Shadow Passwords 8.7. Set the Root Password 8.8. Create an Ordinary User 8.9. Setting Up PPP 8.10. Removing PCMCIA 8.11. Configuring APT 8.12. Package Installation: Simple or Advanced 8.13. Simple Package Selection --- The Task Installer 8.14. Advanced Package Selection with `dselect' 8.15. Prompts During Software Installation 8.16. Log In 9. Next Steps and Where to Go From Here 9.1. If You Are New to Unix 9.2. Shutting Down the System 9.3. Orienting Yourself to Debian 9.4. Reactivating DOS and Windows 9.5. Further Reading and Information 9.6. Compiling a New Kernel 10. Technical Information on the Boot Floppies 10.1. Source Code 10.2. Rescue Floppy 10.3. Replacing the Rescue Floppy Kernel 10.4. Preloading Existing Modules 11. Appendix 11.1. Further Information 11.2. Obtaining Debian GNU/Linux 11.3. Linux Devices 11.4. Disk Space Needed for Tasks 11.5. Effects of Verbose and Quiet 12. Administrivia 12.1. About This Document 12.2. Contributing to This Document 12.3. Major Contributions 12.4. Trademark Acknowledgement ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Welcome to Debian -------------------- We are delighted that you have decided to try Debian, and are sure that you will find that Debian's GNU/Linux distribution is unique. Debian GNU/Linux brings together high-quality free software from around the world, integrating it into a coherent whole. We believe that you will find that the result is truly more than the sum of the parts. This chapter provides an overview of the Debian Project and Debian GNU/Linux. If you already know about the Debian Project's history and the Debian GNU/Linux distribution, feel free to skip to the next chapter. 1.1. What is Debian? -------------------- Debian is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to developing free software and promoting the ideals of the Free Software Foundation. The Debian Project began in 1993, when Ian Murdock issued an open invitation to software developers to contribute to a complete and coherent software distribution based on the relatively new Linux kernel. That relatively small band of dedicated enthusiasts, originally funded by the Free Software Foundation (http://www.fsf.org/fsf/fsf.html) and influenced by the GNU (http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html) philosophy, has grown over the years into an organization of around 800 _Debian Developers_. Debian Developers are involved in a variety of activities, including Web (http://www.debian.org/) and FTP (ftp://ftp.debian.org/) site administration, graphic design, legal analysis of software licenses, writing documentation, and, of course, maintaining software packages. In the interest of communicating our philosophy and attracting developers who believe in the principles that Debian stands for, the Debian Project has published a number of documents that outline our values and serve as guides to what it means to be a Debian Developer: * The Debian Social Contract (http://www.debian.org/social_contract) is a statement of Debian's commitments to the Free Software Community. Anyone who agrees to abide to the Social Contract may become a maintainer (http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/). Any maintainer can introduce new software into Debian --- provided that the software meets our criteria for being free, and the package follows our quality standards. * The Debian Free Software Guidelines (http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines) are a clear and concise statement of Debian's criteria for free software. The DFSG is a very influential document in the Free Software Movement, and was the foundation of the The Open Source Definition (http://opensource.org/docs/definition_plain.html). * The Debian Policy Manual (http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/) is an extensive specification of the Debian Project's standards of quality. Debian developers are also involved in a number of other projects; some specific to Debian, others involving some or all of the Linux community. Some examples include: * The Linux Standard Base (http://www.linuxbase.org/) (LSB) is a project aimed at standardizing the basic GNU/Linux system, which will enable third-party software and hardware developers to easily design programs and device drivers for Linux-in-general, rather than for a specific GNU/Linux distribution. * The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (http://www.pathname.com/fhs/) (FHS) is an effort to standardize the layout of the Linux file system. The FHS will allow software developers to concentrate their efforts on designing programs, without having to worry about how the package will be installed in different GNU/Linux distributions. * Debian Jr. (http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr/) is an internal project, aimed at making sure Debian has something to offer to our youngest users. For more general information about Debian, see the Debian FAQ (http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/). 1.2. What is GNU/Linux? ----------------------- The GNU Project has developed a comprehensive set of free software tools for use with Unix(TM) and Unix-like operating systems such as Linux. These tools enable users to perform tasks ranging from the mundane (such as copying or removing files from the system) to the arcane (such as writing and compiling programs or doing sophisticated editing in a variety of document formats). An operating system consists of various fundamental programs which are needed by your computer so that it can communicate and receive instructions from users; read and write data to hard disks, tapes, and printers; control the use of memory; and run other software. The most important part of an operating system is the kernel. In a GNU/Linux system, Linux is the kernel component. The rest of the system consists of other programs, many of which were written by or for the GNU Project. Because the Linux kernel alone does not form a working operating system, we prefer to use the term ``GNU/Linux'' to refer to systems that many people casually refer to as ``Linux''. The Linux kernel (http://www.kernel.org/) first appeared in 1991, when a Finnish computing science student named Linus Torvalds announced an early version of a replacement kernel for Minix to the Usenet newsgroup `comp.os.minix'. See Linux International's Linux History Page (http://www.li.org/linuxhistory.php). Linus Torvalds continues to coordinate the work of several hundred developers with the help of a few trusty deputies. An excellent weekly summary of discussions on the `linux-kernel' mailing list is Kernel Traffic (http://kt.zork.net/kernel-traffic/). More information about the `linux-kernel' mailing list can be found on the linux-kernel mailing list FAQ (http://www.tux.org/lkml/). 1.3. What is Debian GNU/Linux? ------------------------------ The combination of Debian's philosophy and methodology and the GNU tools, the Linux kernel, and other important free software, form a unique software distribution called Debian GNU/Linux. This distribution is made up of a large number of software _packages_. Each package in the distribution contains executables, scripts, documentation, and configuration information, and has a _maintainer_ who is primarily responsible for keeping the package up-to-date, tracking bug reports, and communicating with the upstream author(s) of the packaged software. Our extremely large user base, combined with our bug tracking system ensures that problems are found and fixed quickly. Debian's attention to detail allows us to produce a high-quality, stable, and scalable distribution. Installations can be easily configured to serve many roles, from stripped-down firewalls to desktop scientific workstations to high-end network servers. The feature that most distinguishes Debian from other GNU/Linux distributions is its package management system. These tools give the administrator of a Debian system complete control over the packages installed on that system, including the ability to install a single package or automatically update the entire operating system. Individual packages can also be protected from being updated. You can even tell the package management system about software you have compiled yourself and what dependencies it fulfills. To protect your system against ``trojan horses'' and other malevolent software, Debian's servers verify that uploaded packages come from their registered Debian maintainers. Debian packagers also take great care to configure their packages in a secure manner. When security problems in shipped packages do appear, fixes are usually available very quickly. With Debian's simple update options, security fixes can be downloaded and installed automatically across the Internet. The primary, and best, method of getting support for your Debian GNU/Linux system and communicating with Debian Developers is through the many mailing lists maintained by the Debian Project (there are more than 90 at this writing). The easiest way to subscribe to one or more of these lists is visit Debian's mailing list subscription page (http://www.debian.org/MailingLists/subscribe) and fill out the form you'll find there. 1.4. What is Debian GNU/Hurd? ----------------------------- Debian GNU/Hurd is a Debian GNU system that replaces the Linux monolithic kernel with the GNU Hurd --- a set of servers running on top of the GNU Mach microkernel. The Hurd is still unfinished, and is unsuitable for day-to-day use, but work is continuing. The Hurd is currently only being developed for the i386 architecture, although ports to other architectures will be made once the system becomes more stable. For more information, see the Debian GNU/Hurd ports page (http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/) and the mailing list. 1.5. Getting Debian ------------------- For information on how to download Debian GNU/Linux from the Internet or from whom official Debian CDs can be purchased, see the distribution web page (http://www.debian.org/distrib/). The list of Debian mirrors (http://www.debian.org/distrib/ftplist) contains a full set of official Debian mirrors. Debian can be upgraded after installation very easily. The installation procedure will help setup up the system so that you can make those upgrades once installation is complete, if need be. 1.6. Getting the Newest Version of This Document ------------------------------------------------ This document is constantly being revised. Be sure to check the Debian 3.0 pages (http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/) for any last-minute information about the 3.0 release of the Debian GNU/Linux system. Updated versions of this installation manual are also available from the official Install Manual pages (http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/i386/install). 1.7. Organization of This Document ---------------------------------- This document is meant to serve as a manual for first-time Debian users. It tries to make as few assumptions as possible about your level of expertise. However, we do assume that you have a general understanding of how the hardware in your computer works. Expert users may also find interesting reference information in this document, including minimum installation sizes, details about the hardware supported by the Debian installation system, and so on. We encourage expert users to jump around in the document. In general, this manual is arranged in a linear fashion, walking you through the installation process from start to finish. Here are the steps in installing Debian GNU/Linux, and the sections of this document which correlate with each step: 1. Determine whether your hardware meets the requirements for using the installation system, in Chapter 2, `System Requirements'. 2. Backup your system, perform any necessary planning and hardware configuration prior to installing Debian, in Chapter 3, `Before Installing Debian GNU/Linux'. If you are preparing a multi-boot system, you may need to create partition-able space on your hard disk for Debian to use. 3. In Chapter 4, `Obtaining System Installation Media', you will obtain the necessary installation files for your method of installation. 4. Chapter 5, `Booting the Installation System', describes booting into the installation system. This chapter also discusses troubleshooting procedures in case you have problems with this step. 5. Setting up the Linux partitions for your Debian system is explained in Chapter 6, `Partitioning for Debian'. 6. Install the kernel and configure peripheral driver modules in Chapter 7, `Installing the Kernel and Base Operating System'. Configure your network connection so that remaining installation files can be obtained directly from a Debian server, if you are not installing from a CD. 7. Initiate automatic download/install/setup of a minimal working system in Section 7.8, ```Install the Base System'''. 8. Boot into your newly installed base system and run through some additional configuration tasks, from Chapter 8, `Booting Into Your New Debian System'. 9. Install additional software in Section 8.12, `Package Installation: Simple or Advanced'. Use `tasksel' to install groups of packages which form a computer `task', `dselect' to select individual packages from a long list, or `apt-get' to install individual packages when you already know the package names you want. Once you've got your system installed, you can read Chapter 9, `Next Steps and Where to Go From Here'. That chapter explains where to look to find more information about Unix and Debian, and how to replace your kernel. If you want to build your own install system from source, be sure to read Chapter 10, `Technical Information on the Boot Floppies'. Finally, information about this document and how to contribute to it may be found in Chapter 12, `Administrivia'. 1.8. This Document Has Known Problems ------------------------------------- This document is still in a rather rough form. It is known to be incomplete, and probably also contains errors, grammatical problems, and so forth. If you see the words ``FIXME'' or ``TODO'', you can be sure we already know that section is not complete. As usual, _caveat emptor_ (buyer beware). Any help, suggestions, and, especially, patches, would be greatly appreciated. Working versions of this document can be found at http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/i386/install. There you will find a list of all the different architectures and languages for which this document is available. Source is also available publicly; look for more information concerning how to contribute in Chapter 12, `Administrivia'. We welcome suggestions, comments, patches, and bug reports (use the package `boot-floppies', but check first to see if the problem is already reported). 1.9. About Copyrights and Software Licenses ------------------------------------------- We're sure that you've read some of the licenses that come with most commercial software --- they usually say that you can only use one copy of the software on a single computer. The Debian GNU/Linux system's license isn't like that at all. We encourage you to put a copy of Debian GNU/Linux on every computer in your school or place of business. Lend your installation media to your friends and help them install it on their computers! You can even make thousands of copies and _sell_ them --- albeit with a few restrictions. Your freedom to install and use the system comes directly from Debian being based on _free software_. Calling software ``free'' doesn't mean that the software isn't copyrighted, and it doesn't mean that CDs containing that software must be distributed at no charge. Free software, in part, means that the licenses of individual programs do not require you to pay for the privilege of distributing or using those programs. Free software also means that not only may anyone extend, adapt, and modify the software, but that they may distribute the results of their work as well.[1] Many of the programs in the system are licensed under the _GNU_ _General Public License_, often simply referred to as ``the GPL''. The GPL requires you to make the _source code_ of the programs available whenever you distribute a binary copy of the program; that provision of the license ensures that any user will be able to modify the software. Because of this provision, the source code for all such programs is available in the Debian system.[2] There are several other forms of copyright statements and software licenses used on the programs in Debian. You can find the copyrights and licenses for every package installed on your system by looking in the file `/usr/share/doc//copyright' once you've installed a package on your system. For more information about licenses and how Debian determines whether software is free enough to be included in the main distribution, see the Debian Free Software Guidelines (http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines). The most important legal notice is that this software comes with _no warranties_. The programmers who have created this software have done so for the benefit of the community. No guarantee is made as to the suitability of the software for any given purpose. However, since the software is free, you are empowered to modify that software to suit your needs --- and to enjoy the benefits of the changes made by others who have extended the software in this way. [1] Note that the Debian project, as a pragmatic concession to its users, does make some packages available that do not meet our criteria for being free. These packages are not part of the official distribution, however, and are only available from the `contrib' or `non-free' areas of Debian mirrors or on third-party CD-ROMs; see the Debian FAQ (http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/), under ``The Debian FTP archives'', for more information about the layout and contents of the archives. [2] For information on how to locate, unpack, and build binaries from Debian source packages, see the Debian FAQ (http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/), under ``Basics of the Debian Package Management System''. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. System Requirements ---------------------- This section contains information about what hardware you need to get started with Debian. You will also find links to further information about hardware supported by GNU and Linux. 2.1. Supported Hardware ----------------------- Debian does not impose hardware requirements beyond the requirements of the Linux kernel and the GNU tool-sets. Therefore, any architecture or platform to which the Linux kernel, libc, `gcc', etc. have been ported, and for which a Debian port exists, can run Debian. Please refer to the Ports pages at http://www.debian.org/ports/i386/ for more details on i386 architecture systems which have been tested with Debian. Rather than attempting to describe all the different hardware configurations which are supported for Intel x86, this section contains general information and pointers to where additional information can be found. 2.1.1. Supported Architectures ------------------------------ Debian 3.0 supports eleven major architectures and several variations of each architecture known as 'flavors'. Architecture | Debian Designation / Flavor ---------------------+---------------------------- Intel x86-based | i386 | - vanilla | - idepci | - compact | - bf2.4 (experimental) | Motorola 680x0: | m68k - Atari | - atari - Amiga | - amiga - 68k Macintosh | - mac - VME | - bvme6000 | - mvme147 | - mvme16x | DEC Alpha | alpha | - generic | - jensen | - nautilus | Sun SPARC | sparc | - sun4cdm | - sun4u | ARM and StrongARM | arm | - netwinder | - riscpc | - shark | - lart | IBM/Motorola PowerPC | powerpc - CHRP | - chrp - PowerMac | - powermac, new-powermac - PReP | - prep - APUS | - apus | HP PA-RISC | hppa - PA-RISC 1.1 | - 32 - PA-RISC 2.0 | - 64 | Intel ia64-based | ia64 | MIPS (big endian) | mips - SGI Indy/I2 | - r4k-ip22 | MIPS (little endian) | mipsel - DEC Decstation | - r4k-kn04 | - r3k-kn02 | IBM S/390 | s390 | - tape | - vmrdr | ---------------------+---------------------------- This document covers installation for the _i386_ architecture. If you are looking for information on any of the other Debian-supported architectures take a look at the Debian-Ports (http://www.debian.org/ports/) pages. 2.1.2. CPU, Main Boards, and Video Support ------------------------------------------ Complete information concerning supported peripherals can be found at Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO.html). This section merely outlines the basics. 2.1.2.1. CPU ------------ Nearly all x86-based processors are supported; this includes AMD and Cyrix processors as well. Also the new processors like Athlon and the K6-2 or K6-3, respectively, are supported. However, Linux will _not_ run on 286 or earlier processors. 2.1.2.2. I/O Bus ---------------- The system bus is the part of the motherboard which allows the CPU to communicate with peripherals such as storage devices. Your computer must use the ISA, EISA, PCI, the Microchannel Architecture (MCA, used in IBM's PS/2 line), or VESA Local Bus (VLB, sometimes called the VL bus). 2.1.2.3. Graphics Card ---------------------- You should be using a VGA-compatible display interface for the console terminal. Nearly every modern display card is compatible with VGA. Ancient standards such CGA, MDA, or HGA should also work, assuming you do not require X11 support. Note that X11 is not used during the installation process described in this document. Debian's support for graphical interfaces is determined by the underlying support found in XFree86's X11 system. The newer AGP video slots are actually a modification on the PCI specification, and most AGP video cards work under XFree86. Details on supported graphics buses, cards, monitors, and pointing devices can be found at http://www.xfree86.org/. Debian 3.0 ships with X11 revision 4.1.0. 2.1.2.4. Laptops ---------------- Laptops are also supported. Laptops are often specialized or contain proprietary hardware. To see if your particular laptop works well with GNU/Linux, see the Linux Laptop pages (http://www.linux-laptop.net/). 2.1.3. Multiple Processors -------------------------- Multi-processor support --- also called ``symmetric multi-processing'' or SMP --- is supported for this architecture. However, the standard Debian 3.0 kernel image does not support SMP. This should not prevent installation, since the standard, non-SMP kernel should boot on SMP systems; the kernel will simply use the first CPU. In order to take advantage of multiple processors, you'll have to replace the standard Debian kernel. You can find a discussion of how to do this in Section 9.6, `Compiling a New Kernel'. At this time (kernel version 2.2.22) the way you enable SMP is to select ``symmetric multi-processing'' in the ``General'' section of the kernel config. 2.2. Installation Media ----------------------- In many cases, you'll have to do your first boot from floppy disks, using the rescue floppy. Generally, all you will need is a high-density (1440 kilobytes) 3.5 inch floppy drive. High-density, 5.25 inch installation floppy images (1200 k) are also provided. CD-ROM based installation is supported for some architectures. On machines which support bootable CD-ROMs, you should be able to do a completely floppy-less installation. Even if your system doesn't support booting from a CD-ROM, you can use the CD-ROM in conjunction with the other techniques to install your system, once you've booted up by other means; see Section 5.2, `Booting from a CD-ROM'. Both SCSI and IDE/ATAPI CD-ROMs are supported. In addition, all non-standard CD interfaces supported by Linux are supported by the boot disks (such as Mitsumi and Matsushita drives). However, these models might require special boot parameters or other massaging to get them to work, and booting off these non-standard interfaces is unlikely. The Linux CD-ROM HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/CDROM-HOWTO.html) contains in-depth information on using CD-ROMs with Linux. Installation system booting from a hard disk is another option for many architectures. You can also _boot_ your system over the network. Diskless installation, using network booting from a local area network and NFS-mounting of all local filesystems, is another option --- you'll probably need at least 16MB of RAM for a diskless installation. After the operating system kernel is installed, you can install the rest of your system via any sort of network connection (including PPP after installation of the base system), via FTP, HTTP, or NFS. 2.2.1. Supported Storage Systems -------------------------------- The Debian boot disks contain a kernel which is built to maximize the number of systems it runs on. Unfortunately, this makes for a larger kernel, which includes many drivers that won't be used for your machine (see Section 9.6, `Compiling a New Kernel' to learn how to build your own kernel). Support for the widest possible range of devices is desirable in general, to ensure that Debian can be installed on the widest array of hardware. Generally, the Debian installation system includes support for floppies, IDE drives, IDE floppies, parallel port IDE devices, SCSI controllers and drives. The file systems supported include MINIX, FAT, Win-32 FAT extensions (VFAT), among others (note that NTFS is not supported by the installation system; you can add it later, as described in Section 9.6, `Compiling a New Kernel'). The disk interfaces that emulate the ``AT'' hard disk interface which are often called MFM, RLL, IDE, or ATA are supported. Very old 8 bit hard disk controllers used in the IBM XT computer are supported only as a module. SCSI disk controllers from many different manufacturers are supported. See the Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO.html) for more details. Not supported are IDE SCSI drives and some SCSI controllers, including * EATA-DMA protocol compliant SCSI Host Adapters like the SmartCache III/IV, SmartRAID controller families and the DPT PM2011B and PM2012B controllers. * The 53c7 NCR family of SCSI controllers (but 53c8 and 5380 controllers are supported) 2.3. Memory and Disk Space Requirements --------------------------------------- You must have at least 12MB of memory and 110MB of hard disk space. For a minimal console-based system (all standard packages), 250MB is required. If you want to install a reasonable amount of software, including the X Window System, and some development programs and libraries, you'll need at least 400MB. For a more or less complete installation, you'll need around 800MB. To install _everything_ available in Debian, you'll probably need around 2 GB. Actually, installing everything doesn't even make sense, since some packages conflict with others. 2.4. Network Connectivity Hardware ---------------------------------- Some network interface cards (NICs) are not supported by most Debian installation disks, such as AX.25 cards and protocols; 3Com EtherLink Plus (3c505) and EtherLink16 (3c507); NI5210 cards; generic NE2100 cards; NI6510 and NI16510 EtherBlaster cards; SEEQ 8005 cards; Schneider & Koch G16 cards; Ansel Communications EISA 3200; Winbond-840 based cards (eg. Realtek-100A), some new Tulip based cards and the Zenith Z-Note built-in network card. These network cards are supported by the "bf2.4" flavor: Winbond-840 based cards, newer Tulip based cards, National Semiconductor DP8381x/DP8382x series and Sundance ST201 "Alta". Microchannel (MCA) network cards are not supported by the standard installation system, but see Linux on MCA (http://www.dgmicro.com/mca/general-goods.html) for some (old) instructions, and the Linux MCA discussion archives (http://www.dgmicro.com/linux_frm.htm). FDDI networks are also not supported by the installation disks, both cards and protocols. You can create a custom kernel which supports an otherwise unsupported card and then substitute in the installer (see Section 10.3, `Replacing the Rescue Floppy Kernel'). As for ISDN, the D-channel protocol for the (old) German 1TR6 is not supported; Spellcaster BRI ISDN boards are also not supported by the boot-floppies. Sound devices are not supported by default. But as already mentioned above: if you want to use your own kernel please go to Section 9.6, `Compiling a New Kernel' for further information. 2.5. Peripherals and Other Hardware ----------------------------------- Linux supports a large variety of hardware devices such as mice, printers, scanners, PCMCIA and USB devices. However, most of these devices are not required while installing the system. USB keyboards may require additional configuration (see Section 3.8.3.4, `USB keyboards'). This section contains information about peripherals specifically _not_ supported by the installation system, even though they may be supported by Linux. Again, see the Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO.html) to determine whether your specific hardware is supported by Linux. USB hardware is supported by the flavor "bf2.4". If you find that you cannot use some USB devices, you may upgrade to kernel 2.4.x later. Note that the stock kernels do not support serial ports numbered greater than four (`/dev/ttyS3'). You'll have to either use the available ports, or else build a custom kernel (see Section 10.3, `Replacing the Rescue Floppy Kernel'). 2.6. Purchasing Hardware Specifically for GNU/Linux --------------------------------------------------- There are several vendors, who ship systems with Debian or other distributions of GNU/Linux pre-installed. You might pay more for the privilege, but it does buy a level of peace of mind, since you can be sure that the hardware is well-supported by GNU/Linux. If you do have to buy a machine with Windows bundled, carefully read the software license that comes with Windows; you may be able to reject the license and obtain a rebate from your vendor. See http://www.linuxmall.com/refund/ for complete details. Whether or not you are purchasing a system with Linux bundled, or even a used system, it is still important to check that your hardware is supported by the Linux kernel. Check if your hardware is listed in the references found above. Let your salesperson (if any) know that you're shopping for a Linux system. Support Linux-friendly hardware vendors. 2.6.1. Avoid Proprietary or Closed Hardware ------------------------------------------- Some hardware manufacturers simply won't tell us how to write drivers for their hardware. Others won't allow us access to the documentation without a non-disclosure agreement that would prevent us from releasing the Linux source code. Since we haven't been granted access to the documentation on these devices, they simply won't work under Linux. You can help by asking the manufacturers of such hardware to release the documentation. If enough people ask, they will realize that the free software community is an important market. 2.6.2. Windows-specific Hardware -------------------------------- A disturbing trend is the proliferation of Windows-specific modems and printers. In some cases these are specially designed to be operated by the Microsoft Windows operating system and bear the legend ``WinModem'' or ``Made especially for Windows-based computers''. This is generally done by removing the embedded processors of the hardware and shifting the work they do over to a Windows driver that is run by your computer's main CPU. This strategy makes the hardware less expensive, but the savings are often _not_ passed on to the user and this hardware may even be more expensive than equivalent devices that retain their embedded intelligence. You should avoid Windows-specific hardware for two reasons. The first is that the manufacturers do not generally make the resources available to write a Linux driver. Generally, the hardware and software interface to the device is proprietary, and documentation is not available without a non-disclosure agreement, if it is available at all. This precludes its being used for free software, since free software writers disclose the source code of their programs. The second reason is that when devices like these have had their embedded processors removed, the operating system must perform the work of the embedded processors, often at _real-time_ priority, and thus the CPU is not available to run your programs while it is driving these devices. Since the typical Windows user does not multi-process as intensively as a Linux user, the manufacturers hope that the Windows user simply won't notice the burden this hardware places on their CPU. However, any multi-processing operating system, even Windows 95 or NT, suffers from degraded performance when peripheral manufacturers skimp on the embedded processing power of their hardware. You can help this situation by encouraging these manufacturers to release the documentation and other resources necessary for us to program their hardware, but the best strategy is simply to avoid this sort of hardware until it is listed as working in the Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO.html). 2.6.3. Fake or ``Virtual'' Parity RAM ------------------------------------- If you ask for Parity RAM in a computer store, you'll probably get _virtual parity_ memory modules instead of _true parity_ ones. Virtual parity SIMMs can often (but not always) be distinguished because they only have one more chip than an equivalent non-parity SIMM, and that one extra chip is smaller than all the others. Virtual-parity SIMMs work exactly like non-parity memory. They can't tell you when you have a single-bit RAM error the way true-parity SIMMs do in a motherboard that implements parity. Don't ever pay more for a virtual-parity SIMM than a non-parity one. Do expect to pay a little more for true-parity SIMMs, because you are actually buying one extra bit of memory for every 8 bits. If you want complete information on Intel x86 RAM issues, and what is the best RAM to buy, see the PC Hardware FAQ (http://www.faqs.org/faqs/pc-hardware-faq/part1/). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Before Installing Debian GNU/Linux ------------------------------------- 3.1. Overview of the Installation Process ----------------------------------------- Here's a road map for the steps you will take during the installation process. 1. Create partition-able space for Debian on your hard disk 2. Locate and/or download kernel and driver files (except Debian CD users) 3. Set up boot floppies or place boot files (except most Debian CD users can boot from one of the CDs) 4. Boot the installation system 5. Configure the keyboard 6. Create and mount Debian partitions 7. Point the installer to the location of the kernel and drivers 8. Select which peripheral drivers to load 9. Configure the network interface 10. Initiate automatic download/install/setup of the base system 11. Configure Linux or multi-system boot loading 12. Boot the newly installed system and do some final configuration 13. Install additional tasks and packages, at your discretion 3.2. Back Up Your Existing Data! -------------------------------- Before you start, make sure to back up every file that is now on your system. If this is the first time a non-native operating system has been installed on your computer, it's quite likely you will need to re-partition your disk to make room for Debian GNU/Linux. Anytime you partition your disk, you should count on losing everything on the disk, no matter what program you use to do it. The programs used in installation are quite reliable and most have seen years of use; but they are also quite powerful and a false move can cost you. Even after backing up be careful and think about your answers and actions. Two minutes of thinking can save hours of unnecessary work. If you are creating a multi-boot system, make sure that you have the distribution media of any other present operating systems on hand. Especially if you repartition your boot drive, you might find that you have to reinstall your operating system's boot loader, or in many cases the whole operating system itself and all files on the affected partitions. 3.3. Information You Will Need ------------------------------ 3.3.1. Documentation -------------------- 3.3.1.1. Installation Manual ---------------------------- This file you are now reading, in plain ASCII, HTML or PDF format. * install.en.txt * install.en.html * install.en.pdf 3.3.1.2. Dselect for Beginners ------------------------------ Tutorial for using the `dselect' program. This is one means of installing additional packages onto your system after the basic install is complete. * dselect-beginner 3.3.1.3. Partitioning Program Manual Pages ------------------------------------------ Manual pages for the partitioning software used during the installation process. * fdisk.txt * cfdisk.txt 3.3.1.4. MD5 checksums ---------------------- List of MD5 checksums for the binary files. If you have the `md5sum' program, you can ensure that your files are not corrupt by running `md5sum -v -c md5sum.txt'. * .../current/md5sum.txt (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/md5sum.txt) 3.3.2. Finding Sources of Hardware Information ---------------------------------------------- Hardware information can be gathered from: * The manuals that come with each piece of hardware. * The BIOS setup screens of your computer. You can view these screens when you start your computer by pressing a combination of keys. Check your manual for the combination. Often, it is the Delete key. * The cases and boxes for each piece of hardware. * The System window in the Windows Control Panel. * System commands or tools in another operating system, including file manager displays. This source is especially useful for information about RAM and hard drive memory. * Your system administrator or Internet Service Provider. These sources can tell you the settings you need to set up your networking and e-mail. Hardware Information Needed for an Install +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Hardware| Information You Might Need | |--------+----------------------------------------------------------| | | * How many you have. | | | * Their order on the system. | |Hard | * Whether IDE or SCSI (most computers are IDE). | |Drives | * Available free space. | | | * Partitions. | | | * Partitions where other operating systems are | | | installed. | |--------+----------------------------------------------------------| | | * Model and manufacturer. | | | * Resolutions supported. | |Monitor | * Horizontal refresh rate. | | | * Vertical refresh rate. | | | * Color depth (number of colors) supported. | | | * Screen size. | |--------+----------------------------------------------------------| | | * Type: serial, PS, or USB. | |Mouse | * Port. | | | * Manufacturer. | | | * Number of buttons. | |--------+----------------------------------------------------------| |Network | * Model and manufacturer. | | | * Type of adapter. | |--------+----------------------------------------------------------| |Printer | * Model and manufacturer. | | | * Printing resolutions supported. | |--------+----------------------------------------------------------| | | * Model and manufacturer. | |Video | * Video RAM available. | |Card | * Resolutions and color depths supported (these should | | | be checked against your monitor's capabilities). | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ 3.3.3. Hardware Compatibility ----------------------------- Many brand name products work without trouble on Linux. Moreover, hardware for Linux is improving daily. However, Linux still does not run as many different types of hardware as some operating systems. In particular, Linux usually cannot run hardware that requires a running version of Windows to work. Although some Windows-specific hardware can be made to run on Linux, doing so usually requires extra effort. In addition, Linux drivers for Windows-specific hardware are usually specific to one Linux kernel. Therefore, they can quickly become obsolete. So called win-modems are the most common type of this hardware. However, printers and other equipment may also be Windows-specific. You can check hardware compatibility by: * Checking manufacturers' web sites for new drivers. * Looking at web sites or manuals for information about emulation. Lesser known brands can sometimes use the drivers or settings for better-known ones. * Checking hardware compatibility lists for Linux on web sites dedicated to your architecture. * Searching the Internet for other users' experiences. 3.3.4. Network Settings ----------------------- If your computer is connected to a network 24 hours a day (i.e., an Ethernet or equivalent connection --- not a PPP connection), you should ask your network's system administrator for this information. On the other hand, if your administrator tells you that a DHCP server is available and is recommended, then you don't need this information because the DHCP server will provide it directly to your computer during the installation process. * Your host name (you may be able to decide this on your own). * Your domain name. * Your computer's IP address. * The IP address of your network. * The netmask to use with your network. * The broadcast address to use on your network. * The IP address of the default gateway system you should route to, if your network _has_ a gateway. * The system on your network that you should use as a DNS (Domain Name Service) server. * Whether you connect to the network using Ethernet. * Whether your Ethernet interface is a PCMCIA card; if so, the type of PCMCIA controller you have. If your computer's only network connection is via a serial line, using PPP or an equivalent dialup connection, you will not be able to install the base system over the network. To install the system in this case, you must use a CD, pre-load the base packages on an existing hard disk partition, or prepare floppy disks containing the base packages. See Section 8.9, `Setting Up PPP' below for information on setting up PPP under Debian once the system is installed. 3.4. Planning Use of the System ------------------------------- It is important to decide what type of machine you are creating. This will determine the disk space requirements for your Debian system. 3.5. Meeting Minimum Hardware Requirements ------------------------------------------ Once you have gathered information about your computer's hardware, check that your hardware will let you do the type of installation that you want to do. Depending on your needs, you might manage with less than some of the recommended hardware listed in the table below. However, most users risk being frustrated if they ignore these suggestions. A Pentium 100 is the minimum recommended for desktop systems, and a Pentium II-300 for a Server. Recommended Minimum System Requirements +------------------------------------------+ |Install Type| RAM | Hard Drive | |------------+--------------+--------------| |No desktop | 16 megabytes | 450 megabytes| |------------+--------------+--------------| |With Desktop| 64 megabytes | 1 gigabyte | |------------+--------------+--------------| |Server | 128 megabytes| 4 gigabytes | +------------------------------------------+ Here is a sampling of some common Debian system configurations. You can also get an idea of the disk space used by related groups of programs by referring to Section 11.4, `Disk Space Needed for Tasks'. Standard Server This is a small server profile, useful for a stripped down server which does not have a lot of niceties for shell users. It includes an FTP server, a web server, DNS, NIS, and POP. For these 50MB of disk space would suffice, and then you would need to add space for any data you serve up. Dialup A standard desktop box, including the X window system, graphics applications, sound, editors, etc. Size of the packages will be around 500MB. Work Console A more stripped-down user machine, without the X window system or X applications. Possibly suitable for a laptop or mobile computer. The size is around 140MB. Developer A desktop setup with all the development packages, such as Perl, C, C++, etc. Size is around 475MB. Assuming you are adding X11 and some additional packages for other uses, you should plan around 800MB for this type of machine. Remember that these sizes don't include all the other materials which are usually to be found, such as user files, mail, and data. It is always best to be generous when considering the space for your own files and data. Notably, the Debian `/var' partition contains a lot of state information. The `dpkg' files (with information on all installed packages) can easily consume 20MB; with logs and the rest, you should usually allocate at least 50MB for `/var'. 3.6. Pre-Partitioning for Multi-Boot Systems -------------------------------------------- Partitioning your disk simply refers to the act of breaking up your disk into sections. Each section is then independent of the others. It's roughly equivalent to putting up walls in a house; if you add furniture to one room it doesn't affect any other room. If you already have an operating system on your system (Windows95, Windows NT, OS/2, MacOS, Solaris, FreeBSD, ...) and want to stick Linux on the same disk, you will need to repartition the disk. Debian requires its own hard disk partitions. It cannot be installed on Windows or MacOS partitions. It may be able to share some partitions with other Linux systems, but that's not covered here. At the very least you will need a dedicated partition for the Debian root. You can find information about your current partition setup by using a partitioning tool for your current operating system , such as fdisk or PartitionMagic . Partitioning tools always provide a way to show existing partitions without making changes. In general, changing a partition with a file system already on it will destroy any information there. Thus you should always make backups before doing any repartitioning. Using the analogy of the house, you would probably want to move all the furniture out of the way before moving a wall or you risk destroying it. Luckily, there is an alternative for some users; see Section 3.6.1.1, `Lossless Repartitioning When Starting From DOS, Win-32 or OS/2'. If your computer has more than one hard disk, you may want to dedicate one of the hard disks completely to Debian. If so, you don't need to partition that disk before booting the installation system; the installer's included partitioning program can handle the job nicely. If your machine has only one hard disk, and you would like to completely replace the current operating system with Debian GNU/Linux, you also can wait to partition as part of the installation process (Chapter 6, `Partitioning for Debian'), after you have booted the installation system. However this only works if you plan to boot the installer system from floppies, CD-ROM or files on a connected machine. Consider: if you boot from files placed on the hard disk, and then partition that same hard disk within the installation system, thus erasing the boot files, you'd better hope the installation is successful the first time around. At the least in this case, you should have some alternate means of reviving your machine like the original system's installation floppies or CDs. If your machine already has multiple partitions, and enough space can be provided by deleting and replacing one or more of them, then you too can wait and use the Debian installer's partitioning program. You should still read through the material below, because there may be special circumstances like the order of the existing partitions within the partition map, that force you to partition before installing anyway. In all other cases, you'll need to partition your hard disk before starting the installation to create partition-able space for Debian. If some of the partitions will be owned by other operating systems, you should create those partitions using native operating system partitioning programs. We recommend that you do _not_ attempt to create Debian Linux partitions using another operating system's tools. Instead, you should just create the native operating system's partitions you will want to retain. If you are going to install more than one operating system on the same machine, you should install all other system(s) before proceeding with Linux installation. Windows and other OS installations may destroy your ability to start Linux, or encourage you to reformat non-native partitions. You can recover from these actions or avoid them, but installing the native system first saves you trouble. If you currently have one hard disk with one partition (a common setup for desktop computers), and you want to multi-boot the native operating system and Debian, you will need to: 1. Back up everything on the computer. 2. Boot from the native operating system installer media such as CD-ROM or floppies. 3. Use the native partitioning tools to create native system partition(s). Leave either a place holder partition or free space for Debian GNU/Linux. 4. Install the native operating system on its new partition. 5. Boot back into the native system to verify everything's OK, and to download the Debian installer boot files. 6. Boot the Debian installer to continue installing Debian. 3.6.1. Partitioning From DOS or Windows --------------------------------------- If you are manipulating existing FAT or NTFS partitions, it is recommended that you either use the scheme below or native Windows or DOS tools. Otherwise, it is not really necessary to partition from DOS or Windows; the Linux partitioning tools will generally do a better job. But if you have a large IDE disk, and are using neither LBA addressing, overlay drivers (sometimes provided by hard disk manufacturers), nor a new (post 1998) BIOS that supports large disk access extensions, then you must locate your Debian boot partition carefully. In this case, you will have to put the boot partition into the first 1024 cylinders of your hard drive (usually around 524 megabytes, without BIOS translation). This may require that you move an existing FAT or NTFS partition. 3.6.1.1. Lossless Repartitioning When Starting From DOS, Win-32 or OS/2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the most common installations is onto a system that already contains DOS (including Windows 3.1), Win32 (such as Windows 95, 98, NT), or OS/2, and it is desired to put Debian onto the same disk without destroying the previous system. As explained in the Section 6.1, `Deciding on Debian Partitions and Sizes', decreasing the size of an existing partition will almost certainly damage the data on that partition unless certain precautions are taken. The method described here, while not guaranteed to protect your data, works extremely well in practice. As a precaution, you should _make a backup_. Before going any further, you should have decided how you will be dividing up the disk. The method in this section will only split a partition into two pieces. One will contain the original OS and the other will be used for Debian. During the installation of Debian, you will be given the opportunity to use the Debian portion of the disk as you see fit, i.e., as swap or as a file system. The idea is to move all the data on the partition to the beginning, before changing the partition information, so that nothing will be lost. It is important that you do as little as possible between the data movement and repartitioning to minimize the chance of a file being written near the end of the partition as this will decrease the amount of space you can take from the partition. The first thing needed is a copy of `fips' which is available in the `tools/' directory on your nearest Debian mirror. Unzip the archive and copy the files `RESTORRB.EXE', `FIPS.EXE' and `ERRORS.TXT' to a bootable floppy. A bootable floppy can be created using the command `sys a:' under DOS. `fips' comes with very good documentation which you may want to read. You will definitely need to read the documentation if you use a disk compression driver or a disk manager. Create the disk and read the documentation _before_ you defragment the disk. The next thing needed is to move all the data to the beginning of the partition. `defrag', which comes standard with DOS 6.0 and later can easily do the job. See the `fips' documentation for a list of other software that may do the trick. Note that if you have Windows 95, you must run `defrag' from there, since DOS doesn't understand VFAT, which is used to support for long filenames, used in Windows 95 and higher. After running the defragmenter (which can take a while on a large disk), reboot with the `fips' disk you created in the floppy drive. Simply type `a:\fips' and follow the directions. Note that there are many other other partition managers out there, in case `fips' doesn't do the trick for you. 3.6.1.2. Partitioning for DOS ----------------------------- If you are partitioning for DOS drives, or changing the size of DOS partitions, using Linux tools, many people experience problems working with the resulting FAT partitions. For instance, some have reported slow performance, consistent problems with `scandisk', or other weird errors in DOS or Windows. Apparently, whenever you create or resize a partition for DOS use, it's a good idea to fill the first few sectors with zeros. Do this prior to running DOS's `format' command, from Linux: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdXX bs=512 count=4 3.7. Installing Debian GNU/Linux from a Unix/Linux System --------------------------------------------------------- This section explains how to install Debian GNU/Linux from an existing Unix or Linux system, without using the ncurses-based, menu-driven installer as explained in the rest of the manual. This "cross-install" HOWTO has been requested by users switching to Debian GNU/Linux from Redhat, Mandrake, and SUSE. In this section some familiarity with entering *nix commands and navigating the file system is assumed. In this section, `$' symbolizes a command to be entered in the user's current system, while `#' refers to a command entered in the Debian chroot. Once you've got the new Debian system configured to your preference, you can migrate your existing user data (if any) to it, and keep on rolling. This is therefore a "zero downtime" Debian GNU/Linux install. It's also a clever way for dealing with hardware that otherwise doesn't play friendly with various boot or installation media. 3.7.1. Getting Started ---------------------- With your current *nix partitioning tools, repartition the hard drive as needed, creating at least one filesystem plus swap. You need at least 150MB of space available for a console only install, or at least 300MB if you plan to install X. To create file systems on your partitions. For example, to create an ext3 file system on partition `/dev/hda6' (that's our example root partition): $ mke2fs -j /dev/hda6 To create an ext2 file system instead, omit `-j'. Initialize and activate swap (substitute the partition number for your intended Debian swap partition): $ mkswap /dev/hda5 $ sync; sync; sync $ swapon /dev/hda5 Mount one partition as `/mnt/debinst' (the installation point, to be the root (`/') filesystem on your new system). The mount point name is strictly arbitrary, it is referenced later below. $ mkdir /mnt/debinst $ mount /dev/hda6 /mnt/debinst 3.7.2. Install `debootstrap' ---------------------------- The tool that the Debian installer uses, which is recognized as the official way to install a Debian base system, is `debootstrap'. It uses `wget', but otherwise depends only on `glibc'. Install `wget' if it isn't already on your current system, then download and install `debootstrap'. If you have an rpm-based system, you can use alien to convert the .deb into .rpm, or download an rpm-ized version at http://people.debian.org/~blade/install/debootstrap Or, you can use the following procedure to install it manually. Make a work folder for extracting the .deb into: $ mkdir work $ cd work The `debootstrap' binary is located in the Debian archive (be sure to select the proper file for your architecture). Download the `debootstrap' .deb from the pool (http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/d/debootstrap/), copy the package to the work folder, and extract the binary files from it. You will need to have root privileges to install the binaries. $ ar -xf debootstrap_0.X.X_arch.deb $ cd / $ zcat < /full-path-to-work/work/data.tar.gz | tar xv The current version of `debootstrap', at least for i386, has been compiled with glibc 2.3. Therefore if you are upgrading from Redhat 6.0, you will need to obtain the source files and re-compile. 3.7.3. Run `debootstrap' (Network-connected) -------------------------------------------- `debootstrap' can download the needed files directly from the archive when you run it. You can substitute any Debian archive mirror for `http.us.debian.org/debian' in the command example below, preferably a mirror close to you network-wise. Mirrors are listed at http://www.debian.org/misc/README.mirrors. When running `debootstrap', the PATH needs to include `/usr/sbin' and `/sbin' for subsidiary program calls. If you have a woody version Debian GNU/Linux CD mounted at /cdrom, you could substitute a file URL instead of the http URL: `file:/cdrom/debian/' Substitute one of the following for `ARCH' in the `debootstrap' command: `alpha', `arm', `hppa', `i386', `ia64', `m68k', `mips', `mipsel', `powerpc', `s390', or `sparc'. $ /usr/sbin/debootstrap --arch ARCH woody \ /mnt/debinst http://http.us.debian.org/debian 3.7.4. Run `debootstrap' (Using `basedebs.tar') ----------------------------------------------- `debootstrap' can use the `basedebs.tar' file, if you have already downloaded it ahead of time. The `basedebs.tar' file is generated only every once in a while, so you'll get the latest version of the base system by pointing `debootstrap' directly to a Debian archive as shown in the previous section. The `basedebs.tar' file is found in the `base-images-current' directory of the Debian archive for your architecture, for example: http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/base-images-current/basedebs.tar Substitute one of the following for `ARCH' in the `debootstrap' command: `alpha', `arm', `hppa', `i386', `ia64', `m68k', `mips', `mipsel', `powerpc', `s390', or `sparc'. $ /usr/sbin/debootstrap --arch ARCH --unpack-tarball \ /path-to-downloaded/basedebs.tar woody /mnt/debinst 3.7.5. Configure The Base System -------------------------------- Now you've got a real Debian system, though rather lean, on disk. `Chroot' into it: $ chroot /mnt/debinst /bin/bash 3.7.5.1. Mount Partitions ------------------------- You need to create `/etc/fstab'. # editor /etc/fstab Here is a sample you can modify to suit: # /etc/fstab: static file system information. # # file system mount point type options dump pass /dev/XXX / ext2 defaults 0 0 /dev/XXX /boot ext2 ro,nosuid,nodev 0 2 /dev/XXX none swap sw 0 0 proc /proc proc defaults 0 0 /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,rw,sync,user,exec 0 0 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom iso9660 noauto,ro,user,exec 0 0 /dev/XXX /tmp ext2 rw,nosuid,nodev 0 2 /dev/XXX /var ext2 rw,nosuid,nodev 0 2 /dev/XXX /usr ext2 rw,nodev 0 2 /dev/XXX /home ext2 rw,nosuid,nodev 0 2 Use `mount -a' to mount all the file systems you have specified in your `/etc/fstab', or to mount file systems individually use: # mount /path # e.g.: mount /usr You can mount the proc file system multiple times and to arbitrary locations, though /proc is customary. If you didn't use `mount -a', be sure to mount proc before continuing: # mount -t proc proc /proc A RedHat user reports that for his system, this should instead be # mount -t proc none /proc 3.7.5.2. Configure Keyboard --------------------------- To configure your keyboard: # dpkg-reconfigure console-data 3.7.5.3. Configure Networking ----------------------------- To configure networking, edit `/etc/network/interfaces', `/etc/resolv.conf', and `etc/hostname'. # editor /etc/network/interfaces Here are some simple examples from `/usr/share/doc/ifupdown/examples': ###################################################################### # /etc/network/interfaces -- configuration file for ifup(8), ifdown(8) # See the interfaces(5) manpage for information on what options are # available. ###################################################################### # We always want the loopback interface. # auto lo iface lo inet loopback # To use dhcp: # # auto eth0 # iface eth0 inet dhcp # An example static IP setup: (broadcast and gateway are optional) # # auto eth0 # iface eth0 inet static # address 192.168.0.42 # network 192.168.0.0 # netmask 255.255.255.0 # broadcast 192.168.0.255 # gateway 192.168.0.1 Enter your nameserver(s) and search directives in `/etc/resolv.conf': # editor /etc/resolv.conf A simple `/etc/resolv.conf': # search hqdom.local\000 # nameserver 10.1.1.36 # nameserver 192.168.9.100 Enter your system's host name (2 to 63 characters): # echo DebianHostName > /etc/hostname If you have multiple network cards, you should arrange the names of driver modules in the `/etc/modules' file into the desired order. Then during boot, each card will be associated with the interface name (eth0, eth1, etc.) that you expect. 3.7.5.4. Configure Timezone, Users, and APT ------------------------------------------- Set your timezone, add a normal user, and choose your `apt' sources by running # /usr/sbin/base-config 3.7.5.5. Configure Locales -------------------------- To configure your locale settings to use a language other than English, install the locales support package and configure it: # apt-get install locales # dpkg-reconfigure locales NOTE: Apt must be configured before, ie. during the base-config phase. Before using locales with character sets other than ASCII or latin1, please consult the appropriate localisation HOWTO. 3.7.6. Install a Kernel ----------------------- If you intend to boot this system, you probably want a Linux kernel and a boot loader. Identify available pre-packaged kernels with # apt-cache search kernel-image Then install your choice using its package name. # apt-get install kernel-image-2.X.X-arch-etc 3.7.7. Set up the Boot Loader ----------------------------- To make your Debian GNU/Linux system bootable, set up your boot loader to load the installed kernel with your new root partition. Check `man lilo.conf' for instructions on setting up the bootloader. If you are keeping the system you used to install Debian, just add an entry for the Debian install to your existing lilo.conf. You could also copy it to the new system and edit it there. After you are done editing, call lilo (remember it will use lilo.conf relative to the system you call it from). Here is a basic /etc/lilo.conf as an example: boot=/dev/hda6 root=/dev/hda6 install=/boot/boot-menu.b delay=20 lba32 image=/vmlinuz label=Debian 3.8. Pre-Installation Hardware and Operating System Setup --------------------------------------------------------- This section will walk you through pre-installation hardware setup, if any, that you will need to do prior to installing Debian. Generally, this involves checking and possibly changing firmware settings for your system. The ``firmware'' is the core software used by the hardware; it is most critically invoked during the bootstrap process (after power-up). Known hardware issues affecting the reliability of Debian GNU/Linux on your system are also highlighted. 3.8.1. Invoking the BIOS Set-Up Menu ------------------------------------ BIOS provides the basic functions needed to boot your machine to allow your operating system to access your hardware. Your system probably provides a BIOS set-up menu, which is used to configure the BIOS. Before installing, you _must_ ensure that your BIOS is setup correctly; not doing so can lead to intermittent crashes or an inability to install Debian. The rest of this section is lifted from the PC Hardware FAQ (http://www.faqs.org/faqs/pc-hardware-faq/part1/), answering the question, "How do I enter the CMOS configuration menu?". How you access the BIOS (or ``CMOS'') configuration menu depends on who wrote your BIOS software: [From: burnesa@cat.com (Shaun Burnet)] AMI BIOS Del key during the POST (power on self test) Award BIOS Ctrl-Alt-Esc, or Del key during the POST DTK BIOS Esc key during the POST IBM PS/2 BIOS Ctrl-Alt-Ins after Ctrl-Alt-Del Phoenix BIOS Ctrl-Alt-Esc or Ctrl-Alt-S or F1 Information on invoking other BIOS routines can be found in http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hard-Disk-Upgrade/install.html. Some Intel x86 machines don't have a CMOS configuration menu in the BIOS. They require a software CMOS setup program. If you don't have the Installation and/or Diagnostics diskette for your machine, you can try using a shareware/freeware program. Try looking in ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/. 3.8.2. Boot Device Selection ---------------------------- Many BIOS set-up menus allow you to select the devices that will be used to bootstrap the system. Set this to look for a bootable operating system on `A:' (the first floppy disk), then optionally the first CD-ROM device (possibly appearing as `D:' or `E:'), and then from `C:' (the first hard disk). This setting enables you to boot from either a floppy disk or a CD-ROM, which are the two most common boot devices used to install Debian. If you have a newer SCSI controller and you have a CD-ROM device attached to it, you are usually able to boot from the CD-ROM. All you have to do is enable booting from a CD-ROM in the SCSI-BIOS of your controller. Here are some details about how to set the boot order. Remember to reset the boot order after Linux is installed, so that you restart your machine from the hard drive. 3.8.2.1. Changing the Boot Order on IDE Computers ------------------------------------------------- 1. As your computer starts, press the keys to enter the BIOS utility. Often, it is the Delete key. However, consult the hardware documentation for the exact keystrokes. 2. Find the boot sequence in the setup utility. Its location depends on your BIOS, but you are looking for a field that lists drives. Common entries on IDE machines are C, A, cdrom or A, C, cdrom . C is the hard drive, and A is the floppy drive. 3. Change the boot sequence setting so that the CD-ROM or the floppy is first. Usually, the Page Up or Page Down keys cycle through the possible choices. 4. Save your changes. Instructions on the screen tell you how to save the changes on your computer. 3.8.2.2. Changing the Boot Order on SCSI Computers -------------------------------------------------- 1. As your computer starts, press the keys to enter the SCSI setup utility. You can start the SCSI setup utility after the memory check and the message about how to start the BIOS utility displays when you start your computer. The keystrokes you need depend on the utility. Often, it is Ctrl-F2. However, consult your hardware documentation for the exact keystrokes. 2. Find the utility for changing the boot order. 3. Set the utility so that the SCSI ID of the CD drive is first on the list. 4. Save your changes. Instructions on the screen tell you how to save the changes on your computer. Often, you must press F10. 3.8.2.3. CD-ROM Settings ------------------------ Some BIOS systems (such as Award BIOS) allow you to automatically set the CD speed. You should avoid that, and instead set it to, say, the lowest speed. If you get `seek failed' error messages, this may be your problem. 3.8.2.4. Extended vs. Expanded Memory ------------------------------------- If your system provides both ex_ten_ded and ex_pan_ded memory, set it so that there is as much extended and as little expanded memory as possible. Linux requires extended memory and cannot use expanded memory. 3.8.2.5. Virus Protection ------------------------- Disable any virus-warning features your BIOS may provide. If you have a virus-protection board or other special hardware, make sure it is disabled or physically removed while running GNU/Linux. These aren't compatible with GNU/Linux; moreover, due to the file system permissions and protected memory of the Linux kernel, viruses are almost unheard of.[1] [1] After installation you can enable Boot Sector protection if you want. This offers no additional security in Linux but if you also run Windows it may prevent a catastrophe. There is no need to tamper with the Master Boot Record (MBR) after the boot manager has been set up. 3.8.2.6. Shadow RAM ------------------- Your motherboard may provide _shadow RAM_ or BIOS caching. You may see settings for ``Video BIOS Shadow'', ``C800-CBFF Shadow'', etc. _Disable_ all shadow RAM. Shadow RAM is used to accelerate access to the ROMs on your motherboard and on some of the controller cards. Linux does not use these ROMs once it has booted because it provides its own faster 32-bit software in place of the 16-bit programs in the ROMs. Disabling the shadow RAM may make some of it available for programs to use as normal memory. Leaving the shadow RAM enabled may interfere with Linux access to hardware devices. 3.8.2.7. Miscellaneous BIOS Settings to Watch Out For ----------------------------------------------------- If your BIOS offers something like ``15-16 MB Memory Hole'', please disable that. Linux expects to find memory there if you have that much RAM. We have a report of an Intel Endeavor motherboard on which there is an option called ``LFB'' or ``Linear Frame Buffer''. This had two settings: ``Disabled'' and ``1 Megabyte''. Set it to ``1 Megabyte''. When disabled, the installation floppy was not read correctly, and the system eventually crashed. At this writing we don't understand what's going on with this particular device --- it just worked with that setting and not without it. 3.8.2.8. Advanced Power Management ---------------------------------- If your motherboard provides Advanced Power Management (APM), configure it so that power management is controlled by APM. Disable the doze, standby, suspend, nap, and sleep modes, and disable the hard disk's power-down timer. Linux can take over control of these modes, and can do a better job of power-management than the BIOS. The version of the operating system kernel on the installation floppies does not, however, use APM, because we've had reports of one laptop system crashing when the Linux APM driver is configured. Once you've installed Linux, you can build a custom-configured version of the Linux kernel; see Section 9.6, `Compiling a New Kernel' for instructions. 3.8.3. Hardware Issues to Watch Out For --------------------------------------- Many people have tried operating their 90 MHz CPU at 100 MHz, etc. It sometimes works, but is sensitive to temperature and other factors and can actually damage your system. One of the authors of this document over-clocked his own system for a year, and then the system started aborting the `gcc' program with an unexpected signal while it was compiling the operating system kernel. Turning the CPU speed back down to its rated value solved the problem. The `gcc' compiler is often the first thing to die from bad memory modules (or other hardware problems that change data unpredictably) because it builds huge data structures that it traverses repeatedly. An error in these data structures will cause it to execute an illegal instruction or access a non-existent address. The symptom of this will be `gcc' dying from an unexpected signal. The very best motherboards support parity RAM and will actually tell you if your system has a single-bit error in RAM. Unfortunately, they don't have a way to fix the error, thus they generally crash immediately after they tell you about the bad RAM. Still, it's better to be told you have bad memory than to have it silently insert errors in your data. Thus, the best systems have motherboards that support parity and true-parity memory modules; see Section 2.6.3, `Fake or ``Virtual'' Parity RAM'. If you do have true-parity RAM and your motherboard can handle it, be sure to enable any BIOS settings that cause the motherboard to interrupt on memory parity errors. 3.8.3.1. The Turbo Switch ------------------------- Many systems have a _turbo_ switch that controls the speed of the CPU. Select the high-speed setting. If your BIOS allows you to disable software control of the turbo switch (or software control of CPU speed), do so and lock the system in high-speed mode. We have one report that on a particular system, while Linux is auto-probing (looking for hardware devices) it can accidentally touch the software control for the turbo switch. 3.8.3.2. Cyrix CPUs and Floppy Disk Errors ------------------------------------------ Many users of Cyrix CPUs have had to disable the cache in their systems during installation, because the floppy disk has errors if they do not. If you have to do this, be sure to re-enable your cache when you are finished with installation, as the system runs _much_ slower with the cache disabled. We don't think this is necessarily the fault of the Cyrix CPU. It may be something that Linux can work around. We'll continue to look into the problem. For the technically curious, we suspect a problem with the cache being invalid after a switch from 16-bit to 32-bit code. 3.8.3.3. Peripheral Hardware Settings ------------------------------------- You may have to change some settings or jumpers on your computer's peripheral cards. Some cards have setup menus, while others rely on jumpers. This document cannot hope to provide complete information on every hardware device; what it hopes to provide is useful tips. If any cards provide ``mapped memory'', the memory should be mapped somewhere between 0xA0000 and 0xFFFFF (from 640K to just below 1 megabyte) or at an address at least 1 megabyte greater than the total amount of RAM in your system. 3.8.3.4. USB keyboards ---------------------- If you have no AT-style keyboard and only a USB model, you will need to enable legacy AT keyboard emulation in your BIOS setup. Consult your main board manual and look in the BIOS for "Legacy keyboard emulation" or "USB keyboard support" options. It must be enabled in order to boot the installation system. If you enabled this option and it is working for you, you are fine and can go ahead. If you cannot find this option, it might be that it is always enabled and you can continue. It also might mean that the BIOS does not provide any emulation support (bad luck here). If you find the option and enable it, but the emulation stops working soon after the kernel started, then you have bad luck too. You could try the "bf2.4" flavor where the root floppy brings USB modules. If you are installing with floppy disks, you would need the keyboard once before the USB modules can be loaded. Specifying the "keytimer" option at boot prompt may help in this case. Sometimes, the emulation hangs but it wakes up after few minutes, so you could wait some time and try to continue. To fix this behavior, you could load Linux' own drivers for USB keyboards. For this, use "modconf" (Step "Configure Device Driver Modules") and load usb-uhci or usb-ohci modules. 3.8.3.5. More than 64 MB RAM ---------------------------- The Linux Kernel can not always detect what amount of RAM you have. If this is the case please look at Section 5.1, `Boot Parameter Arguments'. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Obtaining System Installation Media -------------------------------------- 4.1. Official Debian GNU/Linux CD-ROM Sets ------------------------------------------ By far the easiest way to install Debian GNU/Linux is from an Official Debian CD-ROM Set (see the CD vendors page (http://www.debian.org/CD/vendors/)). You may also download the CD-ROM images from a Debian mirror and make your own set, if you have a fast network connection and a CD burner (see the Debian CD page (http://www.debian.org/CD/) for detailed instructions). If you have a Debian CD set and CDs are bootable on your machine, you can skip right to Section 5.2, `Booting from a CD-ROM'; much effort has been expended to ensure the files most people need are there on the CD. Although a full set of binary packages comprises of seven or more CDs, it is unlikely you will need packages on the third CD and above. If your machine doesn't support CD booting, but you do have a CD set, you can use an alternative strategy ( floppy disk, hard disk, or net boot) to initially boot the system installer. The files you need for booting by another means are also on the CD; the Debian network archive and CD folder organization are identical. So when archive file paths are given below for particular files you need for booting, look for those files in the same directories and subdirectories on your CD. Once the installer is booted, it will be able to obtain all the other files it needs from the CD. If you don't have a CD set, then you will need to download the installer system files and place them either on your hard disk, floppy disk or a connected computer so they can be used to boot the installer. 4.2. Downloading Files from Debian Mirrors ------------------------------------------ When downloading files from a Debian mirror, be sure to download the files in _binary_ mode, not text or automatic mode. It's important to replicate the directory structure you find on the mirror to create a local `sub-mirror'. It isn't really necessary to do this if you place all the installation files on floppies; but it still makes it easier to find the files when you need them. You should start your local directory structure at the level under `disks-i386', for example: current//images-1.44//rescue.bin You don't need to download every file under that level, just those that apply to you (you'll find out which ones apply as you read on). Just name the directories the same as the mirror's, and keep the files in their proper directories. If your machine is set up to automatically decompress/decode files you download, you must turn that feature off when downloading the installation system files. They will be decompressed just-in-time by the installer. Decompressing in your current system will waste space and time, and if the original compressed archives are deleted by the decompression program, they won't be there later when the installer needs them. 4.2.1. Installation Options --------------------------- Files you may need fall into three categories: 1. Files needed to boot into the installation system (for example, `rescue.bin', `linux.bin', and `root.bin') 2. Files the installation system will need access to after it has been booted in order to install the operating system kernel and peripheral drivers (for example, `rescue.bin' and `drivers.tgz') 3. Base system installation files (for example, `basedebs.tar') If you have a working Ethernet connection on the computer, and your Ethernet card is of one of the types compiled into the installation kernel, you may only need the install system boot files. The installer is capable of installing the kernel and drivers over the network for many common Ethernet cards. If you have an Ethernet connection for which the installer doesn't have built-in support, you may need both the install system boot files and the kernel and peripheral driver installation files. If you are installing on a system without a working network connection, or if your network connection is via PPP (using a modem) rather than Ethernet, you will need to obtain all three types of files before starting the installation. If you're not sure which files you need, just start with the install system boot files. If your first attempt to configure the network within the installer fails, you can just quit, get the extra files you need, and re-start the installation. The base system installation file `basedebs.tar' is currently about 27M. If you are able to use a CD, or configure your network before installing the base system, it is better to do so; in that case you won't need this file. The network location is listed in the appendix (Section 11.2.3.4, `Debian Base System Installation Files'). 4.2.2. Choosing the Right Installation Set ------------------------------------------ Installation files include kernel images, which are available in various ``flavors''. Each flavor supports a different set of hardware. The flavors available for Intel x86 are: `vanilla' The standard kernel package available in Debian. This includes almost all drivers supported by Linux built as modules, which includes drivers for network devices, SCSI devices, sound cards, Video4Linux devices, etc. The `vanilla' flavor includes one rescue floppy, one root and four driver floppies. `compact' Like `vanilla', but with many of the less-frequently-use drivers removed (sound, v4l, etc). In addition, it has built in support for several popular PCI Ethernet devices --- NE2000, 3com 3c905, Tulip, Via-Rhine and Intel EtherExpress Pro100. These built in drivers allow you to take full advantage of the Debian installer's net install feature to install the driver floppies over the network so that only the root and rescue floppy disks need to be made. Finally, `compact' also supports several common RAID controllers: DAC960, and Compaq's SMART2 RAID controllers. The `compact' flavor includes one rescue floppy, one root and two driver disks. `idepci' Kernel that supports only IDE and PCI devices (and a very small number of ISA devices). This kernel should be used if the SCSI drivers in the other flavors cause your system to hang on startup (probably because of resource conflicts, or a misbehaving driver/card in your system.) The `idepci' flavor also has a built-in ide-floppy driver so that you can install from LS120 or ZIP devices. `bf2.4' This is an experimental flavor which uses a special version of the kernel-image-2.4 package. It provides support for newer hardware components which is absent in the other (more stable) flavors. It supports more USB hardware, USB keyboards/mice, modern IDE controllers, some new network cards, and Ext3 and Reiser file systems. Compared to the driver set of our main kernel-image-2.4.x-yz packages, some non-essential drivers have been removed in order to keep the number of needed floppy disks in a sane range. If you have unexplainable problems with kernel 2.4, you should use other flavors. If you need more new drivers or optimisations for your CPU type, feel free to install an "official" kernel-image-2.4.x-yz package. This flavor comes with one rescue floppy, one root and four driver floppies. Although we have described above how many 1.44MB diskettes the different sets occupy, you may still choose different methods of installation. The kernel config files for these flavors can be found in their respective directories in a file named `kernel-config'. 4.2.3. Where to Find Installation Files --------------------------------------- The network locations of installation files for each i386 flavor are listed in the Appendix. These include: * rescue image * .../current/images-1.20/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.20/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-1.20/safe/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.20/safe/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-1.44/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-1.44/bf2.4/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/bf2.4/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-1.44/compact/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/compact/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-1.44/idepci/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/idepci/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-1.44/safe/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/safe/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-2.88/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-2.88/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-2.88/bf2.4/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-2.88/bf2.4/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-2.88/compact/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-2.88/compact/rescue.bin) * .../current/images-2.88/idepci/rescue.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-2.88/idepci/rescue.bin) * root image(s) or tarball * .../current/images-1.20/root.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.20/root.bin) * .../current/images-1.44/root.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/root.bin) * .../current/images-1.44/compact/root.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/compact/root.bin) * .../current/images-1.44/idepci/root.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/idepci/root.bin) * .../current/images-1.44/bf2.4/root.bin (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/bf2.4/root.bin) * kernel binary * Section 11.2.3.2, `Linux Kernel Files' * driver images or tarball * Section 11.2.3.3, `Driver Files' * base system images or tarball * Section 11.2.3.4, `Debian Base System Installation Files' The rescue image contains a compressed Linux boot kernel. It is used for both floppy disk booting (when transferred to a floppy) and as the source for the Linux kernel when the kernel is being installed on your machine. The kernel binary `linux.bin' is an uncompressed binary kernel. It is used when booting the installer from the hard disk or CD-ROM, and is not needed for floppy installer booting. Refer to Section 4.3, `Creating Floppies from Disk Images' for important information on properly creating floppy disks from floppy images. The root floppy image contains a compressed RAMdisk filesystem which gets loaded into memory after you boot the installer. The peripheral drivers may be downloaded as a series of floppy images or as a tarball (`drivers.tgz'). The installer system will need access to the drivers file during installation. If you have a hard drive partition or connected computer which will be accessible to the installer (see below), the tarball will be more convenient to handle. The floppy image files are needed only if you must install the drivers from floppies. When downloading files, you should also pay attention to the type of file system you are downloading them _to_, unless you will use floppies for the kernel and drivers. The installer can read files from many kinds of file systems, including FAT, HFS, ext2fs, and Minix. When downloading files to a *nix file system, choose the largest possible files from the archive. The installer _cannot_ access files on an NTFS file system --- you must load the appropriate driver). In addition to the files above, you will need .../current/dosutils/loadlin.exe (http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/dosutils/loadlin.exe) (see Section 11.2.3.1, `Files for the Initial System Boot'). During the installation, you will erase the partition(s) on which you are installing Debian before beginning the installation. All downloaded files must be placed on partitions _other_ than those on which you are planning to install the system. 4.3. Creating Floppies from Disk Images --------------------------------------- Bootable floppy disks are commonly used to boot the installer system for machines with a floppy drive. Floppies can also be used for installation of the kernel and modules on most systems. Disk images are files containing the complete contents of a floppy disk in _raw_ form. Disk images, such as `rescue.bin', cannot simply be copied to floppy drives. A special program is used to write the image files to floppy disk in _raw_ mode. This is required because these images are raw representations of the disk; it is required to do a _sector copy_ of the data from the file onto the floppy. There are different techniques for creating floppies from disk images, which depend on your platform. This section describes how to create floppies from disk images on different platforms. No matter which method you use to create your floppies, you should remember to flip the tab on the floppies once you have written them, to ensure they are not damaged unintentionally. 4.3.1. Writing Disk Images From a Linux or Unix System ------------------------------------------------------ To write the floppy disk image files to the floppy disks, you will probably need root access to the system. Place a good, blank floppy in the floppy drive. Next, use the command dd if= of=/dev/fd0 bs=1024 conv=sync ; sync where is one of the floppy disk image files (see Section 4.2, `Downloading Files from Debian Mirrors' for what should be). `/dev/fd0' is a commonly used name of the floppy disk device, it may be different on your workstation (on Solaris, it is `/dev/fd/0'). The command may return to the prompt before Unix has finished writing the floppy disk, so look for the disk-in-use light on the floppy drive and be sure that the light is out and the disk has stopped revolving before you remove it from the drive. On some systems, you'll have to run a command to eject the floppy from the drive (on Solaris, use `eject', see the manual page). Some systems attempt to automatically mount a floppy disk when you place it in the drive. You might have to disable this feature before the workstation will allow you to write a floppy in _raw mode_. Unfortunately, how to accomplish this will vary based on your operating system. On Solaris, you can work around volume management to get raw access to the floppy. First, make sure that the floppy is auto-mounted (using `volcheck' or the equivalent command in the file manager). Then use a `dd' command of the form given above, just replace `/dev/fd0' with `/vol/rdsk/', where is the name the floppy disk was given when it was formatted (unnamed floppies default to the name `unnamed_floppy'). On other systems, ask your system administrator. 4.3.2. Writing Disk Images From DOS, Windows, or OS/2 ----------------------------------------------------- If you have access to an i386 machine, you can use one of the following programs to copy images to floppies. A fairly complete list of similar programs is at http://www.fdos.org/ripcord/rawrite/readme.txt. The FDVOL, WrtDsk or RaWrite3 programs can be used under MS-DOS. http://www.minix-vmd.org/pub/Minix-vmd/dosutil/ To use these programs, first make sure that you are booted into DOS. Trying to use these programs from within a DOS box in Windows, or double-clicking on these programs from the Windows Explorer is _not_ expected to work. If you don't know how to boot into DOS, just hit _F8_ while booting. `NTRawrite' is an attempt to create a contemporary version of `Rawrite/Rawrite3' that is compatible with WinNT and Win2K. It is a self-explanatory GUI application; you select the disk drive to write to, browse to the disk image you want to place there and hit the Write button. http://sourceforge.net/projects/ntrawrite/ 4.3.3. Modifying the Rescue Floppy to Support National Language --------------------------------------------------------------- The messages shown by the rescue floppy (before loading the Linux kernel) can be shown in your mother tongue. To achieve this if you are not an English speaker, after writing the image file, you must copy the provided message files and a font to the floppy. For MS-DOS and Windows users there is a batch file `setlang.bat' in the `dosutils' directory, which copies the correct files. Simply enter this directory (e.g. cd c:\debian\dosutils ) within a command prompt window, and run `setlang ', where is a two-letter code of your language in lower case, for example `setlang pl' to set the language to Polish. Currently these language codes are available: ca cs da de eo es fi fr gl hr hu it ko ja pl pt ru sk sv tr zh_CN Note that the descriptions in this manual assume that you use non localized (English) installation; otherwise the names of menus and buttons will differ from what you will see on your screen. 4.4. Preparing Files for Hard Disk Booting ------------------------------------------ The installer may be booted using boot files placed on an existing hard drive partition, either launched from another operating system or by invoking a boot loader directly from the BIOS. A full, "pure network" installation can be achieved using this technique. This avoids all hassles of removable media, like finding and burning CD images or struggling with too numerous and unreliable floppy disks. The installer cannot boot from files on an NTFS file system. 4.4.1. Hard disk installer booting using `LILO' ----------------------------------------------- This section explains how to add to or even replace an existing linux installation using `LILO'. At boot time, `LILO' supports loading in memory not only the kernel, but also a disk image. This RAM disk can be used as the root file-system by the kernel. Choose the flavor in Section 4.2.2, `Choosing the Right Installation Set' that best fits your taste, and you will be (almost) done. Copy the following two or three files from the Debian archives in a convenient location on your hard drive, for instance in `/boot/newinstall/'. * `linux.bin' (kernel binary) * `root.bin' (root image) * `drivers.tgz' (optional kernel modules) and extract recursively everything _now_ (easier than later). Remember on which physical partition (e.g. `/dev/hda4') are the `.o' drivers you just extracted from `drivers.tgz'. You can also replace `linux.bin' and `drivers.tgz' by your custom kernel and the carefully chosen drivers that you will need for the installation, for instance a module for your exotic and unsupported network interface. Do not forget that your custom kernel must have (at least) the `RAMDISK' and `initrd' features _built-in_. See the very beginning of Section 10.3, `Replacing the Rescue Floppy Kernel' for the list of the other mandatory built-in kernel features required to boot and launch the installer. Do not go on and do not read there the irrelevant floppy-related stuff after the list of features. Finally, to configure `LILO' proceed to Section 5.4.2, `Booting from linux using `LILO''. 4.5. Preparing Files for TFTP Net Booting ----------------------------------------- If your machine is connected to a local area network, you may be able to boot it over the network from another machine, using TFTP. If you intend to boot the installation system from another machine, the boot files will need to be placed in specific locations on that machine, and the machine configured to support booting of your specific machine. You need to setup a TFTP server, and for CATS machines, a BOOTP server , or RARP server, or DHCP server. The Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP) is one way to tell your client what IP address to use for itself. Another way is to use the BOOTP protocol. BOOTP is an IP protocol that informs a computer of its IP address and where on the network to obtain a boot image. The DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a more flexible, backwards-compatible extension of BOOTP. Some systems can only be configured via DHCP. The Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is used to serve the boot image to the client. Theoretically, any server, on any platform, which implements these protocols, may be used. In the examples in this section, we shall provide commands for SunOS 4.x, SunOS 5.x (a.k.a. Solaris), and GNU/Linux. 4.5.1. Setting up RARP server ----------------------------- To setup RARP, you need to know the Ethernet address of the client (a.k.a. the MAC address). If you don't know this information, you can boot into ``Rescue'' mode (e.g., from the rescue floppy) and use the command `/sbin/ifconfig eth0'. On systems using a Linux 2.2.x kernel, you need to populate the kernel's RARP table. To do this, run the following commands: /sbin/rarp -s /usr/sbin/arp -s If you get SIOCSRARP: Invalid argument you probably need to load the RARP kernel module or else recompile the kernel to support RARP. Try `modprobe rarp' and then try the `rarp' command again. On systems using a Linux 2.4.x kernel, there is no RARP module, and you should instead use the `rarpd' program. The procedure is similar to that used under SunOS in the following paragraph. Under SunOS, you need to ensure that the Ethernet hardware address for the client is listed in the ``ethers'' database (either in the `/etc/ethers' file, or via NIS/NIS+) and in the ``hosts'' database. Then you need to start the RARP daemon. In SunOS 4, issue the command (as root): `/usr/etc/rarpd -a'; in SunOS 5, use `/usr/sbin/rarpd -a'. 4.5.2. Setting up BOOTP server ------------------------------ There are two BOOTP servers available for GNU/Linux, the CMU `bootpd' and the other is actually a DHCP server, ISC `dhcpd', which are contained in the `bootp' and `dhcp' packages in Debian GNU/Linux. To use CMU `bootpd', you must first uncomment (or add) the relevant line in `/etc/inetd.conf'. On Debian GNU/Linux, you can run `update-inetd --enable bootps', then `/etc/init.d/inetd reload' to do so. Elsewhere, the line in question should look like: bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/sbin/bootpd bootpd -i -t 120 Now, you must create an `/etc/bootptab' file. This has the same sort of familiar and cryptic format as the good old BSD printcap(5), termcap(5), and disktab(5) files. See the bootptab(5) manual page for more information. For CMU `bootpd', you will need to know the hardware (MAC) address of the client. Here is an example `/etc/bootptab': client:\ hd=/tftpboot:\ bf=tftpboot.img:\ ip=192.168.1.90:\ sm=255.255.255.0:\ sa=192.168.1.1:\ ha=0123456789AB: You will need to change at least the "ha" option, which specifies the hardware address of the client. The "bf" option specifies the file a client should retrieve via TFTP; see Section 4.5.5, `Move TFTP Images Into Place' for more details. By contrast, setting up BOOTP with ISC `dhcpd' is really easy, because it treats BOOTP clients as a moderately special case of DHCP clients. Some architectures require a complex configuration for booting clients via BOOTP. If yours is one of those, read the section Section 4.5.3, `Setting up a DHCP server'. Otherwise, you will probably be able to get away with simply adding the `allow bootp' directive to the configuration block for the subnet containing the client, and restart `dhcpd' with `/etc/init.d/dhcpd restart'. 4.5.3. Setting up a DHCP server ------------------------------- At the time of this writing, there is only one DHCP server which is free software, namely ISC `dhcpd'. In Debian GNU/Linux, this is available in the `dhcp' package. Here is a sample configuration file for it (usually `/etc/dhcpd.conf'): option domain-name "example.com"; option domain-name-servers ns1.example.com; option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0; default-lease-time 600; max-lease-time 7200; server-name "servername"; subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 { range 192.168.1.200 192.168.1.253; option routers 192.168.1.1; } host clientname { filename "/tftpboot/tftpboot.img"; server-name "servername"; next-server servername; hardware ethernet 01:23:45:67:89:AB; fixed-address 192.168.1.90; } In this example, there is one server <"servername"> which performs all of the work of DHCP, server, TFTP server, and network gateway. You will almost certainly need to change the domain-name options, as well as the server name and client hardware address. The <"filename"> option should be the name of the file which will be retrieved via TFTP. After you have edited the `dhcpd' configuration file, restart it with `/etc/init.d/dhcpd restart'. Here is another example for a `dhcp.conf' using the Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE) method of TFTP. option domain-name "example.com"; default-lease-time 6048; max-lease-time 604800; allow booting; allow bootp; # The next paragraph needs to be modified to fit your case subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 { range 192.168.1.200 192.168.1.253; option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0; option broadcast-address 192.168.1.255; # the gateway address which can be different # (access to the internet for instance) option routers 192.168.1.1; # indicate the dns you want to use option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.3; } host tftpserver { # tftp server ip address fixed-address 192.168.1.90; # tftp server hardware address hardware ethernet 01:23:45:67:89:AB; } group { next-server 192.168.1.3; host tftpclient { # tftp client hardware address hardware ethernet 00:10:DC:27:6C:15; filename "/tftpboot/pxelinux.0"; } } Note that for PXE booting, the client filename `pxelinux.0' is a boot loader, not a kernel image (see Section 4.5.5, `Move TFTP Images Into Place' below). 4.5.4. Enabling the TFTP Server ------------------------------- To get the TFTP server ready to go, you should first make sure that `tftpd' is enabled. This is usually enabled by having the following line in `/etc/inetd.conf': tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/sbin/tcpd in.tftpd /tftpboot Look in that file and remember the directory which is used as the argument of `in.tftpd'; you'll need that below. The `-l' argument enables some versions of `in.tftpd' to log all requests to the system logs; this is useful for diagnosing boot errors. If you've had to change `/etc/inetd.conf', you'll have to notify the running `inetd' process that the file has changed. On a Debian machine, run `/etc/init.d/netbase reload' (for potato/2.2 and newer systems use `/etc/init.d/inetd reload'); on other machines, find out the process ID for `inetd', and run `kill -HUP '. To use the Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE) method of TFTP booting, you will need a TFTP server with `tsize' support. On a Debian GNU/Linux server, `tftp-hpa' qualifies. 4.5.5. Move TFTP Images Into Place ---------------------------------- Next, place the TFTP boot image you need, as found in Section 11.2.3, `Description of Installation System Files', in the `tftpd' boot image directory. Generally, this directory will be `/tftpboot'. You'll have to make a link from that file to the file which `tftpd' will use for booting a particular client. Unfortunately, the file name is determined by the TFTP client, and there are no strong standards. Often, the file that the TFTP client will look for is . To compute , take each byte of the client IP address and translate it into hexadecimal notation. If you have a machine handy with the `bc' program, you can use the program. First issue the `obase=16' command to set the output to hex, then enter the individual components of the client IP one at a time. As for , try out some values. For PXE booting, you can use the boot loader included with `syslinux': `pxelinux.0'. The boot loader should be copied into the `/tftpboot' folder. Then create a subdirectory within `/tftpboot' named `/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg', and within that directory create a text file `default'. Here is an example of a `default' file's contents: default lanlinux prompt 1 label lanlinux kernel tftpboot.img append load initrd=root.bin devfs=nomount `devfs=nomount' is important, because without it there may be problems mounting the root.bin file system once the kernel is booted. Finally, copy the `tftpboot.img' and `root.bin' files from the Debian ftp archive into the `/tftpboot' folder, where the bootloader will be looking for them. _NOT YET WRITTEN_ 4.5.6. Installing with TFTP and NFS Root ---------------------------------------- It is closer to "TFTP install for lowmem..." because you don't want to load the RAMdisk anymore but boot from the newly created NFS-root file system. You then need to replace the symlink to the tftpboot image by a symlink to the kernel image (for example, `linux-a.out'). My experience on booting over the network was based exclusively on RARP/TFTP which requires all daemons running on the same server (the sparc workstation is sending a TFTP request back to the server that replied to its previous RARP request). However, Linux supports BOOTP protocol, too, but I don't know how to set it up :-(( Does it have to be documented as well in this manual? To boot the client machine, go to Section 5.5, `Booting from TFTP'. 4.6. Automatic Installation --------------------------- For installing on multiple computers it's possible to use the fully automatic installation called `FAI'. The Debian package `fai' has to be installed on a computer called the install server. Then all install clients boot from their network card or floppy disk and automatically install Debian on their local disks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Booting the Installation System ---------------------------------- Subject to limitations in some cases, you may boot the installation system from a Debian GNU/Linux CD-ROM, floppy disks, a partition on a hard disk, or from another machine via a local area network. 5.1. Boot Parameter Arguments ----------------------------- Boot parameters are Linux kernel parameters which are generally used to make sure that peripherals are dealt with properly. For the most part, the kernel can auto-detect information about your peripherals. However, in some cases you'll have to help the kernel a bit. If you are booting from the rescue floppy or from CD-ROM you will be presented with the boot prompt, `boot:'. Details about how to use boot parameters with the rescue floppy can be found in Section 5.3, `Booting from Floppies'. If you are booting from an existing operating system, you'll have to use other means to set boot parameters. For instance, if you are installing from DOS, you can edit the `install.bat' file with any text editor. Full information on boot parameters can be found in the Linux BootPrompt HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/BootPrompt-HOWTO.html); this section contains only a sketch of the most salient parameters. If this is the first time you're booting the system, try the default boot parameters (i.e., don't try setting arguments) and see if it works correctly. It probably will. If not, you can reboot later and look for any special parameters that inform the system about your hardware. When the kernel boots, a message Memory: k/k available should be emitted early in the process. should match the total amount of RAM, in kilobytes. If this doesn't match the actual of RAM you have installed, you need to use the `mem=' parameter, where is set to the amount of memory, suffixed with ``k'' for kilobytes, or ``m'' for megabytes. For example, both `mem=65536k' and `mem=64m' mean 64MB of RAM. Some systems have floppies with ``inverted DCLs''. If you receive errors reading from the floppy, even when you know the floppy is good, try the parameter `floppy=thinkpad'. On some systems, such as the IBM PS/1 or ValuePoint (which have ST-506 disk drivers), the IDE drive may not be properly recognized. Again, try it first without the parameters and see if the IDE drive is recognized properly. If not, determine your drive geometry (cylinders, heads, and sectors), and use the parameter `hd=,,'. If your monitor is only capable of black-and-white, use the `mono' boot argument. Otherwise, your installation will use color, which is the default. If you are booting with a serial console, generally the kernel will autodetect this . If you have a videocard (framebuffer) and a keyboard also attached to the computer which you wish to boot via serial console, you may have to pass the `console=' argument to the kernel, where is your serial device, which is usually something like ``ttyS0''. Again, full details on boot parameters can be found in the Linux BootPrompt HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/BootPrompt-HOWTO.html), including tips for obscure hardware. Some common gotchas are included below in Section 5.6, `Troubleshooting the Install Process'. 5.1.1. `dbootstrap' Arguments ----------------------------- The installation system recognizes a few boot arguments which may be useful. The effects of `quiet' and `verbose' are listed in Section 11.5, `Effects of Verbose and Quiet'. quiet This will cause the installation system to suppress confirmation messages and try to do the right thing without fuss. If you are familiar and comfortable with what the installation system is going to expect, this is a nice option to quieten the process. verbose Ask even more questions than usual. debug Emit additional debug messages to the installation system log (see Section 5.7.1, `Using the Shell and Viewing the Logs'), including every command run. bootkbd=<...> Pre-select the keyboard you want to use, e.g., `bootkbd=qwerty/us' mono Use monochrome rather than color mode. nolangchooser Some architectures use the kernel framebuffer to offer installation in a number of languages. If framebuffer causes a problem on your syste