Installing Debian GNU/Linux For Intel x86

Abstract

This document contains installation instructions for the Debian GNU/Linux 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 Debian Release Notes.

Copyright Notice

This document may be distributed and modified under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
© 1996 Bruce Perens
© 1996, 1997 Sven Rudolph
© 1998 Igor Grobman, James Treacy
© 1998, 1999 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/doc/copyright/GPL in the Debian GNU/Linux distribution or on the World Wide Web at the GNU website. 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 debian-boot@lists.debian.org.

Contents

• 1 Welcome to Debian
  • 1.1 Getting the Newest Version of This Document
  • 1.2 Organization of This Document
  • 1.3 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 Peripherals and Other Hardware
  • 2.5 Purchasing Hardware Specifically for GNU/Linux
• 3 Before You Start
  • 3.1 Backups
  • 3.2 Information You Will Need
  • 3.3 Planning Use of the System
  • 3.4 Pre-installation Hardware and Operating System Setup
• 4 Partitioning Your Hard Drive
  • 4.1 Background
  • 4.2 Device Names in Linux
  • 4.3 Recommended Partitioning Scheme
  • 4.4 Examples
  • 4.5 Partitioning Prior to Installation
  • 4.6 Lossless Repartitioning When Starting From DOS, Win-32 or OS/2
  • 4.7 Partitioning for DOS
• 5 Methods for Installing Debian
  • 5.1 Choosing Your Installation Media
  • 5.2 Description of Installation System Files
  • 5.3 Installing from a Hard Disk
  • 5.4 Installing from a CD-ROM
  • 5.5 Installing from NFS
  • 5.6 Booting from Floppies
  • 5.7 Installing Base from Floppies
  • 5.8 Installation on Systems with Low Memory
  • 5.9 Creating Floppies from Disk Images
• 6 Booting the Installation System
  • 6.1 Boot Parameter Arguments
  • 6.2 Booting With the Rescue Floppy
  • 6.3 Booting Low-Memory Systems
  • 6.4 Booting from CD-ROM
  • 6.5 Interpreting the Kernel Startup Messages
  • 6.6 Troubleshooting the Boot Process
• 7 Using dbootstrap for Initial System Configuration
  • 7.1 Introduction to dbootstrap
  • 7.2 ``Select Color or Monochrome display''
  • 7.3 ``Debian GNU/Linux Installation Main Menu''
  • 7.4 ``Configure the Keyboard''
  • 7.5 Last Chance!
  • 7.6 ``Partition a Hard Disk''
  • 7.7 ``Initialize and Activate a Swap Partition''
  • 7.8 ``Initialize a Linux Partition''
  • 7.9 ``Mount a Previously-Initialized Partition''
  • 7.10 ``Install Operating System Kernel and Modules''
  • 7.11 ``Configure PCMCIA Support''
  • 7.12 ``Configure Device Driver Modules''
  • 7.13 ``Configure the Network''
  • 7.14 ``Install the Base System''
  • 7.15 ``Configure the Base System''
  • 7.16 ``Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk''
  • 7.17 ``Make a Boot Floppy''
  • 7.18 The Moment of Truth
  • 7.19 Set the Root Password
  • 7.20 Create an Ordinary User
  • 7.21 Shadow Password Support
  • 7.22 Removing PCMCIA
  • 7.23 Select and Install Profiles
  • 7.24 Log In
  • 7.25 Setting up PPP
  • 7.26 Installing the Rest of Your System
• 8 Next Steps and Where to Go From Here
  • 8.1 If You Are New to Unix
  • 8.2 Orienting Yourself to Debian
  • 8.3 Further Reading and Information
  • 8.4 Compiling a New Kernel
  • 8.5 Using the Linux 2.2 Kernel with Debian
• 9 Technical Information on the Boot Floppies
  • 9.1 Source Code
  • 9.2 Rescue Floppy
  • 9.3 Replacing the Rescue Floppy Kernel
  • 9.4 The Base Floppies
• 10 Administrivia
  • 10.1 About This Document
  • 10.2 Contributing to This Document
  • 10.3 Major Contributions
  • 10.4 Trademark Acknowledgement