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How to install sarge with the new debian-installer |
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This documents describes how to perform an installation with the new |
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debian-installer, which will be released together with the upcoming |
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Debian release, codename: sarge. |
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1. Preliminaries |
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Debian-installer images are currently only available for the i386 |
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architecture. Ports to other architectures are of course |
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welcome. Please see section 6 if you want to help developing. |
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The debian-installer is still in its alpha state. If you encounter |
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bugs during your install, please refer to section 5 on how to report |
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them. If you have questions which cannot be answered by this document, |
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please direct them to the debian-boot mailing list |
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(debian-boot@lists.debian.org) or ask on irc (#debian-boot on the |
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freenode network). |
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For better debugging handling, the installer is now configured to show |
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much more questions than it will in the release version. Presently |
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the debconf priority is set to medium, for the release it will be high |
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or critical which will resolve most steps automatically. |
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2. Getting images |
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The installer team provides different types of images for the |
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debian-installer. They are described below, choose whatever image |
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suits you best. However note: This document only covers the |
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installation from CD! |
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2.1. Install from CD |
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The debian-cd team provides two netinst images which can be used to |
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install sarge with the debian-installer. They can be obtained here: |
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http://gluck.debian.org/cdimage/testing/netinst/i386/ |
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These images are intended to boot from CD and install additional |
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packages over a network, hence the name 'netinst'. The difference |
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between the two images is, that on the full netinst image the base |
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packages are included, whereas you have to download these from the web |
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if you are using the business card image. |
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2.2. Install from floppy |
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If you can't boot from CD, you can download floppy images to install |
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Debian. Daily built images can be found here: |
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http://people.debian.org/~sjogren/d-i/images/daily/ |
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You need the floppy-image.img and one of the drivers disks |
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net_drivers-image.img or cd_drivers-image.img. The drivers disks |
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contain the necessary modules to do the actual installation from CD or |
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over the network. |
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3. Installation |
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From here on, I assume you have downloaded and burnt the 'netinst' |
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CD. Put it into your CD-drive and make your system boot from CD. |
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You will be greeted by a welcome screen. Hit ENTER to boot. After a |
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while you will be presented with the main-menu of the debian-installer. |
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Some general remarks: |
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The main-menu is not static. New entries are added when new installer |
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modules are loaded. However main-menu tries to resolve the next best |
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choice and presents that as default selection. If that selection does |
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not suit your needs just select another entry. If you select an entry |
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that requires the configuration of an entry you did not yet choose, |
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the main-menu will try to resolve these dependencies automatically. |
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This can be used to automate the install process. If you want to try |
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that, use the menu item sequence of section 3.1 instead of the |
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sequence described now. |
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When main-menu first is shown, the default will be "Choose language". |
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Hit return and choose your language from the list that now is |
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presented. You will be taken back to main-menu and the next item will |
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be the default, which is "Detect a keyboard and select layout". |
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Select that entry and observe that the installer tries to set a |
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reasonable default based upon your language selection. Select your |
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preferred keymap and continue. |
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The next step is "Detect CDROM devices and mount the CD in |
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/cdrom". This step does not require user interaction, everything |
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happens automatically. |
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Now we are able to access additional modules. Select the corresponding |
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entry "Load installer modules". Since the modules we want to access |
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are on the CD, select "cdrom-retriever". The floppy-retriever can be |
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used to load additional modules from a floppy, e.g. if you have exotic |
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hardware. |
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You are presented a long list with optional modules to install. We |
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only want to install the standard modules, which are selected |
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automatically, so just hit "Continue". Wait and watch until all |
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modules have been installed. |
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Main-menu appears again, but with the additional modules there are new |
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entries. The next default step would be to configure a network. We are |
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breaking out of the default route, because we do not need networking |
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since the base debs are on the CD. |
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Select "Detect hardware and load kernel drivers for it (full |
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version)". This step again involves no user interaction. |
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Now it is time to partition your disk. Unfortunately the associated |
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menu-entry "Partition a harddrive" is broken as of writing this |
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document. Here is what you can do to work around: |
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a) You have already partitioned your harddrive. Just proceed with |
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the next step. |
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b) Switch to the second console via ALT-F2 and start cfdisk |
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there. You have to give the disk to partition as argument. |
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c) Use the autopartkit ("Automatically partition harddrives"). It |
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tries to determine a sane partitioning. WARNING: Use this option |
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ONLY if you have no or unimportant data on your harddrives. |
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After finishing partitioning, select the entry "Configure and mount |
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partitions". Since autopartkit creates filesystems and mounts them |
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automatically you can skip this step if you used autopartkit to |
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partition your harddrive. |
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Configuring the partitions is pretty straightforward. You are |
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presented with a list with all partitions, their sizes and a filesystem |
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if one was detected on that partition. Selecting a partition lets you |
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choose which filesystem to create on that partition. If you select a |
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non-swap filesystem, you are also asked for a mount point. |
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Configure the partitions to your need, and remember to specify a |
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partition with mount point "/". When you've made your choices, select |
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"Finish" and confirm that the filesystems should be created as |
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requested. |
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Now we are ready to install the base system. Select the corresponding |
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entry ("Install the base system") and lean back. The packages are |
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retrieved from the CD and installed in the /target area. |
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Next step will be to install the kernel ("Install the kernel"). If you |
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did not use autopartkit to partition your harddrive you will be asked |
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how your fstab file should be created. Select "debian-installer |
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utility for creating fstab file" to do that. |
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Next you will presented a list of all available kernel images on the |
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CD. Select the most suitable for your system and wait until the |
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installation has finished. |
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Now we are almost done. Select "Install LILO on a hard disk" or |
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"Install GRUB on a hard disk" to make your harddisk bootable. You will |
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be asked where LILO/GRUB shall install the bootblock. A good idea is |
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your first harddrive in your system which should be in fact the |
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default selection. |
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If that last step has completed successfully select "Finish the |
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installation and reboot", eject your CD and wait until your computer |
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restarts. Make sure it boots from harddisk, cross your fingers and |
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wait until base-config is started. |
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Stepping through base-config is not within the scope of this document |
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as it is not part of debian-installer. |
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3.1 More automatic install |
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Now I will describe the steps you will have to do when you make use of |
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main-menu's dependency resolver. It will do some steps automatically. |
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Select the steps in the order below and note the hints for the |
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corresponding entries from the long description ins section 3. |
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1) "Choose language" |
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2) "Detect a keyboard and select layout" |
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3) "Load installer modules" |
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4) -> Partition your harddrives with one of the methods in section 3 |
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5) "Finish the installation and reboot" |
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4. Installation Report |
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If you successfully managed an installation with debian-installer, |
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please take you time to provide us with a report. There is a template |
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named "install-report.template" in the /root directory of a freshly |
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installed system. Please fill it out and file it as a bug against the |
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package "installation-reports". See section 5 on how to file bugs. |
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5. Reporting bugs |
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If you did not reach base-config or ran into other trouble, you |
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probably found a bug in debian-installer. To improve the installer it |
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is necessary that we know about them, so please take your time and |
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report them. |
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First, look here to see if your bug has already been reported: |
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http://bugs.qa.debian.org/cgi-bin/debian-installer.cgi?full=yes |
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The page is sorted by packages which represent the individual |
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subsystems of debian-installer. File your bug against the respective |
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subsystem or, if you do not know which it is, against the package |
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"install". Look here for an explanation of how to file bugs: |
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http://www.debian.org/Bugs/Reporting |
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6. Get involved |
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The Debian-Installer Team always welcomes people who would like to |
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work on the installer. We have plenty of work to do: fixing bugs, |
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improve usability, create new modules and of course extensive |
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testing. If you are interested to help, check out this page: |
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http://people.debian.org/~pere/debian-installer/ |