This document describes how to install Debian GNU/Linux sarge for the Alpha (“alpha”) with the new debian-installer. It is a quick walkthrough of the installation process which should contain all the information you will need for most installs. When more information can be useful, we will link to more detailed explanations in the Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide.
If you encounter bugs during your install, please refer to Section 5.3.5, “Submitting Bug Reports” for instructions on how to report them. If you have questions which cannot be answered by this document, please direct them to the debian-boot mailing list (debian-boot@lists.debian.org) or ask on irc (#debian-boot on the freenode network).
The debian-cd team provides builds of CD images using debian-installer on the Debian CD page. For more information on where to get CDs, see Section 4.1, “Official Debian GNU/Linux CD-ROM Sets”.
Some installation methods require other images than CD images. Section 4.2.1, “Where to Find Installation Images” explains how to find images on Debian mirrors.
The subsections below will give the details about which images you should get for each possible means of installation.
There are two different netinst CD images which can be used to install sarge with the debian-installer. These images are intended to boot from CD and install additional packages over a network, hence the name 'netinst'. The difference between the two images is that on the full netinst image the base packages are included, whereas you have to download these from the web if you are using the business card image. If you'd rather, you can get a full size CD image which will not need the network to install. You only need the first CD of the set.
Download whichever type you prefer and burn it to a CD.
If you can't boot from CD, you can download floppy images to install Debian. You need the floppy/boot.img, the floppy/root.img and possibly one of the driver disks.
The boot floppy is the one with boot.img on it. This floppy, when booted, will prompt you to insert a second floppy -- use the one with root.img on it.
If you're planning to install over the network, you will usually need the floppy/net-drivers.img, which contains additional drivers for many ethernet cards, and support for PCMCIA.
If you have a CD, but cannot boot from it, then boot from floppies and use floppy/cd-drivers.img on a driver disk to complete the install using the CD.
Floppy disks are one of the least reliable media around, so be prepared for lots of bad disks (see Section 5.3.1, “Floppy Disk Reliability”). Each .img file you downloaded goes on a single floppy; you can use the dd command to write it to /dev/fd0 or some other means (see Section 4.3, “Creating Floppies from Disk Images” for details). Since you'll have more than one floppy, it's a good idea to label them.
It's also possible to boot debian-installer completely from the net. The various methods to netboot depend on your architecture and netboot setup. The files in netboot/ can be used to netboot debian-installer.
It's possible to boot the installer using no removable media, but just an existing hard disk, which can have a different OS on it. Download hd-media/initrd.gz, hd-media/vmlinuz, and a Debian CD image to the top-level directory of the hard disk. Make sure that the CD image has a filename ending in ".iso". Now it's just a matter of booting linux with the initrd.
Once the installer starts, you will be greeted with an initial screen. Press Enter to boot, or read the instructions for other boot methods and parameters (see Section 5.2, “Boot Parameters”).
After a while you will be asked to select your language. Use the arrow keys to pick a language and press ENTER to continue. Next you'll be asked to select your country, with the choices including countries where your language is spoken. If it's not on the short list, a list of all the countires in the world is available.
You may be asked to confirm your keyboard layout. Choose the default unless you know better.
Now sit back while debian-installer detects some of your hardware, and loads the rest of itself from CD, floppy, USB, etc.
Next the installer will try to detect your network hardware and set up networking by DHCP. If you are not on a network or do not have DHCP, you will be given the opportunity to configure the network manually.
Now it is time to partition your disks. First you will be given the opportunity to automatically partition either an entire drive, or free space on a drive. This is recommended for new users or anyone in a hurry, but if you do not want to autopartition, choose manual from the menu.
On the next screen you will see your partition table, how the partitions will be formatted, and where they will be mounted. Select a partition to modify or delete it. If you did automatic partitioning, you should just be able to choose "Finished partitioning" from the menu to use what it set up. Remember to assign at least one partition for swap space and to mount a partition on "/". Appendix A, Partitioning for Debian has more information about partitioning.
Now debian-installer formats your partitions and starts to install the base system, which can take a while. That is followed by installing a kernel.
The last step is to install a boot loader. If the installer detects other operating systems on your computer, it will add them to the boot menu and let you know.
debian-installer will now tell you that the installation has finished. Remove the cdrom or other boot media and hit Enter to reboot your machine. It should boot up into the next stage of the install process, which is explained in Chapter 7, Booting Into Your New Debian System.
If you need more information on the install process, see Chapter 6, Using the Debian Installer.
If you successfully managed an installation with debian-installer, please take time to provide us with a report. There is a template named "install-report.template" in the /root directory of a freshly installed system. Please fill it out and file it as a bug against the package "installation-reports", as explained in Section 5.3.5, “Submitting Bug Reports”.
If you did not reach base-config or ran into other trouble, you probably found a bug in debian-installer. To improve the installer it is necessary that we know about them, so please take the time to report them. You can use an installation report to report problems; if the install completly fails, see Section 5.3.4, “Bug Reporter”.
We hope that your Debian installation is pleasant and that you find Debian useful. You might want to read Chapter 8, Next Steps and Where to Go From Here.