The easiest way to install Debian is from a CD-Rom. Debian provides several installation media formats, from a small business card size CD to a full set of DVDs with all available packages to install. Because we want a minimal installation, just download the netinst CD image. This is a small iso image file (about 180Mb), available at https://www.debian.org/releases/wheezy/debian-installer/. The rest will be downloaded from the Internet during the installation.

Debian Wheezy will allow users to install packages from multiple architectures on the same machine. This means that you can now, for the first time, install both 32- and 64-bit software on the same machine and have all the relevant dependencies correctly resolved, automatically. The iso image files are available to direct download at:

• http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/current/multi-arch/iso-cd/ (multi architecture)

Other iso image files are also available for specific architectures:

• http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/current/i386/iso-cd/ (32bits version).
• http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/current/amd64/iso-cd/ (64bits version).

The previous versions a still available to download from the debian archives:

• http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive (Debian CDs/DVDs archive)

In order to create a bootable CD from the image you have to select “burn iso image”, not “create a data disc”. Please check the CD reccorder software manual for help.

You will have to boot your system from the CD-Rom. In most recent systems you can chose the boot device during the power on process. There is also an option on the BIOS setup menu to select the boot device priority. Again, the Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide can help you.

During the installation process the disk will be formatted an all existing data will be lost! Make sure you backup your important data!

Keep in mind that with great power comes great responsibility!

For security reasons, work as root is never a good option. Remember that as root you have super powers, so a small mistake typing a command can be catastrophic for the system!

But for software installation and system configuration, work as root is usually necessary: a regular user can't install software, edit configuration files, start or stop services, etc.

The golden rule is to be wise: always login as a regular user. Just login as root when absolutely necessary and logout from root as soon as possible.

Also, the su command allows a regular user to become root:

fribeiro@server:~$ su - root
Password:
root@server:~#

You are root now and you have super powers! To finish the root session, type exit:

root@server:~# exit
logout
fribeiro@server:~$

• Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide, Chapter 3. Before Installing Debian GNU/Linux (http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch03.html)

• Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide, 3.6. Pre-Installation Hardware and Operating System Setup (http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch03s06.html)

1.1 Debian 7.0 'Wheezy' Installation Guide →