Traditional Computer

Create a USB Installer

We need to create a USB flash drive that has everything required to boot into an operating system installation. You will need to obtain a USB flash drive that is at least 4GB. We will use Ventoy, an open-source utility that makes it easy to create a bootable USB flash drive.

First, we will need to download the latest version from their downloads page. We need to download the Windows ZIP and extract it with the Windows compression utility. Using the Ventoy application, we can install it onto our flash drive.

They provide more in-depth installation procedures should you need them.

Next, we need to get an installation disk image for our desires Linux distribution. For the broadest compatibility we'll be using Debian, the "universal operating system". This operating system can act as the foundation for many different Desktop Environments, which control the user interface and experience. This is mostly a matter of personal preference and can affect which applications and services are automatically installed

Common desktop environments include:
GNOME, Plasma, Xfce, LXDE, LXQt, MATE and Cinnamon. Debian uses the GNOME desktop environment by default and what we will be using for our server.

Before we can install Debian on our computer, we must first download the appropriate installation image. The full offline installation image for Debian can be used to install it on any machine. Download the appropriate ISO file via HTTP or BitTorrent.

The AMD64 DVD installer will work for most cases.

Once downloaded, it needs to be copied to the USB flash drive. This can be accomplished by opening Windows Explorer and navigating to the USB drive named Ventoy. Copy the downloaded ISO file to this mounted drive.

You now have a USB flash drive that can be used to install Debian Linux on most traditional computer systems.

In order to install Debian Linux, we need to boot into our newly created Ventoy flash drive. Due to a lack of standardization, different hardware will go about this differently.

Most commonly, the boot device can be selected by hitting a specific key while the computer is starting up. This can be the Delete, Escape, F1, F7, F11 or F12 key. Refer to your computer's manual if you are unsure.

Some media keyboards require that you press an FN key located along the bottom row in order to activate the function keys.

Hardwire the computer to your router using a cat6e cable.

Boot in normal mode

Graphical install

Preferred language

Location

Keyboard

Detects hardware and loads required files

Network connection lan or wifi

Hostname

Domain name

Password - root

Full name, User name

Password - user

Time zone

Detect disks

Guided - contiguous, guided - entire, lvm, encrypted lvm, manual

Contiguous - all files in one partition

Accept changes

Use a network mirror

Usage survey opt in

Choose interface - Gnome

Add SSH

Installing process

Finish install

Remove USB and restart