AKGuidebooks Home Server Admin

Part 1: Install Linux

4. Install Debian, screen by screen#

What you'll do: answer the installer's questions. You only need a few keys:

Key Does
Arrow keys Move the highlight
Enter Choose / Continue
Tab Jump to the buttons (<Go Back>, <Continue>)
Space Tick or untick a box [*]

Time: 30–60 minutes. Keep the charger plugged in.

flowchart LR
  A["Language<br/>& keyboard"] --> B["Network"] --> C["Names &<br/>passwords"] --> D["Disk<br/>(erases!)"] --> E["Software"] --> F["Finish &<br/>restart"]

Screens 1–3: Language, location, keyboard#

Choose your language, your country (for the time zone), and your keyboard layout, for example French for an AZERTY keyboard.

Check

Pick the right keyboard layout. A wrong one makes your password type differently from what you think.

Screen 4: Network#

  • Ethernet plugged in? The installer connects by itself.
  • Wi-Fi only? Choose your wireless network from the list, choose WPA/WPA2 PSK, and type the Wi-Fi password.

\"Some of your hardware needs non-free firmware files\" or no Wi-Fi in the list?

Choose No to loading from removable media, then use an Ethernet cable or USB-Ethernet adapter. Many laptops' Wi-Fi works anyway once Debian is installed.

Screen 5: Hostname and domain#

  • Hostname: your server name, e.g. homeserver.
  • Domain name: leave empty, then Continue.

Screen 6: Root password: leave it EMPTY#

[!!] Set up users and passwords
Root password:
[ ]
<Go Back><Continue>
Leave both root password boxes empty and press Continue.

Leave it empty (twice). This disables the separate "root" account and lets your own user do admin tasks with sudo. That's simpler and safer.

Screen 7: Your user#

  1. Full name: anything, e.g. Alex.
  2. Username: e.g. alex (lowercase).
  3. Password: type it twice. Save it in your password manager.

Screen 8: Partition disks (this erases the disk)#

[!!] Partition disks
Partitioning method:
Guided - use entire disk
Guided - use entire disk and set up LVM
Guided - use entire disk and set up encrypted LVM
Manual
Choose "Guided - use entire disk".
  1. Choose Guided - use entire disk.
  2. Select disk to partition. This is the important one:

Stop: choose the internal disk, not the USB

You'll see a list of disks with their sizes. Pick the internal disk, the big one (e.g. 128 GB, 256 GB, 500 GB). Do not pick the USB stick (8–32 GB). Some Macs also show a tiny extra device (a few KB); ignore it. If you aren't sure which is which, choose <Go Back> and check again.

  1. Partitioning scheme: choose All files in one partition.
  2. You'll see a summary: an EFI/ESP partition, an ext4 partition mounted at /, and swap, all on the same internal disk. Choose Finish partitioning and write changes to disk.
  3. Write the changes to disks? Choose Yes. This is the moment the disk is erased.

What about \"encrypted LVM\"?

Encryption protects your data if the computer is stolen, but you must type a passphrase at the physical keyboard every time it restarts. That's awkward for a server with no screen. Beginners: choose the plain option.

Screen 9: Package manager (where software comes from)#

Question Answer
Scan extra installation media? No
Debian archive mirror country Your country
Debian archive mirror deb.debian.org
HTTP proxy Leave empty
Participate in the package usage survey? No

Screen 10: Software selection (important)#

[!] Software selection
Choose software to install:
[ ] Debian desktop environment
[ ] ... GNOME
[ ] ... Xfce
[ ] ... KDE Plasma
[ ] web server
[*] SSH server
[*] standard system utilities
<Continue>
Only SSH server and standard system utilities ticked.

Use Space to make it look exactly like this:

  • Untick everything about desktop, GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and so on. A server doesn't need a desktop; it wastes memory.
  • Tick SSH server. This lets you control the server from another computer.
  • Tick standard system utilities.

Then Tab to <Continue>.

Forgot to tick \"standard system utilities\"?

Not a problem. After the first login, run sudo apt install tasksel and then sudo tasksel install standard.

Screen 11: Finish#

  1. If asked about the GRUB boot loader, answer Yes and choose the internal disk (the same one as before).
  2. Installation complete: remove the USB stick, then choose Continue. The computer restarts.

It starts the installer again?

The USB stick is still in. Remove it and restart. Mac: if it shows a flashing question mark, hold Option at power-on and choose EFI Boot or Debian from the internal disk.

Done when: the screen shows a black text login like homeserver login:.

Next: 5. First login

Made by Anish · 2026