Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
160 lines (110 loc) · 4.02 KB

debian-from-scratch.md

File metadata and controls

160 lines (110 loc) · 4.02 KB

Debian minimal setup

How to setup a minimal debian installation without bloat

During graphical installation process

  • Make sure that an Ethernet cable is connected, the setup program will automatically configure the network configuration
  • Select a hostname e.g. "debian-thinkpad"
  • Domainname can be left empty
  • Follow this guide to setup full disk encryption in combination with dual boot Windows 10/11
  • Select install sources, select current country, stick with default server "deb.debian.org"
  • Select "No" when asked for "Configuring popularity-contest"
  • Do not install anything extra when asked (uncheck everything)

TTY environment

Not much to see, only darkness. And a command line.

Optional - Configure a Device Dynamically with DHCP

If setup was performed without an Internet connection/network configuration, follow these steps.

Get the name of your network interface and write down its name:

ip address

Open the /etc/network/interfaces file as the root user:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Add the following lines to /etc/network/interfaces , replace <networkInterface> with respective name, save the file:

auto <networkInterface>
iface <networkInterface> inet dhcp

Start the interface:

ifup <networkInterface>

Optional - Set up /etc/apt/sources.list manually

If setup was performed without an Internet connection/software repositories, follow these steps.

Edit the sources.list file:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following lines:

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ bookworm-security main non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main non-free-firmware

Update and upgrade packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install GNOME core (minimal setup)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gnome-core
sudo reboot

Enter GNOME Desktop environment

Now it's getting colorful

Remove interfaces file and let GNOME handle network settings

sudo rm /etc/network/interfaces
sudo reboot

Install systemd-resolved for network name resolution to local applications

# check resolv.conf
cat /etc/resolv.conf

sudo apt install systemd-resolved
sudo reboot

Fix missing time synchronization service

sudo apt install systemd-timesyncd

Add additional packages

# without debian "standard system utilities" all tools in this block are missing
sudo apt install wget gpg bash-completion

# with debian "standard system utilities" following tools are missing
sudo apt install curl gnome-tweaks pip ssh vim

Remove unnecessary packages

sudo apt remove yelp totem gnome-software gnome-characters gnome-contacts firefox-esr -y
sudo apt autoremove --purge

Check Debian version

cat /etc/debian_version

Customize boot manager menu of GRUB

Remove os-prober, if Windows shall be hidden from grub menu

sudo apt remove os-prober

Add custom background to grub boot manager menu

sudo cp /path/to/picture /boot/grub

Customize grub file

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

Make the boot process look nice with following line in /etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
# "quiet" lets all command line text between "grub menu" and "decrytion prompt" disappear.
# "splash" makes the decryption prompt look nice.

Always update grub settings and make them active:

sudo update-grub