See how to correctly install Debian 12 "Bookworm" on your computer (dual-boot or not) by following our tips!
The Debian Projectย made available on June 10, 2023ย the stable version ofย Debian 12 "Bookworm"ย withย support forย updates, security and bug fixes forย around 5 yearsย (untilย June 2028). Based on theย Linux Kernel 6.1 LTS, Debian Bookworm brings theย proprietary firmware on the official installation mediaย and has the latest versions of desktop environments, such asย KDE Plasma 5.27,ย GNOME 43ย andย Xfce 4.18, in addition to various software and system package updates.
And to help especially beginners who want to use this newest version of Debian, we have prepared this complete step-by-step installation of Debian 12 "Bookworm", from the initial preparations such as creating the installation media and freeing up disk space to the first login to the system.
๐™๐™ž๐™ฅ!
๐™๐™–๐™ ๐™š ๐™จ๐™ค๐™ข๐™š ๐™›๐™ง๐™š๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™˜๐™–๐™ก๐™ข๐™ก๐™ฎ, ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง๐™š ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™–๐™ก ๐™™๐™š๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ž๐™ก๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ, ๐™ž๐™› ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ ๐™™๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ง๐™ง๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ก๐™ฎ, ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ช๐™ก๐™™ ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™จ๐™ฎ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ข ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™จ ๐™š๐™ญ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™, ๐™ค๐™ ?!
๐˜ˆ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ!
๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ขย ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜‹๐˜ˆ๐˜›๐˜ˆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜š๐˜š. ๐˜”๐˜ˆ๐˜’๐˜Œ ๐˜‰๐˜ˆ๐˜Š๐˜’๐˜œ๐˜—ย ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ดย ๐˜‰๐˜Œ๐˜๐˜–๐˜™๐˜Œย ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ?!
๐ˆ๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง!
" ๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ" ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“๐ŸŽ๐†๐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Ÿ‘๐†๐ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‘๐€๐Œ. ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ž๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ ๐›๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐œ๐š๐ง ๐›๐ž ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญย ๐”๐„๐…๐ˆย ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ ๐›๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ .
Content Index
Debian 12 system requirements;
Before I start, what should I do?
BACKUP ALL your files;
Perform the DEFRAGMENTATION or OPTIMIZATION of the disk;
Disable Windows Fast Startup;
Download Debian 12 "Bookworm";
Check that the ISO image is not corrupted;
Create a Debian 12 "Bookworm" installation media;
Creating a bootable pen drive with Ventoy (recommended);
Creating a bootable pen drive with dd (Linux);
Creating a bootable pen drive with Rufus (Windows);
Burning the ISO to a DVD;
Free up space on your SSD or HDD (through Windows or with GParted);
Boot the PC from the installation media;
Installation of Debian 12 "Bookworm";
Only Windows starts after installing Debian, what to do?
What to do after installing Debian 12?
Conclusion.
Debian 12 System Requirements
Before we begin, check below if your computer meets the followingย minimum requirementsย for installing and running Debian 12 "Bookworm":
Processor (Intelยฎย orย AMDยฎ) ofย 1 GHzย or faster;
1 GB of RAM (2 GB or more is recommended);
10 GB (or more) of free* disk space for installation;
๐˜๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ!
๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ ๐˜‹๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜‰๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜บ, ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ 3 ๐˜Ž๐˜‰ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜™๐˜ˆ๐˜”.
๐˜๐˜ง ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ด "๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ" ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ/๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ 2 ๐˜Ž๐˜‰ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜™๐˜ˆ๐˜”, ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ดย ๐˜Ÿ๐˜ง๐˜ค๐˜ฆย ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณย ๐˜“๐˜Ÿ๐˜‹๐˜Œย ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜งย ๐˜Ž๐˜•๐˜–๐˜”๐˜Œย ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅย ๐˜’๐˜‹๐˜Œย (๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด) , ๐˜–๐˜’?!
Is your computer capable of installing Debian Bookworm? If so, check out some steps below that you should followย BEFORE starting the installation!
Before I start, what should I do?
Do you intend to install Debian 12 "Bookworm" alongside theย Windows 11,ย Windows 10,ย Windows 8/8.1,ย Windows 7ย or any otherย Linux distributionย previously installed on your disk (performing the "famous"ย dual boot)? So you MUST FOLLOW THE RECOMMENDATIONS BELOW to avoid future headaches:
BACK UP ALL your filesย (like music, documents, photos, etc) to anย external storage deviceย (like aย HDD/SSD,ย Blu-rays,ย DVDs,ย pen drivesย orย SD cards) use aย cloud storage serviceย ( Google Drive,ย Dropbox,ย MEGA, etc.). This is extremely important and must be done regularly (not just now that you want to install Debian), because if something goes wrong your personal data will be safe.
Defragment or OPTIMIZEย the partition where Windows is located (at least 2 times) or the NTFS partition that you will resize to install Debian. If you use anย SSD, use theย optimization software provided by the disk manufacturer to optimize it. Forย HDDs, I recommend that you use Windows' ownย defragmentation toolย to, obviously,ย defragment it.
Disable Windows Fast Startup, a feature present in newer versions of Windows (more precisely inย Windows 11,ย Windows 10,ย Windows 8.1ย andย 8) that causes your computer to go into hibernation when you turn it off, causing problems when performing dual boot and also if you want to access the Windows partition.
To do this, open theย Control Panel, then go toย Power Optionsย >>ย Change how the power buttons work, once done, click onย Change settings not currently availableย and uncheck the "Turn on fast startup" option. Afterwards, save the changes.
Download Debian 12 "Bookworm"
Debian is a free, open-source operating system built by volunteers from around the world and freely available for personal or commercial use. And to download it (if you haven't already), just access theย official website. https://www.debian.org/distrib/
Below you will also find the links to access the latest Debian Bookworm ISOs: 64-bit or 32-bit https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-dvd/ https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/i386/iso-dvd/
Check that the ISO image is not corrupted
After downloading, it is highly recommended that youย check the integrity of the ISOย before burning it to a DVD or pen drive (thus avoiding random problems during installation).
If you are a Linuxย user, you can easily check the integrity of the ISO using the terminal.
Onย Windows, you will have to download third-party software to perform the verification.
Create Debian 12 "Bookworm" installation media
After checking that the ISO you downloaded is complete, it's time to create installation media with it. Below I show some easy methods for creating a bootable pen drive that I use and recommend, in addition to the traditional DVD method.
Creating a bootable pen drive with Ventoy (recommended)
The easiest way to create a Debian installation pen drive, whetherย on Windows or Linux, is usingย Ventoy. With Ventoy, all you have to do is format the pen drive once and copy the ISO to the created partition, that's it!
Creating a bootable pen drive with dd (Linux)
For Linux users who like to use the good old terminal, it is also possible to create a Debian installation media with "dd".
Creating a bootable pen drive with Rufus (Windows)
Rufus is, without a doubt, the best-known and most practical tool for creating bootable pen drives available for Windows.
Burning the ISO to a DVD
Another more traditional option that is little used nowadays is to create bootable optical discs (CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays) to install operating systems.
Inย Linuxย you have at your disposal some software such as the famousย K3B,ย Braseroย orย Xfburnย to create a Debian installation DVD easily in a few clicks.
Windowsย has a native tool to burn ISO to DVDs, just right-click on the Debian ISO file and select the "Burn disc image" option.
Free up space on your SSD or HDD (with Windows or with GParted)
Assuming that you have already backed up your data and that you have optimized or defragmented your SSD/HDD (if you use Windows), you will now need to create enough empty space on your disk to install Debian.
Notes regarding partitions (under construction)
Before you start resizing your disk partitions, it is important that you pay attention to some details so as not to get confused when installing Debian:
What partitions are needed for Debian?
For the "standard" installation of Debian (using the Ext4 file system) on a computer that already has another operating system(s), basically 2 partitions are needed:
The "Root", whereย Debian and all software are installedย (which can also store your personal data);
And "Swap", aย partition that acts as a virtual RAM memoryย (extending the computer's physical RAM memory) and supports suspension to disk.
๐‘ฐ๐’๐’‡๐’๐’“๐’Ž๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’!
๐‘ป๐’‰๐’†๐’“๐’† ๐’Š๐’” ๐’‚๐’๐’”๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’†ย ๐‘ฏ๐‘ถ๐‘ด๐‘ฌ ๐‘ท๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’, ๐’–๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’”๐’•๐’๐’“๐’† ๐’‘๐’†๐’“๐’”๐’๐’๐’‚๐’ ๐’…๐’‚๐’•๐’‚ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’”๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’”๐’†๐’•๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’”ย ๐’”๐’†๐’‘๐’‚๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’๐’š ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘น๐’๐’๐’• (๐’–๐’”๐’†๐’‡๐’–๐’ ๐’Š๐’‡ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’๐’†๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’“๐’†๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’”๐’š๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’Ž).
What size should these partitions be?
Theย size for the partitionsย varies according to theย requirements of each systemย and according to theย needs of each user.
In the case of Debian (forย installation with a graphical environment), it is necessary to allocate aย minimum of 10 GB to the Root Partition. This is only for the system itself, the pre-installed software and for downloading future package updates, not counting your personal files and other extra software that you may install.
Regarding theย Swap Partition, the Debian installer (in automatic mode) usually creates a partition of justย 1 GB, but this may vary depending on the amount of RAM available on your computer.
But after all, how much space do I need to install Debian?
As stated above, this varies depending on the system and user needs.
In general, Iย recommendย that you allocateย at least 35 GB to the Root Partition, this allows you to install Debian with more "slack" and can also install some more software without the risk of running out of disk space. Remember that these 35 GB that I recommendedย are only for Debian, if you intend to store your personal data in the Root you need to add enough space to store them + about 10% free space (at least) to spare.
๐‘ป๐’Š๐’‘!
๐‘ฐ๐’๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’‚๐’… ๐’๐’‡ ๐’”๐’•๐’๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’…๐’‚๐’•๐’‚ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’ƒ๐’Š๐’‚๐’ ๐‘น๐’๐’๐’•, ๐‘ฐย ๐’”๐’•๐’“๐’๐’๐’ˆ๐’๐’š ๐’“๐’†๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’„๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’•๐’† ๐’‚ ๐‘ฏ๐‘ถ๐‘ด๐‘ฌ ๐‘ท๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ย ๐’…๐’–๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’„๐’†๐’”๐’”, ๐’๐’Œ?!
Regarding theย Swap Partition, I, personally,ย recommend that you allocate 4 GBย to it. It's the same amount of Swap that I've been using for several years and I've never gotten to use it fully (but I'm also not in the habit of using the suspend feature in Linux).
Doing the math, according to the Debian documentation, you need to have:
10 GBย forย Root Partitionย (system only) +ย 1 GBย forย Swap Partitionย =ย 11 GB of FREE SPACEย at least on disk, not counting the space to store your data;
According to my recommendations, you need to have:
35 GBย forย Root Partitionย +ย 4 GBย forย Swap Partitionย +ย Enough spaceย forย HOME Partitionย (the partition that will store your personal files) =ย More than 39 GB of FREEย disk SPACE.
What about the HOME Partition, is it worth having one?
From my own experience I say,ย YES, it is really worth using aย HOME Partition separate from the Root. By storing your documents, music, images, videos and other files in a partition separate from the partition where the operating system was installed, you have some benefits:
More security, because if the partition where your system is installed becomes corrupted, your data will be "safe" in another location;
Possibility toย reinstallย (or evenย change)ย the operating system easilyย without affecting your data (this does not replace the backup!);
Possibility ofย using the same HOME Partition in other Linux distributionsย or even in Windows (in this case, using the NTFS file system in it and disabling the Windows Fast Startup feature);
Allows you to resize the partition (increasing or decreasing in size) without affecting the system partition.
These are some of the advantages of having a separate HOME Partition, but despite this, it's up to you toย create one or store your data directly on the partition where your Debian will be installed, ok?!
Partitioning disk in Windows
If you already haveย Windowsย installed on your computer, it isย highly recommended that you useย Disk Management, the system's native tool for creating and resizing partitions (in addition to other disk operations).
If you have a Linux distribution installed on your SSD/HDD, use GParted on a Live CD or pen drive to resize your partitions.
๐‘ฐ๐’๐’‡๐’๐’“๐’Ž๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’!
๐‘จ๐’๐’•๐’‰๐’๐’–๐’ˆ๐’‰ ๐’Š๐’• ๐’Š๐’” ๐’‘๐’๐’”๐’”๐’Š๐’ƒ๐’๐’† ๐’•๐’ ๐’–๐’”๐’† ๐‘ฎ๐‘ท๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’“๐’†๐’”๐’Š๐’›๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘พ๐’Š๐’๐’…๐’๐’˜๐’” ๐’‘๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’, ๐‘ฐ ๐’“๐’†๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’–๐’”๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘พ๐’Š๐’๐’…๐’๐’˜๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’Š๐’”๐’Œ ๐‘ด๐’‚๐’๐’‚๐’ˆ๐’†๐’“ ๐’Š๐’•๐’”๐’†๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’ ๐’“๐’†๐’”๐’Š๐’›๐’† ๐’Š๐’•, ๐’•๐’‰๐’–๐’” ๐’‚๐’—๐’๐’Š๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ "๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’ƒ๐’๐’†๐’Ž๐’”" ๐’˜๐’‰๐’†๐’ ๐’๐’๐’ˆ๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Š๐’๐’•๐’ ๐’Š๐’•.
Boot PC from installation media
After freeing up disk space, it's time toย boot your PC or notebook from the Debian Bookworm installation media that you learned how to createย above.
The procedure is simple, the first step is to leave your bootable pen drive "sticking" in a USB port or insert the Debian DVD into the optical drive. Then,ย restart your computerย normally andย BEFOREย the operating system already installed on your machine starts, you must press a certain key several times toย access the Boot Menuย (orย Boot Menu) andย select your installation media.
๐‘ฐ๐’๐’‡๐’๐’“๐’Ž๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’!
๐‘ฐ๐’‡ ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’‘๐’–๐’•๐’†๐’“/๐’๐’๐’•๐’†๐’ƒ๐’๐’๐’Œ ๐’‰๐’‚๐’” ๐’‚๐’ ๐’๐’‘๐’•๐’Š๐’„๐’‚๐’ ๐’…๐’“๐’Š๐’—๐’†, ๐’Š๐’• ๐’Š๐’” ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’ƒ๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’๐’š ๐’‚๐’๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’…๐’š ๐’„๐’๐’๐’‡๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’–๐’“๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’๐’๐’• ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’Š๐’• ๐’‡๐’Š๐’“๐’”๐’•.
When you access the Boot Menu you will findย several boot options, including yourย SSDย and/orย HDD. If you areย using a DVDย to install Debian, justย select your optical driveย in the Boot Menu, pressย Enterย and wait for it to load.
If you areย using a Debian installation pen drive, be aware:
For computers withย UEFIย +ย Secure Bootย ย ย ย Your flash drive will probably be listed twice, however, you MUSTย select theย pen drive in UEFI modeย (the name option "UEFI:ย pen drive name/model") to install the Debian, as highlighted by theย letter A
๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป!
๐—”๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ตย ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜ย (๐—ผ๐—ฟย ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜) ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ย ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€, ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€๐—ผ (๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€)ย ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐——๐—ฉ๐——.
๐—œ๐—™ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€ย ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ (๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ), ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผย ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒย ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ'๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฝ.
For computers withย BIOS/Legacyย ย ย ย Justย normally select your pen driveย in the Boot Menu list (without the optionย โ€œUEFIโ€), as shown by theย letter B
After backing up your data, freeing up space on the SSD/HDD and learning how to boot from the installation media, restart your computer to begin the step-by-step installation of Debian 12 "Bookworm"!
Installing Debian 12 "Bookworm"
And finally it's time to install Debian 12 Bookworm. Have you read and followed all the recommendations above? Are you ready? So let's go!
After booting your computer with the Debian Bookworm bootable pen drive or CD/DVD, a screen similar to the image below will be displayed (if your computer hasย UEFI). There, select the "Installation" option and pressย Enterย then:
Next you must select the language that will be used in the system installation process.
Afterwards, select the country where you reside and click the "Continue" button:
Choose yourย keyboard layout and click "Continue":
The Debian installerย will automatically attempt to configure the networkย (if you are connected to one), and if your computer has more than one network card (such as Wi-Fi), you can choose which one to connect to.
Afterwards, you must define a hostname for your system (or leave the one indicated by default) and click "Continue":
You will then be able to enter theย domain nameย for your system. If you have no idea what this is, just leave it blank and click "Continue":
In the next step, you will be able toย set a root passwordย for your Debian (I recommend using special characters in it). You will have to enter the password twice and then click the "Continue" button:
๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป!
๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜, ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜, ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ "๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ". ๐—ช๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€, ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜ (๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฝ) ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—ฑ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€.
Afterwards,ย enter your Full Nameย to create a "standard" User Account on your system and then click "Continue":
Enter aย usernameย (which must always begin with aย lowercase letter) for the new default account:
And create aย password for this new accountย (you will also have to enter the password twice):
Then,ย set the time zone byย selecting theย state where you liveย and click "Continue":
Now we come to theย most important step of installing Debian Bookworm, which isย Disk Selection and Partitioning. In it, severalย Partitioning Methods will be presented, among the main ones are:
The "Assisted -ย use the most continuous free space" mode (this option will only appear if you have freed up disk space, as I indicated at the beginning of this article) is the easiest way to configure partitioning (recommended for those who are new to Linux and /or who doesn't understand much about partitions), since the Debian installer will take care ofย automatically creating all the necessary partitions. When selecting it, the Debian installer will propose three disk partitioning schemes:
All files in one partition (for starters);
Separate /home partition;
Separate /home, /var and /tmp partition.
Among them, just choose the one that is best for your case. The first option, as indicated by the installer himself, is ideal for beginners. You can see the steps (screenshots) of this process in this animated GIFย (opens a new window)
The "Assisted - use the entire disk" mode is recommended ONLY for those who want to install Debian on a new hard disk and/or who do not have any other operating system or personal data (be careful, as this option will erase all data that is on HDD/SSD). In it, you must choose your hard drive and then (as previously indicated), choose one of the three disk partitioning schemes:
All files in one partition (for starters);
Separate /home partition;
Separate /home, /var and /tmp partition.
You should choose the option that best suits your needs, with theย first optionย being ideal if you are not sure which one to choose. You can see the steps in this process in this animated GIFย (opens a new window)
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ "๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฉ๐— " ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ "๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฉ๐— " ๐—”๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒย ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐˜†.
So that's it guys, I hope you enjoy this little tutorial.
100 sats \ 0 replies \ @davidw 2 Apr
Nice work on your first post. Thanks for the time taken to draft this.
Are there any other decent resources youโ€™d recommend for those looking to make the most of their new Debian 12 setup?

Tip - If you click the little M icon next to the text field, for your next post you might want to consider a bit more markdown for larger sectioned titles & readability.
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Debian, a rock solid alternative... even using the stable branch it's the best to recommend for new users.
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