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<chapter id="d-i-intro"><title>Using the Debian Installer</title>
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<sect1><title>How the Installer Works</title>
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The Debian Installer consists of a number of special-purpose
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components to perform each installation task. Each component performs
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its task, asking the user questions as necessary to do its job.
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The questions themselves are given priorities, and the priority
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of questions to be asked is set when the installer is started.
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When a default installation is performed, only essential (high priority)
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questions will be asked. This results in a highly automated installation
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process with little user interaction. Components are automatically run
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in sequence; which components are run depends mainly on the installation
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method you use and on your hardware. The installer will use default values
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for questions that are not asked.
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If there is a problem, the user will see an error screen, and the
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installer menu may be shown in order to select some alternative
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action. If there are no problems, the user will never see the
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installer menu, but will simply answer questions for each component
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in turn. Serious error notifications are set to priority
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<quote>critical</quote> so the user will always be notified.
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Some of the defaults that the installer uses can be influenced by passing
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boot arguments when &d-i; is started. If, for example, you wish to
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force static network configuration (DHCP is used by default if available),
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you could add the boot parameter <userinput>netcfg/disable_dhcp=true</userinput>.
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See <xref linkend="installer-args"/> for available options.
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Power users may be more comfortable with a menu-driven interface,
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where each step is controlled by the user rather than the installer
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performing each step automatically in sequence. To use the installer
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in a manual, menu-driven way, add the boot argument
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<userinput>debconf/priority=medium</userinput>.
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If your hardware requires you to pass options to kernel modules as
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they are installed, you will need to start the installer in
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<quote>expert</quote> mode. This can be done by either using the
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<command>expert</command> command to start the installer or by adding
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the boot argument <userinput>debconf/priority=low</userinput>.
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Expert mode gives you full control over &d-i;.
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The normal installer display is character-based (as opposed to the now
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more familiar graphical interface). The mouse is not operational in
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this environment. Here are the keys you can use to navigate within the
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various dialogs. The <keycap>Tab</keycap> or <keycap>right</keycap>
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arrow keys move <quote>forward</quote>, and the <keycombo> <keycap>Shift</keycap>
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<keycap>Tab</keycap> </keycombo> or <keycap>left</keycap> arrow keys
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move <quote>backward</quote> between displayed buttons and selections.
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The <keycap>up</keycap> and <keycap>down</keycap> arrow select
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different items within a scrollable list, and also scroll the list
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itself. In addition, in long lists, you can type a letter to cause the
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list to scroll directly to the section with items starting with the
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letter you typed and use <keycap>Pg-Up</keycap> and
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<keycap>Pg-Down</keycap> to scroll the list in sections. The
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<keycap>space bar</keycap> selects an item such as a checkbox. Use
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&enterkey; to activate choices.
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</para><para arch="s390">
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S/390 does not support virtual consoles. You may open a second and third
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ssh session to view the logs described below.
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Error messages are redirected to the third console.
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You can access this console by
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pressing <keycombo><keycap>Left Alt</keycap><keycap>F3</keycap></keycombo>
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(hold the left <keycap>Alt</keycap> key while pressing the
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<keycap>F3</keycap> function key); get back to
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the main installer process with
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<keycombo><keycap>Left Alt</keycap><keycap>F1</keycap></keycombo>.
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These messages can also be found in
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<filename>/var/log/messages</filename>. After installation, this log
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is copied to <filename>/var/log/debian-installer/messages</filename> on your
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new system. Other installation messages may be found in
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<filename>/var/log/</filename> during the
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installation, and <filename>/var/log/debian-installer/</filename>
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after the computer has been booted into the installed system.
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<sect1 id="modules-list"><title>Components Introduction</title>
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Here is a list of installer components with a brief description
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of each component's purpose. Details you might need to know about
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using a particular component are in <xref linkend="module-details"/>.
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<term>main-menu</term><listitem><para>
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Shows the list of components to the user during installer operation,
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and starts a component when it is selected. Main-menu's
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questions are set to priority medium, so if your priority is set to
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high or critical (high is the default), you will not see the menu. On
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the other hand, if there is an error which requires your intervention,
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the question priority may be downgraded temporarily to allow you
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to resolve the problem, and in that case the menu may appear.
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You can get to the main menu by selecting the <quote>Back</quote> button
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repeatedly to back all the way out of the currently running component.
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<varlistentry condition="sarge">
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<term>languagechooser</term><listitem><para>
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Shows a list of languages and language variants. The installer will
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display messages in the chosen language, unless the translation for
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that language is not complete. When a translation is not complete,
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English messages are shown.
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<varlistentry condition="sarge">
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<term>countrychooser</term><listitem><para>
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Shows a list of countries. The user may choose the country he lives
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<varlistentry condition="etch">
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<term>localechooser</term><listitem><para>
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Allows the user to select localization options for the installation and
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the installed system: language, country and locales. The installer will
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display messages in the selected language, unless the translation for
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that language is not complete in which case some messages may be shown
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<term>kbd-chooser</term><listitem><para>
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Shows a list of keyboards, from which the user chooses the model which
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<term>hw-detect</term><listitem><para>
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Automatically detects most of the system's hardware, including network
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cards, disk drives, and PCMCIA.
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<term>cdrom-detect</term><listitem><para>
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Looks for and mounts a Debian installation CD.
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<term>netcfg</term><listitem><para>
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Configures the computer's network connections so it can communicate
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<term>iso-scan</term><listitem><para>
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Looks for ISO file systems, which may be on a CD-ROM or on the
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<term>choose-mirror</term><listitem><para>
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Presents a list of Debian archive mirrors. The user may choose
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the source of his installation packages.
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<term>cdrom-checker</term><listitem><para>
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Checks integrity of a CD-ROM. This way the user may assure him/herself
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that the installation CD-ROM was not corrupted.
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<term>lowmem</term><listitem><para>
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Lowmem tries to detect systems with low memory and then does various
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tricks to remove unnecessary parts of &d-i; from the memory (at the
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cost of some features).
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<term>anna</term><listitem><para>
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Anna's Not Nearly APT. Installs packages which have been retrieved
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from the chosen mirror or CD.
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<term>partman</term><listitem><para>
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Allows the user to partition disks attached to the system, create file
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systems on the selected partitions, and attach them to the
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mountpoints. Included are also interesting features like a fully
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automatic mode or LVM support. This is the preferred partitioning tool
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<term>autopartkit</term><listitem><para>
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Automatically partitions an entire disk according to preset
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<term>partitioner</term><listitem><para>
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Allows the user to partition disks attached to the system. A
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partitioning program appropriate to your computer's architecture
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<term>partconf</term><listitem><para>
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Displays a list of partitions, and creates file systems on
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the selected partitions according to user instructions.
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<term>lvmcfg</term><listitem><para>
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Helps the user with the configuration of the
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<firstterm>LVM</firstterm> (Logical Volume Manager).
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<term>mdcfg</term><listitem><para>
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Allows the user to setup Software <firstterm>RAID</firstterm>
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(Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). This Software RAID is usually
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superior to the cheap IDE (pseudo hardware) RAID controllers found on
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<term>base-installer</term><listitem><para>
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Installs the most basic set of packages which would allow
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the computer to operate under Linux when rebooted.
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<term>os-prober</term><listitem><para>
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Detects currently installed operating systems on the computer and
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passes this information to the bootloader-installer, which may offer
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you an ability to add discovered operating systems to the bootloader's
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start menu. This way the user could easily choose at the boot time
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which operating system to start.
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<term>bootloader-installer</term><listitem><para>
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Installs a boot loader program on the hard disk, which is necessary
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for the computer to start up using Linux without using a floppy or
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CD-ROM. Many boot loaders allow the user to choose an alternate
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operating system each time the computer boots.
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<term>base-config</term><listitem><para>
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Provides dialogs for setting up the base system packages according
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to user preferences. This is normally done after rebooting the
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computer; it is the <quote>first run</quote> of the new Debian system.
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<term>shell</term><listitem><para>
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Allows the user to execute a shell from the menu, or in the second
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<term condition="sarge">bugreporter</term><term condition="etch">save-logs</term><listitem><para>
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Provides a way for the user to record information on a floppy
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disk<phrase condition="etch">, network, hard disk, or other media</phrase>
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when trouble is encountered, in order to accurately report installer
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software problems to Debian developers later.
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&using-d-i-components.xml;