Debian is one of the most famous Linux distros. The fame comes from the stability, robustness and low hardware requirements. The only thing is that it can be trickier than Ubuntu to use, so it's not the first choice for many beginners. However, this article will show you how to install it in a Virtual Machine with some useful tips. Let's begin.
Requirements:
The Debian .iso files. There are various different ways to install Debian. In this tutorial I'll use the Debian .iso files because I don't want to depend on an Internet connection that could fail any moment. So, I downloaded the DVD's corresponding to a 64 bit architecture from
here. There are many other options, but in most cases you'll need to download the DVD's corresponding to
i386 or
amd64, for 32 and 64 bit respectively.
Steps:
1. Open vmWare Workstation.
2. Go to File>New Virtual Machine...
3. Select 'Custom' and click Next
4. Click Next
5. Select 'I will install the operating system later'. Click Next.
6. Select Linux and Debian 7.x 64bit.
7. Click Next.
8. Enter a name and a location for the Virtual Machine
9. You can leave all the next options with the default value and click Next until you reach the last dialog. Then click Finish.
Now, go to VM>Settings>CD/DVD (IDE) and select the fist Debian DVD and click OK.
10. POwer on the VM. When it boots up, select 'Graphical install' and press Enter.
11. Select the language and press Continue.
12. Select the location and press Continue.
13. Select the keyboard configuration and click Continue.
14. Enter a hostname. This is to identify the machine in a network, so unless you are doing this in a particular network, you can leave that with the default name. Then click Continue.
15. Enter a domain name. In this case, it can be anything, so I'll enter 'testools.net'. Then click Continue.
16. Enter a password for the root and click Continue.
17. Enter a name for the user that will be used for non-administrative activities. This is the real name for the user, so enter something like John Smith. Click Continue.
18. Select the name for the user account. This name should begin with a lower-case letter. For example, you could choose 'john'.
19. Enter a password for the new user account.
20. Select the time zone and click Continue.
21. In this case, I'll select 'Guided - use entire disk' as partition method.
22. There's only one disk in this example, so select it and click Continue.
23. For the partition scheme I selected the first option (all the files in a single partition). To know more about which partition scheme to choose, read
this. Click Continue three times and the installation will begin.
24. After all the contents of the first DVD are read, a dialog will prompt you to scan another disk. Now, go to VM>Settings>CD/DVD (IDE)
25. Browse and select the second Debian DVD. Then click OK.
26. A dialog warning about the lock to the CD will be displayed. Just click Yes.
27. Back to the VM, Select Yes and click Continue. If it fails, open the VM settings again and check 'Connected' in 'Device Status' to get the .iso file connected.
28. After the second DVD was scanned, select 'No' to scan another DVD, an click Continue.
29. Now, the wizard will prompt you to insert the first DVD again. Do it and click Continue.
30. IN the popularity-contest configuration, select No.
31. In the software selection screen you can select additional software to install. I just installed the core components.
32. In the step to install GRUB, select Yes and click Continue.
33. After a moment, you'll see the following screen. It means that the installation is over! Click continue.
34. Finally, the VM will restart and there you have it! Enjoy!