Revision of Install Trisquel as a Server from Wed, 12/04/2013 - 09:03

In this tutorial I will show you how to install Trisquel GNU/Linux as a server. For this we will use the Trisquel NetInstall which is only 25MB, and install (only) the necessary packages to have a fully customized Trisquel Server running.

Get the ISO

This step is quite simple, you only have to download the image from here: https://trisquel.info/en/download

Don't forget to select Trisquel NetInstall. If your computer supports x86-64 (64-bit) then it's recommended that you select this option for better performance.

After this just follow one of the tutorials below (as an example) in order to burn the image and start the installation of Trisquel :

• Burning Trisquel to a CD/DVD in Windows
• Making a bootable Trisquel USB drive

The installation

This is the most important part since we are going to install Trisquel on the hard drive. In this example the entire space of the hard drive will be used, but you can adjust it as you wish.

1. Start the installation

2. Select your language

3. Select your country

4. Press Yes to configure the keyboard layout

5. Press the keys that appear on your screen until your keyboard is found

6. When your keyboard layout is found just press Continue.

Since I have a Portuguese Keyboard (pt) it is normal to see "pt" appearing instead of "us" for example.

7. Enter the hostname for your system (the name that will appear on the network)

8. Choose the closest country mirror

9. Press Enter over the mirror you want (in that country)

10. If your network is behind a proxy then type your proxy information. Else, hit Enter.

11. A blank "Loading" screen will appear, which may take some time

12. After the "Loading" screen there will be a screen for additional components (just let it work)

13. Confirm your timezone

I live near Lisbon so it's normal to see (Europe/Lisbon)

14. Partition the disk (in this example we will use the entire disk)

15. Select the disk you want to partition

16. It will create a swap partition and an ext4 Partition. Hit Enter.

17. The partition will be created and the installation of the base system will begin.

18. Select a kernel

You should use the linux-generic kernel (or linux-generic-pae if you're using a x86 System with PAE support). In Trisquel 6.0 Toutatis you can choose the generic image; in previous versions, it's recommended to choose the server image

19. The installation of the kernel (and the rest of the system) will begin

20. Type the full name of the user and hit Enter

21. Type the username of the new user and hit Enter

22. Type the password for the user account and hit Enter

23. Re-type the password for the user account and hit Enter

24. You can choose encrypt your home directory

Keep in mind that if you forget or lose your password, your data is entirely unrecoverable.

25. The latest packages available will be downloaded and installed (there is no need to update after the installation)

26. Choose the update management of your system.

It is recommended to select the Automatic option if you don't want to manually install updates.

27. Choose what packages you want to install.

In this example only the Trisquel Console Environment is selected. Other packages can be selected, such as GLAMP and OpenSSH.

28. Select your email server configuration

As a web server, if you want to use the mail account anywhere select the "Internet Site" options.

Here are the available options:

• No configuration:
  • Should be chosen to leave the current configuration unchanged.
• Internet Site:
  • Mail is sent and received directly using SMTP
• Internet with smarthost:
  • Mail is received directly using SMTP or by running a utility such as fetchmail. Outgoing mail is sent using a smarthost.
• Satellite System:
  • All mail is sent to another machine, called a 'smarthost', for delivery.
• Local only:
  • The only delivered mail is the mail for local users. There is no network.

29. Type the System mail name

30. Select "Yes" to install GRUB (in order to start Trisquel when the computer starts)

31. GRUB will be installed and the installation will proceed

33. Confirm the system clock (UTC is recommended)

34. The installation has finished!

Just hit Enter and remove the CD or USB drive you used to install Trisquel, otherwise the installation will restart when the computer starts again.

And that's it. You have now a freshly installed Trisquel GNU/Linux (with only the Console Environment) that we will use as a server.

You can go back to the Server Page in order to continue with the configurations.

Possible issues

Black screen when booting Trisquel Console Environment

This is a bug. To solve this you just need to press ALT + F2 and you will see the login screen.