# Install Debian on a bare metal system with v-i

You need:

- a USB drive, at least 4 GB
- a PC that supports UEFI
- backups: _all drives_ in the PC will be wiped from data

The steps:

1. Download the installer image from
   <https://files.liw.fi/v-i/v-i.img.xz>. You can use `curl` or `wget`
   or your web browser. Use **one of** the following commands:

    ~~~sh
    curl https://files.liw.fi/v-i/v-i.img.xz > v-i.img.xz
    wget -c https://files.liw.fi/v-i/v-i.img.xz
    ~~~

2. Unpack the image.

   ~~~sh
   unxz v-i.img.xz
   ~~~

3. Insert USB drive and write the image to the stick. I prefer GNOME
   Disks for this, but dd will work. Look up the device of the USB
   stick: run `sudo dmsg -T` and look for relevant kernel message, or
   use GNOME Disks, or something else. Replace the actual device for
   `sdx` below, then run the following command:

    ~~~sh
    dd if=v-i.img bs=1M oflag=direct status=progress of=/dev/sdx
    ~~~

4. Configure the installer. Create a YAML file like the one below, but
   with valued customized for you. You need one of
   `authorized_keys_file` or `user_ca_pub_file`, the others are only
   necessary to avoid the SSH prompt for a new host.

   ~~~yaml
   user_ca_pub_file: ~liw/.ssh/ca/userca.pub
   authorized_keys_file: ~liw/.ssh/id_personal.pub
   host_key_file: host.key
   host_cert_file: host.key-cert.pub
   ~~~

   Then run `sudo ./configure-installer your-config.yaml /dev/sdx` (it
   should be quite fast).

   Alternatively, create a second stick with a file system with the
   label `v-i-config` and a file called `authorized_keys`, and have
   that in another USB port when you boot from the v-i USB drive

5. Make sure everything has been written to the USB drive. Again, I
   prefer GNOME Disks for this, but from the command line:

    ~~~sh
    sync
    eject /dev/sdx
    ~~~

6. Move the USB drive to the target machine and boot off the drive.
   How this happens varies from machine to machine. On my Thinkpad, I
   press F12 at the POST screen and then choose the right drive from
   the boot menu.

7. Wait for the system to boot. Log in as root, either from the
   virtual console (no password), or via SSH.

8. Create a target specification file `foo-target.yaml`. The name can
   be anything, but it must be valid YAML. In the example below, there
   is one NVMe drive that will get the system installed. The primary
   All drives will be encrypted using LUKS, with the password
   "hunter2".

    ~~~yaml
    drive: /dev/nvme0n1
    luks: hunter2
    ~~~

9. Install. Add the `--verbose` option to `./v-i` if you want to know
   what's happening. The first time you run this on a given v-i USB
   drive, it takes a while: it runs `vmdebootstrap` and that is just
   slow. However, the output is cached, so further runs are faster.

    ~~~sh
    rm -f install.log
    ./v-i --verbose foo-target.yaml
    ~~~

10. Reboot into the installed system.

11. Finish configuring the system in whatever way you like to do that.
    You can log into it via SSH as root. I use Ansible.

    Remember to change the LUKS password for each drive.

12. Optional: Let me know how it went.