Installing Debian GNU/Linux via the Internet
If you have a permanent connection to the Internet, you can install
Debian using that. You would initially download only a small portion of
Debian required to start the installation process, and then install
whatever else you want from within the installation program.
This sort of network installation process requires Internet access
via Ethernet or wireless (possibly using a PCMCIA card in your laptop).
Unfortunately, it does not support internal ISDN cards.
There are three options for installs over the network:
- Minimal CD:
Instead of getting a full 650MB CD image, you just download a CD image
file which contains the bare essentials necessary to install the rest.
For the moment, it's necessary to have access to a CD recorder in order
to use this.
- Floppy disks:
You download a couple of floppy disk images (files the size of a floppy
disk), write them to floppy disks, and then start the installation by
booting from those diskettes.
- Network boot:
You set up a TFTP and a DHCP (or BOOTP, or RARP) server which will serve the
installation media to machines on your local network, and start the
installation by booting from the network. Only recommended for advanced
users.
