I don’t have spare peripherals like a monitor and a keyboard. How do you suggest I do a bare-metal install of Debian on a computer (meant to be a server)?

  • NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    4 months ago

    Usually I want to see the BIOS settings at least once. So that’s enough reason to carry a keyboard + monitor there.

    Otherwise that network boot option with a TFTP server comes to my mind. But I have never tried it on a new, empty machine.

  • AlexanderESmith@social.alexanderesmith.com
    981·
    4 months ago

    You’ll waste more time trying to figure out how to do this than it would take to move a monitor and keyboard to the server, do the install, and plug the monitor and keyboard back into your main computer. Once the server is up, you can administer it over the network via ssh.

    • MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      True, it’s just that I’d like to avoid purchasing more useless stuff. I might move in a few months and maybe carry these computers but I definitely won’t be able to take my monitor. Just going to be a waste of money, and I’m trying to be frugal.

      I am planning to build a small cheap DIY KVM using PiKVM and cheap Aliexpress parts (Raxda’s Zero 3W or the Banana Pi Zero, not sure if they are supported though) in about $25 which I can probably carry around

    • tburkhol@lemmy.worldEnglish
      27·
      4 months ago

      Definitely agree for a single install. If OP has a bunch of these installs to do, then editing an install USB to configure networking and enable sshd might be worth the effort. Do the install over ssh and hope the machine starts up as desired, but even then, if it doesn’t just magically appear on the network, he’s going to need a monitor to see where the startup failed.

      Raspberry Pi’s disk imager will let you pre-configure networking, accounts, and ssh, so you just write the image to an SD card, plug it in, and go. That’s a great solutions for systems usually meant to be headless and removable media. If OP’s client hardware allows, he could plug in the M2 or SATA drive meant to be the server’s startup, install Deb there, and. transfer to the server hardware. That’s definitely more work that just swapping the keyboard & monitor, but it accomplishes OP’s stated goal. (Otherwise, a lot of this thread follows the linux meme of “How do I [X]?” “[X] is dumb, do [Y] instead.”)

      • AlexanderESmith@social.alexanderesmith.com
        3·
        4 months ago

        Agreed on all counts.

        My reply initially had a “if you had a fleet of these things…” addendum, but OP’s post read (to me) as though he was converting commodity hardware into a makeshift home server, so I removed it because it was almost certainly not relevant.

  • TCB13@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18·
    4 months ago

    https://github.com/philpagel/debian-headless

    It is possible but I wouldn’t do it. Too much effort for too little result.

    Just plug your main monitor / keyboard into the server, run the setup and don’t install a DE. Afterwards login, enable SSH, unplug the monitor and do whatever you need over SSH.

    Let’s face it, you’ll have to do this procedure once every xyz years, there’s no point in complicating this stuff. Also depending on your motherboard you may or may not be able to boot into the installer without a screen / keyboard attached. Another option is to install the OS in another computer and the move the hard drive to the target server - this is all fine until you run into UEFI security or another detail and it doesn’t boot your OS.

      • atzanteol@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        10·
        4 months ago

        I picked up a second hand monitor from a goodwill shop for like $7USD. It would be worth having a display of some sort for troubleshooting.

        • TCB13@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          4 months ago

          Yeah at those price points it isn’t worth it at all to attempt a headless install.

      • TCB13@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        4 months ago

        Well I see your problem, but you’re going to have a bad time without a screen. Maybe you can get something second hand / cheap or even ask a friend to borrow one for a few days?

      • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
        9·
        4 months ago

        You’re going to want a monitor and keyboard anyway. It’s going to be pretty hard to troubleshoot a boot issue in the future without them.

        • where_am_i@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          4·
          4 months ago

          yep, a tiny boot error and suddenly you need to punch commands into initramfs. good luck with that headlessly.

      • hydrogen@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2·
        4 months ago

        Take out the hard drive out of your laptop and put the drive for the server in it, install Debian using the built in monitor and keyboard of your laptop.

  • Nithanim@programming.devEnglish
    5·
    4 months ago

    My go-to solution is to use a vm and pass it raw access to the os disk on my normal desktop. Then I just put the disk into the server.

  • megaman@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    21·
    4 months ago

    When i was doing a headless install, i spend a hour or two trying to figure out how to pre setup configs for the debian installer or how to do it over network or what before i finally lugged the new machine to the other room and plugged it into the monitor and keyboard of the main rig, installed it all (and set up ssh so i can later get into from the main rig), and unplugged it.

    My point is, even if it isnt trivial to have the keyboard and monitor, it may be much easier to get them than to really do an install without them.

  • Deckweiss@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    Not sure about debian, but the archlinux iso has ssh on per default, so if you have no other bootable drives in your server other than the usb with the iso, just fire it up and try to connect to it via ssh.

    • MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      Arch linux install wouldn’t be a problem really because the way the install is done. Pretty sure I could it all over SSH. Unfortunately, Debian isn’t exactly that…

  • Max-P@lemmy.max-p.meEnglish
    283·
    4 months ago

    Plug drive in main computer, install Debian on it along with network config and SSH access, put drive back into server and power on.

    I guess technically you can also make an ISO that will just auto wipe the drive and install upon booting it but you still need a keyboard to get into the boot menu.

      • JoeKrogan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        4 months ago

        Connect it to your PC or laptop and do a netinstall. Configure SSHD and a static ip. Plugin the disk to your server and then connect via ssh to admin it.

        You could also set your laptop or PC to boot from the attached disk in the bios to test the services you want to start are starting

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
      3·
      4 months ago

      Do you have a second computer running Linux? If you do install virtual manager and then pass though the disk. (LUN passthough)

      Next boot the VM with the Debian installer and install. Finally shutdown the VM and plug it into the physical device.

  • notabot@lemm.eeEnglish
    23·
    4 months ago

    While I agree with most people here that finding a keyboard and screen would be the easiest option, you do have a couple of other options:

    • Use a preseed file A preseed lets the installer run completely automatically, without user intervention. Get it to install a basic system with SSH and take it from there. You’ll want to test the install in a VM, where you can see what’s going on before letting it run on the real server. More information here: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Preseed

    • Boot from a live image with SSH Take a look at https://wiki.debian.org/LiveCD in particular ‘Debian Live’. It looks like ssh is included, but you’d want to check the service comes up on boot. You can then SSH to the machine and install to the harddrive that way. Again, test on a VM until you know you have the image working, and know how to run the install, then write it to a USB key and boot the tsrget server from that.

    This all assumes the target server has USB or CD at the top of its boot order. If it doesn’t you’ll have to change that first, either with a keyboard and screen, or via a remote management interface sych as IPMI.

    • MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      I did look at Preseed and it’s probably a good idea if I’m doing many installs at once. I will still look at it but I’ll likely have to purchase a monitor anyway. It is unfortunate because I don’t have any thrift stores nearby

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      Once upon a time you could use a thing called debootstrap to install Debian on the hard disk in a chroot on another machine, then switch the hdd to the target machine. Not sure if that thing is still around.

      • notabot@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        4 months ago

        Yes, that’ll work too, it does involve adding the disk to your machine temporarily though, so just be carefully which disk you format to do it. Please don’t ask why I say that, it brings back painful memories…

      • beirdobaggins@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        4 months ago

        I bought a 21 inch 1080p Viewsonic monitor from a thrift store just the other day for $6. I got it just for this use case.

        I had a spare for this purpose up until about a month ago when the backlight went out on one of my daily drivers.

        Also, a couple of days ago I got a pretty nice steelcase apex 3 keyboard with RGB lights for $5.