Using Individual Components
In this section we will describe each installer component in
detail. The components have been grouped into stages that should
be recognizable for users. They are presented in the order they
appear during the install. Note that not all modules will be used
for every installation; which modules are actually used depends on
the installation method you use and on your hardware.
Setting up Debian Installer and Hardware Configuration
Let's assume the Debian Installer has booted and you are facing its
first screen. At this time, the capabilities of &d-i; are still quite
limited. It doesn't know much about your hardware, preferred language,
or even the task it should perform. Don't worry. Because &d-i; is quite
clever, it can automatically probe your hardware, locate the rest
of its components and upgrade itself to a capable installation system.
However, you still need to help &d-i; with some information it can't
determine automatically (like selecting your preferred language, keyboard
layout or desired network mirror).
You will notice that &d-i; performs hardware detection
several times during this stage. The first time is targeted specifically
at the hardware needed to load installer components (e.g. your CD-ROM or
network card). As not all drivers may be available during this first run,
hardware detection needs to be repeated later in the process.
&module-lowmem.xml;
&module-languagechooser.xml;
&module-countrychooser.xml;
&module-localechooser.xml;
&module-kbd-chooser.xml;
&module-s390-netdevice.xml;
&module-ddetect.xml;
&module-cdrom-detect.xml;
&module-iso-scan.xml;
&module-anna.xml;
&module-netcfg.xml;
&module-choose-mirror.xml;
Partitioning and Mount Point Selection
At this time, after hardware detection has been executed a final time,
&d-i; should be at its full strength, customized for the user's needs
and ready to do some real work.
As the title of this section indicates, the main task of the next few
components lies in partitioning your disks, creating filesystems,
assigning mountpoints and optionally configuring closely related issues
like LVM or RAID devices.
&module-s390-dasd.xml;
&module-partman.xml;
&module-autopartkit.xml;
&module-partitioner.xml;
&module-partconf.xml;
&module-lvmcfg.xml;
&module-mdcfg.xml;
Setting up the System
After partitioning the installer asks a few more questions that will be
used to set up the system is is about the install.
&module-tzsetup.xml;
&module-clock-setup.xml;
&module-user-setup.xml;
Installing the Base System
Although this stage is the least problematic, it consumes a significant
fraction of the install because it downloads, verifies and unpacks the whole
base system. If you have a slow computer or network connection, this could
take some time.
&module-base-installer.xml;
Installing Additional Software
After the base system is installed, you have a usable but limited system.
Most users will want to add additional software to the system to tune it to
their needs, and the installer lets you do so. This step can take even
longer than installing the base system if you have a slow computer or
network.
&module-apt-setup.xml;
&module-pkgsel.xml;
Making Your System Bootable
If you are installing a diskless workstation, obviously, booting off
the local disk isn't a meaningful option, and this step will be
skipped. You may wish to set the OpenBoot to boot
from the network by default; see .
Note that multiple operating systems booting on a single machine is
still something of a black art. This document does not even attempt
to document the various boot managers, which vary by architecture and
even by subarchitecture. You should see your boot manager's
documentation for more information.
&module-os-prober.xml;
&module-alpha-aboot-installer.xml;
&module-hppa-palo-installer.xml;
&module-i386-grub-installer.xml;
&module-i386-lilo-installer.xml;
&module-ia64-elilo-installer.xml;
&module-mips-arcboot-installer.xml;
&module-mipsel-colo-installer.xml;
&module-mipsel-delo-installer.xml;
&module-powerpc-yaboot-installer.xml;
&module-powerpc-quik-installer.xml;
&module-s390-zipl-installer.xml;
&module-sparc-silo-installer.xml;
&module-nobootloader.xml;
Finishing the Installation
These are the last bits to do before rebooting to your new system. It
mostly consists of tidying up after the &d-i;.
&module-prebaseconfig.xml;
Miscellaneous
The components listed in this section are usually not involved in the
installation process, but are waiting in the background to help the
user in case something goes wrong.
&module-save-logs.xml;
&module-cdrom-checker.xml;
&module-shell.xml;
&module-network-console.xml;
&module-baseconfig.xml;