How to install Debian 11 Bullseye

Debian Stable is a great OS base to use for a homelab. It’s compatible and supported by many software out there.

In this guide, I will walk you through how to install Debian. The current version of Debian Stable as of 2022-03-06 is Debian 11 Bullseye.

Step 1: Download and Prepare Installation Media

You can download the installation ISO from the official website at https://www.debian.org/distrib/.

Choose the appropriate image according to your CPU’s architecture. This installation image will require an internet connection in order to work as it is a net-install image.

Once the file is downloaded, you can burn it to a USB Flash drive using Rufus (https://rufus.ie/en_US/) or Etcher (https://www.balena.io/etcher/).

Step 2: Start Installing

Plug the USB Installer into the computer, and boot into the ISO.

Choose your preferred Language, Location, and Keyboard layout, and click Continue.

Give your machine a Hostname, and the network Domain name if you have a domain setup.

Set the root user password and continue. The root user is the user that have access to everything and anything on a Linux OS.

Set a name for the standard user account. The standard user account can be use instead of root for regular day to day activities. Set the password for the standard user and continue.

If your machine is set to UEFI boot, and you are installing over an existing drive, you may see the following prompt. Select Yes to continue on with UEFI installation.

Select Guided – use entire disk to install Debian 11 on the entire drive.

Choose All files in one partition. This method is the most beginner friendly as it allows for easy file navigation.

If your current drive have per-existing partitions on it, select Yes to wipe the existing partitions so that Debian 11 can be install over a fresh drive.

Choose Finish partitioning and write changes to disk, and Yes to confirm writing to the disk.

For scanning more media, select No and Continue to continue the installation. As this is a net-install, you will get the latest package updates straight from the source in the next few steps.

Choose a location that is closest to you, and choose a package manager mirror to use. deb.debian.org is a good choice to use. Leave the HTTP proxy blank unless you have a proxy setup.