Debian installation and first steps

May 2017 | Updated in February 2023

#linux

Installation

Debian doesn’t come with non-free firmwares, so it can be necessary to install them. In Debian’s download page (page with the .iso files) has a link for the firmwares.

You can use the same USB with the bootable Debian for those firmwares: after restoring the Debian’s ISO into a USB, you can create a new partition with $ fdisk /dev/sdb and change it to FAT16 with mkdosfs /dev/sdbX. Those firmwares have to be unpackaged to /firmware path in the new USB partition.

Another much more straightforward way to do it, it’s to download the ISO image built already with the non-free firmwares .

Before installing

Don’t forget to ensure the .iso you downloaded is not tampered with by any third party. As Debian includes the signatures in the same folder you got the iso, you can easily check this using gpg:

# Check the integrity of the file containing the SHASUM (you may need to import the keys from Debian's keyserver)
$ gpg --verify SHA512SUMS.sign SHA512SUMS

# Get the shasum of the downloaded iso
$ shasum -a 512 file.iso

# Check if the shasum generated by Debian matches with the `iso` one
$ cat SHA512SUMS

First steps

Comment deb cd-rom: repos in /etc/apt/sources.list file (you may need superuser permissions $ su).
Install and configure sudo (not necessary if you left the root password empty on installation).
1. $ su
2. $ apt-get update
3. $ apt-get install sudo
4. $ usermod -a -G sudo your_user
5. Restart
Depending on how old your .iso are, you may want to upgrade the Debian:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Some extras

Install the Microsoft fonts.
- echo 'deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian jessie main contrib' >> /etc/apt/sources.list (not necessary in some mirrors: US, for example)
- sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer
Rearrange window buttons (close, minimize…) to the left.
- gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout "close,minimize,maximize:"
Show only applications from the current workspace in Alt+Tab.
- gsettings set org.gnome.shell.app-switcher current-workspace-only true
Disable alt+f1 shortcut key.
- gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings panel-main-menu "[]"
Install some excellent extensions from Gnome Extensions :
- Frippery move clock: it moves the centred clock to the right of the gnome bar.
- Lock keys: useful for keyboards that don’t have a status LED for Caps lock and Num lock keys.
- No topleft hot corner: it prevents the default gnome’s behaviour from showing up in the activity view when the mouse points in the window’s top left corner.
- Panel osd: to customize the notification’s position on the screen.
- Random Walls: it changes the wallpaper and lock screen image automatically and randomly.
- Topicons plus: changes the tray icons to the top.
- Workspace indicator: shows the active workspace.
- Docker integration: hides veth networks from gnome interface.
- ESC to close overview from applications list: when in the overview screen, close it without show the application list.
- Dash to Dock: A mac dock style for linux.
- Workspace Isolated Dash: Isolate each workspace as if it was the only workspace.
Install a beautiful theme for Gnome:
- $ sudo apt install numix-gtk-theme numix-icon-theme

Updating git

There is a git-core team ppa for Debian, for install the latest version of git: Git-core PPA .

You have to add the PGP key available on the site. The key can be exported to a file and added to Debian with the sudo apt-key add command.

Printing in a HP

Install the printer drivers:
- sudo apt-get update
- sudo apt-get install cups hplip
Configure the printer through the hp plugin:
- sudo hp-setup -i

Troubleshooting

Brazilian accentuation in American keyboards

You must use English (US, international with dead keys).

Ć instead of Ç

You need to put GTK_IM_MODULE=cedilla in /etc/environment file. After that, logout and login again.

Creating a partition with more than 2TB

Please, head over to this post .