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)?

  • Max-P@lemmy.max-p.meEnglish
    1·
    5 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.

  • Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyzBEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

    Fewer Letters More Letters
    IP Internet Protocol
    SATA Serial AT Attachment interface for mass storage
    SSD Solid State Drive mass storage
    SSH Secure Shell for remote terminal access

    4 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 3 acronyms.

    [Thread #808 for this sub, first seen 16th Jun 2024, 10:05] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

  • notabot@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    5 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.

  • changeableface@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    5 months ago

    I use a KVM over IP.

    I made my own tiny pilot device for less than £100 and it has worked flawlessly for a few years.

    This assumes your server has a hdmi output, if not you will need a VGA to hdmi or similar converter, danger of it becoming a bit of a hodge-podge of adapters, but hey, if it works, it works!

    • MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      0·
      5 months ago

      I’m planning to use a Raxda Zero 3W/Banana Pi Zero for this. Do you think this will suffice? I don’t need speed or power, it just needs to be usable.

      • changeableface@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        4 months ago

        I’ve no experience with either of those devices. So long as they’re comparable in terms of USBC features (otg) to emulate the keyboard and mouse then you should be good as the overhead of running the software seems to be minimal from my usage.

        Without that, you’ll get video without keyboard and mouse support.

      • beirdobaggins@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        5 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.

  • TCB13@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    5 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.