# Install Debian on a bare metal system with v-i

You need:

- a USB drive, at least 4 GB
- a PC that supports UEFI
- backups: _all drives_ in the PC will be wiped from data

The steps:

1. Download the installer image from
   <https://files.liw.fi/v-i/v-i.img.xz>. You can use `curl` or `wget`
   or your web browser. Use **one of** the following commands:

    ~~~sh
    curl https://files.liw.fi/v-i/v-i.img.xz > v-i.img.xz
    wget -c https://files.liw.fi/v-i/v-i.img.xz
    ~~~

2. Unpack the image.

   ~~~sh
   unxz v-i.img.xz
   ~~~

3. Insert USB drive and write the image to the stick. I prefer GNOME
   Disks for this, but dd will work. Look up the device of the USB
   stick: run `sudo dmsg -T` and look for relevant kernel message, or
   use GNOME Disks, or something else. Replace the actual device for
   `sdx` below, then run the following command:

    ~~~sh
    dd if=v-i.img bs=1M oflag=direct status=progress of=/dev/sdx
    ~~~

4. You will need to be able to log into the installer, once it's
   running. You can do this by logging in as `root` without a password
   on the virtual console, or you can use SSH. Note that SSH logins as
   root _must_ use key authentication: passwords _do not work_.

   For SSH login you need to install your SSH public key into the
   `authorized_keys` file. If you want that, use **one of** the
   following two:

   - run a script to install it on the USB drive you've just written
     the image to:

     ~~~sh
     sudo bash set-authorized-keys /dev/sdx path/to/your/key.pub
     ~~~

   - create a second stick with a file system with the label
     `v-i-config` and a file called `authorized_keys`, and have that
     in a USB port when you boot from the v-i USB drive

5. Make sure everything has been written to the USB drive. Again, I
   prefer GNOME Disks for this, but from the command line:

    ~~~sh
    sync
    eject /dev/sdx
    ~~~

6. Move the USB drive to the target machine and boot off the drive.
   How this happens varies from machine to machine. On my Thinkpad, I
   press F12 at the POST screen and then choose the right drive from
   the boot menu.

7. Wait for the system to boot. Log in as root, either from the
   virtual console (no password), or via SSH.

8. Create a target specification file `foo-target.yaml`. The name can
   be anything, but it must be valid YAML. In the example below, there
   are two NVMe drives. An extra logical volume is created. An extra
   Ansible playbook is run against the target system. The given SSH
   public key is installed into the `authorized_keys` file for the
   `root` user on the target system. All drives will be encrypted
   using LUKS, with the password "hunter2".

    ~~~yaml
    luks: hunter2
    drive: /dev/nvme0n1
    extra_drives:
      - /dev/nvme1n1
    hostname: foo
    extra_playbooks:
      - foo-playbook.yml
    ansible_vars:
      user_pub: |
       ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIPQe6lsTapAxiwhhEeE/ixuK+5N8esCsMWoekQqjtxjP liw personal systems
    extra_lvs:
      - name: vms
        size: 1T
        fstype: ext4
        mounted: /mnt/vms
    ~~~

9. Install. Add the `--verbose` option to `./v-i` if you want to know
   what's happening. The first time you run this on a given v-i USB
   drive, it takes a while: it runs `vmdebootstrap` and that is just
   slow. However, the output is cached, so further runs are faster.

    ~~~sh
    rm -f install.log
    ./v-i foo-target.yaml
    ~~~

10. Reboot into the installed system.

11. Finish configuring the system in whatever way you like to do that.
    You can log into it via SSH as root. I use Ansible.

    Remember to change the LUKS password for each drive.

12. Optional: Let me know how it went.