linux debian 5 netinstall (john pfeiffer march 2009) choosing the biz card starts with a 35MB iso virtualbox is quick except that I chose to allocate the whole 982MB hard drive I ensured NAT was enabled (netinstall :) expert install has a sequential order which is easy to follow - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - for the debian mirror archive (http://www.debian.org/mirror/list) I chose: ftp.uk.debian.org and then /debian/ and then stable NTP got my timezone & correct time through the internet partitioning was manual as I didn't want a swap partition (as I'm running virtually and I'm using an SD card as my hd) normally it's easiest to have it run the Guided first and them modify of course, I only made 1 big partition =) ext 3, root, bootable - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - installing the base system - 4:30am -> 4:55am THESE choices allow for a "customized" kernel by easy to follow prompts.... SMP = symmetric multi-processing support, yes I have dual core! choosing the kernel is tricky, I'm fairly certain from the choices: linux-image-2.6.-486 //my cpu is newer than a 486 linux-image-2.6.-686 //this has been selected as default linux-image-2.6.-686-bigmem //i don't have 64GB ram, only 2 =( linux-image-2.6.-686-openvz //I don't want a virtual machine in a linux-image-2.6.-686-vserver //virtual machine! =) linux-image-2.6.26-1-xen-686 //the kernel, hypervisor and utilities I chose the TARGETED DRIVERS as this is a generic virtualbox virtual machine for research & development, later on, if I make anything useful, I will try to reproduce my results on varying hardware. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - at the setup user phase I decided to sleep... a snapshot took 350MB - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Using the GUI was a bit weird, I had to select "revert to current" and then start the VM anyways, I chose Shadow passwords for basic security and NO LOGIN AS ROOT (because it's just too easy to hammer away) "Allow non free software" because I'm practical, the more choices the better no packages were chosen, all will be installed via apt-get - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Grub "legacy" seems safe enough, and yes, Debian is the only OS on this VM And that's it, just some "time zone" clicking and now i have a command line w/ apt-get let's see some finish stats: HD df shows 335MB usage RAM free shows 44MB usage (NO SWAP!) VSZ -> 27272 by syslogd boot time (from virtualbox start button, not a resume!) skipping the grub 5 second boot option 25 seconds - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - example basic packages apt-get install nano //easy to use text editor apt-get install ssh apt-get install apache2 apt-get install php5 apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5 mysqld allows it to have a free database apt-get install vsftpd //a very stable ftp server apt-get install libpam-pwdfile //for password file authentication - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -