BFSOS Installation Guide

Installing BFSOS 0.9.0

This walkthrough follows the current BFSOS live ISO and Dialog installer from boot through the final unmount/reboot step. The canonical versioned guide is docs/INSTALL.md.

Status: the written walkthrough is complete. Publication screenshots will be inserted here after the final BFSOS-branded capture set is added to the repository.

1. Boot the live ISO

The live environment logs in as bfs. SSH is off by default. Choose the default, medium, or large/high-visibility console font before entering the menu; the font can be changed again later.

2. BFSOS Live Menu

Bootstrap BFSOS starts the source-build workflow. Run BFSOS installer starts the normal guided install. Shell opens the disposable live shell and exit returns to the menu. Change console font changes live-console readability without changing the target system.

3. Installer main menu and status markers

[PENDING] means required configuration is not ready, [CONFIGURED] means choices have been saved, [COMPLETE] means a required step is satisfied, and [AVAILABLE] marks an optional action/resource that can be used.

Storage assignment

Select the installation devices and decide what will be formatted or preserved. This section contains partitioning, RAID, LUKS, LVM, filesystem/mount assignment, ZRAM, and storage inspection.

Base archive

Use a verified local BFSOS base archive or download the current versioned base from SourceForge. The filename and checksum are shown before extraction.

System settings

Configure hostname, timezone, locale, networking, users/groups and root-login policy, OpenSSH, console font, and optional serial troubleshooting console.

Kernel selection

Select the default linux-lts, the optional current linux kernel, or no kernel for an advanced/custom install.

Optional software

Select additional packages or desktop/software groups offered by the installer without changing the base-system choices already made.

Sudo configuration

Choose no sudo, password-required sudo, or passwordless wheel-group sudo. Password-required sudo is the normal general-purpose choice.

Bootloader

Configure GRUB for UEFI or legacy BIOS. UEFI normally requires a FAT32 EFI System Partition mounted at /boot/efi.

Review selections

Read the complete plan before installation. It shows format/preserve actions, mounts, accounts, networking, bootloader, kernel, sudo, storage layers, and totals.

Install BFSOS

Starts the destructive/installation phase only after required sections are ready. Recheck the Review screen before selecting this action.

4. Storage details

Partition disks launches cfdisk. Software RAID creates/assembles MD arrays. LUKS creates, opens, or closes encrypted mappings. LVM manages PVs, VGs, and LVs. Filesystem assignment chooses filesystem, mount point, and format/preserve action. ZRAM creates optional compressed swap in RAM. Current storage devices is informational. Reset/deactivate actions are maintenance operations and should be used only when you understand which installer-managed state will be removed.

The filesystem plan is the key safety screen: Format erases the selected filesystem; Preserve/Keep retains existing data. A root mount at / is required.

5. Base, system, kernel, and sudo

The installer verifies the base archive checksum before use. System settings are defaults-first so unchanged values can be kept. The normal kernel is the LTS package. Root password login is locked by default unless explicitly enabled; a blank password never creates an empty-password login.

6. Installer Settings

Installer Settings contains the interface theme, console/font and serial settings, logging, compiler/build settings, reusable save/load configuration profiles, and storage reset/deactivation maintenance. Saved profiles contain non-secret choices; passwords are not stored as reusable profile data.

7. Review and installation

The Review screen is the final sanity check. Confirm every device, format/preserve action, mount, account policy, network/SSH setting, kernel, sudo mode, bootloader mode, and detected RAID/LUKS/LVM/Btrfs/ZRAM state before continuing.

8. Completion and reboot

After a successful installation the completion screen summarizes the installed system and log path. Enter installed BFSOS system (chroot) allows additional maintenance. Finish and unmount the installed system cleanly leaves the target. After unmounting, reboot and remove/eject the ISO.

Advanced kernel and GRUB work

Building a custom kernel or manually installing/recovering GRUB is documented in KERNEL-GRUB.md, including separate UEFI and legacy BIOS procedures.