Aurora OS Documentation latest
/

Documentation › Getting started

Installing Aurora OS

The installer step by step: language, location, keyboard, disk, user, summary

The installer is Calamares with Aurora's look: the steps run across the top as dots that fill in as you go, and there is one Next button. Everything it needs is on the USB stick, so it works offline.

Back up your files before installing, above all if you are going to change partitions or install next to another system.

Steps

  1. Welcome. Choose the installer's language. It checks the requirements: 20 GB of disk, 2 GB of memory, and the power cable on a laptop.
  2. Location. Click your region on the map, or let it be detected. This sets the time zone and the formats for dates, numbers and units. Day and month names always follow the system language; units, numbers and money follow the region.
  3. Keyboard. Pick the layout and its variant, and type in the test field. Not sure which one you have? Click Detect…: it asks two or three questions about what is printed on your keys (which letters start the top row, which character is next to L) and selects the layout.
  4. Disk. Choose where Aurora goes:
    • Erase disk: a clean install on the whole disk. Tick Encrypt system for full-disk encryption (LUKS2) and choose a passphrase: you'll type it at every start.
    • Install alongside: keeps Windows or another Linux; drag the divider to share the disk.
    • Replace a partition: installs onto one existing partition.
    • Manual partitioning: full control. Aurora needs a root partition (/) and, on UEFI, an EFI system partition (FAT32, 300 MB or more, mounted on /boot/efi).
    The file system is btrfs by default, which gives automatic system snapshots and rollback from the boot menu (see Snapshots and recovery). ext4 and xfs are available without snapshots. The partition legend shows each partition's name and size.
  5. Users. Your full name, user name, password (twice) and the computer's name. Choose Log in automatically to skip the login screen, or leave it off to see it at every start.
  6. Summary. Review every choice. Install starts writing to the disk; until then nothing has changed.
  7. Installing. A slideshow runs while files are copied, with a progress bar.
  8. Finish. Tick Restart now and click Done. Remove the USB stick when the computer restarts.

What the installer sets up

  • The boot loader: GRUB, through Debian's signed shim on UEFI (Secure Boot works), or GRUB on the disk on BIOS.
  • On btrfs: subvolumes @ (system) and @home (your files) with compression, Timeshift, a “Fresh install” snapshot at first boot and the snapshots boot menu.
  • Compressed swap in memory (zram).
  • The firewall (on), automatic security updates (on), and the trixie-backports source for newer kernels when you want them.

If the installation fails, the installer offers to save its log. Settings → System Health → Guided Diagnostics can prepare an installation report on the next try (see Troubleshooting).