Upgrading Your Life To Linux (The Install)

Today, is the big day! 

This is where your heart starts racing, wondering if you'll ruin anything, anxious to see the outcome and winder what the world will bring with this new Linux thing.

Take a breath, have a cup of coffee (or tea, Dr. Pepper, Mt Dew or what ever you like to drink) ready - and relax.

So I'll go over two types of installations in this article. Virtual and physical installations are going to be detailed below, starting with the physical.

Before you begin you need to have either a CD/DVD with the .iso on it, or a USB with the .iso and a boot loader installed on it as well. My preference is the USB method - which is more involved than just "sticking in the CD".

Insert the USB into an available USB 2.0/3.0 port and power down the machine. Watch the screen for your "boot options" (usually F2, F12, ESC or DEL depending on the manufacturer of your desktop/laptop) - press the corresponding key and go to Boot Order/Boot Options.

Select that boot from USB is enabled and at the top of the list (use the corresponding keys as directed on the bottom of your BIOS screen) now save and exit.

As the screen boots from your USB or CD, you will come across your first of several options: Start Fedora... , Test media & start Fedora... and Troubleshooting.

Above - first option screen.

We will Start Fedora...(using the directional keys on your keyboard (your mouse will not work at this point)

On a side note - if you are going to have two OS's to boot from - you'll want to install Windows first. Windows (currently) does not know what to do with Linux files, and will simply format over them. Linux will recognize it as a Windows partition and allow you to write it's OS along side.

For the next few screens, simply follow the prompts for geographical location, language, keyboard, time zone...

With Fedora you can choose "options" to install with the OS (like I talked about earlier...bigger install, but more "shtuph"). If you want, add what you want.

Once the installation begins you will have 2 options to finish while it begins the install. These two are VERY important!! Please make note of these two items, without them - you will never be able to access your Linux machine!

Above - DO DO this!

ROOT PASSWORD/AUTHENTICATION - choose a good PASSPHRASE <---- (not Password123). Try using something like: "My cat went to the vet yesterday!" or @daM#L0\/3s#Ev3.

Administrator name and Password - go with a custom name like: iambob or bobami and use a good password (again...not Password123). Try something like B0Bb1esPU+3r.

NOTE- do NOT use ANY password I just suggested.... use something of your own creation.

Another option you will have is to select the disk. You will probably need to reclaim space, this will be done via a graphical slider (on a virtual instance - just select what you have assigned to it). Set at least 20 Gigs (minimum will be 8 Gigs) from the main harddrive (furthest to the left).

Once it is complete, it will tell you to reboot. Remove the USB drive (or CD/DVD) and press the [Quit] or [Reboot] with your mouse.

By default the Linux OS will be selected at boot up, but for about 10 seconds you can select your other "Windows" OS as well. Let the time run out, or select your Linux.

A log-in screen will now come-up (if you opted to Encryt the disk - you will need to enter the passphrase for "root" first - then you will get the log-in.

Enter your password and then click on the gear icon next to the Sign-In button. By default, you will have 3 different selections which are: 1 - Gnome; 2 - Gnome classic and 3 - Gnome on Xrog. For now, just click on Gnome - but now you know where you can enter into a different DE.

Congratulations!!! You now have Linux and are part of the Linux Family!!! w00t w00t!

I apologize if my assumptions are wrong - but I figure if you are using a virtual machine like VMWare or VirtBox - I'm ASSuming you know what you are doing. If you do NOT... I'll be happy to answer questions in the comments below.

In the next installment of As The Penguin Burns... err, I mean Upgrading Your Life To Linux... I'll go over the basic desktop components, what is what, where, how and how to install packages and extensions via the GUI.