How to install Nitrux

How to install Nitrux

By Uri Herrera 9 December, 2021 May 21st, 2023 Tutorial

In today’s tutorial, we’ll check how easy it is to install the distribution.

Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆

📜 Table of Contents

  1. System Requirements
    1. Virtualizing Nitrux
  2. Downloading the ISO
  3. Flashing the ISO to USB
    1. Rufus (Windows)
    2. ROSA Image Writer (Windows/Linux)
    3. dd (*nix)
  4. Installing NItrux

System Requirements

To install Nitrux on your computer, check the hardware requirements below.

  • 🔰 Information: As of April 2023, we only offer Nitrux as an installable x64 (or x86-64, or amd64) ISO file.

The Minimum requirements indicate what we consider the necessary hardware setup to run Nitrux and still be able to use it without hurting the user experience.

  • 🔰 Information: While it is possible to run the distribution on very low-end hardware, i.e., think an Asus Eee PC 1015BX, the user experience would not be what we consider usable; thus, we recommend better (if still older ca. 2011-2005) hardware.
HW Configuration Minimum Requirements
System Motherboard, CPU, RAM 4GB RAM
2.5 GHz Dual-Core 64-bit
EFI, UEFI Support, or Legacy BIOS
Motherboard with support for USB boot
Screen Graphics Controller 32MB VRAM
3D Acceleration Any GPU supported by the MESA drivers (radeon, amdgpu, i945, iris, etc.)
Any GPU supported by the Nvidia proprietary driver (see the latest changelog for the latest included version)
Storage At least 8.5GB must be available for the root partition when using the automated option in Calamares (do not use a single partition layout when using Manual partitioning or the Replace partition options)
Network Internet connection ✔ (Necessary)
Audio Any audio device supported by the Linux kernel

The Recommended requirements are so that the user experience of Nitrux is optimal.

  • 🔰 Information: As before, our recommendation is based on a “good enough” configuration to enjoy the distribution adequately, i.e., the CPU recommendation is from having tested an Intel Q6600, a 16-year-old processor.
HW Configuration Recommended Requirements
System Motherboard, CPU, RAM 8GB RAM or better
2.40 GHz Quad-Core 64-bit or better
EFI, UEFI Support
Motherboard with support for USB boot
Screen Graphics Controller 256BM VRAM or better
3D Acceleration Any GPU supported by the MESA drivers (radeon, amdgpu, i945, iris, etc.)
Any GPU supported by the Nvidia proprietary driver (see the latest changelog for the latest included version)
Storage At least 10.0GB must be available for the root partition when using the automated option in Calamares (do not use a single partition layout when using Manual partitioning or the Replace partition options)
Network Internet connection ✔ (Necessary)
Audio Any audio device supported by the Linux kernel

Virtualizing Nitrux

Please read the Notes for our recommendations for virtualizing Nitrux.

Downloading the ISO

Of course, we need to obtain the correct ISO file to install the distribution. We offer two ISO files, one with NX Desktop and one with Maui Shell, for those users who prefer to test Maui Shell. For this tutorial, we’ll download the ISO with NX Desktop.

We offer users various ways to download our ISO files.

Once we’ve downloaded the ISO file to our computer, we should check the file’s integrity. We do this by checking the MD5 sum.

Verifying the ISO

We include the MD5 sum of the ISO files in the release announcement for each new release and upload a file containing the sum to Sourceforge and OSDN.

If we download the files from Sourceforge or OSDN, the content of the MD5 file looks similar to the following.

26a2503702201dff593614e9f055de1b  /tmp/tmp.Alew5HEUEK/nitrux-release-amd64_2021.12.05.iso

Likewise, we can use the terminal and the command ‘md5sum’ to check the sum of a file, for example.

> md5sum nitrux-release-amd64_2021.12.05.iso

26a2503702201dff593614e9f055de1b  nitrux-release-amd64_2021.12.05.iso

Or open the file in a text editor.

If you’re on Windows, you can use a program like Md5checker.

Once we’ve verified the file’s integrity, we can install it.

Flashing the ISO to a USB

These instructions will walk you through creating a bootable Nitrux USB stick on Windows or Linux. You can use a USB stick to boot and test out or install Nitrux on any computer that supports booting from USB.

We do not recommend you use the following programs.

  • balenaEtcher.
    • balenaEtcher performs an unknown test at the end of the flashing process, which constantly fails despite no errors in writing the image to the USB device.
  • Unetbootin.
    • Unetbootin does not write the image; it merely copies it to the USB.
  • KDE ISOImageWriter
    • Fails to write the ISO image at 99%; this is a known issue of the application.

Rufus (Windows)

If you are using Windows and Rufus, follow these steps:

  1. Download a Nitrux ISO file, and download and install Rufus.
  2. Insert the USB flash drive into the USB port and launch Rufus.
  3. Rufus will update to set the device within the ‘Device’ field. If the ‘Device’ selected is incorrect (perhaps you have multiple USB storage devices), select the correct one from the device field’s dropdown menu.
  4. Now choose the Boot selection. Choices will include Non-bootable, FreeDOS, or Disk or ISO image (Please Select); since you create a bootable Nitrux device, select Disk or ISO image (Please Select).
  5. To select the Nitrux ISO file you downloaded previously, click SELECT to the right of “Boot selection.” If this is the only ISO file in the Downloads folder, you will see only one file listed. Select the appropriate ISO file and click on Open.
  6. The default selections for the Partition scheme (GPT) and Target system (UEFI (no CSM)) are appropriate (and are the only options available).
  7. Rufus will update the Volume label to reflect the ISO selected. Leave all other parameters with their default values and click START to initiate the writing process.
  8. When prompted to select which mode to use to write this image, choose to Write in DD mode.
  9. Rufus will now write the ISO to your USB stick, and the progress bar in Rufus will give you some indication of where you are in the process. With a reasonably modern machine, this should take around 10 minutes. The total elapsed time is shown in the lower right corner of the Rufus window.
  10. When Rufus has finished writing the USB device, the Status bar will be green-filled, and the word READY will appear in the center. Select CLOSE to complete the writing process.

ROSA Image Writer (Windows/Linux)

If you are using Windows or Linux and ROSA Image Writer, follow these steps:

  1. Download a Nitrux ISO file, and install ROSA Image Writer.
  2. Insert the USB flash drive into the USB port and launch ROSA Image Writer.
  3. Click the folder icon to browse the Nitrux ISO file and select it.
  4. Select the USB device from the dropdown menu.
  5. Click Write to initiate the writing process.

dd (*nix)

If you are using Linux and the command ‘dd,’ follow these steps:

  1. Download a Nitrux ISO file.
  2. Insert the USB flash drive into the USB port and open a Terminal window.
  3. Enter the following command in the Terminal window and hit Enter.
    • Replace /dev/sdX with the correct device, such as /dev/sda or /dev/sdb, and so on.
sudo dd if=nitrux.iso of=/dev/sdX oflag=sync bs=4M status=progress

Installing Nitrux

To begin the installation, click the “Install Nitrux” icon on the desktop, and complete the information the installer requires.

  • ⚠️ Important: The installation process requires mandatory active internet connectivity via wired or wireless connections. Please connect to a functional network before starting the installer.
  • 🔰 Information: The default user and password for the Live session is nitrux.
  • 🔰 Information: To view the output of Calamares during installation, click the icon next to the progress bar or run it from the terminal using the following command.
sudo -E calamares -d
  • When using the automated partition options “Erase disk” and “Replace partition,” Calamares will use our custom partition layout and create three partitions in addition to the ESP and the Swap. These percentages scale according to the size of the storage device.
    • The root partition (NX_ROOT) will occupy 22%.
      • ⚠️ Important: When installing the distribution, the installation will fail if the root partition does not have enough storage space. This is neither a bug caused by Nitrux nor a bug in Calamares. It is possible that in Legacy BIOS devices, Calamares does not display an error when that scenario occurs; in that case, it is a bug in Calamares (not to display the error), as it does display an error message when the device uses EFI.
    • The home (NX_HOME) will occupy 68%.
    • And /var/lib (NX_VAR_LIB) will occupy 10%.
    • The ESP (EFI System Partition) is a fixed size (300MB).
    • The Swap partition uses whatever space is left on the storage device that other partitions already do not use.
    • The root partition will use the XFS filesystem as we intend to use the XFS management tools like xfsdump and xfsrestore soon. Also, this XFS formatted partition will use the following additional filesystem features (enabled by Nitrux™).
      • Allow inodes to be placed at any location on the filesystem. Storing a file’s inode in the exact location as the file’s data leads to improved performance.
    • The home and /var/lib partitions will use F2FS instead of XFS. Also, these F2FS formatted partitions will use the following additional filesystem features (enabled by Nitrux™).
      • Compression using zstd with compression at level 6. The primary goal is reducing writes to extend the flash lifetime and, potentially, a slight increase in performance, see Using F2FS directory compression.
      • Verification of compressed blocks using a checksum to avoid corruption.
      • Enable a better garbage collector and asynchronous garbage collection.
      • Avoid synchronously updating access or modification times which improves I/O performance and flash durability.
      • Native F2FS file encryption. Encryption is applied at the directory level, and different directories can use different encryption keys. To use F2FS’s native encryption support, see Using F2FS encryption with f2fscrypt or fscrypt.
        • This is different from dm-crypt, which is the block-device-level encryption used by Calamares during installation.
  • Users can select the “option “Manual partitioning,” too. However, we strongly recommend using a partition layout similar to ours.
    • ⚠️ Important:  Please be aware that the root directory is immutable, and any directory within the root will be read-only. Do not use a single partition layout.
  • We have added the ability for users to perform full-disk encryption using dm-crypt during installation when using the automated partition options in Calamares (Replace partition and Erase disk) and the Manual partitioning option.

    • During early boot, the system will ask the user for their passphrase, unlocking all encrypted partitions.
    • Block-device encryption during installation is in addition to any userland tool (like fscrypt or Plasma Vaults); see File Encryption Information.

Disclaimer: We do not develop the Calamares installer. Please create issues at its bug tracker here to request features or report problems.

Below is a video of the installation process (by Riba Linux).

Once the distribution is installed in the internal storage, you can reboot and log in to the installed system.

That’s it; this concludes today’s tutorial.

Post Views: 152
Next Post

© 2017-2023 Some Rights Reserved. Made with ♥ by Nitrux Latinoamericana S.C.