Debian Linux

In this section we'll install Debian Linux onto your Bitcoin node computer using a Debian boot USB drive.

Download Debian

Go to the Debian website and download the netinst installation image for your computer.

It can be somewhat difficult to navigate to the image you want. Start from the home page, then:

Click Other downloads
Click Download mirrors
Choose an HTTP mirror close to your location
Select current/
Select your computer architecture (for most modern PCs this will be amd64/)
Open iso-cd/
Download the netinst ISO near the bottom of the page

The filename will look something like:

debian-13.5.0-amd64-netinst.iso

Make sure you have the netinst.iso file. This file installs a minimal Debian system and downloads the remaining packages during installation.

While you're there, also download:

SHA256SUMS
SHA256SUMS.sign

You might need to right click and select Download Linked File. Safari unhelpfully likes to append the filename with a .txt extension.

Verify the download as described in the Software Verification section of this workshop. The process will vary depending on your operating system.

Create a Debian Boot USB Drive

I used the Raspberry Pi Imager application to write the ISO to a USB drive. You could also use balenaEtcher.

Insert your USB drive into your computer. Open the Raspberry Pi Imager.

On the left select OS.

Under Choose operating system, scroll down and choose Use custom.

Navigate to the debian netinst.iso file and select it. Click on NEXT.

Select your USB drive then click NEXT.

Click on WRITE.

Remove the USB drive when the write has completed.

Boot the Installer

Connect your target computer to your local network using an Ethernet cable.

Insert the USB drive and power on the computer.

Open the system's boot menu (often F12, F9, Esc, or a similar key) and choose the USB drive as the boot device. You might have to press the key several times to get the menu to come up.

If everything goes well you'll see the Debian installation menu.

Select Install.

Installation Options

Most of the installation is self explanitory.

Network Configuration

I'm assuming your router provides addresses using DHCP.

When asked whether to configure networking using DHCP, select Yes.

Hostname

You'll be asked to give the computer a hostname.

I suggest:

bitcoin-node

You can choose any hostname you like. We'll use it later when connecting to the server from another computer.

Select domain name: You can leave this blank.

User Accounts

You'll be asked to create:

a root password
a normal user account, this workshop will use nelson in its examples
a password for that user

Record you passwords somewhere safe.

Disk Partitioning

Select Guide, use entire disk.

Select All files in one partition

After the base system has been installed you'll be asked whether you'd like to participate in the package popularity survey.

Select No.

Software Selection

Use the Spacebar to select or deselect items, and the Arrow or Tab keys to move around the screen.

When asked which software to install, select only:

Web server
SSH Server
Standard System Utilities

Everything else can be deselected. We're building a headless server, so no graphicl desktop environment is required.

First Login

Once the installation is complete, Debian will reboot.

You'll be presented with a login prompt.

To display the server's IP address, run:

hostname -I

The output will include the IP address, it will be something like:

192.168.0.33 (example only)

Write this address down.

We'll use it in the next section to remotely connect to the Bitcoin node from your normal desktop or laptop computer.