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On top of Debian

YunoHost is easily installable on Debian !

This can be useful if you already have a Debian machine or can't use the recommended methods.

Get Debian​

You should download the version Bookworm (Debian 12) and select the architecture for your PC.

When in doubt, select amd64, or i386 for a pre-2010 PC.

armbian logo Debian Download page

Alternatively, you can browse the Debian archive for the latest 12.x version, select your architecture, the select iso-cd and download the netinst iso.

Installation​

You might want to wipe the hard drive before starting the Debian installer.

Burn the iso to your USB key, for example using Etcher.

Debian installer will ask for a hostname and a domain name. You can use yunohost and yunohost.local. It is not that important since the YunoHost Installer will overwrite those anyway.

Debian will ask for a root password, which should be reaonably complex as it is your primary defense to possible attacks.

The installer will also ask for a user account and another password.

warning

IMPORTANT: this username should be DIFFERENT from the first YunoHost user which you will choose during YunoHost's posinstall… For example, you can name it debian. Be sure to also use a long complex password.

When the install asks where to install and how to create disk partitions, select the option to use the whole disk, unless you know what you're doing.

  • We recommend not to separate the /home, /var or /tmp partitions. Use the option to “keep all files in one partition”.
  • If you don't know what you're doing, don't encrypt the disk (Decryption at power-on will be an issue)

The installer will ask about mirrors. Select a country and server close to your location, or use the default options.

The installer will ask which desktop environment you want. This is generally useless and might waste resources.

  • Unselect all desktop environment
  • Keep “standard system utilities” checked

After installing Debian​

  1. Remove the installation media (unplug the USB stick)
  2. Reboot
  3. Login as root
  4. Install curl by typing apt install curl

Run the install script​

  • Open a command line prompt on your server (either directly or through SSH)
  • Make sure you are root (or type sudo -i to become root)
  • Run the following command:
curl https://install.yunohost.org | bash
warning

You might need to first install curl and ca-certificates by running:

apt install curl ca-certificates
danger

Always ensure there's an s at the end of https.

note

For advanced users concerned with the curl | bash approach: consider reading "Is curl|bash insecure?" on Sandstom's blog, and possibly this discussion on Hacker News.