This site documents how to use older versions of Debian providing installation information. It also shows how to use existing installations using disk images hosted online allowing anyone to easily try without having to install. Below is the list of versions available.

Debian VersionCode NameRelease DateRepo SizeLinux VersionGCC Version
0.91January 199484M0.99.14w2.5.7
0.93November 1995196M1.2.132.6.3
1.1BuzzJune 1996478M2.0.02.7.2
1.2RexDecember 1996587M2.0.272.7.2.1
1.3BoJune 19971.1G2.0.292.7.2.1
2.0HammJuly 19982.0G2.0.342.7.2.3
2.1SlinkMarch 19994.2G2.0.382.7.2.3
2.2PotatoAugust 20006.8G2.2.192.95.2
3.0WoodyJuly 2002???

Debian version history on Wikipedia

A Brief History of Debian - Chapter 4. A Detailed History - The 0.x Releases

Recent Install

image from Debian 0.91

Debian 0.91

This is the oldest Debian release I can find. It’s not stored on http://archive.debian.org/ but on http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/debian-0.91/. It’s unclear why, I assume both are just people finding old disks with mirrors on.

Of all the installations this was the most tricky, much like Arch Linux the installer drops you at a shell prompt. The installer itself is a shell script. Once installed there is no dselect, just dpkg which is a shell script! The entire system and archive is relatively small, but you so end up with a working X environment, email and a compiler.

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image from Debian 0.93R6

Debian 0.93R6

This is the oldest Debian release on the http://archive.debian.org/ servers. The installation process is much more seamless than 0.91. It seems to have taken the install shell scripts and turned into what looks a lot more like the “boot floppies” installer which is common throughout all the installers up until the wonderful “debian-installer” came along.

Once installed, you get a much more modern dpkg and dselect to pick packages. The amount of available programs has increased alot.

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image from Debian 1.1 (Buzz)

Debian 1.1 (Buzz)

This follows on from 0.93 and the installation process is much the same. However the archive really expanded two and a half times. Bizzarly this is the only devian version released that dose not support a PS/2 mouse as the psaux kernel module was neither compiled in or asuppled as a module. A serial mouse is used insead.

Screenshots

1.1-boot.png 1.1-login.png 1.1-x.png

Installation notes

  1. At boot prompt enter: “linux root=/dev/fd1”
  2. At “Insert Root Disk” prompt press Enter
  3. Select Color
  4. Select Next
  5. Select Exit
  6. Select “Next Partition A Hard Disk”
  7. Select “/dev/hda” and OK
  8. Create One big partition
  9. Select “Alternate Do Without a Swap Parition”
  10. Select Yes
  11. Select “Next Initialize A Linux Disk Partition”
  12. Select “/dev/hda1”
  13. Select No for Bad Blocks scan
  14. Select Yes to Confirm initilize
  15. Select “Yes” to mount as root filesystem
  16. Select “Alternate1 Mount a Previously-Initialized Disk Partition”
  17. Select “/dev/hdb1” and OK
  18. Type “/mnt” and OK
  19. Select “Next Install the Base system”
  20. Select “Yes” to confirm install
  21. Select “Next Install the Operating System Kernel”
  22. Select “/dev/fd0”
  23. Select OK
  24. Select “Next Configure Device Driver Modules”
  25. Select “net”
  26. Select “ne”
  27. Select “Install”
  28. Type “irq=9 io=0x300” and OK
  29. Expect Installation succeeded, Enter to continue
  30. Select Exit
  31. Select Exit
  32. Select “Next Configure the Base System”
  33. Select No to configure keyboard
  34. Type “uk.map” and Enter
  35. Type Europe Enter London Enter
  36. type y to set system clock to GMT
  37. Select “Next Configure the Network”
  38. Press Enter to set hostname to debian
  39. Select yes to use a network
  40. Type “lan” and Enter to set domain
  41. Select Yes to confirm fqdn
  42. Enter IP: 192.168.122.10
  43. Enter netmask: 255.255.255.0
  44. Enter network: 192.168.122.0
  45. Enter broadcast: 192.168.122.255
  46. Enter Yes for Gateway
  47. Enter 192.168.122.1 for gateway
  48. Select “2 Another system will be the DNS server”
  49. Enter Name Server: 192.168.122.1
  50. Select Yes to confirm
  51. Select Yes to use Ethernet
  52. Select “Next Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk”
  53. Select Yes to install MBR to /dev/hda
  54. Select Yes to boot system on /dev/hda1
  55. Select to Create boot floppy
  56. Select “Next Reboot The System”
  57. Select Yes to reboot
  58. Set root password
  59. Create user account
  60. dselect, select quit
  61. login as root
  62. run: lilo
  63. run: ln -s /usr/bin/perl /bin/perl #for kernel-image inst scripts
  64. run: mv /mnt/netscape* /tmp
  65. run: dselect
  66. Select Access, mounted, enter /mnt, enter none for non-free, enter none for local, return
  67. Select Update, Enter
  68. Select Select, space, enter, space, enter
  69. Select Install, when prompted install a lilo, choose y to use existing lilo.conf
  70. Select Config
  71. Select Remove
  72. Sekect Select, choose: sudo, autoconf, tcl74, tcl75, tk40, tk41, vim, gnuchess, xboard, xfig, gnuplot, screen, bind, cern-httpd, lynx, tcpdump, wu-ftpd, a2gs, ghostview, All Optional section x11, hdparm, minicom, python, samba, xntp, xsysinfo, ddd-dmotif, gimp-dmotif, netscape, and enter
  73. Select Install, when promped for for default Xfree, pick VGA16 and enable xdm
  74. Select Config
  75. Select Remote
  76. Select Quit
  77. run: dpkg -i /mnt/main/binary-all/x11/*
  78. run: cp /mnt/XF86Config /etc/X11
  79. run: sed ’s^/dev/hdb^#/dev/hdb^’ /etc/fstab > /etc/fstab.new
  80. run: cat /etc/fstab.new > /etc/fstab
  81. run: shutdown -h now
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image from Debian 1.2 (Rex)

Debian 1.2 (Rex)

This release was only 6 months after the previous, I think it feels like a lot of polish was added over 1.1. It also added some more X11 Window managers including fvwm95 as seen below.

Screenshots

1.2-boot.png 1.2-login.png 1.2-x.png

Installation notes

  1. At boot prompt press Enter
  2. Select Color
  3. Select Next
  4. Select Exit
  5. Select “Next Configure the Keyboard”
  6. Select “us”
  7. Select “Next Partition A Hard Disk”
  8. Select “/dev/hda” and OK
  9. Create One big partition
  10. Select “Alternate Do Without a Swap Parition”
  11. Select Yes
  12. Select “Next Initialize A Linux Disk Partition”
  13. Select “/dev/hda1”
  14. Select No for Bad Blocks scan
  15. Select Yes to Confirm initilize
  16. Select “Yes” to mount as root filesystem
  17. Select “Alternate1 Mount a Previously-Initialized Disk Partition”
  18. Select “/dev/hdb1” and OK
  19. Type “/mnt” and OK
  20. Select “Next Install the Base system”
  21. Select “Yes” to confirm install
  22. Select “Next Install the Operating System Kernel”
  23. Select “/dev/fd0”
  24. Select OK
  25. Select “Next Install the Device Drivers”
  26. Select “/dev/fd1”
  27. Select OK
  28. Select “Next Configure Device Driver Modules”
  29. Select “net”
  30. Select “ne”
  31. Select “Install”
  32. Type “irq=9 io=0x300” and OK
  33. Expect Installation succeeded, Enter to continue
  34. Select Exit
  35. Select Exit
  36. Select “Next Configure the Base System”
  37. Type Europe Enter London Enter
  38. type y to set system clock to GMT
  39. Select “Next Configure the Network”
  40. Press Enter to set hostname to debian
  41. Select yes to use a network
  42. Type “lan” and Enter to set domain
  43. Select Yes to confirm fqdn
  44. Enter IP: 192.168.122.10
  45. Enter netmask: 255.255.255.0
  46. Enter network: 192.168.122.0
  47. Enter broadcast: 192.168.122.255
  48. Enter Yes for Gateway
  49. Enter 192.168.122.1 for gateway
  50. Select “2 Another system will be the DNS server”
  51. Enter Name Server: 192.168.122.1
  52. Select Yes to confirm
  53. Select Yes to use Ethernet
  54. Select “Next Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk”
  55. Select Yes to install MBR to /dev/hda
  56. Select Yes to boot system on /dev/hda1
  57. Select “Next Make a boot Floppy” and OK
  58. Select “Next Reboot The System”
  59. Select “Yes” to confirm reboot
  60. Set root password
  61. Create user account
  62. dselect, select quit
  63. exit and login as root
  64. run: mv /mnt/netscape* /tmp
  65. run: dselect
  66. Select Access, mounted, enter /mnt, enter none for non-free, enter none for local, return
  67. Select Update, Enter
  68. Select Select, space, enter
  69. Select Install
  70. Select Config
  71. Select Remove
  72. Sekect Select, choose: sudo, autoconf, vim, gnuchess, xfig, gnuplot, screen, bind, cern-httpd, lynx, tcpdump, wu-ftpd, a2gs, ghostview, All Optional section x11, hdparm, minicom, python-base, samba, xntp, xsysinfo, ddd-dmotif, gimp-dmotif, netscape, lesstif and enter
  73. Select Install, when promped for for default Xfree, pick VGA16 and enable xdm
  74. Select Config
  75. Select Remote
  76. Select Quit
  77. run: cp /mnt/XF86Config /etc/X11
  78. run: lilo
  79. run: sed ’s^/dev/hdb^#/dev/hdb^’ /etc/fstab > /etc/fstab.new
  80. run: cat /etc/fstab.new > /etc/fstab
  81. run: shutdown -h now
  82. edit: /etc/ld.so.conf and add /usr/X11R6/lib
  83. edit: /etc/fstab add “noauto” as mount option
read more
image from Debian 1.3 (Bo)

Debian 1.3 (Bo)

The installation follows along the same lines. The archive has doubled in size again in only 6 months.

Screenshots

1.3-boot.png 1.3-login.png 1.3-x.png

Installation notes

  1. At boot prompt press Enter
  2. Select Color
  3. Select Next
  4. Select Exit
  5. Select “Next Configure the Keyboard”
  6. Select “uk”
  7. Select “Next Partition A Hard Disk”
  8. Select “/dev/hda” and OK
  9. Create One big partition
  10. Select “Alternate Do Without a Swap Parition”
  11. Select Yes
  12. Select “Next Initialize A Linux Disk Partition”
  13. Select “/dev/hda1”
  14. Select No for Bad Blocks scan
  15. Select Yes to Confirm initilize
  16. Select “Yes” to mount as root filesystem
  17. Select “Next Install Operating System Kernel and Modules”
  18. Select “Yes” to confirm install
  19. Select “hardisk” and OK
  20. Select “/dev/hdb1” and OK
  21. Select “default” and OK
  22. Select “Next Configure Device Driver Modules”
  23. Select “net”
  24. Select “ne”
  25. Select “Install”
  26. Type “irq=9 io=0x300” and OK
  27. Expect Installation succeeded, Enter to continue
  28. Select Exit
  29. Select Exit
  30. Select “Next Configure the Network”
  31. Press Enter to set hostname to debian
  32. Select yes to use a network
  33. Type “lan” and Enter to set domain
  34. Select Yes to confirm fqdn
  35. Enter IP: 192.168.122.10
  36. Enter netmask: 255.255.255.0
  37. Enter network: 192.168.122.0
  38. Enter broadcast: 192.168.122.255
  39. Enter Yes for Gateway
  40. Enter 192.168.122.1 for gateway
  41. Select “2 Another system will be the DNS server”
  42. Enter Name Server: 192.168.122.1
  43. Select Yes to confirm
  44. Select Yes to use Ethernet
  45. Select “Next Install the Base system”
  46. Select “hardisk” and OK
  47. Select “/dev/hdb1” and OK
  48. Select “default” and OK
  49. Select “Next Configure the Base System”
  50. Type “Europe” Enter “London” Enter
  51. type y to set system clock to GMT
  52. Select “Next Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk”
  53. Select Yes to install MBR to /dev/hda
  54. Select Yes to boot system on /dev/hda1
  55. Select “Next Make a boot Floppy” and OK
  56. Select “Next Reboot The System”
  57. Select “Yes” to confirm reboot
  58. Set root password
  59. Create user account
  60. dselect, select quit
  61. exit and login as root
  62. run: mount /dev/hdb1 /mnt
  63. run: cp /mnt/netscape* /tmp
  64. run: cp /mnt/XF86Config /root
  65. run: umount /mnt
  66. run: dselect
  67. Select Access, harddisk, enter /dev/hdb1, enter ext2, enter /, enter none for local, return
  68. Select Update, Enter
  69. Select Select, space, enter
  70. Select Install
  71. Select Config
  72. Select Remove
  73. Sekect Select, choose: sudo, autoconf, vim, gnuchess, xfig, xpaint, gnuplot, screen, bind, cern-httpd, lynx, tcpdump, wu-ftpd, a2gs, ghostview, hdparm, minicom, python, samba, xntp3, xsysinfo, ddd, gimp-dmotif, netscape, xbase, xserver-vga16, fvwm95 and enter
  74. Select Install
  75. Select Config
  76. Select Remote
  77. Select Quit
  78. run: cp /root/XF86Config /etc/X11
  79. run: lilo
  80. run: shutdown -h now

Installing xserver-svga is left as an exercise for the reader.

read more
image from Debian 2.0 (Hamm)

Debian 2.0 (Hamm)

Screenshots

2.0-boot.png 2.0-login.png 2.0-x.png

Installation notes

  1. At boot prompt press Enter
  2. Select Color
  3. Select Next
  4. Select Exit
  5. Select “Next Configure the Keyboard”
  6. Select “uk”
  7. Select “Next Partition A Hard Disk”
  8. Select “/dev/hda” and OK
  9. Create One big partition
  10. Select “Alternate Do Without a Swap Parition”
  11. Select Yes
  12. Select “Next Initialize A Linux Disk Partition”
  13. Select “/dev/hda1”
  14. Select No for Bad Blocks scan
  15. Select Yes to Confirm initilize
  16. Select “Yes” to mount as root filesystem
  17. Select “Next Install Operating System Kernel and Modules”
  18. Select “Yes” to confirm install
  19. Select “hardisk” and OK
  20. Select “/dev/hdb1” and OK
  21. Select “default” and OK
  22. Select “Next Configure Device Driver Modules”
  23. Select “net”
  24. Select “ne”
  25. Select “Install”
  26. Type “irq=9 io=0x300” and OK
  27. Expect Installation succeeded, Enter to continue
  28. Select Exit
  29. Select Exit
  30. Select “Next Configure the Network”
  31. Press Enter to set hostname to debian
  32. Select yes to use a network
  33. Type “lan” and Enter to set domain
  34. Select Yes to confirm fqdn
  35. Enter IP: 192.168.122.10
  36. Enter netmask: 255.255.255.0
  37. Enter network: 192.168.122.0
  38. Enter broadcast: 192.168.122.255
  39. Enter Yes for Gateway
  40. Enter 192.168.122.1 for gateway
  41. Select “2 Another system will be the DNS server”
  42. Enter Name Server: 192.168.122.1
  43. Select Yes to confirm
  44. Select Yes to use Ethernet
  45. Select “Next Install the Base system”
  46. Select “hardisk” and OK
  47. Select “/dev/hdb1” and OK
  48. Select “default” and OK
  49. Select “Next Configure the Base System”
  50. Type “Europe” Enter “London” Enter
  51. type y to set system clock to GMT
  52. Select “Next Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk”
  53. Select Yes to install MBR to /dev/hda
  54. Select Yes to boot system on /dev/hda1
  55. Select “Next Make a boot Floppy” and OK
  56. Select “Next Reboot The System”
  57. Select “Yes” to confirm reboot
  58. Set root password
  59. Create user account
  60. dselect, select quit
  61. exit and login as root
  62. run: mount /dev/hdb1 /mnt
  63. run: cp /mnt/netscape* /tmp
  64. run: cp /mnt/XF86Config /root
  65. run: umount /mnt
  66. run: dselect
  67. Select Access, harddisk, enter /dev/hdb1, enter ext2, enter /, enter none for local, return
  68. Select Update, Enter
  69. Select Select, space, enter
  70. Select Install
  71. Select Config
  72. Select Remove
  73. Sekect Select, choose: sudo, autoconf, vim, gnuchess, xfig, xpaint, gnuplot, screen, bind, cern-httpd, lynx, tcpdump, wu-ftpd, a2gs, ghostview, hdparm, minicom, python, samba, xntp3, xsysinfo, ddd, gimp-dmotif, netscape, xbase, xserver-vga16, fvwm95 and enter
  74. Select Install
  75. Select Config
  76. Select Remote
  77. Select Quit
  78. run: cp /root/XF86Config /etc/X11
  79. run: lilo
  80. run: shutdown -h now
read more
image from Debian 2.1 (Slink)

Debian 2.1 (Slink)

Screenshots

2.1-boot.png 2.1-login.png 2.1-x.png

Installation notes

  1. At boot prompt press Enter
  2. Select Color
  3. Select Next
  4. Select Exit
  5. Select “Next Configure the Keyboard”
  6. Select “querty/uk”
  7. Select “Next Partition A Hard Disk”
  8. Select “/dev/hda” and OK
  9. Create One big partition
  10. Select “Alternate Do Without a Swap Parition”
  11. Select Yes
  12. Select “Next Initialize A Linux Disk Partition”
  13. Select “/dev/hda1”
  14. Select No for Bad Blocks scan
  15. Select Yes to Confirm initilize
  16. Select “Yes” to mount as root filesystem
  17. Select “Next Install Operating System Kernel and Modules”
  18. Select “hardisk” and OK
  19. Select “/dev/hdb1”
  20. Enter “/” and OK
  21. Select “list” and Enter
  22. Select “disks-i386/2.1.12-1999” and Enter
  23. Select “Next Configure Device Driver Modules”
  24. Select “net”
  25. Select “ne”
  26. Select “Install”
  27. Type “irq=9 io=0x300” and OK
  28. Expect Installation succeeded, Enter to continue
  29. Select Exit
  30. Select Exit
  31. Select “Next Configure the Network”
  32. Press Enter to set hostname to debian
  33. Select yes to use a network
  34. Type “lan” and Enter to set domain
  35. Select Yes to confirm fqdn
  36. Enter IP: 192.168.122.10
  37. Enter netmask: 255.255.255.0
  38. Enter network: 192.168.122.0
  39. Enter broadcast: 192.168.122.255
  40. Enter Yes for Gateway
  41. Enter 192.168.122.1 for gateway
  42. Select “Another system will be the DNS server”
  43. Enter Name Server: 192.168.122.1
  44. Select Yes to confirm
  45. Select “eth0: Ethernet or Fast Ethernet”
  46. Select “Next Install the Base system”
  47. Select “hardisk” and OK
  48. Select “/dev/hdb1”
  49. Enter “/” and OK
  50. Select “list” and Enter
  51. Select “disks-i386/2.1.12-1999” and Enter
  52. Select “Next Configure the Base System”
  53. Type “Europe” Enter “London” Enter
  54. Enter for Continue message
  55. Select yes to set system clock to GMT
  56. Select “Next Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk”
  57. Select Yes to install MBR to /dev/hda
  58. Select Yes to boot system on /dev/hda1
  59. Don’t Select “Next Make a boot Floppy” and OK # This Fails
  60. Select “Next Reboot The System”
  61. Select “Yes” to confirm reboot
  62. At boot: prompt enter “linux root=/dev/hda1”
  63. Set root password
  64. Create user account
  65. Turn on shadow password
  66. Remove pcmcia package
  67. Type Y to select package selections
  68. Select “Word_std” and OK
  69. Press Enter to continue and run dselect
  70. Select Access, harddisk, enter /dev/hdb1, enter ext2, enter /, enter none for local, return
  71. Select Update, Enter
  72. Select Select, space, enter, choose: ssh, space, enter
  73. Select Install
  74. Select Config
  75. Select Remove
  76. select quit
  77. login as root
  78. run: mount /dev/hdb1 /mnt
  79. run: cp /mnt/netscape* /tmp
  80. run: cp /mnt/XF86Config /root
  81. run: umount /mnt
  82. run: dselect
  83. Sekect Select, choose: autoconf, gnuchess, screen, cern-httpd, tcpdump, wu-ftpd, hdparm, minicom, python-base, samba, ddd, gimp-dmotif, netscape4, xbase and enter
  84. Select Install
  85. Select Config
  86. Select Remote
  87. Select Quit
  88. run: cp /root/XF86Config /etc/X11
  89. run: lilo
  90. run: shutdown -h now
read more
image from Debian 2.2 (Potato)

Debian 2.2 (Potato)

Screenshots

2.2-boot.png 2.2-login.png 2.2-x.png

Installation notes

#check bases on 2.1 notes below

  1. At boot prompt press Enter
  2. Select Color
  3. Select Next
  4. Select Exit
  5. Select “Next Configure the Keyboard”
  6. Select “querty/uk”
  7. Select “Next Partition A Hard Disk”
  8. Select “/dev/hda” and OK
  9. Create One big partition
  10. Select “Alternate Do Without a Swap Parition”
  11. Select Yes
  12. Select “Next Initialize A Linux Disk Partition”
  13. Select “/dev/hda1”
  14. Select No for Bad Blocks scan
  15. Select Yes to Confirm initilize
  16. Select “Yes” to mount as root filesystem
  17. Select “Next Install Operating System Kernel and Modules”
  18. Select “hardisk” and OK
  19. Select “/dev/hdb1”
  20. Enter “/” and OK
  21. Select “list” and Enter
  22. Select “disks-i386/2.1.12-1999” and Enter
  23. Select “Next Configure Device Driver Modules”
  24. Select “net”
  25. Select “ne”
  26. Select “Install”
  27. Type “irq=9 io=0x300” and OK
  28. Expect Installation succeeded, Enter to continue
  29. Select Exit
  30. Select Exit
  31. Select “Next Configure the Network”
  32. Press Enter to set hostname to debian
  33. Select yes to use a network
  34. Type “lan” and Enter to set domain
  35. Select Yes to confirm fqdn
  36. Enter IP: 192.168.122.10
  37. Enter netmask: 255.255.255.0
  38. Enter network: 192.168.122.0
  39. Enter broadcast: 192.168.122.255
  40. Enter Yes for Gateway
  41. Enter 192.168.122.1 for gateway
  42. Select “Another system will be the DNS server”
  43. Enter Name Server: 192.168.122.1
  44. Select Yes to confirm
  45. Select “eth0: Ethernet or Fast Ethernet”
  46. Select “Next Install the Base system”
  47. Select “hardisk” and OK
  48. Select “/dev/hdb1”
  49. Enter “/” and OK
  50. Select “list” and Enter
  51. Select “disks-i386/2.1.12-1999” and Enter
  52. Select “Next Configure the Base System”
  53. Type “Europe” Enter “London” Enter
  54. Enter for Continue message
  55. Select yes to set system clock to GMT
  56. Select “Next Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk”
  57. Select Yes to install MBR to /dev/hda
  58. Select Yes to boot system on /dev/hda1
  59. Don’t Select “Next Make a boot Floppy” and OK # This Fails
  60. Select “Next Reboot The System”
  61. Select “Yes” to confirm reboot
  62. At boot: prompt enter “linux root=/dev/hda1”
  63. Set root password
  64. Create user account
  65. Turn on shadow password
  66. Remove pcmcia package
  67. Type Y to select package selections
  68. Select “Word_std” and OK
  69. Press Enter to continue and run dselect
  70. Select Access, harddisk, enter /dev/hdb1, enter ext2, enter /, enter none for local, return
  71. Select Update, Enter
  72. Select Select, space, enter, choose: ssh, space, enter
  73. Select Install
  74. Select Config
  75. Select Remove
  76. select quit
  77. login as root
  78. run: dselect
  79. Sekect Select, choose: autoconf, gnuchess, screen, cern-httpd, tcpdump, wu-ftpd, hdparm, minicom, python-base, samba, ddd, gimp-dmotif, netscape4, xbase and enter
  80. Select Install
  81. Select Config
  82. Select Remote
  83. Select Quit
  84. run: mount /dev/hdb1 /mnt
  85. run: cp /mnt/netscape* /tmp
  86. run: cp /mnt/XF86Config /root
  87. run: umount /mnt
  88. run: cp /root/XF86Config /etc/X11
  89. run: lilo
  90. run: shutdown -h now
read more