Installing

Getting VolnOS onto a machine

Four steps, and the install itself is a conversation, including the part where it asks before erasing anything.

x86-64 PC
UEFI, Secure Boot off
USB stick 4 GB+
Target disk 16 GB+
Network on the machine

Check what you downloaded

A truncated file does not announce itself. It installs corrupt files and boots to a broken desktop, a fault that looks nothing like its cause. Thirty seconds.

Linux echo "921ee821cccc441556d906b6f1c7ae22c0c12502854a8c3f0be7c79fe6f51b26 VolnOS-Setup.iso" | sha256sum -c -

macOS echo "921ee821cccc441556d906b6f1c7ae22c0c12502854a8c3f0be7c79fe6f51b26 VolnOS-Setup.iso" | shasum -a 256 -c -

Windows

(Get-FileHash VolnOS-Setup.iso -Algorithm SHA256).Hash -eq "921ee821cccc441556d906b6f1c7ae22c0c12502854a8c3f0be7c79fe6f51b26"

Expecting 921ee821cccc…e6f51b26 · full digest

Write it to a USB stick

Any stick of 4 GB or more. This erases it, so name the right device: lsblk on Linux, diskutil list on macOS.

Linux sudo dd if=VolnOS-Setup.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M oflag=direct status=progress && sync

macOS diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN && sudo dd if=VolnOS-Setup.iso of=/dev/rdiskN bs=4m

Windows Rufus or balenaEtcher: pick the ISO, pick the stick, and write it in image (DD) mode.

Boot from the stick

Restart and hold the boot-menu key, usually F12 but sometimes F10, Esc or Del, then pick the UEFI entry. Secure Boot has to be off: VolnOS's boot files are not signed with Microsoft's key, so a machine enforcing it refuses the medium.

GRUB boot menu

Try VolnOS
Install VolnOS
Try VolnOS (safe graphics)
Check the installation medium for defects

Try VolnOS runs the whole desktop from the stick and writes nothing. If anything looks wrong, the last entry checks every file on the medium first.

Install it by talking to it

Install VolnOS opens on its own screen, and it is a conversation. It asks which disk, listing the ineligible ones with the reason rather than hiding them: anything under 16 GB, the stick you booted from, and read-only devices. Then it shows the plan with the exact command, and nothing is written until you type ERASE in full.

the plan

Erase /dev/nvme0n1 (512 GB) and install VolnOS
$ pkexec /usr/libexec/volnos-install-disk \
$     --device /dev/nvme0n1 --squashfs …/filesystem.squashfs
Type ERASE to unlock ▸

First boot then asks your name and login, a PIN or password, language, time zone and the graphics driver.

Not ready to give it a disk? Try it from the stick for as long as you like, or boot the same ISO in a virtual machine with UEFI firmware enabled. The write comes entirely off the medium, so losing the network mid-install cannot spoil the disk.