Frequently Asked Questions about Debian

Frequently Asked Questions about Debian CD/DVD/USB images
Skip Quicknav
Blog
Micronews
Planet
Wiki
Debian installation media for USB, CD, DVD
Frequently Asked Questions about Debian CD/DVD/USB images
Debian on CD
FAQ
Network Install
Live images
Buy CDs or DVDs
Download via HTTP/FTP
Download with Torrent
Download with Jigdo
Rsync Mirrors
Verify
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I write a USB/CD/DVD/BD image on Windows to a
USB flash drive?
How do I write a USB/CD/DVD/BD image to a
USB flash drive under Linux?
What is a
CD image
anyway?
My question is not answered by this
FAQ!
Which of the numerous images
should I download? Do I need all of them?
What is a
netinst
or
network install
CD?
What are the
update
USBs/CDs/DVDs?
What are the
source
CDs?
What's the difference between official
and unofficial images?
Is a Debian
live image
available?
The USB/CD/DVD/BD fails to boot! / From
which disc should I boot?
Where are the images for M68K, Hurd or
other architectures?
Are images for the
unstable
distribution available?
Which USB/CD/DVD/BD image
contains package XYZ?
Can I have a list of all the
packages contained in an image?
The software on the official CDs is
outdated - why don't you release a new version?
How do I know if I am downloading the
newest images?
How can I verify the downloaded ISO
images and written optical media?
Why is my downloaded DVD image smaller
than 1 GB when it should be larger than
4 GB?
How do I write an ISO image under
Linux/Unix?
How do I burn an ISO image to CD/DVD under
Windows?
How do I write an ISO image under
Mac OS?
How should I label the
discs?
Are old USB/CD/DVD/BD images still
available?
What is the best way of installing
Debian on many interconnected computers?
I have a local Debian mirror and want to
create my owns USBs/CD/DVDs/BDs. How do I do this?
How do I become a mirror for
Debian USB/CD/DVD/BD images?
Some Images are missing!
Only the first n images are available! Where is the rest?
How do I write a USB/CD/DVD/BD image on Windows to a
USB flash drive?
For Windows users we recommend to use
balenaEtcher
or
USBImager
USBImager has no privacy concerns nor advertisements. It's fully GDPR compatible and available in many languages.
There's a version of balenaEtcher that can be used without installing it onto your computer.
Just
download balenaEtcher-portable.exe
and open/execute it.
If there's a security warning, confirm that you want to open balenaEtcher.
Then select an ISO file, select the target device (your USB stick), finaly flash. That's it.
How do I write a USB/CD/DVD/BD image to a
USB flash drive under Linux?
Several of the Debian and Debian Live images, notably all i386,
amd64 and arm64 images, are created using the
isohybrid
technology, which means that they may be used in two different
ways:
They may be written to CD/DVD/BD and used as normal for CD/DVD/BD booting.
They may be written to USB flash drives, bootable directly from the BIOS / EFI firmware of most PCs.
On a Linux machine, simply use the
cp
command, to copy an
image to a USB flash drive:
cp
Alternatively you can also use
dd
sudo dd if= of= bs=16M status=progress oflag=sync
where:
is the name of the input image, e.g.
netinst.iso
is the device matching the USB flash drive,
e.g. /dev/sda, /dev/sdb.
Be careful to make sure you have the right
device name
, as this command is capable of writing over your hard
disk just as easily if you get the wrong one!
status=progress
outputs the current progress of the operation
in your terminal.
oflag=sync
flushes the cache so the operation is really
finished when the command succeeds, the USB flash drive can be removed
right after the command is finished.
Please note, that Debian advises not using
unetbootin
for
this task. It can cause difficult-to-diagnose problems with booting
and installing, so is not recommended.
What is a
CD image
anyway?
A CD image is the exact representation of the data on a CD in a
normal computer file, that can e.g. be transmitted over the
Internet. CD burning programs can use the image files to make real
CDs.
In Debian, we use the term
CD image
as a common way to
describe a range of things, many of which don't even fit on CD! The
name is old, but it has stuck. We regularly build multiple different
types of image:
Debian installer images in multiple sizes. These range from
small CD-sized
netinst
images for quick download up to
large complete sets of images designed for DVD, Blu-Ray (BD) or
Dual-Layer Blu-Ray (DLBD) media.
Debian live images - live systems designed to be run directly
from USB/CD/DVD without needing
installation. See
below
for more
details.
In many cases, these installer and live images can often be written
directly to USB flash drives with no
CD
involved;
see
below
. Don't be put off by the name
CD
image
For a correctly written image, the
.iso
file must not
appear on the media when you access it! Instead, you should see a
number of files and directories - in the case of a Debian installer
image, this includes a
dists
directory and a
README.html
file.
The
.iso
format we use for our images is roughly
comparable to a
.zip
file: It contains other files and
directories, and only these will appear on the final USB/CD/DVD
medium. Some archive programs allow you to
unpack
.iso
files. Do not use this feature to create a USB/CD/DVD from the
unpacked files! The resulting medium will fail to boot because the
.iso
format includes special information related to booting
from the USB/CD/DVD, which is lost when you unpack the file. See below on how
to correctly write a CD/DVD image under
Linux
Windows
or
Mac
OS
, or how to write an image to a
USB flash
drive
My question is not answered by this
FAQ!
If you cannot find an answer to your question here, you can ask for
help on one of the Debian mailing lists.
In all cases, you should
the mailing list archives
before sending mail to the lists.
You can
to and
unsubscribe
from the lists. However, you do not need to be subscribed in order
to send mail to the lists - if you are not subscribed, ask for
replies to be CC'd to you.
Mailing lists relevant to problems with CD installation:
debian-cd
Discussion about the CD image creation process, available CD
mirrors, problems when booting from CD, announcements of new
official images.
debian-boot
: A
bit of a misnomer, this list actually covers the installation
process; any problems encountered after successfully booting
from CD may be more appropriate here than in debian-cd.
debian-live
A list for the Debian Live project, focused on development of the software
that is used to build Debian Live images, but also appropriate
for discussion particular to using those images.
debian-user
General support list for users of Debian. Focus is
more on problems encountered after a successful installation,
when using the system. There are also several lists for
non-English speakers, in
Català
Chinese
Dansk
Esperanto
Magyar
Indonesian
Italiano
日本語 (Nihongo)
Polski
Português
Русский (Russkij)
Svenska
Türkçe
and
Ukrainian
Which of the numerous images
should I download? Do I need all of them?
No. First, of course you only need to download CD
or
DVD
or
BD images - the three types of images contain the same
packages.
Also, you only need the USB/CD/DVD/BD images for your computer's
architecture. The architecture is the type of hardware your computer
uses. By far the most popular one is the 64-bit Intel/AMD PC
architecture, so most people will only want to get the images
for
amd64
. If your PC has an older 32-bit AMD or Intel
processor, you will most likely need the
i386
images instead.
Furthermore, in most cases it is not necessary to download all of
the images for your architecture. The packages are sorted by
popularity: The first USB/CD/DVD/BD contains the installation system and
the most popular packages. The second one contains slightly less
popular ones, the third one even less popular ones, etc. You will
probably only need the first couple of DVDs (or the first BD, etc.)
unless you have very special requirements. (And in case you happen to
need a package later on which is not on one of the USBs/CDs/DVDs/BDs you
downloaded, you can always install that package directly from the
Internet.)
Please also read the next paragraphs to determine whether you
want/need to download network install CDs, update CDs or source
CDs.
What is a
netinst
or
network install
CD?
To quote the
network install page
: A
network install
or
netinst
CD is a single CD which enables you to
install the entire operating system. This single CD contains just the
minimal amount of software to install the base system and fetch the
remaining packages over the Internet.
If you only want to install Debian on a single machine which has a
fast Internet connection, the network install may be the fastest and
easiest option for you: You only download the packages that you
selected for installation on your machine, which saves both time and
bandwidth.
What are the
update
USBs/CDs/DVDs?
Update USBs/CDs/DVDs are USBs/CDs/DVDs which contain all the packages that
changed between a major release version (e.g. 7.
8.
, etc.) and a later point release of that stable
distribution. For example, if you already have the full set of
debian-8.0.0
USBs/CDs/DVDs, you can add the
debian-update-8.2.0
disc set to turn this
debian-8.0.0
set into a
debian-8.2.0
set.
This type of USB/CD/DVD is intended for vendors having large amounts of
pressed versions of USBs/CDs/DVDs (which makes them cheaper than
individually burned USBs/CDs/DVDs). If you order USBs/CDs/DVDs from such a
vendor, it is possible that you'll receive USBs/CDs/DVDs for a slightly
older point release, plus some update USBs/CDs/DVDs for the latest
revision. This is a perfectly acceptable way of distributing Debian on
USB/CD/DVD.
Of course, this type of USB/CD/DVD can also be useful to you as an end user;
instead of creating the full set of USBs/CDs/DVDs for each new revision of a
release, you only need to download and burn update USBs/CDs/DVDs for
your architecture.
Note that update USBs/CDs/DVDs are not meant to boot, they just contain the
packages needed to upgrade an existing installation. If you don't have
that existing installation, then you'll need to use the normal
installation USBs/CDs/DVDs. After the new system is booted, the updated
USB/CD/DVD can be added with
apt-cdrom add
Now, what if for some reason you do not want to download the update
USB/CD/DVD even though you already have the full set of USBs/CDs/DVDs/BDs for
the previous revision? In this case, you should consider using
jigdo
's
update
feature: jigdo can read
the contents of the old USBs/CDs/DVDs/BDs, download only those files that
have changed for the new USBs/CDs/DVDs, and create the full set of new
USBs/CDs/DVDs/BDs. Still, it will have done this by downloading only about
the same amount of data as for an update USB/CD/DVD.
What are the
source
CDs?
There are two types of images, the
binary
CDs that contain
precompiled, ready-to-run programs, and the
source
CDs that
contain the source code for the programs. The vast majority of
people do not need the source CDs; you should not download them
unless you really have a good reason for it.
What's the difference between official
and unofficial images?
Official images are built by a member of the Debian CD team and
have undergone some testing to ensure they work. Once they have been
released, the images never change - if they turn out to be broken, a
new set with a different version number is released.
Unofficial images can be built by anyone - CD team members, other
Debian developers or even advanced Debian users. Typically, they are
more up-to-date, but have received less testing. Some have new
features (e.g. installation support for new hardware), or contain
additional software packages which are not part of the Debian archive.
Is a Debian
live image
available?
Yes. A so-called
live image
live CD
), or more
precisely, a
live system
, is a complete system prepared for a
DVD, USB key or other medium. You do not need to install anything on
the hard drive. Instead you boot from the medium (DVD or USB key) and
are able to start working on the machine right away. All programs run
directly from the medium.
The
Debian Live Project
produces
live image files
for a variety of system types and
media.
The USB/CD/DVD/BD fails to boot! / From
which disc should I boot?
Only the first USB/CD/DVD/BD in a set is bootable.
If your Debian disc fails to boot, first ensure that you have
correctly written it to the medium - please
see the
explanation above
. Additionally, please check whether your BIOS is
set up to boot from your optical or USB drive.
Where are the images for M68K, Hurd or
other architectures?
Depending on the state of support for a certain architecture,
USB/CD/DVD images are available from different places:
If the architecture you are looking for is officially
supported by the current
stable
release
, see the
Debian on CD
page for
the available download options.
If a Debian port for an architecture exists, but has not
yet been released officially, CD images may or may not be
available. Again, see the
Debian on CD
page - in
contrast to stable images, only one download option may be
supported, so have a look at both the
jigdo
and
HTTP
sections.
For the Debian port to the GNU/Hurd, see the
page about unofficial Hurd CDs
Otherwise, check the
Debian port pages
for the architecture you are interested in.
Are images for the
unstable
distribution available?
There are no
unstable
full USB/CD/DVD/BD images. Due to the fact
that the packages in
unstable
change so quickly, it is more
appropriate for people to download and install
unstable
using a
normal Debian HTTP mirror.
If you are aware of the
challenges of
running unstable
, you have a few
choices:
Install
testing
using a
netinst
image
, then upgrade to
unstable
by changing the entries in
your
/etc/apt/sources.list
. To avoid unnecessary downloads
and package upgrades, it is advisable to install a minimal
testing
system first and only to install most of the software
(e.g. desktop environment) after the switch to
unstable
Use the stable installer to install a minimal
stable
system and then change your
/etc/apt/sources.list
file
to use
testing
and do an
apt-get update
and
apt-get dist-upgrade
. Finally, install the packages you
desire. This method is the most likely to
work of those presented here.
Be a tester of the
testing
installer and install
testing
using a netinst image, then upgrade to
unstable
by changing the entries in your
/etc/apt/sources.list
. To avoid unnecessary downloads
and package upgrades, it is advisable to install a minimal
testing
system first and only to install most of the
software (e.g. desktop environment) after the switch to
unstable
. Then
apt-get update
and
apt-get -u dist-upgrade
- then you have a sid release.
Use a netboot
mini.iso
image. You will find it on any of
the Debian mirrors under
debian/dists/unstable/main/installer-*/current/images/netboot/mini.iso. During
the installation choose
Advanced options
->
Expert
install
. In the step
Choose a mirror of the Debian
archive
choose version
sid - unstable
Which USB/CD/DVD/BD image
contains package XYZ?
To find out which image contains a certain file, use
the
cdimage search
tool
. It has knowledge of just about all the Debian USBs/CDs/DVDs/BDs
produced by Debian since the 3.0 (Woody) release, covering all the
official releases (both older archived releases and the current stable
release) and the current sets of daily and weekly testing builds.
Can I have a list of all the
packages contained in an image?
Yes. Look
on
cdimage.debian.org
for the corresponding
.list.gz
file - it will list all the
packages and source files included in the image. For Debian Live
images, you can find in the same directory as the image files some
similarly named files suffixed with
.packages
. Download these
and then search them for the desired package name.
The software on the official CDs is
outdated - why don't you release a new version?
We only make official releases of the
stable
distribution
when we think they truly deserve that name. Unfortunately, this means
that stable releases only happen about every 2 years...
If you require more recent versions of some of the software in
Debian, you can install
stable
and then upgrade (via the net)
those parts you want to the versions from
testing
- it is
possible to mix software from the different releases.
Alternatively, try out the images of
testing
that are
generated automatically every week. More information about
testing
security support
is available from the security FAQ.
If you only need newer versions of specific packages, you can also
try the
backports
service, which takes packages from testing
and modifies them to work on stable. This option may be safer than
installing the same package directly from testing.
How do I know if I am downloading the
newest images?
The note at the bottom of the
Debian on CD
page
always shows the version number of the latest
release.
How can I verify the downloaded ISO
images and written optical media?
Detailed information on how to authenticate the signed checksum
files containing the checksums of the ISO image files is available on
the
authenticity verification page
. After
cryptographically verifying the checksum files, we can check that:
Checksums of the
downloaded ISO image files
match those
found in the checksum files. Computing the checksum of the ISO image
files is performed by tools such as
sha512sum
and
sha256sum
Checksums of already
written optical media
match those
found in the checksum files. This is a slightly more difficult
operation to describe.
The problem with the verification of written optical media is that
some media types will possibly return more bytes than those found in
the ISO image. This trailing garbage is impossible to avoid with CD
written in TAO mode, incrementally recorded DVD-R[W], formatted
DVD-RW, DVD+RW, BD-RE, and also with USB keys. Therefore, we need to
read exactly the same number of sectors of data from the media as are
found in the ISO image itself; reading any more bytes from the media
will alter the checksum result.
The
isosize
program can be used to find out the appropriate
amount of bytes to be read from the optical media. It shows the
sector count
and the
sector size
from the optical media,
where

is the device file of the loaded optical media.
$ /sbin/isosize -x
sector count: 25600, sector size: 2048
Then
sector count
and
sector size
are passed to
dd
to read the appropriate amount of bytes from the optical media and the byte
stream is then piped to the appropriate checksum tool (sha512sum, sha256sum,
etc).
$ dd if= count= bs= | sha512sum
The computed checksum is to be compared against the corresponding checksum found
in the appropriate checksum file (SHA512SUMS, SHA256SUMS, etc).
Alternatively, there is a useful helper script called
check_debian_iso
which can verify
ISO image files
and
optical media
, reading the appropriate amount of bytes from
media then computing the checksum and comparing it against the
checksum file.
ISO image file verification.
This will compare the checksum of the debian-6.0.3-amd64-netinst.iso
image file against the corresponding checksum found in the SHA512SUMS
checksum file.
$ ./check_debian_iso SHA512SUMS debian-6.0.3-amd64-netinst.iso
Optical media verification.
This will compare the checksum of the media accessible as /dev/dvd against the
checksum of debian-6.0.3-amd64-DVD-1.iso as found in the SHA512SUMS
checksum file. Note that the ISO image file itself is not needed,
its name is merely used to locate the corresponding checksum in
the checksum file.
$ ./check_debian_iso SHA512SUMS debian-6.0.3-amd64-DVD-1.iso /dev/dvd
Why is my downloaded DVD image smaller
than 1 GB when it should be larger than
4 GB?
Most likely, the tool you use for downloading
the image does not have large file support, i.e. it has problems
downloading files larger than 4 GBytes. The usual symptom for
this problem is that when you download the file, the file size
reported by your tool (and the amount of data that it downloads) is
too small by exactly 4 GB. For example, if the DVD image is
4.4 GB, your tool will report a size of 0.4 GB.
How do I write an ISO image under
Linux/Unix?
Note that Debian ISO images for i386, amd64 and arm64 are also
bootable from a USB key; see
below
xorriso
for all optical media types (also doable as non-root user):
xorriso -as cdrecord -v dev=/dev/sr0 -eject debian-x.y.z-arch-MEDIUM-NN.iso
In order to get the full nominal speed when writing to BD-RE
(i.e. without the slowdown caused by the drive's internal defect
management), add the option
stream_recording=on
growisofs
for DVD and BD optical media types:
growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/sr0=debian-x.y.z-arch-MEDIUM-NN.iso
wodim
for CD optical media type:
wodim -v dev=/dev/sr0 -eject -sao debian-x.y.z-arch-CD-NN.iso
For Linux, there are also the X programs
Brasero
K3B
and
X-CD-Roast
to name a few. Note that they're all frontends to the previously
mentioned low-level burning applications.
Brasero
Select the button
Burn Image
. Then click on
Click here to select a disc image
, browse and select your
downloaded ISO file, check whether the settings under
Properties
are correct and choose
Create Image
K3b
Select the menu entry
Tools - CD - Burn CD Image
. In the
dialog that opens, enter the path to the image in the
Image to
Burn
field, check whether the other settings are correct, then
click on
Start
X-CD-Roast
After the program has started, click on
Setup
and choose the
HD settings
tab. Copy the Debian CD
image to one of the directories that are displayed in the table. (If
the table is empty, enter the path of a directory you want to use for
temporary storage, and click on
Add
.) Click on
OK
to
exit the setup. Next, select
Create CD
and then
Write
Tracks
. Choose the
Layout tracks
tab, select the line
displaying the image filename and click on
Add
, then click on
Accept track layout
. Finally, click on
Write tracks
How do I burn an ISO image to CD/DVD under
Windows?
On recent versions of Windows, this can be done natively by
right-clicking the ISO and selecting "Burn image to disk (or similar)"
This might be a little problem on older versions of Windows, as
many Windows image-burning programs use their own formats for CD
images. To burn the
.iso
images you will most likely have to
use a
special
menu. Look for options like
ISO9660 file
Raw ISO image
or
2048 bytes/sector
. (Note: other
bytes/sector values are fatal!) Some programs do not offer these
choices; use another burning program instead (ask a friend or
colleague). Here is some information about how to write CD images with
specific products:
ImgBurn
(Freeware)
There are
screenshots
of how to write an image to CD/DVD
CDBurnerXP Pro
(Freeware)
The process of writing an
.iso
image is described
in the program's manual
Roxio
Easy-CD Creator
From the
File
menu, choose
Create CD from
image...
. Then select the
.iso
file type, and the correct
image. This opens up the CD creation setup GUI, from there
ensure that all the information for your CD-R is correct. In the
Create options
portion, choose
Create CD
; under
Write method
, choose
Track at once
and
Close
CD
Nero
from
Ahead Software
Disable the Wizard, then select
Burn Image
from the
File
or
Recorder
menu. Select
All Files
in the file
selection window if necessary. Select the
.iso
file, click
OK in the
this is a foreign file
dialogue box, in case one is
displayed. In the
option box that opens, the defaults should be okay:
Data
Mode 1
Block Size 2048
Raw Data, Scrambled,
and Swapped
not
selected, and
Image
Header
and
Image Trailer
left at 0. Click OK. Under
Write CD
or
Burn
, use the default options, e.g.
Write
and
Determine maximum speed
, plus check the
Finalize
CD
option.
If you can provide updated information or details for other
programs, please
let us know
How do I write an ISO image under
Mac OS?
The
Toast
program for Mac OS is reported to work fine with
.iso
files. You can be extra-safe by giving it the
creator code
CDr3
(or possibly
CDr4
) and type code
iImg
using e.g. FileTyper. Double-clicking on the file will
then open up Toast directly, without having to drag-and-drop or go
via the File-Open menu.
Another option is
Disk Utility
(included with Mac OS
X 10.3 and higher): After opening the Disk Utility application (in
the
/Applications/Utilities
folder), select
Burn...
in the
Image
menu and choose the CD
image to burn. Ensure that the settings are correct, then click on
Burn
Another option is
Disk Copy
(included with Mac OS
X 10.1 and higher): After opening the Disk Copy application (in
the
/Applications/Utilities
folder), select
Burn Image...
in the
Image
menu and choose the CD
image to burn. Ensure that the settings are correct, then click on
Burn
How should I label the
discs?
There is no obligatory way of labeling. However, we suggest you
use the following scheme to ensure interchangeability:
Debian GNU/{Linux|Hurd}
[]
Official
{} {CD|DVD|BD}-
For example:
Debian GNU/Linux 6.0.3
Official i386
CD-1
Debian GNU/Linux 6.0.3
Official
amd64 DVD-2
Debian GNU/Linux 6.0.3
Official
source BD-1
Debian GNU/Hurd 6.0.3
Official i386
Netinst CD
If you have enough space, you can also add the codename to the
first line, as in:
Debian GNU/Linux 6.0.3
Squeeze
Note that you are allowed to use the
Official
designation
only
on CDs the image of which has a
checksum that matches the one from the
jigdo
files of official releases
Any CD that has no matching checksum (e.g. your own creations) must be
clearly labelled as
Unofficial
, for example:
Debian GNU/Linux 6.0.3
Unofficial
Non-free
In the case of official weekly snapshots, version numbers like
6.0.3
should not be used to avoid confusion with released
Debian versions. Instead, label the image with a codename like
etch
or a distribution name like
testing
. Also add
Snapshot
and the date of the snapshot to help identify it:
Debian GNU/Linux
etch
Official Snapshot alpha Binary-2
2005-06-17
Are old USB/CD/DVD/BD images still
available?
Some older images are available from the
archive
section on cdimage.debian.org
. For example, you might want to try
out older images if you need support for a certain (sub)architecture
which has been dropped for a newer release.
What is the best way of installing
Debian on many interconnected computers?
If you want to install Debian on a large number of machines and
then keep all these installations up-to-date (e.g. security updates),
installing from optical media is not ideal, but then neither is
installing via the Internet, because the packages will have to be
downloaded again for each machine. In this case, you should set up a
local cache, the three options being:
Make disc contents available via HTTP:
Download the
images, then make their contents available to your LAN on a local
mirror. The individual machines can use this mirror as if it
were a regular Debian server. For example, if the contents of a CD
are available under the URL
, machines
in the local network can use the packages from the CD with the
following line in their
/etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://10.0.0.1/cd1/ stable main contrib
A different URL and a separate entry in
sources.list
is
necessary for each CD.
Instruct your HTTP proxy to cache .deb files:
Configure the proxy to keep .deb files for a long time, then set
http_proxy
in your environment on each machine to point
at the cache, and use apt's HTTP acquisition method.
This gives you most of the benefits of running a mirror, with
none of the admin hassle. Since you can set limits on the
proxy's disk usage, it works even for sites with limited disk
space, and it has the advantage over mirroring that you only
download those packages you install, which saves bandwidth.
Squid can be told to keep the files by adding a line to
/etc/squid/squid.conf
refresh_pattern debian.org/.*.deb$ 129600 100% 129600
Set up a private Debian packages mirror:
Beware
that the Debian archive has grown to a tremendous size! Refer to
the
mirroring page
for details.
Installing on a large number of machines can be tricky.
Fully automatic
installation
(FAI), provides a web service for creating customized
installation images, that may help you with this task.
I have a local Debian mirror and want to
create my owns USBs/CD/DVDs/BDs. How do I do this?
Apart from a
local Debian mirror
, you
also need plenty of disc space. The image creation scripts are
packaged in the
debian-cd
package. However, it is usually a
better idea to use the latest code from git. (Still, you should have a
look at the package's dependencies to ensure you have all the
necessary tools.)
To get the latest git version, make sure you have git
installed. From an empty directory, give the following command:
git clone https://salsa.debian.org/images-team/debian-cd.git
Should you try to use the scripts, check the
debian-cd mailing list
archive
for solutions to the questions that will inevitably
show up. :-)
How do I become a mirror for
Debian USB/CD/DVD/BD images?
The necessary steps to set up your debian-cd image mirror and keep
it up to date are
described on a separate
page
Some Images are missing!
Only the first n images are available! Where is the rest?
We don't store/serve the full set of ISO images for all architectures,
to reduce the amount of space taken up on the mirrors. You can
use the jigdo tool
to recreate the missing ISO
images instead.
debian_on_cd
faq
net_install
buy
jigdo
http_ftp
This page is also available in the following languages:
How to set
the default document language
English-language
public mailing list
for CDs/DVDs:
Debian CD team <
debian-cd@lists.debian.org
About
Social Contract
Code of Conduct
Free Software
Legal Info
Help Debian
Getting Debian
Network install
CD/USB ISO images
Pure Blends
Debian Packages
Developers' Corner
News
Project News
Events
Documentation
Release Info
Debian Wiki
Support
Debian International
Security Information
Bug reports
Mailing Lists
The Debian Blog
Debian Micronews
Debian Planet
Last Modified: Wed, Apr 15 11:24:15 UTC 2026