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The steps of installing a system

The plan of a Linux installation, from the downloaded image to the first boot: checking the checksum, making the bootable drive, partitioning, installing the bootloader, living next to Windows.

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  • ISO image: what is it?

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    A single file that reproduces the contents of an optical disc and carries a system's installer, downloaded and then written onto a drive.

    It is not installed as is: it must be written as an image onto a USB drive, or attached to a virtual machine, so that the firmware can boot from it.

  • You have downloaded a distribution's image. What do you do before writing it to the USB drive?

    • Compute its SHA-256 checksum and compare it with the publisher's
    • Run an antivirus scan on the .iso file to look for malicious software
    • Unpack it into a folder with an archive manager, then copy that folder
    • Check that its size matches the one announced on the download page
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    Compute its SHA-256 checksum and compare it with the publisher's

    Only the checksum proves the file is byte for byte identical to the original. An identical size does not rule out a modified file, and an ISO is not unpacked before being written.

  • Before installing, you set the firmware's … so that the machine tries the USB drive before the internal disk.

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    Before installing, you set the firmware's boot order so that the machine tries the USB drive before the internal disk.

    If the internal disk already holds a system, the machine boots from it and ignores the drive until the order is changed (or the one-time boot menu is opened).

  • Image checksum: what is it?

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    A value computed from a file's whole content, such as SHA-256, compared with the one the publisher posts.

    A single different byte changes the whole checksum: sha256sum image.iso reveals a truncated download or a tampered file before it is written to a drive.

  • After installing Linux next to Windows, the machine boots straight into Windows with no menu. What are the most likely cause and fix?

    • Windows's bootloader still comes first; put Linux's at the top of the boot order
    • Linux was not installed at all; redo the installation on the same disk
    • Windows's partition is full; shrink it to make room for Linux
    • The ISO file was corrupted; download it again and start over
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    Windows's bootloader still comes first; put Linux's at the top of the boot order

    Both bootloaders are on the EFI partition, but the firmware runs the one first in its boot order. You change that order in the firmware menu, or with efibootmgr from Linux. A corrupted image would have made the installation fail instead of letting it finish.

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