HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

johnraff · 2024-05-07 08:29:30

There is now a BunsenLabs "base" metapackage bunsen-meta-base which can be installed from the BL apt repository, to get a minimal, stripped-down install of BunsenLabs with many of the usual packages removed. Even the pipemenus and BL utilities have been left out. Of course any extra packages you want to add are an 'apt-get' away.

The idea is to have a base for people who want a simple Debian stable system on which to build their own setup. The BunsenLabs base saves you the trouble of setting up the basic graphic tools.

The "base" package list was discussed in this thread and it's still a Work In Progress, in that the package list in the metapackage can easily be tweaked if users have suggestions for improvement.

The BL netinstall script also now offers to install the base package list, so there are two possible install paths. The netinstall script is probably slightly simpler, but you can also use the metapackage - both methods are described below.

At some point in the future we might consider offering a "base" iso, but that would mean more work for the developers...

The current BL "base" package list can be seen here:
https://github.com/BunsenLabs/bunsen-me … ntrol#L425
or here:
https://github.com/BunsenLabs/bunsen-ne … orecs-base
The two lists should be the same.

To set up a BunsenLabs Base system, follow these steps:

1)
Download current Debian Bookworm "netinstall" iso.

amd64
https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/cu … etinst.iso

i386
https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/cu … etinst.iso

2)
Follow the usual netinstall process, remembering:
*) Don't set a password for 'root' in the user setup phase (you'll have sudo rights).
*) At the final package selection phase, choose only "standard system utilities" (up/down arrows to navigate, spacebar to toggle selection).

From here, choose the A) options to use the netinstall script, or the B) options to use the metapackage:

==================================================

USING THE NETINSTALL SCRIPT

3A)
Download the BunsenLabs Netinstall script, untar it, enter the directory and run the "install" script:

wget https://github.com/bunsenlabs/bunsen-netinstall/archive/boron.tar.gz
tar -xpf boron.tar.gz
cd bunsen-netinstall-boron
./install

4A)
The script will ask you if you want the "full", "lite" or "base" install.
Choose "base".

5A)
When the script has finished you can choose to reboot immediately or remain on the CLI system to tweak some file or other. To reboot later:

sudo systemctl reboot

You should get the graphical interface after reboot.

==================================================

USING THE METAPACKAGE

3B)
Login to the new command-line system, and (to make sure everything's up to date):

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

4B)
You'll need the BunsenLabs apt signing key to use the BL repo. You can grab the bunsen-keyring package directly, as described here, but that only works smoothly if you have a graphical session already running with a browser. You're still on a CLI session - you could download the deb file with wget, but it's rather a long url to type in:

wget https://pkg.bunsenlabs.org/debian/pool/main/b/bunsen-keyring/bunsen-keyring_2023.01.14-1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i bunsen-keyring_2023.01.14-1_all.deb

Maybe easier is to grab the signing key directly:

wget https://ddl.bunsenlabs.org/ddl/bunsen-release.asc
sudo cp bunsen-release.asc /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d

When you install the BunsenLabs packages later, then bunsen-archive-keyring will overwrite /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/bunsen-release.asc but it's the same file anyway.

5B)
Then edit the apt sources (use vim if you prefer):

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bunsen.list

type in this line:

deb https://pkg.bunsenlabs.org/debian boron main

(With nano, Ctrl+O to write to file, Ctrl+X to exit the editor.)

Also edit /etc/apt/sources.list, adding 'contrib', 'non-free' and 'non-free-firmware' to all the existing debian lines:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

The lines should be something like:

deb https://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

...etc
(If you're not planning to build any packages from source, you can also comment out the lines which begin with 'deb-src'.)

Update again:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

(No packages will probably be upgraded this time, but the update is needed so apt is aware of your edits.)

6B)
Now install the BunsenLabs base packages. The metapackage will pull them all in as dependencies, but be sure to use the --no-install-recommends option, or you'll get a pile of unwanted stuff:

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends bunsen-meta-base

7B)
Reboot to see the graphical interface:

sudo systemctl reboot

==================================================

For both install methods

If you have operating systems on other partitions that you want to appear in the grub boot menu, you'll want to:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

and uncomment this line:

GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false

Then:

sudo update-grub

See: https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic.php?id=8418

NOTES:

1) There is no firmware in this package list. The Bookworm Debian installer which you ran at stage 2) handles firmware much better than earlier versions did and you might find you have everything you need. You can also try installing and running the Debian package isenkram. If your hardware still doesn't run well, post a comment to the original discussion thread or possibly start a new dedicated thread in the Kernel & Hardware section.

2) If you notice any other packages that you think should be added to the "base" list please post a comment to the discussion thread, but remember we want to keep the base as small as possible.

3) Possible candidates for packages users might want to add to their "base install:

BunsenLabs packages - probably better installed with recommends:
bunsen-pipemenus bunsen-utilities

others:
xfce4-notifyd xfce4-power-manager network-manager wpasupplicant

Depending on their hardware, some users might need some of those xserver packages: xserver-xorg-input-<something> xserver-xorg-video-<something>

4) If you have problems with either of the above install methods, please post a reply to this thread.

Last edited by johnraff (2024-05-11 05:03:06)

dmontaine · 2024-05-07 11:20:31

Installed base in a vm. Only problem I ran into was that sudo was not installed. (I did not enter a password for root during the install). So, once I installed the system there was no way to get to root. su didn't work because no password, sudo didn't work because not installed.

johnraff · 2024-05-08 01:40:55

^I don't know why that would have happened. Sudo is installed right at the start when the Debian Installer is being run, so all I can think of is that you must have made some mistake there:

johnraff wrote:

2)
Follow the usual netinstall process

Next time, maybe check your Debian CLI install before going on to install BunsenLabs?

dmontaine · 2024-05-08 04:48:46

Second time - install worked as expected. The System Settings, Printers option on the menu does nothing. It could be removed.

johnraff · 2024-05-08 04:53:51

Good catch - thank you!

(There might be some other dead menu entries that got missed.)

hhh · 2024-05-08 21:54:58

@johnraff, very cool!

I'm still messing heavily with Hyprland on Wayland but I'll definitely give this a spin in a VM and install wayland/xwayland on it and probably labwc. Or maybe update it to trixie/sid and see if I can build hyprland 0.40 on it and document it.

johnraff · 2024-05-09 01:35:48

hhh wrote:

I'll definitely give this a spin in a VM and install wayland/xwayland on it and probably labwc. Or maybe update it to trixie/sid and see if I can build hyprland 0.40 on it and document it.

I'll probably put out a Carbon/Trixie branch of the netinstall script sooner than usual this time round, so people like you and micko01 can have a quick BL base to work on.

Building from your work, hopefully the netinstall script will be able to offer a Wayland BL base eventually.

johnraff · 2024-05-11 04:23:32

I've added libfuse2 to the "base" package list on the netinstall script. Bunsen-meta-all will follow with the next package upgrade.

NOTE: additions to package lists will go out almost instantaneously on the netinstall script, while metapackage upgrades might wait a while so that changes can be bundled and users aren't forced to do repeated upgrades.

Last edited by johnraff (2024-05-11 05:11:17)

johnraff · 2024-05-11 05:14:59

Discussion on additions to the package lists - libfuse2 in particular - moved to bunsen-meta-base so as to have all those discussions in the same place.

Let's keep this thread for issues with the install process itself.

#1 2024-05-07 08:29:30

HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

#2 2024-05-07 11:20:31

Re: HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

#3 2024-05-08 01:40:55

Re: HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

#4 2024-05-08 04:48:46

Re: HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

#5 2024-05-08 04:53:51

Re: HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

#6 2024-05-08 21:54:58

Re: HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

#7 2024-05-09 01:35:48

Re: HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

#8 2024-05-11 04:23:32

Re: HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

#9 2024-05-11 05:14:59

Re: HOW-TO install a BunsenLabs base

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