» Linux
Setup OS for local server
Go to https://www.debian.org/ and download the .iso file to burn on your usb installation flash drive.
Click on the Download an installation image link
Depending on your machine's processor architecture, download the appropriate installation file.
Next, you'll need a software that will allow you to flash the .iso file you downloaded from debian.org to your usb drive. The one I use is called balenaEtcher and you can download if for free from https://www.balena.io/etcher/
Once you have downloaded Etcher and unzipped it to your pc/mac, run the app and follow the images below to flash the debian .iso file to your usb installation drive.
Click on Flash from file in the Etcher software. Then select the .iso installation file you downloaded from debian.org. Next, click on the Select target option and a window will popup with the available drives connected to your pc/mac. WARNING! - Make sure to select the correct drive where you want the .iso file to be flashed to. Etcher will erase that drive and create the installation disk that you will be able to use to boot from when installing the OS on the local machine. So DON'T select the wrong drive.
As you can see in the above image, multiple drives were detected by Etcher. Some of them are the pc's current OS disk and some are storage drives. One is a usb flash disk. Check and make sure that you've selected the correct drive where you want Etcher to flash the .iso file to. After you have selected the correct usb flash drive, click on the Continue button to start the flashing process. This will take a few minutes and Etcher will notify you when the process is completed.
Eject the usb flash drive and insert it into the local machine where you want to install the new Debian OS on. If you already have an exisiting operating system running, you will have to go into the machine's bios and select the usb drive to boot into the installation disk. If the machine is successful in detecting and booting into the usb flash disk, you will see a menu page like shown below.
Select the Install option and press enter. The installation process will then start and you will have to provide the required information as instructed in the screenshots below. Press the ENTER key to go to the next page in the setup.
Here you can provide the hostname to be used for the local server. Since the server won't be receiving incoming traffic from the internet and will be accessible only through your local network, you can use any hostname you want. It's preferrable to use one that's part of your own domain since the hostname will be included in the email header if you use the local server as a SMTP relay. Example: emails.yourdomain.com
Here you can simply put yourdomain.com
Enter the root password in the screen below. This will allow you to login as root and install additional software and make changes to configuration files. Make sure to save this password somewhere safe.
Re-enter your root password. This second screen will confirm your root password so as to make sure you did not make any mistake when typing it.
Next, setup the first user that will be created during the installation process. You won't be needing this user and will be removed when we'll install the web-based server management software in Step 2. So you can enter any username and password in the following 4 screens.
Select your timezone.
Next, the setup of your hard disk will start. We'll go with the first option as marked in the image below. Just press Enter as it's the default choice.
Press ENTER to confirm
Press ENTER to select
Press ENTER to confirm
Press the TAB key so that the YES button is highlighted in red. Then press the ENTER key to confirm the partition selection.
The software installation process will then start.
Press ENTER to select NO
Select the debian repository mirror closest to your country. It will make downloading of files faster during installations and software updates.
If you're not accessing the internet through a proxy, leave this empty and press ENTER.
Here you will have to select the software that will be installed on the new server. Since we'll be needing a basic server, make sure that ONLY the SSH Server and Standard system utilities are checked (asterix next to them). Clear any asterix if they are checked on the other options. Navigate using the UP and DOWN button and check/uncheck an option using the SPACE bar. Then press the ENTER key to continue with the installation process.
Once all the software has been downloaded and installed, you should see a success message like in the screenshot below. Now all you have to do is remove the USB flash drive (so that the machine does not boot into it again) and click Continue to reboot the machine.
Once rebooted, you should see a page like the screenshot below. This means that the OS has been successfully installed. This options page will automatically timeout in 5 seconds and continue with booting the server.
After successfully booting, your screen should show the screenshot below. Now all you have to do is login by typing root as the login and the root password you selected during the installation process.
Upon entering the correct root password, your screen should show the screenshot below. Congratulations, you have successfully completed Step 1 of the email retriever server. Click here to proceed to Step 2 of the setup.
