Linux Mint 17.1 (Rebecca) – Installation Procedure

According to distrowatch.com witch is a ranking website for various Linux distributions, Linux Mint is one of the most used and loved distribution from the diverse Linux distro world, who gained more popularity since 2011, the year that Ubuntu has released it’s new desktop environment, Unity.
Linux Mint is a Debian-like distribution based on Ubuntu repositories which provides an easy way for non-linux users to accommodate, use and work on Linux platforms, because it brings a lot of features with the installation process, including media codecs support for various audio and video formats, browser plugins installed by default, Java support, and a unique Desktop Environment Interface – Cinnamon – which is very intuitive and easy to use. Moreover, the installation process it’s pretty straightforward, basically all you need to do is to setup a few options and the installation is then done automatically by the installer.

The subject of this tutorial will cover the basic installation procedure for the latest version of Linux Mint, 17.1 (codename Rebecca) 64-bit CPU architecture by using the automatic option provided by the installer to partition the hard-disk using LVM slices. The Desktop Environment version will be Cinnamon and the installation will take place on unpartitioned hard dive without a previously installed Operating System.

Linux Mint 17.1 Main Components:
– Cinnamon 2.4
– MDM 1.8,
– Linux kernel 3.13
– Ubuntu 14.04 package base

REQUIREMENTS:

• Linux Mint 17.1 installation media ISO

STEP ONE – Prepare Installation Media

  1.    After you have downloaded your favorite architecture and Desktop Environment DVD ISO image (Cinnamon, MATE, KDE or XFCE) from the above link, burn the image on a DVD and put the media into your machine DVD drive.

Alternatively you can also use a hybrid installation image, by creating a USB bootable flash drive with the help ofUniversal-USB-Installer which can be obtained by visiting pendrivelinux.com website or use a software as  Unetbootin, which has available versions for Windows and Linux systems.

STEP TWO – Boot Into Linux Mint Live Mode

  2.    Reboot your machine and select from BIOS options your booting method accordingly (boot from DVD or USB). On some hardware you can enter boot menu and select the boot drive by pressing a function key once the system starts,  usually F10 or F12 (if not please consult your motherboard manual for boot menu key).

  3.    Once the system boots into your Linux Mint installation media, the first screen appears which will notify you that the automatic installation will start in 10 seconds. Press Enter key to skip countdown and from the first menu choose the first option – Start Linux Mint, which will bring you into a Live functional version of the system after a few moments, from where you can actually run and test the system without installing it on your hard drive (the below images illustrate this step):

STEP THREE – Start Installation Process

4.    Now its time to start the installation process. From the Linux Mint desktop environment run the installer by double-click on Install Linux Mint. Once the installer starts select the language that you will use further for the installation process and hit Continue.

   5.    On the next screen the installer verifies your disk space and if your machine has an active Internet connection (the system can be installed without an Internet connection also). Press Continue button to proceed further on the next step.

STEP FOUR – Hard-Disk Partitions

   6.    This step is the most important one because now you must choose your partition drive layout and this type of process can be destructive if you have data on your disks, so be advised to backup all your important data before moving ahead with the installation. Also, note down that if you have a previous Operating System installed on your machine (Windows or Linux), the installer will automatically detect it and notify you on menu choices – if it detects a Windows version the following choice should appear – Install Linux Mint alongside Windows.

So, if you already have Windows installed and you want to keep it, choose  Install Linux Mint alongside Windows, else choose Erase disk and Install Linux Mint and check Use LVM with the new Linux Mint Installation, which will automatically create the needed LVM partitions for you, then hit Install Now and Continue button at the next prompt to start the installation process. For custom hard-disk partitioning scheme ( such as /home , /var etc) or use other filesystems types (ext2, ext3, ext4 etc) choose Something Else option.

LVM stands for Logical Volume Manager and is a software implementation which runs on top of partition table by creating virtual devices named Volume Groups (similar to physical disks) from physical Hard-Disks or Hard-Disks partitions and maps their contents onto other block devices named Logical Volumes (partitions equivalent), making the job of space resizing transparent to intermediate layers (OS, HDD), exceeding physical filesystem limitations.

STEP FIVE – Location and Keyboard Setup

7.    On the next step choose your geographical location from the map by clicking on the nearest city to you and hitContinue  to move forward.

   8.    Next, choose your favorite Keyboard layout from the list (in my case is romanian language) or use the Detect Keyboard Layout field to automatically detect your keyboard in case you’re not sure what to choose, then hit Continue to proceed further.

STEP SIX – Create Administrative User

9.    On this step create a user for the system, which will also be your administrative user with root powers and assure that you choose a strong password to protect this user.  Also you can now setup the system hostname by modifying thecomputer name filed. For extra protection choose Require my password to log in and click on Continue button to move forward on the next screen.

   10.    From here on the installation process runs automatically without the user interference. After the installation process finishes hit on Restart Now button to reboot your computer, eject your DVD/USB and wait for Linux Mint login screen to appear.

STEP SEVEN – Login and Upgrade System

Congratulations! Now you have installed the latest version of Linux Mint onto your computer.  Login for the first time with the credentials created during system installation and the Welcome Screen should appear. Uncheck Show this dialog at startup from the Welcome Screen to prevent it to run at the next login.

   11.    To make sure your system is up-to-date with the latest packages and security patches open a Terminal and run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Now you are ready to use your computer to browse the Internet, youtube, listen to music, watch movies, work with office or pdf documents and other casual tasks for and average user.

Also note down that this version of Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and will receive security updates untill 2019.

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