Debian 10, installation to pre-formatted SSD

[tubus]

Hello

I have SSD, which I formatted myself.
It has 2 partitions: /boot on first and 3 LV on the second partition
It is good and I can see all of LVMs from master host.

Question:
How to install Debian 10 into this pre-formatted disk.

What I tried - I boot from live usb and start "Install Debian" icon.
The process sees my SSD and even PV, but it doesn't see my VG, nor it doesn't create one
It doesn't even have button "create LV"
In terminal with root I can't find LVM utils at all.

Thank you.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

I don't use LVM myself but the installation guide has a bit that may help (section 6.4.3.5):

https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/ ... all.pdf.en

[tubus]

One can use existing partitions, but ONLY from pseudo graphical installer chosen within boot options

It is not possible to do by installer in Debian.
There is not LVM tools in console. So it is not possible to manually change anything.
Unpleasant experience.

Hope I like it after Ubuntu.

[p.H]

I boot from live usb and start "Install Debian" icon.

This must be the new Calamares installer available in Debian 10 live systems, not the Debian installer. From what I read, it is intended mainly for simple setups. For more advanced setups use the real Debian installer instead, it can re-use existing LVM groups and volumes and RAID arrays (but not existing LUKS encrypted volumes).

In terminal with root I can't find LVM utils at all.

Maybe you need to install lvm2 in the live session.
LVM command line utilities are available in the Debian installer.

One can use existing partitions, but ONLY from pseudo graphical installer chosen within boot options

What are you calling "pseudo graphical installer" ?

Unpleasant experience.
Hope I like it after Ubuntu.

Last time I tried it, LVM support in Ubuntu's installer looked like a bad joke.

[tubus]

This must be the new Calamares installer available in Debian 10 live systems, not the Debian installer. From what I read, it is intended mainly for simple setups. For more advanced setups use the real Debian installer instead, it can re-use existing LVM groups and volumes and RAID arrays (but not existing LUKS encrypted volumes).

I do not know what is the name of it, but developers have implemented PV detection and "button" to create VG, which doens't create anything, but it does exist.

Maybe you need to install lvm2 in the live session.
LVM command line utilities are available in the Debian installer.

"May be" during installation is not an option. LVM command line utilities MUST be available. At least to check names and modify if necessary.
Because to create LVM one needs to type less then 10 commands. It is much easy then to click and guess what is where in "pseudo graphical installer", which ask to write LVM formatting to the disk first and then change it. I do not understand it at all. No need to write anything - all it needs to do is to provide summary of PV, VG and LV - and ask user to confirm

What are you calling "pseudo graphical installer" ?

Because it doesn't have windows. It is not possible to open terminal and check disk or current lvm settings
It did not detect my touch pad and I had to use tab and it is awfully designed, disk management for example.

Last time I tried it, LVM support in Ubuntu's installer looked like a bad joke.

I agree with you here. But ubuntu installer has option to use existing partitions and it shows all of them to user and ask if one wants to format them or not. One can even change something in them.
I never allowed installer to do partitioning for me, it is much easy to do manually. But installer must detect and provide option to use existing in regular Linux desktop window system, where one can resize or check something in internet or in console.
It is nearly 2020.

[sunrat]

Exactly what is the name of the image file you used to create your install medium? So far your descriptions are a bit vague. "Pseudo graphical installer" is not a term used by Debian, you could even call CLI installer that.

It is nearly 2020.

Thank you for this gem of wisdom.

[p.H]

"May be" during installation is not an option. LVM command line utilities MUST be available.

I never used Debian live nor the Calamarer installer, so I cannot tell.

Because it doesn't have windows. It is not possible to open terminal and check disk or current lvm settings
It did not detect my touch pad

I asked "what", not "why". Is it the non-graphical (curses) installer ? It has no support for pointing devices such as mice and touch pads. Actually I find it more convenient than the graphical installer. It is possible to open a shell in a terminal with Alt+F2 or Alt+F3 and use fdisk or lvm commands. And it allows to use existing partitions.

[tubus]

Exactly what is the name of the image file you used to create your install medium? So far your descriptions are a bit vague. "Pseudo graphical installer" is not a term used by Debian, you could even call CLI installer that.

It was: debian-live-10.1.0-amd64-xfce.iso


Thank you

[sunrat]

It was: debian-live-10.1.0-amd64-xfce.iso

The Calamares installer in live is different from the full installer and has less options.
Try the full install image DVD1 from here - https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/rele ... 4/iso-dvd/
There is also a link on that page to downloads of non-free images which contain firmware for some hardware that needs it. It's often easier to use that rather than trying to find firmware after installing.

[tubus]

The Calamares installer in live is different from the full installer and has less options.
Try the full install image DVD1 from here - https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/rele ... 4/iso-dvd/
There is also a link on that page to downloads of non-free images which contain firmware for some hardware that needs it. It's often easier to use that rather than trying to find firmware after installing.

Thank you for suggestion
I will test the first one.
I need something that can be used as "rescue bootable" image.

But still - LVM tools is not that big, why not to include them in any live images, like KDE or XFCE or ...
If one use them to install, it also can be used to repair something
But they do not even have such handy tools like gparted or lvm - that is strange.
Someone really has not thought long enough when made those images.
That is question of convenience and respect to users who's chosen Debian.

Thank you.

[qfu38]

"May be" during installation is not an option. LVM command line utilities MUST be available.

It is possible to open a shell in a terminal with Alt+F2 or Alt+F3 and use fdisk or lvm commands. And it allows to use existing partitions.

No it isn't. Fdisk is not available in Debian 10 installation

[RU55EL]

"May be" during installation is not an option. LVM command line utilities MUST be available.

It is possible to open a shell in a terminal with Alt+F2 or Alt+F3 and use fdisk or lvm commands. And it allows to use existing partitions.

No it isn't. Fdisk is not available in Debian 10 installation

Yes it is! [edit] 'fdisk' is available in a Debian 10 installation. (I am not referring to using the command line during the installation process.) I missed the difference between "available in Debian 10 Installation" and "available in a Debian Installation" My mistake! [/edit]

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russel@brtv:~$ cat /etc/debian_version
10.4
russel@brtv:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for russel:
Disk /dev/sdb: 29.5 GiB, 31675383808 bytes, 61865984 sectors
Disk model: MT-32           
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 9F93DBB0-4D58-4EF4-9553-66CF1A985665

Device        Start      End  Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sdb1      2048  1050623  1048576  512M EFI System
/dev/sdb2   1050624 44019711 42969088 20.5G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdb3  44019712 61863935 17844224  8.5G Linux swap


Disk /dev/sda: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: Samsung SSD 850
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 09329014-5834-4A65-8672-AC14AF74394B

Device     Start        End    Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1   2048 1953523711 1953521664 931.5G Linux filesystem


[cuckooflew]

No it isn't. Fdisk is not available in Debian 10 installation

Show some actual out put to prove this, if the command is not correctly typed it will say "not found", or something, ...As you can see, RU55EL shows it is available.

You should show us exactly how you are trying to run fdisk, exactly how you type the command ?
Please use code boxes. Also show the output of

Code: Select all

which fdisk

eg:

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$ which fdisk
/sbin/fdisk
parrot$ 

Your out put will be different.

[RU55EL]

'fdisk' requires administrator permissions.

So, on my Debian system:

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russel@DESKTOP-CK0E8I6:~$ which fdisk


Returns nothing, I just get the prompt back.

But, if I use sudo:

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russel@DESKTOP-CK0E8I6:~$ sudo which fdisk
/usr/sbin/fdisk


So, It would be better to say:

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russel@DESKTOP-CK0E8I6:~$ su -
Password:
root@DESKTOP-CK0E8I6:~# which fdisk
/usr/sbin/fdisk

or

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# which fdisk

[p.H]

Please guys, pay attention. This is about the fdisk-udeb installer component in the Debian installer context, not the fdisk command in an installed system context.

Fdisk is not available in Debian 10 installation

Yes and no.
The fdisk-udeb installer component which provides fdisk in the Debian installer is still available. However I noticed that it is not installed by default any more in the 10.4 installer. If you want to install it, you can either :
- start the installation with "expert install" in the boot menu and select "fdisk-udeb" in the "load installer components from CD" stage.
- go back to the installer main menu at any time, select "change debconf priority" and lower the priority to "medium" or "low", then go back to the main menu, select "load installer components from CD" and select "fdisk-udeb".
- drop to a shell and run

Code: Select all

anna-install fdisk-udeb