The HomeServerHQ infrastructure can be installed on the following Debian-based distributions/versions:
You can either perform your own installation, or you can use the provided custom ISOs outlined in the next section.
| Description | Underlying Distro | Custom ISO |
|---|---|---|
| Debian 12 Server | Debian 12.9 | Download (2.0 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Debian 12 GNOME | Debian 12.9 | Download (3.9 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Debian 12 Cinnamon | Debian 12.9 | Download (3.9 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Debian 12 KDE Plasma | Debian 12.9 | Download (4.1 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Debian 12 XFCE | Debian 12.9 | Download (3.8 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Debian 12 MATE | Debian 12.9 | Download (3.9 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Debian 12 Oliver* | Debian 12.9 | Download (4.5 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Mint 22 Cinnamon | Ubuntu 24.04 | Download (3.5 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Ubuntu 22 Server | Ubuntu 22.04 | Download (2.8 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Ubuntu 24 Server | Ubuntu 24.04 | Download (3.0 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Ubuntu 24 GNOME | Ubuntu 24.04 | Download (4.0 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Ubuntu 24 KDE Plasma | Ubuntu 24.04 | Download (4.0 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Ubuntu 24 XFCE | Ubuntu 24.04 | Download (4.2 GB) [ sha256 ] |
| Ubuntu 24 Oliver* | Ubuntu 24.04 | Download (5.4 GB) [ sha256 ] |
*An Oliver build contains ALL 5 desktop environments (GNOME, Cinnamon, KDE Plasma, XFCE, MATE), plus 1 more - Budgie. Simply select your desired environment at the login prompt and quickly swap between environments with ease.
Each of the above custom ISOs provide an Easy Installation method that requires around 5 simple questions and results in a very quick (and painless) 5-10 minute Linux OS installation - start to finish.
If you are unsure of which one to get, just get Oliver!
Installing the Linux operating system onto your computer will entirely erase the contents of the drive that you are installing it on. You should use dedicated hardware for this purpose (or a VM).
From a powered off state, insert the USB bootable drive into your HomeServer machine, then power it on. You should see a screen that says "Install Linux", "Easy Installation" or something similar. If not, then you will need to modify the BIOS settings to ensure that it allows for booting from USB drive and that the USB drive is first in the boot order. This is difficult to explain as there is a wide range of BIOS interfaces, with the settings in different places. Getting this to work correctly can be a headache, so don't lose patience if you cannot figure it out right away. If you have any problems, just ask on the Forum.
| Brand | BIOS Key(s) |
|---|---|
| Acer | F2 or DEL |
| ASRock | F2 or DEL |
| ASUS | F2 for all PCs, F2 or DEL for Motherboards |
| Award Software (Phoenix Technologies) | DEL |
| Dell | F2 or F12 |
| ECS | DEL |
| Gigabyte/Aorus | F2 or DEL |
| HP | F10 |
| Lenovo (Desktops) | F1 |
| MSI | DEL |
| Origin PC | F2 |
| Samsung | F2 |
| Toshiba | F2 |
| Zotac | DEL |
Answer the prompts accordingly. The Easy Installation method asks around five questions, such as your name, username, and desired password. The final prompt will ask you to confirm everything. The installer will automatically partition the selected disk and perform the installation with typical sane defaults. Depending on your hardware, it will take around 5-10 minutes to complete. When the process has completed, the system will automatically power off. When it does, remove the installation medium (usb drive, etc.), then power the system back on and log in. You can now install the HomeServerHQ infrastructure using the "Install HSHQ" shortcut on the desktop (if you installed a desktop environment), or you can always type bash hshq.sh at the command prompt from your user's home directory (the default start directory).
If you roll you own installation, it is assumed that you know what you are doing with respect to disk partitioning, etc. It is ideal to use LVM partitions over traditional legacy partitioning schemes, but there is a wide variation in preferences on this topic, so choose the method with which you are most comfortable.
Once you have finished with the installation, log in as the first non-root user, and enter the following command to start the HomeServerHQ installation:
wget -q4N https://homeserverhq.com/hshq.sh && bash hshq.sh