What's in this directory?
These are files containing the installer and other software
for the Debian GNU/Linux operating system.
The files in this directory are specifically for
the amd64 architecture.
How do I use these files?
The files here are complete ISO images, ready to use.
Once you have downloaded all the ISO images you want, you will
typically need to write them to installation media.
What size and type of media will I need?
The images described here are sized to be written to
writeable CD media
at a minimum, but may be written to larger media if needed.
For extra convenience, these images may also be written
directly to a USB stick. So long as your computer will
boot directly from that USB stick, it should start the Debian
installer that way.
There are lots of files here! Do I need all of them?
In most cases it is not necessary to download and
use all of these images to be able to install
Debian on your computer. Debian comes with a massive set of
software packages, hence why it takes so many disks for a
complete set. Most typical users only need a small subset of
those software packages.
What is a netinst image?
The netinst CD here is a small CD image that
contains just the core Debian installer code and a small core set
of text-mode programs (known as "standard" in Debian). To install
a desktop or other common software, you'll also need either an
Internet connection or some other Debian CD/DVD images.
What is a mac netinst image?
The mac netinst CD here is a special version of the netinst CD image that is targeted specifically at older 64-bit Intel Macintosh machines. It will likely work on most other amd64 machines too, but it does not contain UEFI boot files that some people need. See the Debian Wiki for more information.
How can I verify my download is correct and exactly what has
been created by Debian?
There are files here (SHA1SUMS, SHA256SUMS, etc.) which contain
checksums of the images. These checksum files are also signed - see
SHA1SUMS.sign, SHA256SUMS.sign, etc. Once you've downloaded an image,
you can check:
- that its checksum matches that expected from the checksum file; and
- that the checksum file has not been tampered with.
For more information about how to do these steps, read the verification guide.
