Debian Linux Distribution Reference
Installation
Debian Linux distribution Codenamed Jessie was released April 25, 2015.
The installer boot screen looks like this:
Installer boot menu Install Graphical install Advanced options > Help Install with speech synthesis
Kernel Selection: linux-image-486, linux-image-586, linux-image-686-pae are all meta packages which will install one of the these two: linux-image-3.16.0-4-586 and linux-image-3.16.0-4-686-pae
The advantage to the meta package is that it will ensure that the kernel gets a release (version) upgrade - in a stable release this is not so important, but it's best to install the meta package anyway.
585 kernel is for older 586 class CPUs while 686-pae is for newer 686 class CPUs with PAE/NX bit support. Find out if your CPU support PAE/NX and install the relevant kernel meta package.
PAE stands for Physical Address Extension. Normally a 32-bit OS will only be able to access 4GB of RAM while essentially using only 3GB. PAE enables 32-bit processors to access more than 4GB RAM. NX stands for No Execute page protection. NX processor bit allows the processor to help and safeguard PC from malicious attacks. See Technize.net for more info.
Package Mirror: During install you will be asked what mirror to pull additional packages from. You can use ftp.debian.org although you should note that ftp.debian.org is not canonical location of Debian packages, instead it is merely one of several servers that get updated from an internal Debian server.
Configuration
Remote Connection
Install sshd to allow remote secure shell connection to the terminal. Once installed and running sshd will allow you to remote connect. The SSH server can be selected for install during the installation of the operating system, or it can be added afterwards using the command "apt install openssh-server" at the command line.
The latest Debian "Jessie" distribution uses version 6.7p1-1 of OpenSSH which has been released with legacy "insecure" ciphers disabled by default. If trying to use an old secure terminal software you might find that the cipher is no longer permitted. You can Enable Legacy Cipher in Linux for SecureCRT but be advised that this will put the security of your machine at risk. For an internal LAN server it is not a big deal, but enabling insecure ciphers on an Internet attached machine is not advised.
