Installing EndeavorOS in Linux needs a bit of know-how in Virtualization and disk setup. Here’s how to install and try it without messing up your current installation.
Antergos was a modern-looking and well-received distro which was used by a lot of people due to its compatibility with major desktop environments. But it was sadly discontinued by the developers because developers didn’t have enough time for the project. However, it is immediately succeeded by EndeavorOS.
What is EndeavorOS?
Described as a “terminal-centric” supported by a friendly community, EndeavorOS is the true-form successor of Antergos. And just like its predecessor, EndeavorOS supports a wide variety of desktop environments.
It supports major releases such as XFCE, Mate, Cinnamon, and Gnome. You can also use lightweight and other desktop environments, including Plasma, LSQt, LXDE, i3-wm, BSPWM, Sway, and even Openbox or Qtile.
Users will need to have hardware with 2GB of RAM at minimum to a functional system, even less if tiling or lightweight options are used. However, 4GB is needed to ensure a seamless performance in all supported desktop environments.
Downloading EndeavorOS ISO
Head on to the official EndeavorOS website and hover over the “Download & Help” at the top of the page. Click on the “Latest Release” option to go to the official download page. The latest release upon publication of this guide is the EndeavorOS Atlantis Neo, which is about 2GB and includes XFCE by default.
Go to the section “You can download over here:” and select the mirror nearest to your location. If you can’t download via direct link, you can use the torrent link. Additionally, you can also verify the file checksum with sha512.
Download the Sha512 checksum at the same section where the iso link can be found. Use this code in your Terminal to test your iso. The standard output would show “OK” after a completed test if the iso is untampered.
$ sha512sum -c EndeavourOS_Atlantis_neo-21_5.iso.sha512sumOnce the file is downloaded, you can use it to set up your hypervisor or make a bootable USB (depending on how you would want to install the operating system). Aim to use at least 4GB of USB capacity, especially if you want to add more distros for live testing.
Installing EndeavorOS in Linux
There is now a way to install EndeavorOS within a Linux system. However, you can install it alongside your current system by using a virtual machine. The best way to install Virtualbox is to use your native package manager.
Here is how to get VirtualBox for Debian, RHEL, and Arch Linux systems respectively:
$ sudo apt install virtualbox
$ sudo dnf install virtualbox
$ sudo pacman -S virtualbox
After getting VirtualBox, you can get the VirtualBox Guest Addition to improve the user experience, but it is a completely optional step. Once installed, launch the program and create a new profile for the EndeavorOS.
Installing EndeavorOS In Virtual Machine
Make a new virtual machine by clicking on the “New icon”. Provide a name for your VM and configure the RAM and hard drive details. In the “Settings” dialogue, choose the “Storage” option and attach your EndeavorOS iso within the IDE controller.
Don’t forget to remove your iso after the installation process. You can also change the “Controller:SATA” option if you want to use an existing virtual drive.
Start the VM to proceed with the installation. Choose the default booting option since you’re in a virtualized environment.
The installer will appear after a few seconds, in which you can check out in-built utilities such as the partition manager (GParted), display, and release info. Or you can read the community-provided guidelines to customize your installation further. Choosing the offline installer will automatically give you the XFCE desktop.
On the next page, you’ll be prompted to enter your location. This will change your time zone and preferences. You can click the map or use the drop-down arrow. Choose the keyboard layout that works best for your hardware on the next screen.
Since you’re using a VM, the most straightforward way of choosing the storage device is by erasing the whole disk. However, you will need to configure your partition properly to dual boot on a bare metal setup. Choose manual partitioning if you want to customize your EndeavorOS installation.
If you choose the online installation, you can select which desktop environment would be installed automatically. The installer will download all the required packages.
And lastly, choose your username and a strong password to proceed. By default, the admin password is the same as your user password. But you can uncheck the option later on if you want to use a different one. Installation can take about 20 minutes or more, depending on your host hardware capacity.
Installing EndeavorOS Bare Metal
It is a good industry practice for bare-metal installations to back up your files first.
The easiest part in installing through bare metal is making a bootable USB. Install the Startup Disk Creator, prepare your ISO, and plug your USB into the computer. Launch the software, choose your iso from your directory, and set up your USB as the disk to use. Run the program and wait until it is finished.
Restart your computer without removing the USB—Press “Del” or “F2” before seeing the OS logo to access the BIOS. The BIOS interface varies from one PC to another, but the gist of the next step is to find the “Boot” option and put USB on top of your booting priorities.
After reboot, it will show the EndeavorOS startup screen. You can then install the distro, just like in a VM.
Dual Booting With Other Operating Systems
If you want to dual-boot with other operating systems, you need to configure the disk before or during the installation. Launch GParted by selecting “Partition Manager” on startup.
Resize your dive and make an unallocated space by right-clicking the drive and selecting the “Resize/Move” option.
Set the free space in the “Free space preceding (MiB):” option. Or slide the bar on the top of the window. Apply all the changes before leaving GParted.
When you’re in the installation menu in the partition section, select the “Manual Partitioning” and choose your preferred partition. This partition should either be unallocated or doesn’t contain other operating systems.
Simply choose the “/” option to set up the mount point in the mount point field. After this, you can proceed with the installation just like in a VM.
And that’s how to install EndeavorOS in Linux using VM, bare metal, and dual booting. Hopefully, this guide was able to help you install the newest EndeavorOS version in your hardware or VM. More guides for Linux users are available, such as installing NVIDIA drivers or Apache Tomcat.
If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂
