Bare metal refers to computer hardware, as opposed to a virtual machine. Nearly any Intel- or AMD-based computer can run Linux. This is true for many laptops, too, though the likelihood of hardware incompatibilities is greater.
Note that following our instructions will REPLACE whatever system is currently running on your hardware.
Create A Bootable Drive
You will need a USB drive. The Home Edition ISO image is less than 1G, so any USB drive will do.
The instructions for making a bootable USB drive depend on the system you are using to create it. We borrow Ubuntu's excellent tutorials. In the tutorials below be sure to substitute the CS ISO image for the Ubuntu image:
- MacOS
- Windows
- Ubuntu
- For Experts:
- Note that you can simply copy the iso image to the USB device (e.g. /dev/sdb):
# dd bs=4M if=cshe-stable.iso of=/dev/sdb status=progress oflag=sync
- Note that you can simply copy the iso image to the USB device (e.g. /dev/sdb):
Boot Into the Installer
Insert the USB drive into the USB port on the front or back of your machine. When you turn the machine on (or reboot it), you want the system to load from the USB drive. The drive from which the machine loads the OS is determined by the boot order. The boot order is configured in the BIOS. To enter the BIOS, watch for instructions when the system first powers up (it is usually press "Delete" or "F12" or some other key).
In the BIOS, look for boot order and make sure that the USB drive is listed before the system drive.
Then power on or reboot.
