This step by step guide explains how to download the latest openSUSE Leap and Tumbleweed editions and how to install openSUSE Leap 15.3 desktop edition with screenshots.
Table of Contents
Introduction
OpenSUSE is a popular open-source community-driven Linux distribution. OpenSUSE comes in two different flavors.
- OpenSUSE LEAP
- OpenSUSE Tumbleweed
OpenSUSE Leap is designed for LTS and is a perfect choice for those who prefers a stable version. It shares the same code base with "SUSE Enterprise Linux". The latest release of leap is 15.3.
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is a rolling release distribution and is better suited for those who prefers latest and up-to-date software. Packages will be updated to the latest version with every release and if you are someone looking to keep the system and packages always up-to-date, tumbleweed is a perfect choice.
Download openSUSE ISO image
You can download the iso image from the openSUSE official page. ISO image is offered as network install and offline install. When you do not have an internet connection during installation, download the iso image from offline install. The size of offline install will be around 4 GB since it contains all the necessary binaries.
Create openSUSE bootable medium
Once the openSUSE ISO file is downloaded, you need to create bootable USB medium. There are many bootable USB creation tools available to create a bootable USB medium
You can choose any one of the following tools to create Alma Linux bootable USB.
Command line bootable USB creation tools:
- How To Create Multiboot USB Drives With Ventoy In Linux
- How To Create Bootable USB Drive Using dd Command
- Bootiso Lets You Safely Create Bootable USB Drive In Linux
Graphical bootable USB creation tools:
- Create Bootable USB Drive With Ventoy WebUI In Linux
- Create Bootable USB Drives And SD Cards With Etcher In Linux
- Popsicle – Create Multiple Bootable USB Drives At Once
- Create Bootable USB Drive With USBImager In Linux
- Kindd – A Graphical Frontend To dd Command
If you wish to install and test openSUSE in any hypervisor (Virtualbox, KVM, Vmware), just skip the media creation and boot up the ISO image.
Install openSUSE Leap 15.3 step by step
STEP 1 - Once the ISO image is booted, you will see the initial screen like as shown in the below image. Select "Installation" and press ENTER to the start the installation process.
The installer will load the kernel and all other modules required for installation.
STEP 2 - In this step, you have to set the keyboard layout, language, and license agreement. By default, English is selected. Change it according to your needs. You can use the "keyboard Test" tab to test the keyboard layout. Once everything is set, press "Next".
STEP 3 - If the installer detects the internet connectivity, it will prompt you to activate online repositories. These additional repositories offer the latest packages along with bug fixes and security patches.
Click "Yes" to activate online repositories:
It is advisable at least to select "Main repository" which will apply the latest security patches during the installation.
STEP 4 - Choose the preferred desktop or server environments.
Each environment is created as a system role. For a desktop environment, you can choose KDE Plasma, Gnome, or Xfce.
If you wish to have just a terminal interface, then you can choose "Server" which will install a few necessary packages and provide you only the textual interface.
In my case, it is going to be "Gnome" role.
STEP 5 - In this step, you have to partition your drive. If you are a beginner, I suggest sticking with the default partition scheme offered by the installer. If not, choose "Expert Partitioner" and create your own partition scheme.
In the next step, you will get a new window where you can create partitions manually. There are also options to create LVM, Raid partition schemes.
Once you clicked the "Add Partition" button, you will be prompted to choose the storage for the partition and press Next.
In the next step, choose "operating system" as the role.
In the next step, you can format the drive and set file system type along with mount point options. You can also control the fstab options in this window.
Follow the same steps and create your own custom partition scheme. Once done, press next.
STEP 6 - In this step, the clock and timezone have to be set. You can select the region and timezone from the dropdown box or directly click your region on the map.
You can also sync time with the NTP server. Here NTP service will run as a daemon. Click "Other Settings" and click "Synchronize now".
Syncing the clock with the NTP server can also be done once the operating system is installed.
STEP 7 - In this step, create a new user and set administrator privilege for the user. This step can be skipped and users can be created inside the operating system too. But, it is always advisable to create a user other than the root user and set administrative privileges which will allow you to perform system activities without switching as the root user.
STEP 8 - In this step, an Installation overview will be displayed. If you wish to change any of the parameters, you can do it from this page from their respective sections.
STEP 9 - Press Install to begin the installation and wait for the installer to do its job. Depending upon what system role you’ve chosen in the earlier step, the installation time may vary.
Once the installation is completed, log in to the newly installed operating system and start using openSUSE.
Check the installed openSUSE version using command:
$ cat /etc/os-release
Conclusion
In this article, I have shown you step-by-step instructions on how to install OpenSUSE. Though this article shows openSUSE Leap installation steps, the installation procedure will be pretty much the same for Tumbleweed too.
For any feedback or suggestions, use the comment section and we will be happy to hear from you.
