Choose Your Installation Method
There are many ways to install and run Linux — from a full bare-metal install to running it inside a virtual machine or even within Windows. Pick the method that best fits your hardware and goals, then follow the step-by-step guide.
USB Installation
Create a bootable Linux USB drive and install directly on your machine. Choose the guide that matches your current operating system.
- USB Installation from macOS Create a bootable Linux USB on Mac (Intel & Apple Silicon) using Terminal or Etcher.
- USB Installation from Windows Use Rufus, Etcher, or PowerShell to create a bootable Linux USB from Windows.
- USB Installation from Linux Create a bootable Linux USB using dd, mkusb, or Ventoy on an existing Linux system.
Virtual Machine Setup
Run Linux inside a virtual machine on your current OS — safe, reversible, and no reboot required.
- UTM on Apple Silicon (macOS) Install and configure Linux VMs on M1/M2/M3 Macs using UTM.
- Oracle VirtualBox Set up Linux VMs with VirtualBox on Windows, macOS, or Linux hosts.
- KVM / QEMU (Linux Host) Near-native performance virtualization using KVM and QEMU on a Linux host.
- VMware Workstation & Fusion Run Linux in VMware Workstation (Windows/Linux) or VMware Fusion (macOS).
Network Boot (PXE)
Install Linux over the network — ideal for deploying many machines at once without USB drives.
- PXE Boot: Ubuntu & Debian Set up a PXE server to network-boot and install Ubuntu or Debian on multiple clients.
- PXE Boot: Fedora & RHEL Configure PXE booting for Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or CentOS Stream.
Dual Boot & WSL
Run Linux alongside Windows on the same machine, or run it inside Windows via WSL2.
- Dual-Boot Linux with Windows Partition your drive and install Linux alongside Windows using GRUB bootloader.
- WSL2 Setup on Windows 10/11 Install WSL2, configure a full Linux distro inside Windows, and set up optional GUI support.