Before beginning, you will need the following things:

• – A computer (x86 or x64) with an empty/blank hard drive/partition to use.
  • If you want to dual boot (from another Linux distribution or Windows) and all your hard drive storage is fully allocated then it’s recommended that you shrink these partitions until you have sufficient free space to create a new Bodhi Linux installation partition.
  • If you are willing to overwrite any/all current data, including your current OS: select the Erase disk and install Bodhi – see section IV.
  • NOTE: ALL DATA WILL BE ERASED DURING THIS PROCESS!

• – A USB drive that contains no important data
  • NOTE: ALL DATA WILL BE ERASED DURING THIS PROCESS!

Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, System Requirements:

Minimum:

• 32bit, 500MHz Processor (including Non-PAE)
• 512MB** of RAM
• 5GB of drive space

• 64bit, 1.0GHz processor
• 768MB of RAM
• 10GB of drive space

** NOTE: The Bodhi installer runs best with more than 512MB of RAM (ideally 1GB or more). With 512MB RAM, the Bodhi Linux installer will work, but it will work slowly. After installation, you will find Bodhi runs reasonably well with 512MB RAM.

NOTE: Is your PC only just meting the Minimal Hardware Specification? Take a look at the Minimal Spec FAQ, you will find answers to questions, comments on software alternatives (when system memory is limited) and successful installs against minimal hardware specs.

• 1) Visit the Download page
• 2) Click the Download link. (If you are familiar with using Torrents, you may select the Torrent Download link for a faster download and less stress on the Bodhi servers)
• 3) Save the file to a location you will remember.

• 1) Using the same Download link as above click the md5 link.
• 2) Save the file to the same location that you saved the Bodhi Linux .iso file.

• 3) Open a terminal emulator (Terminology for example)

• 4) Switch to the directory where you downloaded the files (/home/user/Downloads in this example – adjust the location to where you downloaded to):

cd /home/user/Downloads

• 5) View the md5 sum to verify against:

cat bodhi-7.0.0-64.iso.md5

• 6) Generate the md5sum for the downloaded .iso file:

md5sum bodhi-7.0.0-64.iso

• 7) The generated number from step 6 must exactly match the number to verify against from step 5. If the numbers do not match exactly the .iso file is corrupted or was so in the download process and you will have to download again.  Likely they do match – then please continue …

• *7.5) An alternate method of verifying integrity is: after step 4, write:

md5sum -c bodhi-7.0.0-64.iso.md5

• If the .iso file is OK you will get a reply like:

bodhi-7.0.0-64.iso: ok

• a) Install Unetbootin

• b) Insert your USB drive.
• c) Open Unetbootin – method will vary depending on distribution, or open a terminal and type

unetbootin

• d) Type your password when prompted, then click OK
• e) Click the bottom radio button next to Diskimage
• f) ISO should already the default selection in the adjacent drop-down menu. If not, select ISO from the list.
• g) Click the button marked with ellipses (…)
• h) Navigate to the location where you download the Bodhi Linux .iso
• i) Select bodhi-7.0.0-64.iso and click OK
• j) The Type: selection drop-down menu should default to USB Drive. If not, select USB Drive from the list.
• k) Select the drive location of your USB drive in the Drive: drop-down menu. The location will vary among systems.
• l) Click OK. After a few minutes, your bootable USB drive will be created.

More information about unetbootin is available on their site at https://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin/

B: Command-Line ‘dd’ Method (Linux Only)

If the unetbootin method does not work for you, use this ‘dd’ method from the command line:

• a) Open a terminal.
• b) Navigate to the location where you downloaded the Bodhi Linux .iso

ex.: cd /home/(username)/downloads/bodhi-7.0.0-64.iso

• c) To inspect your drives; insert your USB drive and in the terminal type:

sudo parted -l

**Tip – run the above command before and then after inserting your USB Drive – the drive that shows up will be your USB Drive (this can be helpful for new users to interpret the output from the ‘sudo parted -l’ command).

You will see output representative of all of your HHDs/SSDs/USB drives (types, partitions, etc) similar to the following:

Model: ATA Samsung SSD 850 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 106MB 105MB fat32 EFI system partition boot, esp
2 106MB 1050MB 944MB ntfs Basic data partition hidden, diag
3 1050MB 1184MB 134MB Microsoft reserved partition msftres
4 1184MB 109GB 108GB ntfs Basic data partition msftdata
5 109GB 220GB 111GB ext4 bodhi_4
6 424GB 441GB 17.3GB linux-swap(v1)
7 441GB 871GB 430GB ntfs msftdata
8 978GB 979GB 524MB xfs msftdata
9 979GB 1000GB 21.5GB ntfs Basic data partition hidden, diag

Model: TOSHIBA TransMemory (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 2063MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 2063MB 2062MB primary fat32 boot

This output is telling you that a 2 GB Toshiba USB drive plugged in has been allocated as /dev/sdb. From this information, you will now be able to use ‘dd’ to create a live, bootable Bodhi USB drive.

***  Do NOT overwrite your PC’s hard drive during this next step or you will very likely lose all data on your hard drive. Be VERY SURE that the device you type is NOT your PC’s hard drive. ***

The previous step determined that /dev/sda is our 1000 GB hard drive, we do NOT want to enter that into the next step, or it will be over-written.  If you have more than one physical hard drive in your PC, be sure you don’t overwrite that (or those) either. OK?…

• d) From the data collected during the previous step, you can now execute the ‘dd’ command in the terminal:

sudo dd if=/home/(username)/Downloads/bodhi-7.0.0-64.iso of=/dev/sdb

It will take a while to complete this command [without progress output (until it is finished)], so it may just be best to walk away and get a snack or some exercise while this step completes.  Trust thy PC!

C: Rufus (Windows 7/8/10 only)

NOTE: With Rufus, the “DD method” must be used when creating the Live USB, otherwise the live USB may fail/error during the USB boot process.
Pay special attention to this in step (f) below. 

D: Alternative Optical Media Method

If you want to burn a CD/DVD that will be bootable under both Legacy & UEFI, try this command (it is basically the equivalent of ‘dd‘ for a CD/DVD):

xorrecord dev=/dev/sr0 speed=12 fs=8m blank=as_needed -eject padsize=300k /home/(username)/downloads/bodhi-7.0.0-64.iso
--or--
you may need to replace 'sr0' above with one of --> cdrom, cdrw, dvd, dvdrw (or possibly others - depends on your system)

Most systems are not set up to boot from a USB stick automatically. Since the method for doing so varies from machine to machine, you may have to experiment and/or consult the documentation for your system’s BIOS. Here are some pointers:

• Many systems will allow you to enter a “one-time boot menu” by pressing F2 or F12 during the initial system start-up. This will give you several options (CD/DVD, USB, Network, Hard Drive, etc) from which to boot.
• Look for a message during the initial system start-up that tells you which button to press to enter the BIOS. Often this is the Delete key. From within the BIOS, you are able to alter the Boot Sequence and choose USB as the first device.
• In some cases, the BIOS requires that the USB stick is inserted into a USB port before it will recognize it in the boot order.

A lot of newer systems are no longer coming with a BIOS. Intel’s UEFI standard changed a lot of mechanics in a computer boot sequence. Unfortunately, the details of the changes and exactly how to configure it is beyond the scope of this guide. Please feel free to stop by the forums or join our live chat (discord)  for help configuring your UEFI machine.

1. Insert the bootable USB stick.
2. Reboot to USB using the method determined above.

• 1. Initialize Installer: Only applies to Try Bodhi Desktop (ie Option 1 or 2 from the earlier Boot Options selection).
  From the Bodhi Live Environment, locate and click the Install Bodhi Linux from the Main Menu. The main menu is accessed from the very bottom left of the navigation bar (called a shelf). From the  Main Menu navigate to:  Applications > Preferences > Install Bodhi Linux 7.0.0.
• 2. Welcome:
  Select your preferred language and click Continue
• 3. Keyboard Layout:
  Select your general keyboard style from the list on the left, then select the specific layout from the list on the right. There is also a text entry field where you can test your selections. When satisfied, click Continue.
• 4. Updates and Other Software
  Allows you to set the following options. When satisfied, click Continue.
  • Download updates while installing Bodhi (default: selected)
  • Install third party software updates for graphics cards and WiFi hardware (default: not selected)NOTE: For minimum specification PCs, un-select the option “Download updates while Installing Bodhi”, as this increases the memory demands of the installer. The method to run updates post-installation is outlined further through this tutorial.
•  5. Installation Type:
  • If you are installing Bodhi onto a system where it will be the only OS, select Erase disk and install Bodhi
  • If the installer detects other operating systems you will see options to “install alongside…”. For example, Install Bodhi alongside Windows Boot Manager
  • If you need complete control over the installation target (or need to modify your disk Partitions) select the option “Something else“. This is an advanced option, care must be taken. When you have made your selected click Install Now.

• 6.  Write changes to disk?: No matter which option you selected in step # 5 you will come to a confirmation screen like the one below. Go Back if you are unsure of your changes; otherwise, click Continue

• 7 Time Zone: Select your time zone by either typing the name of a nearby city or click on your location on the map.

Note! The next screen is the last screen before the installation completes. If you are unsure of any settings you selected you may use the Back button to double-check/change them. When satisfied, click Forward.

• 1) When the installation is complete you will be asked to restart. Click Restart Now

• 2) Next a screen will appear with shutdown messages which will ask you to remove the installation media then press Enter

• 1) The first screen you will see is the GRUB boot screen. Bodhi Linux will be highlighted by default, and if no action is taken Bodhi Linux will boot automatically. If there are any other operating systems installed they can be selected by pressing the keyboard arrow keys then press Enter.
• 2) Type your password in the text entry field (it will appear on the screen as a series of asterisks) then press Enter
• 3) Once you are logged in, you will be presented with Bodhi Linux’s Quick Start Guide and the default Theme.

A. Update the System Software:

• There are many reasons to keep your Bodhi Linux fully updated/patched – improved functionality, bug fixes, and increased security (to name a few!). A full tutorial can be found at Keeping Bodhi Linux up-to-date

B. Get Familiar with Bodhi Linux:

• The first time you launch the Epiphany Web Browser (the default Web browser), you will be taken to The Bodhi Linux Quickstart Guide which will help you get connected to the Internet among many other basic tasks.
• Install Your Favorite Applications:
  Visit the Bodhi Linux AppCenter for an extremely easy way to install your favorite applications.