Installation
Installing Argent
The short version: download the ISO, put it on a USB stick, boot from it, and click the Install Argent icon on the desktop.
The long version is below, with every way you can do it.
Downloading Argent
All Argent ISOs are on:
The newest one is at the top, for example:
Argent.KDE.BETA.1.5.3-RC8-SLIM.amd64.iso
Next to every ISO there is a file with the same name and .md5 at the end, download it too. Older versions are in the ARGENT_OTHER_VERSIONS/ directory.
Check the download
A broken download gives you strange errors later, while booting or installing. Check it before you use it.
On Linux, in the directory where you downloaded both files:
md5sum -c Argent.KDE.BETA.1.5.3-RC8-SLIM.amd64.iso.md5
It must say OK.
On Windows, in PowerShell:
Get-FileHash -Algorithm MD5 .\Argent.KDE.BETA.1.5.3-RC8-SLIM.amd64.iso
and compare the result with what is written in the .md5 file (open it with Notepad).
Putting the ISO on a USB stick
You need a USB stick of at least 8 GB. Everything on it will be erased.
There are many ways, pick the one you know.
Rufus (Windows)
Download Rufus from rufus.ie, start it, select your stick and the Argent ISO.
Give it label "ARGENT" (case-sensitive, capital letters).
Partition scheme GPT
The label matters: when Argent boots, it looks for its files on a disk called ARGENT. With any other label, the boot stops half way.
When Rufus asks you how to write the image, choose ISO Image mode. If the stick doesn't boot, write it again in DD Image mode.
Rufus asking for ISO or DD mode
Ventoy (Windows and Linux)
With Ventoy you prepare the stick once, and then you just copy ISOs on it, as normal files. Good if you want Argent and other systems on the same stick.
- install Ventoy on your stick (this erases it, once)
- copy the Argent ISO onto the stick, like any other file
- boot from the stick, and choose the Argent ISO from the Ventoy menu
Ventoy keeps the ISO as it is, with its ARGENT label, so there is nothing to set. If Argent doesn't start from the normal Ventoy menu, select it again and try the GRUB2 mode (Ctrl+R in the Ventoy menu).
dd (Linux)
The ISO can be written directly on the stick, as it is. Find your stick first, be sure it's the right one, dd doesn't ask:
lsblk
Then, with your stick instead of /dev/sdX (the whole disk, not a partition like /dev/sdX1):
dd if=Argent.KDE.BETA.1.5.3-RC8-SLIM.amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
The label stays ARGENT, nothing to set.
Other tools
Any tool that writes the ISO as it is (like dd does) works too, for example balenaEtcher or GNOME Disks ("Restore Disk Image"). Tools that copy the files onto a stick with their own label need the label set to ARGENT, as with Rufus.
Booting from the USB stick
Plug the stick in, start the computer, and open the boot menu. The key depends on your computer, usually one of F12, F11, F10, F8 or Esc, it's written on the screen for a second when the computer starts. Choose your USB stick.
Argent boots on both UEFI and older BIOS computers.
Turn Secure Boot off in your UEFI settings before you boot, Argent's boot loader is not signed for Secure Boot.
After a short while you are on the Argent live desktop. There is no login and no password, the live session logs you in by itself. Everything works like on an installed Argent, but nothing is written on your disk until you install. It's a good moment to check that your WiFi, sound and screen work.
Click based install via desktop icon called Install Argent (which is Calamares)
If you don't know how to do it, I'd suggest letting someone else click "next-next-install" for you. :-)
Double click Install Argent on the desktop. The installer asks you a few questions, one screen at a time:
- Welcome: the language of the installer
- Location: your region and time zone, and the language of your system
- Keyboard: your keyboard layout, you can test it in the box at the bottom
- Partitions: where to install Argent, see below
- Users: your name, your user name, the computer name and your password
- Summary: everything you chose, one last time
Nothing is written on your disk until you click Install on the summary.
Partitions
- Erase disk: Argent takes the whole disk. Everything on it is lost. The simplest choice if the computer is only for Argent
- Install alongside: Argent next to the system you already have (Windows, for example), you choose how much space each one gets
- Replace a partition: Argent goes on a partition you already have, and only that partition is erased
- Manual partitioning: you make the partitions yourself, for people who know what they are doing
Make a backup of everything important before this step. A mistake here can't be undone.
Installing
After you click Install, the installer copies Argent to your disk, creates your user, installs the boot loader and removes the installer itself from your new system. It takes a while.
When it's done, check Restart now, click Done, and take the USB stick out when the computer restarts.
After the installation
Log in, open a terminal, become root, and bring your new system up to date:
epkg update
epkg upgrade
epkg clean
etc-update
The EPKG Package Manager page explains what these do, and everything else you can do with epkg.
Installing in a virtual machine
You can try Argent in a virtual machine first, without touching your disk. Use the same ISO, as the virtual CD of the machine.
Give the virtual machine at least:
- 8 GB of memory
- a virtual disk of 40 GB
- EFI enabled, if your virtual machine program has the option
VirtualBox, VMware, QEMU/KVM and virt-manager all work, nothing special is needed.
