AnswerLinux
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1. Boot Process & Custom Installer

AnswerLinux is a totally custom Linux setup built for your PC. It is bundled with a curated selection of lightweight free software today, with an active roadmap dedicated to developing its own native tools and software ecosystem.

Installation is performed via a streamlined text-mode custom installer that launches directly during the boot process.

How to Start: Insert your bootable AnswerLinux USB drive into your PC, power on, and press your system's boot menu key (F12, F11, F9, or Esc).

Starting the Installer

When the AnswerLinux boot menu appears on your screen:

  1. Select the Install option from the boot menu.
  2. The boot process will load the kernel and the custom text installer will automatically pop up in the console.

2. Selecting the Hard Drive

The custom installer first inspects attached storage devices and displays a selection menu for your destination hard drive.

You will be prompted to choose the target drive to install to:

  • /dev/sda, /dev/sdb — SATA SSDs or hard drives.
  • /dev/nvme0n1 — NVMe M.2 solid state drives.
  • /dev/mmcblk0 — eMMC storage.

Once you select the destination hard drive, the custom installer will invoke cfdisk to let you partition the selected drive.

3. Partitioning the Drive with cfdisk

cfdisk opens directly inside the terminal interface on your selected hard drive.

1. Select Label Type

If the drive is newly initialized, cfdisk will prompt you to choose a label type:

  • gpt: Select for modern UEFI-based PCs.
  • dos / mbr: Select for legacy BIOS systems.

2. Partition Layout Recommendation (UEFI / GPT)

Partition Suggested Size Type in cfdisk Purpose
1 (e.g. sda1) 512 MB EFI System UEFI Bootloader (/boot/efi)
2 (e.g. sda2) Remaining Disk Space Linux filesystem Root Filesystem (/)
3 (e.g. sda3) 4 GB – 8 GB (Optional) Linux swap Swap Space

3. Step-by-Step in cfdisk

  1. Use the arrow keys to select [ New ] and press Enter.
  2. Enter 512M for the partition size. Navigate to [ Type ], select EFI System, and press Enter.
  3. Highlight the remaining free space, choose [ New ], press Enter to allocate the remaining size, and keep the type as Linux filesystem.
  4. Navigate to [ Write ], type yes, and press Enter to save the partition table to the hard drive.
  5. Navigate to [ Quit ] and press Enter to exit cfdisk.

4. Assigning Partitions & Completing Setup

After quitting cfdisk, you are automatically returned to the custom installer:

  1. Assign Mount Points: Select which partition you created for root (e.g. sda2 for /) and which partition is for EFI (e.g. sda1 for /boot/efi).
  2. Filesystem Formatting: Confirm formatting the root partition (e.g., ext4).
  3. User & System Configuration: Enter your computer's hostname, set the root password, and create your standard user account and password.
  4. Finish & Reboot: The installer copies the system files, configures the bootloader on your selected hard drive, and confirms when finished. Unplug your USB drive and reboot into AnswerLinux.

5. Linux Command Line (CLI) Guide

The command line interface (CLI) is the direct, lightweight method for interacting with Linux. Commands are entered at the shell prompt and executed by pressing Enter.

Helpful Tip: Press Tab while typing any command or filepath to auto-complete it. Press Up Arrow / Down Arrow to scroll through your previous command history.

6. Filesystem Navigation & File Operations

Linux organizes all files in a single unified tree starting from root (/).

Command Description & Example
pwd Print Working Directory: displays your current folder path.
ls -la List all files and folders in detailed view, including hidden files (prefixed with .).
cd /path Change directory. cd .. goes to parent folder; cd ~ returns to your home folder.
mkdir -p dir/sub Create new directories and parent folders.
touch file.txt Create an empty file or update timestamps.
cp source dest Copy files. Use cp -r folder1 folder2 to copy whole directories.
mv old new Move or rename a file or folder.
rm file.txt Delete a file. Use rm -r folder to remove directories.
cat file.txt Output the full contents of a file to the terminal screen.
nano file.txt Open the built-in terminal text editor (Ctrl+O to save, Ctrl+X to exit).

7. System, Memory & Disk Inspection

Essential commands for checking storage, RAM usage, and hardware information:

Command Purpose
lsblk List all block storage devices, hard drives, and their partition structure.
df -h Display mounted filesystems and available disk space in human-readable gigabytes/megabytes.
free -h Display total, used, and free RAM and swap memory.
uname -a Display Linux kernel version, system architecture, and machine hostname.
top Real-time system process and CPU/memory resource monitor (press q to exit).
ip a List network interfaces, Ethernet / Wi-Fi connections, and IP addresses.

8. Admin Privileges & Permissions

System administration and hardware management require superuser privileges using sudo.

Running as Superuser

sudo command_name

File Permissions

  • chmod +x script.sh — Grant execute permission to a script.
  • chmod 644 file.txt — Standard read/write for owner, read-only for group/others.
  • sudo chown user:user filename — Change the owner and group of a file or directory.

9. Process Control & Searching

Managing running applications and searching text in the terminal:

Command Usage
ps aux | grep name Find the Process ID (PID) of a specific running application.
kill PID Send a termination signal to end a process by its PID number.
pkill name Terminate a process directly by its name.
grep -rn "keyword" . Search for a word or phrase recursively in all files within the current folder.
find . -name "*.iso" Locate files in the directory hierarchy matching a specific pattern.