How to use AnuBitux 2

Information in this post can still be considered valid but it has been updated in our official documentation.

On the web there is a lot of tutorials about how to use iso files containing Linux distributions or about how to import a virtual appliance in softwares like VirtualBox, so, here's another one. Of course, users may use any preferred and known solutions. These are only suggestions diirected to those who are not used to this type of files.

After you have downloaded the preferred version of AnuBitux, please refer to the corresponding section of this page to start using it.

AnuBitux Live

This is the main version of the AnuBitux distro, designed to provide a safe environment and leave no traces on the devices used to run it. To use it, you'll need a USB stick and a software to flash the .iso file on it and make it bootable. For this purpose, we suggest Balena Etcher which works on any kind of operative system, but there are many different solutions like Rufus for Windows or UNetbootin for different OSes.

When using Balena Etcher, there is a very easy wizard to follow.

First of all plug in your USB stick and then click on the Flash from file" and select the .iso file you want to have on your USB stick.

Then click on the "Select target" button and choose your USB stick. Do not forget that this process will overwrite all the content of the used drive, so, if needed, backup your files before completing this process.

Now click on the "Flash!" button (if using Linux provide your root password) and wait until the process ends.

When finished, you can plug in the USB stick to the device you want to use with AnuBitux and turn it on.

Now you may need to enter your BIOS configuration and change the boot priority so that the USB device will be in the first position. Unless so, your device may boot your common operating system. In some cases, to change boot priority you may need to disable the secure boot features or change the boot mode settings. This procedure may be different depending on the used device. Here you can find some useful suggestions about how to do that.

When your device boots from the USB drive containing AnuBitux, we have to chose the Live (amd64) option tu run it in in Live mode and leave no traces on our device about what we are doing, unless we want.

AnuBitux install

We could need to install AnuBitux, maybe to run some tests on the tools or do some training with them. To install it on a dedicated device, we can arrange an USB drive following the steps shown above and, when booting from it, we have to chose the Start installer option.

Now we have to follow the debian installation wizard.

It is suggested to chose anubitux as username, to be sure that all the tools run properly.

When arriving at the step where we have to chose the root password, we can leave it blank, so that our user will automatically be allowed to run administrative commands with sudo, and have a more "ubuntu-like" user experience.

We may also install it in a virtual machine like VirtualBox or VMWare Player.

VIrtualBox

First of all create a new virtual machine (Machine -> New) and fill the form as preferred or like suggested in the following picture, providing the iso file of AnuBitux.

It is very important to check the "Skip Unattended Installation" option, to avoid running issues due to some wrong configuration that VirtualBox could automatically make.

In the next step we have to assing the resources to our virtual machine. This depends on the host machine we are using to run the VM.

Then we have to chose the size of the virtual drive: 20 GB should be enough.

Now we are ready to run our virtual machine and install it following the steps of the debian installer wizard.

For a better user experience, it is suggested to install the VirtualBox Extension Pack on your host system and the VirtualBox Guest Additions in your virtual machine.

VMWare Player

To install and run AnuBitux in a VMWare virtual machine, open VMWare Player and click on "Create a New Virtual Machine".

In the next window select the "Use ISO image:" option, click on "Browse..." and select the AnuBitux iso image you wish to install.

In the next window select the "Linux" option and choose "Debian 11.x 64-bit" from the list.

In the next window choose a name for your virtual machine and the folder where VMWare player is going to store the files.

Then choose the maximum size of the virtual har disk that the virtual machine will use. Make sure to select the "Split disk into multiple files option" to avoid an excessive disk space consumption. A size of 20 GB should be appropriate for running some tests on AnuBitux and its tools.

In the next window you can click "Customize Hardware..." to change settings like the number of processors to assign to the virtual machine. Then you can click "Finish" and run your virtual machine.

Now you can start the virtual machine and select the "Start Installer" option.

After doing that you only have to follow the Debian installer wizard.

Debian usually has the open-vm-tools installed by default, but for a better user experience you could also install the "VMware Tools".

AnuBitux virtual machine

On the download page there is also a ready to use AnuBitux virtual machine. To use it, first of all, you need to have VIrtualBox installed. You may also install the VirtualBox Extension Pack to increase the features of your virtual machine.

Then you simply have to click on "File" -> "Import Appliance..." and select the .ova file you have downloaded.

Then select the "Local File System" option and choose the .ova file to import.

Then simply click on "Next >" and on "Import".

Then, when the import process is complete, the virtual machine will appera in the left side of the VirtualBox client, where al the virtual appliances are listed. Now you can start AnuBitux or click on the "Settings" button to customize the hardware assigned to it.