Insert the openSUSE Leap DVD into the drive, then reboot the computer to start the installation program. On machines with a traditional BIOS you will see the graphical boot screen shown below. On machines equipped with UEFI, a slightly different boot screen is used. Secure boot on UEFI machines is supported.

On BIOS machines, use F2 to change the language for the installer. A corresponding keyboard layout is chosen automatically. See Section 2.2.1, “The Boot Screen on Machines Equipped with Traditional BIOS” or Section 2.2.2, “The Boot Screen on Machines Equipped with UEFI” for more information about changing boot parameters. On UEFI machines adjust the language and keyboard settings in the next step.

Select Installation on the boot screen, then press Enter. This boots the system and loads the openSUSE Leap installer.

The Language and Keyboard Layout settings are initialized with the language you chose on the boot screen. If you did not change the default, it will be English (US). Change the settings here, if necessary. Use the Keyboard Test text box to test the layout.

Read the License Agreement. It is presented in the language you have chosen. Other License Translations are available. Proceed with Next.

A system analysis is performed, where the installer probes for storage devices, and tries to find other installed systems. If the network was automatically configured via DHCP during the start of the installation, you will be taken to the registration step.

If the network is not yet configured, the Network Settings dialog opens. Choose a network interface from the list and configure it with Edit. Alternatively, Add an interface manually. See Section 3.4, “Network Settings” and Book “Reference”, Chapter 13 “Basic Networking”, Section 13.4 “Configuring a Network Connection with YaST” for more information. If you prefer to do an installation without network access, skip this step without making any changes and proceed with Next.

Choose a general software and system configuration with this step by selecting a desktop or server configuration.

For a desktop installation, choose between Desktop with KDE Plasma and Desktop with GNOME. KDE is slightly similar to Windows, GNOME offers an alternative, innovative environment.

If setting up a server, you probably do not need a graphical user interface. Choose Server (Text Mode) in this case. Alternatively, set up a server system with a read-only root partition and transactional updates by choosing Transactional Server. This selection aslo is a prerequisite for setting up openSUSE Kubic. See https://kubic.opensuse.org/blog/2018-04-04-transactionalupdates/ for mor information on transactional updates.

You can also manually choose the software configuration for your system. Select Custom and then Next to get to the Software Selection and System Tasks dialog. Choose one or more patterns for installation. By clicking Details, you can select individual packages.

The User Interface dialog also offers the possibility to Configure Online Repositories. Here you can choose to add additional official openSUSE software repositories, offering more software. Using the default selection is recommended. Make sure to add at least the main update repository, because it makes sure the system is installed with latest security patches. You have the following choices:

Confirm your selection with Next. Depending on your choice, you need to confirm one or more license agreements. Do so by choosing Next until you return to the User Interface screen. Now choose Next to proceed.

Define a partition setup for openSUSE Leap in this step. Review the partition setup proposed by the system. If necessary, change it. You have the following options:

To accept the proposed setup without any changes, choose Next to proceed.

Tip: Release Notes

From this point on, the Release Notes can be viewed from any screen during the installation process by selecting Release Notes.

Select the clock and time zone to use in your system. To manually adjust the time or to configure an NTP server for time synchronization, choose Other Settings. See Section 3.7, “Clock and Time Zone” for detailed information. Proceed with Next.

To create a local user, type the first and last name in the User’s Full Name field, the login name in the Username field, and the password in the Password field.

The password should be at least eight characters long and should contain both uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. The maximum length for passwords is 72 characters, and passwords are case-sensitive.

For security reasons it is also strongly recommended not to enable the Automatic Login. You should also not Use this Password for the System Administrator but rather provide a separate root password in the next installation step.

If you install on a system where a previous Linux installation was found, you may Import User Data from a Previous Installation. Click Choose User for a list of available user accounts. Select one or more user.

In an environment where users are centrally managed (for example by NIS or LDAP) you may want to skip the creation of local users. Select Skip User Creation in this case.

Proceed with Next.

Provide a password for the system administrator account (called the root user).

You should never forget the root password! After you entered it here, the password cannot be retrieved. See Section 3.9, “Password for the System Administrator” for more information. Proceed with Next.

Tip: Passwords and Keyboard Layout

It is recommended to only use characters that are available on an English keyboard. In case of a system error or when you need to start your system in rescue mode a localized keyboard might not be available.

Use the Installation Settings screen to review and—if necessary—change several proposed installation settings. The current configuration is listed for each setting. To change it, click the headline. Some settings, such as firewall or SSH can directly be changed by clicking the respective links.

Tip: Remote System Access

Changes you can make in the Installation Settings, can also be made later at any time from the installed system. However, if you need remote access directly after the installation, you should adjust the Firewall and SSH settings by opening the SSH port and enabling the SSH server.

After you have finalized the system configuration on the Installation Settings screen, click Install. Depending on your software selection you may need to agree to license agreements before the installation confirmation screen pops up. Up to this point no changes have been made to your system. After you click Install a second time, the installation process starts.

During the installation, the progress is shown in detail on the Details tab. The openSUSE Leap Release Notes tab shows important information; reading them is recommended.

After the installation routine has finished, the computer is rebooted into the installed system. Log in and start YaST to fine-tune the system. If you are not using a graphical desktop or are working from remote, refer to Book “Reference”, Chapter 1 “YaST in Text Mode” for information on using YaST from a terminal.