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.

Use F2 to change the language for the installer. A corresponding keyboard layout is chosen automatically. See Section 2.2.1.1, “The Boot Screen on Machines Equipped with Traditional BIOS” or Section 2.2.1.2, “The Boot Screen on Machines Equipped with UEFI” for more information about changing boot options.

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

The Language and Keyboard Layout are initialized with the language settings you have chosen on the boot screen. Change them here, if necessary.

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

In case no network interface could be configured automatically via DHCP, the Network Settings dialog opens. If you prefer to install openSUSE Leap with no network connection, choose Next to proceed. However, configuring the network at this stage is recommended, since it will allow to install the latest updates and security fixes from the online update repository. A working network connection will also give you access to additional software repositories. This step is skipped if a network interface was successfully configured via DHCP.

To configure the network, choose a network interface from the list and click Edit to change its settings. Use the tabs to configure DNS and routing. See Book “Reference”, Chapter 13 “Basic Networking”, Section 13.4 “Configuring a Network Connection with YaST” for more details.

A system analysis is performed, where the installer probes for storage devices, and tries to find other installed systems. When the analysis has finished, the Suggested Partitioning dialog opens. 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.

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 2.8, “Clock and Time Zone” for detailed information. Proceed with Next.

Select the desktop system you would like to use in the User Interface dialog. KDE and GNOME are among the most widely used desktops on Linux.

If setting up a server, you probably do not need a graphical user interface. Choose Server (Text Mode) in this case.

More desktop systems, such as XFCE, LXDE, MATE, and Enlightenment are available after having enabled the online repositories. Doing so is also recommended if you want to get the latest security updates and fixes during the installation. A working Internet connection is required. To install a Custom user interface, choose Configure Online Repositories. 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 Custom and Next, to proceed to the Software Selection and System Task, where you can choose a custom desktop system from the left-hand pane.

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.

Type a password for the system administrator account (called the root user). This step is skipped if you have chosen Use this Password for the System Administrator in the previous step.

You should never forget the root password! After you entered it here, the password cannot be retrieved. See Section 2.11, “Password for the System Administrator root” 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.

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.