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I'm trying to get a disposable virtual machine on my private server.

I've tried downloading a couple of Debian ISO files for 9.6.0, but I am unsuccessful in booting any of them.

After trying kvm -m 2048 -smp 2 -hda debian.12GB.img -cdrom debian-9.6.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso -boot d -curses, and same with debian-live-9.6.0-amd64-xfce.iso, all I get is the following, and it doesn't progress anywhere further:

640 x 480 Graphic mode.

I've tried the -nographic option as well, but it didn't seem to result in anything being printed at all.

cnst
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The curses UI can only show something as long as the guest runs in vga text mode. The "640 x 480 Graphic mode" message indicates the guest switched to graphics mode. Probably the cdrom boot loader (isolinux) did that and is waiting for input now.

Try use vnc or gtk for the install. Once the install is complete you can configure the guest to use vga text mode, then curses should work fine too.

Gerd Hoffmann
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  • Are you seriously telling me that it's not possible to install Linux in curses? There's gotta be a better way. I've been installing OSes in text mode for years (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, you name it); I'm not open about having to switch to VNC et al for having to simply do an install, especially in the server environment and of a KVM-based installation, which has very little reason to not work over serial in the first place. – cnst Jan 09 '19 at 06:07
  • vnc is easiest. If you know how to navigate the debian cdrom boot menu you can try typing blindly. – Gerd Hoffmann Jan 09 '19 at 06:11
  • I don't think I've ever had to install Debian before. Does it seriously not have a text-based installer?! Which distros do? – cnst Jan 09 '19 at 06:13
  • debian installer runs just fine in text mode, you only need to make sure the linux kernel boots in text mode ("vga=0 nomodeset" on the command line). As mentioned it is the cdrom boot loader which switched to gfx mode. You can also loop-mount the cdrom, copy kernel + initrd to the host, then use direct kernel boot. isolinux doesn't get into the way then. When going this route I'd suggest to add "console=ttyS0" to the kernel command line and use -nographic (qemu stdio gets linked to the guests serial line then). – Gerd Hoffmann Jan 09 '19 at 06:35
  • I think the ESC button works, and brings some text prompt, but i have no idea what that prompt is about. i've tried typing stuff on it, but it didn't really go anywhere. i really don't understand why there's a need to do VGA; why is there nothing that gets printed to serial? DragonFly BSD, for example, prints to both VGA and serial. – cnst Jan 09 '19 at 18:19
  • Virtually nobody uses serial consoles anymore, and this has been so for many years. It's not even common with physical servers anymore. The very few who do can create custom boot media with the bootloader and kernel configured to use a serial port as the console, if they really want it, but honestly it's probably just time to leave the 1990s in the 1990s. – Michael Hampton Jan 09 '19 at 21:26
  • @MichaelHampton, that's not my experience at all. Noone I know uses graphical installers at all. I don't recall the last time I've installed anything with a graphical installer. – cnst Jan 10 '19 at 05:14
  • Serial consoles are not dead at all. Even UEFI supports them, and it actually does a better job than classic BIOS because the serial console is supported natively by the firmware and all firmware/bootloader output shows up on both VGA and serial line. Input is likewise accepted from both keyboard and serial line. So, that is another thing worth trying, use OVMF (which is the UEFI implementation for qemu), then boot using "qemu -nographic". Make sure to add "console=ttyS0" to the linux kernel command line before booting the kernel. – Gerd Hoffmann Jan 10 '19 at 05:43