---
title: Installing Debian
lastUpdated: 2025-08-14
slug: ispmail-trixie/install-debian
sidebar:
  order: 120
---

import { Aside } from "@astrojs/starlight/components";
import { FileTree } from "@astrojs/starlight/components";

<Aside type="caution">
  This page is only relevant if you will install Debian yourself. If your data center has provided you with a ready
  Debian Trixie server, just skip this page.
</Aside>

You have a blank computer or virtual machine? Then simply install Debian Bookworm yourself. Get a boot medium from the
[Debian website](https://www.debian.org/distrib/netinst). The smaller _network installer_ is sufficient – it will
download all required packages directly from the internet. Make sure you choose ‘English’ as the installation language
even if it is not your native language. If you have trouble with the server you will more likely find help when
searching for English error messages on the internet.

Most of the installation is pretty straightforward. You don’t need me holding your hand. I strongly recommend that you
use the _logical volume manager_ (LVM) for your partitions to stay flexible if your server grows. See my
[article on LVM](https://workaround.org/understanding-lvm/) if you want some help understanding its concept.

## Partitioning

These are the relevant paths and the minimum amount of space I would suggest. If you use LVM, enlarging partitions later
is very simple.

<FileTree>

- / (operating system – 5 GB)
  - var/
    - vmail/ (actual emails will be stored here – 10 GB)
    - log/
      - journal/ (systemd saves logs here – 5 GB)
  - tmp/ (temporary storage – 1 GB)

</FileTree>
