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Subgraph OS runs on Intel 64-bit computers. These are the system requirements:
- Intel 64-bit processor (Core2 Duo or later)
- 2GB of RAM (4GB recommended)
- At least 20GB of hard-disk space
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Subgraph OS can be downloaded from our website:
https://subgraph.com/sgos/download/index.en.html
The Subgraph OS download page always has the most up-to-date download links and instructions. You can download the ISO directly from the website or over a Tor hidden service.
You should always verify that the ISO you downloaded is the official version. To verify the ISO, we have included a checksum that is cryptographically signed by our developers.
What is a checksum?
A checksum (or hash) is a string that uniquely identifies some piece of data as being different from another piece of data. It is computed using a special hash algorithm (SHA256 in our case). When data is passed to the hash algorithm, the algorithm will return a shortened string (the checksum) that uniquely identifies the data. Checksums are often used to ensure the
integrityof a file.Integrityin this case means that the file has not been corrupted or tampered with during the download.What is a cryptographic signature?
A cryptographic (or digital) signature is a method of authenticating a piece of data. Data is signed with the
privatesigning key of a person who has created or is sending the data. The signature can then be verified by the recipient using thepublickey of the sender. If the verification is successful, this ensures that the data was created or sent by the person who signed it and not somebody else. Thisauthenticatesthe identify of the creator or sender.Why do we cryptographically sign the checksum?
The checksum is used to verify the
integritythe ISO you have downloaded. However, how do you verify that the checksum on our website was provided by us? By cryptographically signing the checksum with ourprivatekey, you can verify theauthenticityof the checksum.
To verify the ISO on a Linux computer, you will need to download the ISO, SHA256 checksum, and the signature for the checksum.
The first step is to download our public key, Our public key can be downloaded with the following command:
$ gpg --recv-key B55E70A95AC79474504C30D0DA11364B4760E444
The second step is to verify the authenticity of the signature for the
checksum. Run the following command to verify the signature (note: replace the
filenames with the names of the files you downloaded):
$ gpg --verify subgraph-os-alpha_2016-06-16_2.iso.sha256.sig \
subgraph-os-alpha_2016-06-16_2.iso.sha256
After running this command, you should see a Good Signature message. If you
have seen this message then you can proceed to the next step.
The third step is to verify the integrity of the ISO using the SHA256 checksum.
Run the following command to verify the checksum (note: replace the filenames with the
names of the files you downloaded):
$ sha256sum -c subgraph-os-alpha_2016-06-16_2.iso.sha256
After running the command, you should see:
subgraph-os-alpha_2016-06-16_2.iso: OK
Congratulations, you have now downloaded and verified the Subgraph OS ISO. You are now ready to try it out!
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This section describes how to create a USB installer using Linux. One of these methods will work on any Linux computer (even on Subgraph OS). To create an installer you will need a USB drive with a capacity a 2GB or more.
If you have a Linux computer that is running the Gnome Desktop, you can use the Gnome Disks application to create a USB installer.
The following steps show how to make a USB installer using Gnome Disks:
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Insert a USB drive into your Linux computer
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Open the Gnome Disks application
-
Select your USB drive
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- Select the Format Disk option in the top right corner of Gnome Disks
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- Format the USB drive
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- Select the Restore Disk Image option in the top right corner of Gnome Disks
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Choose the ISO file you want to restore (copy) to the USB drive
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Restore the ISO to the USB drive
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It should take a few minutes to copy the ISO to the USB drive.
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If your Linux computer is not running Gnome Desktop or you want to create the installer from the command-line, you can use the dd utility.
The following steps show how to make a USB installer using dd:
-
Insert a USB drive into your computer
-
Open a terminal and run the following command to identify the name of the USB drive:
$ lsblk
**NOTE**: You should see a name such as **/dev/sdx** for your drive, for
example: **/dev/sdb**. It is important to use only the name without the
partition number. If you see something like **/dev/sdb1**, you can omit
the **1** at the end. The **dd** command uses the name without the partition
number.
- In the same terminal, run the following command:
$ dd bs=4M if=subgraph-os-alpha_2016-06-16_2.iso of=/dev/sdx \
status=progress && sync
NOTE: Replace the path of the ISO with the path of the ISO you have downloaded and verified. Replace /dev/sdx with the name of your USB drive, for example: /dev/sdb.
Copying the ISO to the USB drive should take a few minutes.
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Subgraph OS also features a 'live' mode. Subgraph OS live mode runs in memory,
directly from the USB drive. While running in live mode, nothing
will be saved to your hard-drive. When the live session ends, any data created
during your session will disappear, leaving no traces behind on the hard-disk.
People normally run in live mode for the following reasons:
- They want to demo Subgraph OS
- They want to test Subgraph OS with their particular hardware
- They want to perform certain tasks with extra security and privacy but do not want a permanent installation of Subgraph OS
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When the Subgraph OS ISO starts, you will be presented with different options.
To start the live mode, select Live (amd64).
Please note that the user password on the live image is: live.
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