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PC (x86) Installation

Install Anthias on PC / x86 hardware running Debian 13 (Trixie) or Debian 12 (Bookworm).

Anthias runs on any 64-bit PC (something like an Intel NUC works well) once you’ve prepared a fresh Debian install. Pre-built BalenaOS images aren’t available for PC hardware yet, so you’ll install Debian manually and then run the standard Anthias installer on top of it.

Note

Anthias supports 64-bit Debian 13 (Trixie) and 64-bit Debian 12 (Bookworm) on PCs.

No desktop environment required (or wanted)

The host runs headless, no GNOME, no KDE, no Xorg, no display manager. The Anthias viewer container ships its own minimal Wayland compositor (cage, a wlroots-based kiosk compositor) which acquires DRM master directly from the kernel and renders straight to the HDMI output. A pre-installed desktop would compete with it for the display and break the boot-to-content experience.

If you already installed Debian with a desktop, remove it (sudo apt purge --auto-remove gnome\* xserver-xorg\* lightdm gdm3 sddm and reboot) before continuing.

What you’ll need

  • A 64-bit PC (most NUCs, mini-PCs, and old laptops work).
  • A USB drive (4 GB or larger) to write the Debian installer to.
  • A keyboard, monitor, and network cable for the PC during install.

Step 1: Download Debian

Download the netinst image for AMD64 from the official Debian website . The filename will look like:

debian-13.x.x-amd64-netinst.iso

Step 2: Write the installer to a USB drive

Flash the ISO to a USB drive using one of:

  • balenaEtcher : recommended, cross-platform.
  • Raspberry Pi Imager: pick Use custom and select the ISO.

Step 3: Install Debian

  1. Plug the USB drive into the PC.
  2. Set the boot order in BIOS/UEFI to boot from USB first.
  3. Power on the PC and follow the Debian installer prompts. When you reach these screens, choose:
    • Root password: leave it blank. When you skip the root password, the Debian installer installs sudo and adds your regular user to the sudo group automatically. If you set a root password instead, Debian does neither: sudo won’t even be installed, and you’ll have extra work to do in Step 4. Leaving it blank is strongly recommended.
    • Partitioning: use the entire disk.
    • Software selection: check only SSH server and standard system utilities. Uncheck every desktop environment (GNOME, Xfce, KDE Plasma, …): Anthias renders from inside a container and does not use any host-side graphical session.
  4. When the installer finishes, remove the USB drive before the system reboots into the freshly installed Debian.

Step 4: Prepare the system for Anthias

Once you can SSH (or log in locally) to the new install:

If you set a root password in Step 3

Your user can’t run sudo yet. In fact sudo isn’t installed, so every command below will fail with sudo: command not found. Fix this once, as root, then continue:

$ su -          # enter the root password you set
# apt update && apt install -y sudo
# /usr/sbin/usermod -aG sudo <username>   # replace <username>
# exit

Log out and back in (so your new group membership takes effect), then continue below. If you left the root password blank, skip this box. sudo already works.

  1. Install curl if it isn’t already there:

    $ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install -y curl

  2. Allow your user to run sudo without entering a password. The Anthias installer expects this. Open the sudoers file:

    $ sudo visudo

    Add this line at the end (replace <username> with your actual username):

    <username> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

    Save and exit the editor.

Step 5: Run the Anthias installer

You’re now ready to run the standard installer. Follow the scripted install steps . They’re the same on PC as on a Raspberry Pi.

References