Get started with your Debian Mate live desktop

Debian Mate live desktop is a lightweight desktop solution for Linux servers, it’s a continuation of the old GNOME 2 project. We’re going to be compiling Mate desktop into a range of operating system distributions and our first was Fedora and now we have Debian 8 Mate live too. You can easily use our Mate live ISO distributions to mount the image and then run on your server.

Due to restrictions with OpenVZ, .iso files can only be run on KVM nodes so, to use Debian Mate live desktop you will need a KVM based virtual server. Any Linux server on our network can use Linux .iso files. To use a .iso file on your KVM virtual server you will need to mount the image and then reboot the server. Once the server reboots if you already have an operating system deployed to your server you will be asked which operating system you want to boot into.

Step One – Add a security Exception

Because the VNC is Java based you will need to use a browser that supports Java and to add a security exception to your Java settings on your local PC to allow you to connect to your virtual server for the first time. We have blogged about how to allow access to the VNC here. When accessing the VNC ALWAYS use Internet Explorer or Edge, Chrome blocks Java and cannot be used.

Step Two – Mount Your ISO

Once you have added the security exception mount the Debian Mate live desktop image. You can do this from the client area or from the virtual server control panel. We’re just going to cover the client area here.

Navigate to your virtual server located at https://www.first2host.co.uk/clientarea.php?action=services Select the server in question then at the bottom of the virtual servers control panel you will see two options “BOOT ORDER” and “ISO”, Select ISO then Debian Mate Live x64. Click ok to mount the image on your server. Once the image is mounted reboot your server.

Step Three – Connect using the VNC

Next, all you need to do is connect to your new desktop. As we have created a live version of the Mate environment there is no need to run any install of the operating system, it will work directly on the Live image but you should deploy your OS to your virtual server. To access the Java VNC, from the control panel in the client area select “CONSOLE” and the VNC application will open. You should be greeted by the Debian mate boot menu. Here you can run the OS in a live state which means you will use the .iso file to boot your server or you can install the OS to your server.

Step Four – Installing Debian Mate

From the boot menu choose “Graphical Install” and proceed to setup the server with your required settings. Once you arrive at the “Network Configuration” settings you are asked if you want to proceed without adding a default route. Select YES and continue. In the name-server screen enter 8.8.8.8 for the DNS servers. Finish up by continuing to use the default options for the install and write the selections to your hard drive. When asked to install the Bootloader and restart the server. Your desktop is now ready for use.

NOTE: We route the Internet to virtual servers using your machines MAC address. There is no need to add any default route for the connection to work. Once the Install is completed you should have access to the Internet

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