Even though I had promised on Sunday that on Monday I would be covering another "Linux how-to" post, we will be covering how to "Fedora Silverblue" like the blog admin. Hold up? How to "Fedora Silverblue" like the blog admin? Isn't this kind of redundant to explain?
Well, yes and no. Yes, since it's another fork of Fedora/RedHat, which means that a lot of the things which are covered in this post will be similar to Fedora Workstation. Also, Fedora Workstation is probably what you are going to refer to most of the time when someone talks about "Fedora Linux" anyway.
We will be however covering Fedora Workstation later on in the blog series - just remember, you won't have too many differences to remember between the two operating systems. Speaking of those differences (and why you would want to understand the two):
1. Silverblue is immutable: This means that your operating system mounts system files as read-only. And this also means that neither you/nor anything you install can make changes to the files that are needed to make the computer function.
2. You can't manage your system with DNF:
Fedora Silverblue changes the paradigm. It is an image-based
operating system, meaning the core system is one image identical across
many computers. The version of Silverblue on your machine is identical
to the one on the developer's machine. When you download an update, you
replace your system image with a new image containing the latest
software.
This means you cannot update or manage your system using the DNF package manager that most other versions of Fedora rely on. Instead, you use rpm-ostree to download updated images or make modifications to your image. More on that later.
3. You must use Toolbx to use DNF instead:
DNF isn't off limits to Fedora Silverblue users. It's just that
instead of downloading RPMs to your system, you stick them in
containers. That's where Toolbx comes in.
Toolbx is a terminal-based tool to create containerized spaces for
you to install and manage packages. This comes with certain advantages.
If you're developing a website, you can download all the packages you
need to a separate container rather than add hundreds of extra packages
to your core system.
When you're done, you can delete the entire container and the
packages within without any concern about the stability of your PC. You
can give multiple websites their own container, and the same is true for
software development.
Let's say you're not a developer. Toolbx is still where you go to
install other terminal-based tools you've come to rely on. If you want
to use software like rsync or exiftool, you can still do so in Fedora Silverblue using Toolbx.
Toolbx is available for Fedora Workstation as well. The difference is
that on Silverblue, it comes preinstalled and is your only way to use
DNF or install command-line programs.
4. Flatpak is the default format for apps:
Flatpak is a universal app format for Linux desktops. With Flatpak, a
developer can easily package their app in one format and know that it
will run across most versions of Linux. This is a far cry from the way
Linux has traditionally functioned.
Most Linux distros, including Fedora Workstation, have the ability to
install Flatpak apps. What sets Fedora Silverblue apart is that
Flatpaks are the expected, default way to install apps. The app store
provides Flatpaks, whether directly from Fedora or from Flathub.
There are ways to install traditional RPMs if needed. You can do so
using Toolbx, though this method won't add an icon to your app drawer.
You will instead need to launch the app from the command line each time.
Another option is to add an app to your system image using rpm-ostree, such as with the following command:
rpm-ostree install package
Making modifications to your system image takes longer and requires a
restart each time for your new program to appear in your app drawer.
Installing Flatpaks is a much more straightforward experience.
5. You can easily rollback to a previous version:
All operating system updates run the risk of introducing bugs or
making changes that you don't like. On traditional Linux distros, like
Fedora Workstation, undoing a system update is a tricky process. You can
try reverting packages to their previous version, but if an update
installs plenty of new programs, you need to go through the changes with
a fine-tooth comb to undo everything by hand.
With Fedora Silverblue, you can temporarily revert to a previous
version of your system with only a few mouse clicks. Simply select an
older release during boot. You may need to hold down a certain key to
bring up the list of options. Or to permanently roll back, you can use
the rpm-ostree rollback command.
To restore your system, you don't need to look at changelogs or even
know what changed. This makes rolling back a system something a less
computer-savvy person can figure out.
6. Try Out Beta Releases with No Risk:
Those of us who enjoy getting our hands on the latest software before
its official release know that doing so comes with some degree of risk.
You can encounter bugs that make your computer less stable, with no
easy way to return your system back to how it was other than
reinstalling your distro from scratch.
In contrast, you can rebase to the upcoming version of Fedora Silverblue
with zero risk. That's right, zero. You can even switch to the unstable
development version of Fedora, known as Rawhide, with peace of mind.
That's because even if you find your system in an unbootable state, you
can simply switch back to your most recent stable system image.
You can then tell your system to stick to the stable version going
forward as if you had never decided to dabble with unfinished software
in the first place.
(Information source: MakeUseOf - Fedora Silverblue vs. Workstation:
https://www.makeuseof.com/fedora-silverblue-vs-workstation/)
So let's install this software on something, shall we?
Very much similar to before when we installed Linux Mint (see blog post no. 39), we first need to install the appropriate ISO for our hardware. Most ia_x86_64 users should use the x86_64 release ISO, but if you need aarch or ppc64, then those are options as well.
Similar to when I was explaining on how to install Linux Mint, the procedure I will employ is pretty much the exact same. But, you should pay attention to any differences that will be obvious vs. when Fedora Silverblue's boot media is in the computer's DVD drive as a DVD (if you chose to burn it as a DVD in 2023, or if you have it on a memory stick.)
First things first, you're obviously not going to get very far without downloading the ISO as I've already mentioned. Since most people will be installing this on an ia_x86_64 system, we will be using the x86_64 ISO for our purposes. I will again be using VirtualBox to explain everything as we go along, so let's keep going with that.
First things first, at the boot menu, we will notice an option to install "Fedora 38", as well as to Test this media & install Fedora 38 (in other words, go into live mode) and troubleshooting. We'll just install Fedora 38, as this computer has nothing else on the hard drive worth worrying about losing, but other than that, we will install Fedora 38.
Since we booted into the installer straight away, we get the full screen localization screen. For now, we will leave everything as English (unless you are feeling particularly advenutrous and wish to install the distro in another language, one which you do not speak. -- Strongly not recommended unless you have a basic idea of what the icons are & don't need to understand what it is you're trying to read on the screen.)
So, we will select Continue to continue the installer to the next step of installation.
This screen is alerting you to the fact that your disks are selected to be automatically partitioned. We'll have to confirm that this is precisely what we want (since this means we will not need to manually partition the disk install as if in some other more advanced distros --- which we will cover later) and partition the disk to make that alert go away.
On this screen, there is nothing to do except for click Done.
Now, we're ready to install Fedora Silverblue. If this had been on a secondary hard drive or we were overwriting Windows 10 or 11, we would have been asked to overwrite or add partitions to allow the final OS to boot. But since this computer in the lesson has nothing else on it, we will instead click Begin Installation.
The next step is simply letting it work...
Feel free to walk away from the computer while it does this. It will not need to be interacted with again until you are prompted to enter anything, or to reboot the operating system if no further prompts are given to do so.
In the meantime, there isn't much else to do here. Except maybe look at the progress bar as it loads (Not genuinely considered to be entertaining... If you want to do that for "fun", I suggest playing the game, Progress Bar Simulator, or Loading Screen Simulator (I suppose I have the title right, should be corrected if I'm wrong) but like I said... In the meantime, I'm just going to be walking away from this and letting it work - I'm pretty sure that it's bound to give me some further directions to complete before I am done with any of these things.
When the installation process completes, press "Reboot System."
After your first reboot, you will be put into the User Credential screen for non-administrative purposes.
During this time, you may make those configurations now. Enter your username, and password, and then you will be allowed to access the desktop.
(Oh, and one more thing! Unless you're sure that you can function on first-party repositories only, keep Third-Party Repositories Disabled. Otherwise, Enable Third Party Repositories at the prompt by simply pressing Enable-Third Party Repositories.)
Connecting your Google, Nextcloud, and Microsoft accounts are completely optional steps. You don't have to connect any of them if you don't want to do that.
Next, after typing your desired user name, enter the password twice. The first time to set your password, and the second (& final time) so that it can be checked for typos. And the "Be careful not to lose your password." warning doesn't play around, since if you lose your OS login password --- your system's done. It will still boot into the OS just fine, but you will never be able to log into the OS ever again. You will need a recovery drive to be able to ensure you can still access your files should the need be necessary to. (More on creating a recovery drive later. For now, we'll continue with the installation and initial setup of Fedora Silverblue.)
If you want to tour GNOME 44, click the "Take Tour" button on the desktop. Otherwise, select No Thanks to be immediately put on the desktop.
And, that's pretty much it. If you installed this distro in VirtualBox, you will need to install Guest Additions, but other than that, it's entirely all ready to go and ready to do whatever you feel you need to. ---
Just one more thing before I'm done...
All Operating Systems I will be using on VMs for these blog series will eventually be installed on real hardware.
So, that ends today's How to (insert name of Linux distro which is a complete OS) here like the Blog Admin.
