Kicksecure Operating System Live ISO, Kicksecure-Host Installer

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Kicksecure will be a complete Operating System.

Not stable version available for users yet. For stable version, users can either distro-morph Debian into Kicksecure or use Kicksecure in a virtual machine (VM) instead, which are available for most major operating systems. If you're looking for Live Mode, see Live Mode

• No stable version available for users yet : There is no ETA (estimated time of arrival) yet. Users should choose another option instead.
• Live Mode : Looking for Kicksecure Live Mode? It's already available, see Live Mode.

This is a pre-release. (What does that mean?)

Download, Try, Install

Please follow these steps to install Kicksecure Xfce.

This page is fully functional without JavaScript, but enabling JavaScript significantly enhances the user experience.

Download Kicksecure Xfce ISO

Warning: This is for testers-only!

Download Kicksecure Xfce ISO (FREE!)

Optional: Digital signature verification.

Version: 17.1.4.9

• Digital signatures: A tool enhancing download security. Commonly used across the internet.
• Learn more: Curious? Learn more about digital software signatures.
• Optional: Digital signatures are optional. If you've never used them before, there might be no need to start now.
• No worries: New to digital software signatures? It's okay, no need to worry.
• Not a requirement: Not mandatory for using Kicksecure, but an extra security measure for advanced users.

Download Kicksecure Xfce

OpenPGP

OpenPGP Signature

Verify images using this Signing Key

Download Kicksecure Developer OpenPGP Key

signify

SHA-512 checksum file

SHA-512 checksum file signify signature

Verify images using this Signing Key

Download Kicksecure signify Key

How to verify the Kicksecure Images : Kicksecure virtual machine images are signed by Kicksecure developer Patrick Schleizer using OpenPGP and signify.

Do you already how to perform digital software verification using an OpenPGP and/or signify key?

• Yes: Acquire the Kicksecure Signing Key and the Kicksecure signatures straight away and proceed.
• No: Consider the following instructions:
  • For Linux
  • For Windows
  • For macOS

Write the ISO to USB

This procedure will be similar for any Linux distribution providing an ISO based installer. The procedure is unspecific to Kicksecure.

Warnings:

• Target device deletion: This procedure will overwrite all data on the selected device, be careful!
• Backup: It is recommended to have a backup of important personal data before proceeding to avoid data loss.
• Restoration test: The backup should be tested if it is actually accessible.

1. Choose your host operating system.

This is the system you are currently using and intending on using to flash the Kicksecure ISO to USB.

Windows

2. Download KDE ISO Image Writer Installer.

Optional: Checksum verification.

KDE ISO Image Writer Homepage

sha256: 467aefa7a893b323932c858c8bc6f3b6574c8d6f830e48e140d13941787393c6

See also: Download Security

3. Execute the ISO Image Writer Installer to install the program.

4. Execute the ISO Image Writer program.

5. On the Image field, insert the Kicksecure Xfce ISO path or click on the folder icon to use the file manager to locate the ISO. On the USB device field, select your drive to be flashed. Click on Write when finished.

Figure: KDE ISO Image Writer writing the ISO to USB

6. Done.

The process of flashing Kicksecure ISO to USB has been completed.

MacOS

2. Download USBImager based on your CPU architecture (choose one):

• A) Intel CPU, or
• B) ARM CPU (M1, M2, etc).

3. Extract the ZIP archive to /Applications.

4. Run the USBImager application.

5. On the first row, insert the Kicksecure Xfce ISO path or click on ... to use a file manager to locate the ISO. On the third row, select your drive to be flashed. On the second row, click on Write when finished.

6. Done.

The process of flashing Kicksecure ISO to USB has been completed.

Linux

2. Install GNOME Disks.

The utility is pre-installed in GNOME desktop environment. Otherwise it can be installed on most if not all Linux distributions.

Select your Linux distribution.

Ubuntu

In Ubuntu, package is named gnome-disk-utility.

Command Line

Install gnome-disk-utility. To accomplish that, the following steps A. to D. need to be done.

A. Update the package lists.

sudo apt update

B. Upgrade the system.

sudo apt full-upgrade

C. Install the gnome-disk-utility package.

Using apt command line parameter --no-install-recommends is in most cases optional.

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends gnome-disk-utility

D. Done.

The procedure of installing gnome-disk-utility is complete.

Software Center

Similar to the following.

NOTE: Replace VirtualBox with GNOME Disks in the following instructions.

Ubuntu Software Center can be used to install VirtualBox. The process is similar to installation of most other applications.

This only works for users with computers that do not have "SecureBoot" enabled. If the user's computer is using "SecureBoot" the user need to either disable "SecureBoot" in the BIOS or use the command line based instructions.

1. Open the start menu.

2. Click on the Ubuntu Software Center icon.

Figure: Ubuntu Software Center icon

3. Click on the magnifying glass to search. → Type virtualbox. → Press enter. → In the search results, click on VirtualBox.

Figure: Ubuntu Software Center - Search For VirtualBox

4. Click on Install and wait.

Figure: Ubuntu Software Center Search Result

5. Installation of VirtualBox has been completed.

When the installation has completed, the install icon changes to the uninstall icon. Do not click the uninstall button.

Figure: Ubuntu Software Center - VirtualBox has been installed

6. Click on Show Applications. → Click on Virtual Box start the VirtualBox graphical user interface (GUI).

Figure: Ubuntu Software Center #4

7. Done.

The procedure of installing and starting VirtualBox is complete.

Debian

In Debian, package is named gnome-disk-utility.

Install gnome-disk-utility. To accomplish that, the following steps A. to D. need to be done.

A. Update the package lists.

sudo apt update

B. Upgrade the system.

sudo apt full-upgrade

C. Install the gnome-disk-utility package.

Using apt command line parameter --no-install-recommends is in most cases optional.

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends gnome-disk-utility

D. Done.

The procedure of installing gnome-disk-utility is complete.

Other Linux

Hosts using a non-Debian operating system:

Install GNOME Disks as per the normal mechanism for your Linux distribution. No special instructions for Kicksecure are required. The installation of a GNOME Disks is unspecific to Kicksecure. Consult the documentation of your Linux distribution.

3. Launch GNOME Disks.

A) Using the start menu.

Figure: GNOME Disks Xfce Launch

B) Alternatively, you could also start GNOME disks from the command line.

gnome-disks

4. Select your device present on the right tab.

Figure: GNOME Disk Select

5. On the three dots menu on the top right side, click on Restore Disk Image.

Figure: GNOME Disk Restore Select

6. Click on the field of Image to restore and navigate with your file manager to select Kicksecure ISO. After you are finished, click on Start Restoring.

Figure: GNOME Disk Restore ISO

7. Make sure you have selected the right device and click on Restore.

Figure: GNOME Disk Restore ISO Confirm

8. Wait for the flashing of the ISO to finish.

Figure: GNOME Disk Restoring

9. After flashing is completed, the Contents field will indicate ISO 9660.

Figure: GNOME Disk Finish

10. Done.

The process of flashing Kicksecure ISO to USB has been completed.

Terminal

Note: The following steps works on Unix terminals with GNU utilities.

2. Find the name of your drive, substitute every reference of My_own_drive to your own drive ID.

ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/usb-*

3. Check with lsblk to make sure that My_own_drive is not mounted (blank field under MOUNTPOINTS).

Note: Replace My_own_drive with the actual name of your device.

lsblk /dev/disk/by-id/usb-My_own_drive

4. Copy the Kicksecure ISO to My_own_drive.

Note: The path to Kicksecure-Xfce-17.1.4.9.iso needs to be adjusted in case the user did not download the ISO image to the home folder.

sudo cp Kicksecure-Xfce-17.1.4.9.iso /dev/disk/by-id/usb-My_own_drive

Click on 'Learn More' on the right side for other command-line methods.

• Using pv and tee.
  • Advantage: Progress meter.
  • Disadvantage: Not installed by default on many distributions.
  • pv Kicksecure-Xfce-17.1.4.9.iso | sudo tee /dev/disk/by-id/usb-My_own_drive >/dev/null
• Using cat and tee.
  • Advantage: Tools always available.
  • Disadvantage: No progress meter.
  • cat Kicksecure-Xfce-17.1.4.9.iso | sudo tee /dev/disk/by-id/usb-My_own_drive >/dev/null
• Using dd.
  • Advantage: Progress meter.
  • Disadvantage: More complicated syntax.
  • sudo dd if=Kicksecure-Xfce-17.1.4.9.iso of=/dev/disk/by-id/usb-My_own_drive bs=4M conv=fsync oflag=direct status=progress

5. Ensure buffers are fully written to the device before removing it.

sudo sync

6. Done.

The process of flashing Kicksecure ISO to USB has been completed.

BSD

If you are using BSD, consult your operating system documentation on how to use these tools from the Terminal tab left of this tab to flash an ISO, as the utilities commands may differ (dd for example).

Qubes

Flashing the Kicksecure ISO while using Qubes

• Prerequisite knowledge:
  • Context: Currently using a Qubes VM such as for example a Qubes VM running Debian or another Linux? Attempting to flash the Kicksecure ISO to USB? If you can answer both questions with yes, this wiki tab is for you.
  • What this is not: This is not about a Kicksecure Template. For that, go to Kicksecure for Qubes.
  • Prior USB storage device usage in Qubes: Having used USB storage devices in Qubes before. This is important because there are many issues with Qubes and USB devices. General issues with be unspecific to Kicksecure and should not be mixed when attempting something slightly more complex such as flashing an operating system to USB.
  • Appropriate choice: Properly using a Qubes App Qube to flash a USB drive when following this documentation should have a very low disk of data loss. The usual advice about the importance of backups and a tested backup restoration process of course always applies unrelated to this documentation.
  • Choice of method: Chose either Command Line Image Writer or a Graphical Image Writer. Not both.
  • Connect only 1 USB device to the App Qube: To guard against data loss, it is recommended and much simpler to only connect 1 USB device to the App Qube to be used for flashing the Kicksecure ISO.
  • Usage of examples in documentation: The following documentation uses the files which represent physical devices /dev/xvdi (or /dev/sda) as example devices. These instructions were tested inside a Debian based App Qube on Qubes R4.2. In theory, in later Qubes versions these files might represent other devices. If only 1 USB devices is connected to the App Qube and if only using that App Qube for flashing, the risk of data loss should on other USB devices should be very low. And of course, data in other App Qubes would be secure as usual thanks to Qubes compartmentalization.

2. Make sure you have the required prerequisite knowledge mentioned above. Do not proceed without it!

Command Line Image Writer in Qubes

Two options. Choose one.

• A) Using Block device.
  • 3. dom0 → Qubes Device Manger in systray → → under "Data (Block) Devices" → select the USB device (for example sda → assign the hard drive to the VM.
  • 4. Inside the VM, flash the image to USB: sudo cp Kicksecure-Xfce-17.1.4.9.iso /dev/xvdi
• B) Using USB Device.
  • 3. dom0 → Qubes Device Manger in systray → Use USB Device: → assign the hard drive to the VM.
  • 4. Inside the VM, flash the image to USB: sudo cp Kicksecure-Xfce-17.1.4.9.iso /dev/sda

5. Inside the VM, write buffers to the disk: sudo sync

6. In dom0, use the Qubes Device Manger to remove the USB from the VM.

7. Done.

Graphical Image Writer in Qubes

4. dom0 → Qubes Device Manger in systray → Use USB Device: → assign the hard drive to the VM.

Note: Data (Block) Devices cannot be used.

5. It is possible to use KDE ISO Image Writer, which is available as AppImage and from Flathub.

6. Done.

The process of flashing Kicksecure ISO to USB has been completed.

Boot the ISO

1. Discover out the Boot Menu key based on your machine's motherboard. Search on the internet if necessary for your specific motherboard model.

Vendor	Key
Acer	F12, F9, F2, Esc
Apple	Option
Asus	Esc
Clevo	F7
Dell	F12
Fujitsu	F12, Esc
HP	F9
Huawei	F12
Intel	F10
Lenovo	F12, Novo
MSI	F11
Samsung	Esc, F12, F2
Sony	F11, Esc, F10
Toshiba	F12
Others	F12, Esc

2. Power off your host computer.

3. Connect the drive you just flashed to your computer.

4. Power on your computer and press several times the first possible Boot Menu key identified in step 1.

5. If the computer starts on another operating system or returns an error message, shut down the computer again and repeat step 4 for all the possible Boot Menu keys identified in step 1. If a Boot Menu with a list of devices appears, select your USB stick and press Enter.

6. If the computer starts on Kicksecure ISO, the GRUB Boot Loader will appear giving boot options. After some seconds, it will automatically boot the ISO.

Figure: Kicksecure ISO GRUB

7. After boot into persistent mode, you will encounter the following desktop.

Figure: Kicksecure ISO Live Setup Wizard

8. You can experiment with the Live ISO without saving data persistently, before committing to install Kicksecure to hard drive (optional).

Install Kicksecure (Optional)

1. Click on the desktop icon Install to Hard drive.

Figure: ISO Install to hard drive icon

2. Be welcomed by the Calamares Installer and select your language.

Figure: ISO Calamares Welcome

3. Choose how to partition your system.

Choose "Erase Disk" to replace the operating system on your internal hard drive. Usually no other changes required by most users.

Warnings:

• Target device deletion: This procedure will overwrite all data on the selected device, be careful!
• Target device selection: Only installation to an internal hard drive or another USB drive is possible.
  • The same in other words:
    • It is impossible to write to the same USB drive that was used to boot. Installing Kicksecure on USB is possible, see USB Installation.
    • The boot device and the installation target device must be two physically different devices.

If you do not agree with summary, press Back and choose the partition scheme again.

Figure: ISO Calamares Partition

4. Notice for users of full disk encryption.

If you would like to use full disk encryption (FDE), it can be done in the Partition tab. Choose "Encrypt system".

If you choose full disk encryption and your keyboard is NOT en_US QWERTY, please press on 'Learn More' on the right side.

Encryption Versus Keyboard Layout

The Calamares installer will encrypt /boot but with English US QWERTY keyboard. This can be confusing. The user might type the password in their local keyboard layout while GRUB at boot time will be interpreting the password using English US QWERTY keyboard layout.

• en_US QWERTY keyboards: This is a non-issue for users using US keyboards.
• other keyboards: This issue exists.

Which workarounds are available to users? Choose one.

• A) Use a separate English US QWERTY keyboard for password entry;
• B) Avoid characters which are different on your local vs the English US QWERTY keyboard layout;
• C) Use a different installation method. Using Distribution morphing it will be possible to avoid encrypted /boot by using Debian's old installer ("d-i" Debian's installer GUI (GTK based));
• D) Not using full disk encryption. Not recommended.

Less realistic workarounds, for developers only and tickets, see footnote.

5. Confirm the partition by looking at a summary of actions that will be done to your drive. If you agree, press Install to proceed with the installation.

Figure: ISO Calamares Summary

6. Installation has begun. Soon you will be able to enjoy your new Kicksecure operating system.

Figure: ISO Calamares Install

7. Installation has been completed. Please uncheck the restart option to avoid booting to the same device again. Click Done when finished.

Figure: ISO Calamares Uncheck Restart

8. On the Xfce Panel, click on the Applications icon and launch the Logout application.

Figure: Xfce Launch Logout

9. On the Logout application, click on Shut Down.

Figure: Xfce Shutdown

Remove installation media

Please remove the USB flash drive that was used to install Kicksecure.

Boot installed Kicksecure

1. Power on the computer. If you boot from the correct device (where Kicksecure Xfce is installed), you will face the following bootloader screen. Please wait some seconds for the operating system to start. If you didn't boot with the correct device, repeat the step 3 to select the correct drive.

Figure: Installed Kicksecure GRUB

2. After boot, you will encounter the login manager, you may fill the fields with the following values.

• Default username: user
• Default password: changeme

3. After login, the Kicksecure Setup Wizard will pop up, follow its instructions.

Figure: Installed Kicksecure Desktop Setup Wizard

Done

The process of installing Kicksecure Xfce has been completed, enjoy!

Continue your journey by reading First Kicksecure Steps documentation.

Support the Future of Kicksecure

Kicksecure is made possible thanks to the donation of people like you. ❤️

Please support the Kicksecure development with a donation.

Donate to Kicksecure

License

Kicksecure ISO wiki page Copyright (C) Amnesia <amnesia at boum dot org>
Kicksecure ISO wiki page Copyright (C) 2012 - 2024 ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LP <adrelanos(at)kicksecure.com (Replace (at) with @.)Please DO NOT use e-mail for one of the following reasons: Private Contact: Please avoid e-mail whenever possible. (Private Communications Policy) Leaks Submissions: No. (No Leaks Policy) Sponsored posts: No. Paid links: No. SEO reviews: No. >

This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details see the wiki source code.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; see the wiki source code for details.

---

Unfinished: This wiki is a work in progress. Please do not report broken links until this notice is removed, use Search Engines First and contribute improving this wiki.

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