User:Zulu Foxtrott/GentooOnARM/EasyInstall/Stage

Setting the date and time
Before installing Gentoo, it is a good idea to be sure the date and time are set correctly. A mis-configured clock may lead to strange results: base system files should be extracted with accurate time stamps. In fact, due to several websites and services using encrypted communications (SSL/TLS), it might not be possible to download the installation files at all if the system clock is too far skewed!

Verify the current date and time by running the command:

If the date/time displayed is wrong, update it using the method outlined below.

Manual update
The command can also be used to perform a manual set on the system clock. Use the  syntax (Month, Day, hour, minute and Year).

UTC time is recommended for all Linux systems. Later on during the installation a timezone will be defined. This will modify the display of the clock to local time.

For instance, to set the date to October 3rd, 13:16 in the year 2016:

Multilib (32 and 64-bit)
Choosing a base tarball for the system can save a considerable amount of time later on in the installation process, specifically when it is time to choose a system profile. The selection of a stage tarball will directly impact future system configuration and can save a headache or two later on down the line. The multilib tarball uses 64-bit libraries when possible, and only falls back to the 32-bit versions when necessary for compatibility. This is an excellent option for the majority of installations because it provides a great amount of flexibility for customization in the future. Those who desire their systems to be capable of easily switching profiles should download the multilib tarball option for their respective processor architecture.

Most users should not use the 'advanced' tarballs options; they are for specific software or hardware configurations.

No-multilib (pure 64-bit)
Selecting a no-multilib tarball to be the base of the system provides a complete 64-bit operating system environment. This effectively renders the ability to switch to multilib profiles improbable, but possible. Those who are just starting out with Gentoo should not choose a no-multilib tarball unless it is absolutely necessary.

Downloading the stage tarball
Go to the Gentoo mount point where the root file system is mounted (most likely ):

Depending on the host system, the only tool necessary to download a stage tarball is a web browser.

Graphical browsers
Those using environments with fully graphical web browsers will have no problem copying a stage file URL from the main website's download section. Simply select the appropriate tab, right click the link to the stage file, then (Firefox) or  (Chromium) to copy the link to the clipboard, then paste the link to the  utility on the command-line to download the stage tarball:

Command-line browsers
More traditional readers or 'old timer' Gentoo users, working exclusively from command-line may prefer using, a non-graphical, menu-driven browser. To download a stage, surf to the Gentoo mirror list like so:

To use an HTTP proxy with, pass on the URL with the  option:

Next to there is also the  browser. Like it is a non-graphical browser but it is not menu-driven.

If a proxy needs to be defined, export the http_proxy and/or ftp_proxy variables:

On the mirror list, select a mirror close by. Usually HTTP mirrors suffice, but other protocols are available as well. Move to the directory. There all available stage files are displayed (they might be stored within subdirectories named after the individual sub-architectures). Select one and press to download.

After the stage file download completes, it is possible to verify the integrity and validate the contents of the stage tarball. Those interested should proceed to the next section.

Those not interested in verifying and validating the stage file can close the command-line browser by pressing and can move directly to the Unpacking the stage tarball section.

Verifying and validating
Additional downloads to verify and validate the stage file are available. Although these steps may be skipped, these files are provided for users who care about the legitimacy of the file(s) they just downloaded.


 * A file that contains a list of all files inside the stage tarball.
 * A file that contains checksums of the stage file in different algorithms.
 * A file that, like the  file, contains checksums of the stage file in different algorithms, but is also cryptographically signed to ensure it is provided by the Gentoo project.

Use and compare the output with the checksums provided by the  or  files.

For instance, to validate the SHA512 checksum:

Another way is to use the command:

To validate the Whirlpool checksum:

Compare the output of these commands with the value registered in the files. The values need to match, otherwise the downloaded file might be corrupt (or the digests file is).

It's also possible to verify the cryptographic signature of the file using  to make sure the checksums have not been tampered with:

Unpacking the stage tarball
Now unpack the downloaded stage onto the storage device. We use to proceed:

Make sure that the same options ( and  ) are used. The  stands for extract, the   for preserve permissions and the   to denote that we want to extract a file (not standard input). is to include preservation of the the extended attributes in all namespaces stored in the archive. Finally,  is used to ensure that the user and group IDs of the files being extracted from the tarball will remain the same as Gentoo's release engineering team intended (even if adventurous users are not using official Gentoo installation media).

Now that the stage file is unpacked, proceed with Configuring the compile options.

Next
Configuring compile options