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+---
+lastproofread: '2026-01-26'
+---
+
+(installation)=
+
+# Installation
+
+VyOS installation requires a VyOS .iso file. This file is a live installation
+image that you can use to boot a live VyOS system. From there, you can proceed
+with a permanent installation on a hard drive or other storage device.
+
+:::{list-table} Comparison of VyOS image releases
+:header-rows: 1
+:widths: 15 35 15 25 15 15
+
+* - Release Type
+  - Description
+  - Release Cycle
+  - Intended Use
+  - Access to Images
+  - Access to Source
+
+* - Nightly (Current)
+  - Automatically built from the current branch. Always up to date
+    with cutting edge development but guaranteed to contain bugs.
+  - Every night
+  - Developing VyOS, testing new features, experimenting.
+  - Everyone
+  - Everyone
+
+* - Stream
+  - VyOS Stream serves as a technology preview and a quality gate
+    for the upcoming LTS release. Allows everyone to try new features
+    and check if they work well or need improvements.
+  - Every quarter
+  - Non-critical production environments, preparing for the LTS
+    release.
+  - Everyone
+  - Everyone
+
+* - Release Candidate
+  - Rather stable. All development focuses on testing and hunting
+    down remaining bugs following the feature freeze.
+  - Irregularly until EPA comes out
+  - Labs, small offices and non-critical production systems backed
+    by a high-availability setup.
+  - Everyone
+  - Everyone
+
+* - Early Production Access
+  - Highly stable with no known bugs. Needs to be tested repeatedly
+    under different conditions before it can become the final
+    release.
+  - Irregularly until LTS comes out
+  - Non-critical production environments, preparing for the LTS
+    release.
+  - Everyone
+  - Everyone
+
+* - Long-Term Support
+  - Guaranteed to be stable and carefully maintained for several
+    years after the release. No features are introduced but security
+    updates are released in a timely manner.
+  - Every major version
+  - Large-scale enterprise networks, internet service providers,
+    critical production environments that call for minimum downtime.
+  - Subscribers, contributors, non-profits, emergency services,
+    academic institutions
+  - Subscribers, contributors, non-profits, emergency services,
+    academic institutions
+:::
+
+## Hardware requirements
+
+The minimum system requirements for VyOS are 4 GB RAM and 10 GB storage.
+Depending on your use case, you might need additional RAM and CPU resources.
+
+## Download
+
+### Registered Subscribers
+
+Registered subscribers can log into <https://support.vyos.io/> to access
+a variety of different downloads via the "Downloads" link. These
+downloads include LTS (Long-Term Support), the associated hot-fix releases,
+early public access releases, pre-built VM images, as well as device
+specific installation ISOs. See this [article] for more information on
+downloads.
+
+:::{note}
+The `.qcow2` image provided for Proxmox deployment can also be
+used to deploy VyOS on KVM environments. This image includes cloud-init
+support. See {ref}`cloud-init` for more information.
+:::
+
+:::{figure} /_static/images/vyosnew-downloads.webp
+:::
+
+### Building from source
+
+Subscribers can download the source code for the LTS release from the
+"Downloads" link. Non-subscribers can access the source code for the
+Rolling release. For instructions, see the {ref}`build` section. The
+VyOS source code repository is available at
+<https://github.com/vyos/vyos-build>.
+
+### Rolling Release
+
+Everyone can download bleeding-edge VyOS rolling images from:
+<https://downloads.vyos.io/>
+
+:::{note}
+Rolling releases contain the latest enhancements and fixes.
+This means there may be new bugs. If you encounter a bug, follow the
+guide at {ref}`bug_report`. We depend on your feedback to improve VyOS.
+:::
+
+The following link contains the most recent VyOS builds for AMD64
+systems from the `current` branch: <https://vyos.net/get/nightly-builds/>
+
+### Download Verification
+
+LTS images are signed with the VyOS lead package maintainer's private key.
+You can verify the authenticity of the package using the official public key
+and Minisign.
+
+(minisign-verification)=
+
+#### Minisign verification
+
+VyOS uses [Minisign](https://github.com/jedisct1/minisign) for release
+signing. Minisign is a tool for signing files and verifying signatures.
+
+OpenBSD introduced signify in 2015. Minisign is an alternative
+implementation of the same protocol, available for Windows, macOS, and
+most GNU/Linux distributions. Minisign is portable, lightweight, and
+uses the Ed25519 public-key signature system.
+
+{vytask}`T2108` switched the validation system to prefer Minisign over GPG keys.
+
+To verify a VyOS image starting with VyOS `1.3.0-rc6`, run:
+
+```none
+$ minisign -V -P RWSIhkR/dkM2DSaBRniv/bbbAf8hmDqdbOEmgXkf1RxRoxzodgKcDyGq -m vyos-1.5-rolling-202409250007-generic-amd64.iso vyos-1.5-rolling-202409250007-generic-amd64.iso.minisig
+
+Signature and comment signature verified
+Trusted comment: timestamp:1727223408 file:vyos-1.5-rolling-202409250007-generic-amd64.iso    hashed
+```
+
+During an image upgrade, VyOS runs the following command:
+
+```none
+$ minisign -V -p /usr/share/vyos/keys/vyos-release.minisign.pub -m vyos-1.3.0-rc6-amd64.iso vyos-1.3.0-rc6-amd64.iso.minisig
+Signature and comment signature verified
+Trusted comment: timestamp:1629997936   file:vyos-1.3.0-rc6-amd64.iso
+```
+
+:::{note}
+Starting with version `1.4.3`, VyOS uses Minisign exclusively.
+If you see an unexpected verification error, update your system to version
+`1.4.2` first. Support for GnuPG signatures has been
+removed ({vytask}`T7301`).
+:::
+
+(live_installation)=
+
+## Live installation
+
+:::{note}
+To permanently install VyOS, you must first complete a live
+installation.
+:::
+
+You can test VyOS without installing it on your hard drive. **Using your
+downloaded VyOS .iso file, you can create a bootable USB drive to boot
+into a fully functional VyOS system**. After testing it, you can start a
+{ref}`permanent_installation` on your hard drive or power off your system
+and remove the USB drive.
+
+```{eval-rst}
+If you have a GNU/Linux system, you can create a bootable VyOS USB drive using
+the ``dd`` command:
+
+ 1. Open your terminal emulator.
+
+ 2. Find the device name of your USB drive (use the ``lsblk`` command).
+
+ 3. Unmount the USB drive. Replace ``X`` with your device letter and keep the
+    asterisk (*) to unmount all partitions.
+
+ .. code-block:: none
+
+  $ umount /dev/sdX*
+
+ 1. Write the image (your VyOS .iso file) to the USB drive. Use the device
+    name (for example, ``/dev/sdb``), not the partition name
+    (for example, ``/dev/sdb1``).
+
+  **Warning**: This will destroy all data on the USB drive!
+
+ .. code-block:: none
+
+   # dd if=/path/to/vyos.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=8M; sync
+
+ 1. Wait for the operation to complete (bytes copied). On some systems, this
+    may take more than one minute.
+
+ 2. Once ``dd`` has finished, pull the USB drive out and plug it into
+    the powered-off computer where you want to install (or test) VyOS.
+
+ 3. Power on the computer and ensure it boots from the USB drive
+    (you may need to select the boot device or change boot settings).
+
+ 4. When VyOS finishes loading, sign in using the default credentials
+    (login: ``vyos``, password: ``vyos``).
+```
+
+If you encounter issues with this method, prefer a different operating
+system, or want a GUI program, you can use other tools to create a
+bootable USB drive, such as [balenaEtcher] (GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows),
+[Rufus] (Windows), and [many others]. Follow their instructions to create
+a bootable USB drive from an `.iso` file.
+
+:::{hint}
+The default username and password for the live system is *vyos*.
+:::
+
+(permanent_installation)=
+
+## Permanent installation
+
+:::{note}
+Before a permanent installation, VyOS requires a
+{ref}`live_installation`.
+:::
+
+Unlike general-purpose Linux distributions, VyOS uses "image installation",
+which mimics the user experience of traditional hardware routers and allows
+you to keep multiple VyOS versions installed simultaneously. This lets you
+switch to a previous version if something breaks or misbehaves after an
+image upgrade.
+
+Each version is contained in its own squashfs image mounted in a union
+filesystem along with a directory for mutable data such as configurations,
+keys, and custom scripts.
+
+```{eval-rst}
+In order to proceed with a permanent installation:
+
+ 1. Sign in to the VyOS live system using the default credentials
+    (login: ``vyos``, password: ``vyos``).
+
+ 2. Run the ``install image`` command and follow the wizard:
+
+ .. code-block:: none
+
+   vyos@vyos:~$ install image
+   Welcome to VyOS installation!
+   This command will install VyOS to your permanent storage.
+   Would you like to continue? [y/N] y
+   What would you like to name this image? (Default: 2025.09.17-0018-rolling)
+   Please enter a password for the "vyos" user:
+   Please confirm password for the "vyos" user:
+   What console should be used by default? (K: KVM, S: Serial)? (Default: S)
+   Probing disks
+   1 disk(s) found
+   The following disks were found:
+   Drive: /dev/vda (10.0 GB)
+   Which one should be used for installation? (Default: /dev/vda)
+   Installation will delete all data on the drive. Continue? [y/N] y
+   Searching for data from previous installations
+   No previous installation found
+   Would you like to use all the free space on the drive? [Y/n] Y
+   Creating partition table...
+   The following config files are available for boot:
+           1: /opt/vyatta/etc/config/config.boot
+           2: /opt/vyatta/etc/config.boot.default
+   Which file would you like as boot config? (Default: 1)
+   Creating temporary directories
+   Mounting new partitions
+   Creating a configuration file
+   Copying system image files
+   Installing GRUB configuration files
+   Installing GRUB to the drive
+   Cleaning up
+   Unmounting target filesystems
+   Removing temporary files
+   The image installed successfully; please reboot now.
+
+
+ 3. After installation completes, remove the live USB drive or CD.
+
+ 4. Reboot the system.
+
+ .. code-block:: none
+
+  vyos@vyos:~$ reboot
+  Proceed with reboot? (Yes/No) [No] Yes
+
+ You will boot now into a permanent VyOS system.
+```
+
+## PXE Boot
+
+You can also install VyOS using PXE, a more complex installation method that
+allows you to deploy VyOS over the network.
+
+**Requirements**
+
+- A machine (client) with a PXE-enabled NIC.
+- {ref}`dhcp-server`
+- {ref}`tftp-server`
+- Webserver (HTTP). Optional, but speeds up installation.
+- VyOS ISO image (do not use images prior to VyOS `1.2.3`).
+- Files *pxelinux.0* and *ldlinux.c32* from the
+  [Syslinux distribution](https://kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/).
+
+### Configuration
+
+#### Step 1: DHCP
+
+Configure a DHCP server to provide the client with:
+
+- An IP address
+- The TFTP server address (DHCP option 66), sometimes referred to as the
+  *boot server*
+- The *bootfile name* (DHCP option 67): *pxelinux.0*
+
+In this example we configured an existent VyOS as the DHCP server:
+
+```none
+vyos@vyos# show service dhcp-server
+ shared-network-name mydhcp {
+     subnet 192.168.1.0/24 {
+         option {
+             bootfile-name pxelinux.0
+             bootfile-server 192.168.1.50
+             default-router 192.168.1.50
+         }
+         range 0 {
+             start 192.168.1.70
+             stop 192.168.1.100
+         }
+         subnet-id 1
+     }
+ }
+```
+
+(install_from_tftp)=
+
+#### Step 2: TFTP
+
+Configure a TFTP server to serve the following:
+
+- The *pxelinux.0* file from the Syslinux distribution
+- The *ldlinux.c32* file from the Syslinux distribution
+- The VyOS kernel you want to deploy (*vmlinuz* file from the
+  */live* directory in the extracted ISO file)
+- The VyOS initial ramdisk (*initrd.img* file from the */live* directory
+  in the extracted ISO file). Do not use an empty (0 bytes) initrd.img
+  file; the correct file may have a longer name.
+- A directory named *pxelinux.cfg* containing the configuration file.
+  By default, the VyOS configuration file is named [default].
+
+In the example you configured your existent VyOS as the TFTP server too:
+
+```none
+vyos@vyos# show service tftp-server
+ directory /config/tftpboot
+ listen-address 192.168.1.50
+```
+
+Example of the contents of the TFTP server:
+
+```none
+vyos@vyos# ls -hal /config/tftpboot/
+total 29M
+drwxr-sr-x 3 tftp tftp      4.0K Oct 14 00:23 .
+drwxrwsr-x 9 root vyattacfg 4.0K Oct 18 00:05 ..
+-r--r--r-- 1 root vyattacfg  25M Oct 13 23:24 initrd.img-4.19.54-amd64-vyos
+-rwxr-xr-x 1 root vyattacfg 120K Oct 13 23:44 ldlinux.c32
+-rw-r--r-- 1 root vyattacfg  46K Oct 13 23:24 pxelinux.0
+drwxr-xr-x 2 root vyattacfg 4.0K Oct 14 01:10 pxelinux.cfg
+-r--r--r-- 1 root vyattacfg 3.7M Oct 13 23:24 vmlinuz
+
+vyos@vyos# ls -hal /config/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg
+total 12K
+drwxr-xr-x 2 root vyattacfg 4.0K Oct 14 01:10 .
+drwxr-sr-x 3 tftp tftp      4.0K Oct 14 00:23 ..
+-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       191 Oct 14 01:10 default
+```
+
+Example of simple (no menu) configuration file:
+
+```none
+vyos@vyos# cat /config/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
+DEFAULT VyOS123
+
+LABEL VyOS123
+ KERNEL vmlinuz
+ APPEND initrd=initrd.img-4.19.54-amd64-vyos boot=live nopersistence noautologin nonetworking fetch=http://address:8000/filesystem.squashfs
+```
+
+
+#### Step 3: HTTP
+
+You also need to provide the *filesystem.squashfs* file. Because this is a
+large file and TFTP is slow, you can send it through HTTP to speed up the
+transfer. In our example, we do this—see the configuration file above.
+
+1. Start a web server. You can use one like
+   [Python's SimpleHTTPServer] to serve the `filesystem.squashfs` file.
+   The file is in the `/live` directory of the extracted ISO file.
+2. Edit the {ref}`install_from_tftp` configuration file to show the correct
+   URL: `fetch=http://<address_of_your_HTTP_server>/filesystem.squashfs`.
+
+:::{note}
+Do not rename the *filesystem.squashfs* file. If you're working with
+different versions, create different directories instead.
+:::
+
+3. restart the TFTP service. If you're using VyOS as your TFTP server, restart
+   the service with `sudo service tftpd-hpa restart`.
+
+:::{note}
+Ensure the directories and files on both the TFTP and HTTP servers
+have the correct permissions for the booting clients to access them.
+:::
+
+### Client Boot
+
+Finally, power on your PXE-enabled clients. They will automatically receive an
+IP address from the DHCP server and boot into VyOS live using files from the
+TFTP and HTTP servers.
+
+Once finished you will be able to proceed with the `install image`
+command as in a regular VyOS installation.
+
+## Known Issues
+
+This is a list of known issues that can arise during installation.
+
+### Black screen on install
+
+GRUB redirects all output to a serial port to facilitate installation
+on headless hosts. On some hardware that lacks a serial port, this causes
+a hard lockup and displays a black screen after you select the
+`Live system` option from the installation image.
+
+The workaround is to press `e` when the boot menu appears and edit the
+GRUB boot options. Specifically, remove the:
+
+`console=ttyS0,115200`
+
+option, and type CTRL-X to boot.
+
+Installation can then continue as outlined above.
+
+[article]: https://customers.support.vyos.com/servicedesk/customer/portal/1/article/159055913
+[balenaetcher]: https://www.balena.io/etcher/
+[configuration]: https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Config
+[default]: https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=PXELINUX#Configuration
+[many others]: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tools_to_create_Live_USB_systems>
+[python's simplehttpserver]: https://docs.python.org/2/library/simplehttpserver.html
+[rufus]: https://rufus.ie/
+[syslinux]: http://www.syslinux.org/