Shadowfetch Linux

Installing Shadowfetch Linux

It’s the standard Debian live-install experience — boot the ISO, click through Calamares, reboot. About 15 minutes start to finish.

Time
~15 minutes
Installer
Calamares
Filesystem
ext4 · btrfs
Encryption
LUKS, optional

Get the ISOVerify your download →

  1. Boot from the USB stick

    Plug in the USB, power on, hit your system’s boot-menu key (usually F12, F11, F2, or Del), select the USB device. You’ll land in a live session — you can try Shadowfetch before installing.

    Secure Boot: the Shadowfetch ISO isn’t Secure-Boot-signed yet. If the USB doesn’t appear in the boot menu or refuses to boot, enter your firmware (UEFI) setup and disable Secure Boot first.

  2. Launch the installer

    From the desktop, double-click “Install Shadowfetch Linux” (or run calamares from a terminal). Calamares walks you through region, keyboard, partitioning, user account, and a final summary.

  3. Partition

    For most users, pick “Erase disk” with default options. If you’re dual-booting, use “Manual partitioning” and shrink an existing partition. Shadowfetch defaults to ext4; pick btrfs if you want snapshots. To encrypt the whole disk, tick “Encrypt system” and set a strong passphrase — you’ll enter it at every boot (it’s LUKS; the keyboard at the unlock prompt uses your installer keyboard layout).

  4. Wait ~10 minutes

    The installer copies the live system to disk, installs the bootloader (GRUB), and configures your user. Make a coffee.

  5. Reboot into your installed system

    Remove the USB when prompted, boot back up. On first login the Shadowfetch Welcome wizard runs — pick your accent colour, optionally install curated Flatpak apps, and choose the recommended one-model local AI setup. A Browser Migration assistant validates bookmark and password exports before import.

Shadowfetch Linux 2.1.4 boot screen with the gold Shadowfetch emblem
Booting the current 2.1.4 live image

First-boot notes

NVIDIA
If your system has an NVIDIA GPU, the proprietary driver is already installed. If not, a first-boot service detects this and removes the NVIDIA stack to reclaim ~2 GB.
Multi-GPU laptops
PRIME is set to on-demand mode automatically. Run apps with __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia <app> to use the discrete GPU.
Updates
Run sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade, or use Discover (KDE’s app/update store). Shadowfetch updates flow from https://www.shadowfetch.com/linux/apt/; Debian updates flow from the usual mirrors.
Flathub
Pre-configured. Open Discover, search, install — works.

Add the Shadowfetch APT repo to an existing Debian system

If you already run Debian and just want the Shadowfetch metapackages without reinstalling, you can pull them via apt:

curl -fsSL https://www.shadowfetch.com/linux/apt/shadowfetch.gpg.asc \
  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/shadowfetch.gpg

echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/shadowfetch.gpg] https://www.shadowfetch.com/linux/apt/ umbra main" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/shadowfetch.list

sudo apt update
sudo apt install shadowfetch-desktop      # full creative workstation
# or pick à la carte:
sudo apt install shadowfetch-themes shadowfetch-defaults
sudo apt install shadowfetch-creative-base

Hardware notes →Download shadowfetch-2.1.4-amd64.iso

Debian is a registered trademark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc. Shadowfetch Linux is an independent derivative and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Debian project.