Installation

Download Monarch, create installation media, and complete the current installer flow.

Monarch is currently distributed as a beta ISO.

Download the latest Monarch beta ISO. The downloaded file is named monarch-nightly.iso.

Create a bootable USB drive

Linux

Insert the USB drive and identify the whole device:

lsblk

Write the ISO to that device:

sudo dd if=monarch-nightly.iso of=/dev/<device> bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync

Replace /dev/<device> with the USB drive itself, such as /dev/sdb, not a partition such as /dev/sdb1. This erases every file on the selected device.

Windows

Use Rufus or balenaEtcher:

1. Select monarch-nightly.iso.
2. Select the USB drive.
3. Start the write and wait for it to finish.

macOS

Use balenaEtcher and select the ISO and USB drive. You can also use dd from Terminal if you are comfortable identifying the correct disk.

Boot the installer

1. Restart the computer with the USB drive connected.
2. Open the firmware boot menu. Common keys are F12, Esc, F9, and Delete.
3. Select the Monarch USB drive.

The ISO supports both UEFI and legacy BIOS systems. Boot in UEFI mode if you want to install Monarch into free space beside an existing operating system.

Configure the installation

The installer collects these choices before it changes the disk:

1. Keyboard layout.
2. Username and password.
3. Full name and email address for the Git identity.
4. Hostname and timezone.
5. Software profile.
6. Target disk and installation layout.
7. Disk encryption.

The full software profile includes Monarch's optional applications, web apps, terminal integrations, and security tools. The reduced profile keeps the Monarch desktop while omitting those optional packages.

Installation layout

A full-disk installation erases the selected disk.

On UEFI systems, the installer can also use a contiguous area of at least 32 GiB of unallocated space. Existing partitions are preserved. If the disk contains Windows with BitLocker, BitLocker must be completely disabled and the volume fully decrypted first; suspending protection is not sufficient.

Check the selected disk carefully. Do not select the USB drive containing the installer.

Encryption

Full-disk and free-space installations start with encryption enabled. The final disk confirmation screen shows the effective choice. Press Ctrl+C on that screen to switch between encrypted and unencrypted installation, then confirm to continue.

On the first keyboard screen, Ctrl+C instead offers Prepare for another owner. This installs the system without creating its final user; the owner completes setup on first boot.

Finish the installation

The installation dashboard reports progress and validates the installed boot configuration before declaring success. If installation fails, it can show the complete log and offer recovery actions.

When the installer finishes, reboot, remove the USB drive, and start Monarch from the installed disk.