User:Knuxfanwin8/Installation guide rework

This page goes over the process of installing postmarketOS on your device.

What to expect
See also: State of postmarketOS

In its current stage, postmarketOS is for Linux enthusiasts. The experience will not be as polished as running Android or iOS. Expect serious bugs like calls not working, SMS not arriving, alarm clock not working, etc. For some devices, primarily in the "testing" category, features like calls may not work at all. Do not use this on your main phone if you rely on its functionality.

It is expected that you are comfortable with using the Linux terminal. On this wiki, you will find commands prefixed with  or. These characters shouldn't be copied - they indicate whether that command should be run as a regular user, or as root.

For example, the following tells you to execute the command "ls" as a regular user:

Finding your device
If you cannot find your device on the wiki, or if it's listed as non-booting, it is likely unsupported. If you're adventurous, you can follow the Porting guide to add support for your device.

Available versions
There are two versions of postmarketOS you can install:


 * stable - the stable release, based on the latest Alpine Linux version. Only available for devices in the "main" and "community" categories. Currently, the latest stable release is v23.06.
 * edge - the rolling-release version, based on Alpine Linux's edge repositories. Gets the latest updates as soon as they hit (pm)aports, and is thus less stable. Expect breakages - see postmarketos.org/edge for more information.

Choosing an installation method
There are two primary methods of installing postmarketOS. You can:

  Use a pre-built image For devices in the main and community categories  Quickest and simplest option - no configuration needed, flash it and you're good to go  - or -   Install with pmbootstrap For all devices, including those in the testing category  Provides more customization options: select your own UI, pre-installed packages, disable non-free firmware 

Other options include:


 * Installing through the recovery using Android-recovery compatible .zip - see Installation from recovery mode
 * Installing through the UBports Installer (only available for a few devices in the main/community repositories) - select postmarketOS in the OS selection dropdown
 * For advanced users: Switching from an existing Alpine installation