System Requirements

Installation 2026-08-28

Hardware Requirements

Component	Minimum	Recommended
Processor	x86_64 dual-core with VT-x/AMD-V	x86_64 quad-core or better
Memory	4 GB RAM	8 GB RAM or more
Storage	32 GB (dual-image architecture)	64 GB or more
Firmware	UEFI (required)	UEFI with TPM 2.0
Installation Media	8 GB USB drive	16 GB USB 3.0 drive

Why 32GB minimum? Shanios maintains two complete system images (@blue and @green) for atomic updates. However, Btrfs Copy-on-Write shares unchanged data between them, resulting in only ~18% overhead compared to traditional systems. In practice the installer itself only refuses disks smaller than 28 GB — the lower enforced floor accounts for the real usable capacity of media nominally sold as "32 GB" (partition tables, wear-leveling, etc.), but 32 GB+ is still what we recommend for comfortable headroom.

Disk Partition Layout

Shanios uses a simple two-partition layout — there are no separate /home, /var, or swap partitions. All subvolumes live within the single Btrfs partition.

Partition	Filesystem	Size	Purpose
EFI System Partition (ESP)	FAT32	1 GB	Bootloader, UKI images — mounted at `/boot/efi`
Root partition	Btrfs (or LUKS2 → Btrfs)	Remainder of disk	All system subvolumes (`@blue`, `@green`, `@home`, `@data`, etc.)

When full-disk encryption is chosen, the Btrfs partition is wrapped in a LUKS2 container (/dev/mapper/shani_root), formatted with the argon2id key-derivation function. The ESP is never encrypted — only the root partition is.

Firmware Requirements

UEFI required — legacy BIOS is not supported
Secure Boot — optional but recommended; Shanios signs its bootloader and kernel with a MOK (Machine Owner Key) that is baked into the system image at build time — every machine installed from the same signed ISO shares the same key
TPM 2.0 — optional; required for automatic LUKS2 unlock without passphrase

Not Supported

Legacy BIOS / CSM mode
32-bit (x86) CPUs
Dual-boot configurations (not recommended — other OSes may break the bootloader)

Checking Your Hardware

Before installing, verify your hardware meets the requirements:

# Check CPU architecture (must be x86_64)
uname -m
# x86_64

# Check virtualization support (must be present)
grep -E 'vmx|svm' /proc/cpuinfo | head -1
# vmx = Intel VT-x, svm = AMD-V

# Check RAM (minimum 4 GB)
free -h | grep Mem
# Mem:    15Gi   ...

# Check disk size (minimum 28 GB enforced, 32 GB+ recommended)
lsblk -d -o NAME,SIZE | grep -v loop
# NAME   SIZE
# nvme0n1  476G

# Check UEFI (not legacy BIOS)
[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "UEFI" || echo "Legacy BIOS"
# UEFI

# Check TPM 2.0 (optional, needed for auto-unlock)
ls /dev/tpm*
# /dev/tpm0  /dev/tpmrm0

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`uname -m` shows `i686`	32-bit system	Shanios does not support 32-bit — install an Arch-based 32-bit distro instead
`grep vmx` returns nothing	Virtualization disabled in BIOS	Enable VT-x (Intel) or AMD-V (AMD) in BIOS under CPU settings
`/sys/firmware/efi` doesn't exist	System booted in Legacy BIOS/CSM mode	Reboot into BIOS and disable CSM / enable UEFI mode
TPM shows as not available	TPM disabled or set to Intel PTT	Enable TPM 2.0 in BIOS under Security settings
`lsblk` shows disk < 28 GB	Actual usable space too low	Use a larger disk; 32 GB minimum is recommended