Creating an instance

An instance is one Linux machine with its own name. Creating one takes two decisions and no time at all — nothing boots and nothing downloads until you start it.

Steps#

1. Press ⌘N, choose File ▸ New Instance…, or click New Instance at the bottom of the sidebar.
2. Type a Name.
3. Pick a Distribution from the grid of six. Each tile has its colour, symbol and a one-line description.
4. Click Create (or press Return).

A green banner says "Created name", and the new instance appears in the sidebar, stopped.

Naming rules#

• Letters, digits, hyphens and underscores only — work, gimp-box, test_2.
• Each name must be unique, ignoring case: Work and work count as the same.

The line under the name field tells you as you type, turning orange if the name won't work: "There's already an instance called …" or "Use letters, digits, hyphens and underscores only."

If the distro isn't downloaded yet#

The sheet says so under the distro grid. Creating the instance still works — you'll get an **Install Distro** button on it afterwards. See Installing a distro.