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Getting Started EN

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Z User edited this page Oct 24, 2026 · 2 revisions

Language: English ｜ Getting-Started

Getting started

From zero to an oc> prompt in five minutes.

1. Download

Grab the current release ISO from the downloads page or the GitHub releases:

  • opencube-<version>.iso - hybrid BIOS+UEFI bootable image (about 12 MiB)

Verify the SHA256 against the value printed on the download page and in the release note:

sha256sum opencube-<version>.iso

2. Boot it in QEMU

qemu-system-x86_64 -m 512 -cdrom opencube-<version>.iso \
    -netdev user,id=n1 -device e1000,netdev=n1 \
    -serial mon:stdio

What you will see:

  1. The GRUB menu: Open Cube OS (slot ISO) plus force-slot entries (A / B) - see Boot-Modes-EN. It auto-boots in 5 s.
  2. The kernel boot log: one OK line per subsystem as it comes up (multiboot2 handshake, long mode, framebuffer, IDT, PIT, keyboard, serial, PMM, VMM, heap, drivers, VFS, network, shell).
  3. The banner: Open Cube OS <version> ready. Type 'help' for commands.
  4. The prompt: oc>

UEFI instead of legacy BIOS:

qemu-system-x86_64 -m 512 -machine q35 \
    -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd \
    -cdrom opencube-<version>.iso -display none -serial mon:stdio

3. First commands

oc> help              (short command list)
oc> help -a           (all 233, alphabetical)
oc> help -w           (grouped by work package)
oc> uname -a          (version + build + tree)
oc> dskstat           (block devices found)
oc> dhcp              (bring up networking)
oc> ping 10.0.2.2     (the QEMU gateway)
oc> wget 10.0.2.2     (fetch the gateway's index page)
oc> dns example.com   (resolve a name through the QEMU DNS forwarder)
oc> health            (CPU / memory / tasks / IO at a glance)
oc> dmesg             (kernel ring buffer)

The full reference with every command on its own page: Command-Reference-EN.

4. Keyboard

  • The shell line editor supports history (up/down), Ctrl+U line kill, and editing within the line.
  • On real hardware a PS/2 keyboard is driven directly; over serial (COM1) every keystroke you type into -serial mon:stdio lands in the same input queue.
  • The TUI layer (tui command) is keyboard-driven: menus, forms and the desktop launcher - see TUI-Guide-EN.

5. Files

The boot system ships a ramfs (in-memory filesystem). Files you create vanish on reboot unless you put them on a mounted volume:

oc> dskstat                    (list devices: ata0, usda..., nvme0...)
oc> mkfs.fat32 ata0 confirm    (optional: format a scratch disk)
oc> fatmount ata0 /mnt         (FAT32; exfat/ext4 equivalents exist)
oc> write /mnt/hello.txt "hi"  (a persistent file)
oc> cat /mnt/hello.txt

The /etc volume is a small persistent FAT32 image the system mounts automatically when present - it carries opencube.conf, SSH host keys, the kernel log and crash dumps.

6. Where to go next

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