Introduction

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Vanilla OS. This guide will help you set your system up for the first time.

First Setup app

After booting into Vanilla OS for the first time, you will be presented with a First Setup app. This section will guide you through each step in detail.

Welcome

Color Scheme

Your preferred color scheme. Default (meaning that apps decide for themselves) or Dark. This can be changed later in the Settings app.

Color Scheme

Package Manager

Choose your preferred package managers. These are the ways you will be able to install applications. If unsure, leave it on the default (Flatpak and AppImage). You can install the required dependencies for each one later if you change your mind.

Package Manager

Update: Due to some issues, the option to install snaps is currently disabled. It will be fixed in future.

Applications

Choose which applications you need to install in your Vanilla OS Installation. There are various categories for installing applications. The applications listed in the categories respect your package manager preference and only lists applications available in your package manager.

Install Applications

The below images demonstrate the difference between Application listings based on your package manager preference.

Install Core Applications Flatpak Install Core Applications Snap
Core Applications - Flatpak Core Applications - Snap


Update: Due to some issues, the option to install snaps is currently disabled. It will be fixed in future.

Restricted Codecs

This will install popular patented codecs and fonts, that Vanilla OS cannot ship for copyright reasons. Recommended for most users.

Restricted Codecs

Extra Settings

Extra system settings for automatic crash detection and bug reporting. If unsure, it is recommended to leave it disabled.

Extra Settings

NVIDIA® Drivers

If you have an NVIDIA® graphics card, you will be prompted to install proprietary drivers for your card to improve compatibility and performance. Recommended for most users.

NVIDIA® Drivers

Open VM Tools

If you are running Vanilla OS inside a virtual machine, you will be prompted to install Open VM Tools to use with VMWare applications. If unsure, it is recommended to skip this step.

Open VM Tools

Other Settings

You can find other options in Settings, Vanilla OS Control Center or tweak your graphical environment in GNOME Tweaks.

We hope you will have a great time using Vanilla OS!