Finnix

---

title: "Finnix" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2000-software", "debian-based-distributions", "x86-64-linux-distributions", "powerpc-linux-distributions", "operating-system-distributions-bootable-from-read-only-media", "light-weight-linux-distributions", "livedistro", "live-usb", "linux-distributions"] description: "Linux distribution" topic_path: "technology/operating-systems" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnix" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Linux distribution ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox OS"]

Field	Value
name	Finnix
logo	[[File:Finnix-72pt-72dpi.png
screenshot	[[File:Finnix 100 boot.png
caption	Finnix 100 boot screen
developer	Ryan Finnie
family	Linux (Unix-like)
source_model	Open source
working_state	Current
released
latest release version
latest release date
marketing_target	System administrators
language	English
kernel_type	Monolithic (Linux)
supported_platforms	x86-64
updatemodel	APT
package_manager	dpkg
ui	Console
license	Various
website	www.finnix.org
date	August 2014
::

| name = Finnix | logo = [[File:Finnix-72pt-72dpi.png|100px|Finnix logo]] | screenshot = [[File:Finnix 100 boot.png|250px]] | caption = Finnix 100 boot screen | developer = Ryan Finnie | family = Linux (Unix-like) | source_model = Open source | working_state = Current | released = | latest release version = | latest release date = | marketing_target = System administrators | language = English | kernel_type = Monolithic (Linux) | supported_platforms = x86-64 | updatemodel = APT | package_manager = dpkg | ui = Console | license = Various | website = www.finnix.org |date=August 2014}} ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Finnix_102_started.png" caption="Finnix 102 default startup on an x86_64 system"] ::

Finnix is a Debian-based Live CD operating system, developed by Ryan Finnie and intended for system administrators for tasks such as filesystem recovery, network monitoring and OS installation.{{cite book | last = Smith | first = Roderick | title = Linux Samba Server Administration | edition = First | publisher = Sybex | year = 2000 | isbn = 0-7821-2740-1 | page = 463 }} Finnix is a relatively small distribution, with an ISO download size of approximately 500 MiB, and is available for the X86-64 architecture. Finnix can be run off a bootable CD, a USB flash drive, a hard drive, or network boot (PXE).

History

Finnix development first began in 1999, making it one of the oldest Linux distributions released with the intent of being run completely from a bootable CD (the other Live CD around at the time was the Linuxcare Bootable Business Card CD, first released in 1999). Finnix 0.01 was based on Red Hat Linux 6.0, and was created to help with administration and recovery of other Linux workstations around Finnie's office. The first public release of Finnix was 0.03, and was released in early 2000, based on an updated Red Hat Linux 6.1. Despite its 300 MiB ISO size and requirement of 32 MiB RAM (which, given RAM prices and lack of high-speed Internet proliferation at the time, was prohibitive for many), Finnix enjoyed moderate success, with over 10,000 downloads. After version 0.03, development ceased, and Finnix was left unmaintained until 2005.

On 23 October 2005, Finnix 86.0 was released. Earlier unreleased versions (84, and 85.0 through 85.3) were "Knoppix remasters", with support for Linux LVM and dm-crypt being the main reason for creation. However, 86.0 was a departure from Knoppix, and was derived directly from the Debian "testing" tree.

Usage

Finnix is released as a small bootable CD ISO. A user can download the ISO, burn the image to CD, and boot into a text mode Linux environment. Finnix requires at least 32 MiB RAM to run properly, but can use more if present. Most hardware devices are detected and dealt with automatically, such as hard drives, network cards and USB devices.{{cite journal | url = http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MPRV.2007.84 | doi = 10.1109/MPRV.2007.84 |author1=Surie, A. |author2=Perrig, A. |author3=Satyanarayanan, M. |author4=Farber, D.J. | journal = IEEE Pervasive Computing | pages = 24–30 (27) | year = 2007 | title = Rapid Trust Establishment for Pervasive Personal Computing | volume = 6 | issue = 4 | bibcode = 2007IPCom...6d..24S | s2cid = 14724883 | quote = Finnix provides both excellent support for devices and automatic hardware detection. It's suitable for our purposes because it boots quickly and has a small footprint. | accessdate = 2008-06-28 | url-access = subscription

Finnix can be run completely within RAM, provided the system has at least 192 MiB RAM available. If a "toram" option is passed to Finnix, most of the contents of the CD are copied to a RAM disk, and the CD is ejected, freeing the CD-ROM drive for other purposes. Finnix can also be placed on a bootable USB thumb drive, or installed permanently on a hard drive (though still functioning as if it were a LiveCD).

Versions

New versions of Finnix are released every 3 months on average, with updated software from the Debian "testing" tree, along with new Finnix-specific functionality. Versions 86.0 through 93.0 used a major/minor versioning scheme, with major releases usually including major functionality changes, and minor releases including minor fixes and Debian updates to bring Finnix's packages up to date with Debian's "testing" tree. Beginning with version 100, releases are numbered as a simple incrementing integer. Development builds are named after cities and towns in Wisconsin.

References

References

1. Ryan Finnie. (14 May 2020). "Finnix 120 released... wait, what?".
2. [http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Linux-Complete-Backup-and-Recovery-HOWTO/distributionspecificnotes.html Linux Complete Backup Recovery and HOWTO]
3. [http://www.linux.com/articles/22044 Linux.com - A tale of two Linux bootable business cards]
4. "Original Finnix site archive".
5. link. (2012-11-04)
6. "Finnix project history".
7. "Finnix frequently asked questions".
8. [http://www.finnix.org/Cheat_codes Finnix "cheat codes"]
9. Finnie, Ryan. (2010-10-28). "Finnix 100 released". Finnix Blog.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::