ZFSBootMenu - installing Debian with a desktop environment

I recently installed Debian with ZFSBootMenu, a way to install Linux with ZFS on root that allows for FreeBSD-esque boot environments. However, it is pretty bare bones in the install and installs Debian with debootstrap. This leaves you without a graphical interface, only the root user, and no easy way to connect to a network to install a graphical interface. Here is what I did to avoid these papercuts:

After the step to “ZFS Configuration” (while in chroot), insert these steps:

1. Install tasksel:

   apt install tasksel
   

2. Install the KDE desktop (or gnome-desktop, etc):

   tasksel install desktop kde-desktop laptop
   

3. Set your username for the subsequent commands:

   USERNAME=username-you-want-to-create
   

4. Add your user and set a password:

   adduser ${USERNAME}
   

5. Add your new user to the sudo group:

   usermod -aG sudo ${USERNAME}
   

   Steps 6-10 are optional to put the user directory in it’s own zfs dataset

6. Move the home directory temporarily:

   mv /home/${USERNAME} /home/${USERNAME}_temp
   

7. Create a new zfs dataset for the new user:

   zfs create zroot/home/${USERNAME}
   

   You can create other datasets here too (zroot/home/${USERNAME}/Documents, etc.)

8. Change the ownership on the mountpoint of the dataset to the new user:

   chown -R ${USERNAME}:${USERNAME} /mnt/home/${USERNAME}
   chmod -R 750 /mnt/home/${USERNAME}
   

9. Copy the home directory contents into the new dataset:

   rsync -ahP /home/${USERNAME}_temp /mnt/home/${USERNAME}
   

10. Remove the temporary home directory:

    rm -r /home/${USERNAME}_temp
    

    You can repeat steps 3-10 for more users.

11. Install the firmware-linux package and any other for your hardware (this is for my Qualcomm Wifi chip):

    apt install firmware-linux firmware-atheros
    

12. Update the initramfs:

    update-initramfs -u -k all
    

Then continue one with the rest of the steps from ZFSBootMenu.