Here are the steps included in this guide:
1. Download the Jolicloud ISO
You can download the Jolicloud ISO using BitTorrent here: www.jolicloud.com/download.
Below are the MD5 sums of the Jolicloud ISO files:
- MD5 (Jolicloud-PreFinal.iso) = 2077011694dbf3a49b48a6ce67817036
- MD5 (Jolicloud-PreFinal.iso.torrent) = 4f580c916d63e39b9673f49e1dba2749
2. Download Jolicloud USB Creator
The Jolicloud USB Creator is a new tool that facilitates the creation of a bootable Jolicloud USB key.
- Jolicloud USB Creator for Apple Mac OS X* 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard, 10.6 Snow Leopard.
MD5 (jolicloud-usb-creator-1.2.0.dmg) = bf7ec09cde805d3b9a54ff54bc6265e0 - Jolicloud USB Creator for Microsoft Windows* XP, Vista, 7.
MD5 (jolicloud-usb-creator-installer-1.2.1.exe) = f504f0619b34b6c99f3b57efe009b82e - Jolicloud USB Creator for Linux* (x86 32-bit only).
MD5 (jolicloud-usb-creator-1.2.0.sh) = 177ed46af797b76a1525209e2181178c
*Other names, brands and logos may be claimed as the property of others.
3. Create a Jolicloud USB key
You will need to create a Jolicloud USB key to boot from to install Jolicloud. Whether you use a USB key or a flash disk, the process is the same.
Jolicloud USB Creator will enable you to create your Jolicloud USB key. Please refer to the instructions corresponding to your operating system below:
- Once the download of the ISO is complete, your Mac will mount the ISO and create a volume for it on your desktop. You can discard that volume. What you need to locate is the .iso file that has been downloaded.
- Connect your USB key to your computer.
- Double-click on the jolicloud-usb-creator-1.2.0.dmg icon.
- In the Finder window, double-click on the ‘RunMe’ icon. At this stage you will be asked to enter your administrator password.
- In the Jolicloud USB Creator window, click ‘Browse’ to find and select the Jolicloud-PreFinal.iso in your system. Start back from your Macintosh HD to locate the file as you are now identified as the system administrator.
- Select your target device: the USB key you have inserted should be automatically detected.
- Click ‘Create’ to create your Jolicloud USB.
- Connect your USB key to your computer.
- Double-click on the jolicloud-usb-creator-installer-1.2.1.exe. Follow the familiar installer process. Once installed, choose jolicloud-usb-creator from the Start menu. If your Windows account does not have administration rights, right-click on the item and select ‘Run As Administrator’. Choose Yes in any User Account Control dialog which may appear on Vista and later Windows.
- In the Jolicloud USB Creator window, click ‘Browse’ to find and select the Jolicloud-PreFinal.iso in your system.
- Select your target device: the USB key you have inserted should be automatically detected.
- Click ‘Create’ to create your Jolicloud USB.
- Important: We are using a Linux format that may not be fully supported on Windows. If you see a pop-up window (like this one below) asking you to format your USB disk AFTER you've created your Jolciloud USB key, you should IGNORE this message and click ‘Cancel’. If you click on ‘Format disk’ the Jolicloud .iso will be erased from your USB drive.
- Open a Terminal and go to the directory where you downloaded the file:
cd /the/path/to/your/directory
- Change the script permissions:
chmod a+x jolicloud-usb-creator-1.2.0.sh
- Run the program (at this stage you will be asked to enter your administrator password):
./jolicloud-usb-creator-1.2.0.sh
- Connect your USB key to your computer.
- In the Jolicloud USB Creator window, click ‘Browse’ to find and select the Jolicloud-PreFinal.iso in your system.
- Select your target device: the USB key you have inserted should be automatically detected.
- Click ‘Create’ to create your Jolicloud USB.
The Jolicloud USB Creator is now quite stable. However, if you have any problems while using this program or if it is not yet available for your system, please use this process below to create your key.
Create a Jolicloud USB key manually
Please note that you should use this process only if the Jolicloud USB Creator does not support your current operating system.
You will need to create a Jolicloud USB key to boot from to install Jolicloud. Whether you use a USB key or a flash disk, the process is the same.
Please make sure your USB key is formatted into FAT16 or FAT32.
The process to create a Jolicloud USB key depends on the operating system:
- Open a Terminal by clicking on ‘Finder’, ‘Applications’, ‘Utilities’, and then ‘Terminal’.
- Type the command below and press ‘Enter’ to get the list of devices on your computer:
diskutil list
- Insert your USB key in your computer.
- To determine which new device node is assigned to your USB key (e.g. /dev/disk2), type in once again the command below:
diskutil list
- Type in the following command to unmount your USB key (be sure to replace /dev/diskN with the correct device node name from step 4):
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN
You will now see the following message: "Unmount of all volumes on diskN was successful".
- Type in the text below but do not press ‘Enter’ just yet:
sudo dd of=/dev/diskN if=
Drag'n drop the Jolicloud ISO file into the Terminal window to complete the command. Press ‘Enter’ once you see something like the text below:sudo dd of=/dev/diskN if=/Users/username/[...]/Jolicloud-PreFinal.iso
- Next you will be asked for the password of your computer. Type it in and press ‘Enter’. Once the process is complete, you will see a confirmation message. Do not remove the key from the computer until you see this message.
- To remove the USB key, type in the command below:
diskutil eject /dev/diskN
- Click on this link to download the following program: win32diskimager-RELEASE-0.2-r23-win32.zip.
- Unzip the file and double-click on the following file: W32DiskImager.exe. If your Windows account does not have administration rights, right-click on the .exe file and select ‘Run As Administrator’.
- Rename the file Jolicloud-PreFinal.iso to Jolicloud-PreFinal.img. Indeed, our ISO can also behave like an IMG understandable by W32DiskImager.
- Select the Jolicloud file which is now called Jolicloud-PreFinal.img.
- Insert your USB key in your computer.
- Click the refresh button on the right and select the drive letter which corresponds to your USB key.
- Click the ‘Write’ button and wait until it is done.
The Linux installation program requires Python 2.4 or later. Python is standard on most modern Linux desktops. If you don't have it, install the ‘python’ package according to your Linux distribution's instructions.
- Click here to download a program called ‘Linux Image Writer’.
- Plug your USB key in your computer.
- If you already have content on the USB key, please backup any necessary content, close all folders, and unmount all drives related to it.
- Open a Terminal and go to the directory where you downloaded the file:
cd /the/path/to/your/directory
- Change the script permissions and run the program:
chmod a+x linux-image-writer.py
sudo ./linux-image-writer.py Jolicloud-PreFinal.iso
4. Setup your netbook
Please make sure you back up all the data on your netbook before proceeding with the installation.
a) Insert your Jolicloud USB key in your netbook.
b) Hit the power button on your computer and when you see the first loading screen, press Esc or F2 depending on your netbook (more info). This will ensure that the netbook boot order tries the USB drive first.
Change a netbook boot order
To install Jolicloud on your netbook, you need to boot on the Jolicloud image. If you are using an USB key or a Flash disk, you will probably need to change your netbook boot order.
Using the boot order menu
This is the simplest solution but it doesn't work on all netbooks:
- Start your computer, when you see the first loading screen, press Esc.
- Wait until a menu appears. Use your keyboard to select the USB key which you have already inserted in your netbook.
On some netbooks, a message is sometimes displayed at startup to explain how to select the device to boot, generally by pressing a Fn key.
By editing the BIOS boot order
If the first solution does not work, you will need to change the BIOS boot order:
- Start your computer, when you see the first loading screen, press the key to enter the BIOS. It is often F2. It should be written on the screen.
- In the BIOS, go to the ‘Boot Device Priority’ menu. You will often find it in a menu called ‘Boot’.
- Follow the instructions to change the boot order so that your USB key is the first boot device.
- Exit and save changes. You will often find this option in the ‘Exit’ menu.
c) When the Boot Menu window appears, select ‘USB HDD'.
d) Select the language you want to use.
e) Select ‘Install Jolicloud’ in the menu.
Using our Partition Install, you are in control. You can decide exactly how much space you want to allocate to Jolicloud. You can keep your existing OS and create a new partition, or you can choose to replace your existing OS altogether. If you still want to test Jolicloud without installing it, please be aware that all your settings will be lost once you shut down your computer and remove the USB key.
A wizard will guide you through the process for installing Jolicloud and replacing the existing OS in 6 steps:
Step 1 - Welcome screen: enter the language you want to use for the installation process and as default language on your system. Click ‘Forward’.
Step 2 - Time Zone: Select your time zone on the world map, or type in your location at the bottom of the screen. Click ‘Forward’.
Step 3 - Keyboard Layout: Select your preferred keyboard layout. Click ‘Forward’.
Step 4 - Prepare disk space (Partitioner): This is the key step where you can control the amount of space you allocate for Jolicloud. Click ‘Forward’.
Step 5 - Who are you? Enter your details and chose a password to protect your account. Click ‘Forward’.
Ready to install: Review your details. Click ‘Install’.
Your computer is now ready to install Jolicloud!
Sit back, we are taking care of everything. This step will take about 10 mns. Check our slideshow while Jolicloud installs to learn more about our OS.
Once the installation is complete, you will see a pop up prompting you to restart your machine. Click on ‘Restart now’.
You can now remove your USB key from your computer.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Jolicloud on your netbook.
The rest of this document will assist you in your first steps as a Jolicloud users: it provides all necessary instructions to activate your account, make sure your netbook is connected to the Internet, install applications, upgrade your system and find and follow friends on Jolicloud.
5. Activate your Jolicloud account
1 - When your computer has restarted, the Jolicloud launcher appears.
Make sure your netbook is connected to the Internet
You will need to connect your netbook to the Internet to make the most of Jolicloud.
When your netbook is not connected to the Internet, the icons at the top right of your screen will look like this:
To connect your netbook to the Internet, click on the network icon.
Choose the wired or wireless network you want to connect to from the options in the roll down menu.
A window pops up indicating which network your netbook is connected to.
When your netbook is connected to the Internet, the icon will indicate that the WiFi connection is on:
2 - Click the ‘Get Started’ icon on the launcher.
3 - Enter your username and password.
4 - Register your netbook and pick a name for it.
Congratulations! Your netbook is now connected to your Jolicloud account.
6. How to install applications
Make sure your netbook is connected to the Internet.
1 - Click on the blue Jolicloud icon (in the central part of the launcher, or at the top right corner of your screen).
You will see a Welcome screen with four main tabs: Dashboard, Applications, Settings and Lab, and a yellow box on the top right side ‘Search friends and apps’.
2 - Click the Applications tab. You can chose to browse applications by category or to see all of them click ‘All’.
3 - To see a short description of the application simply click on an application icon.
4 - To install an application, click on the ‘INSTALL’ button below the icon.
To install several applications at the same time, click on the ‘INSTALL’ button below each of the applications icons.
5 - Once you have installed applications, you will be able to see them in the launcher: to go back to your Jolicloud launcher, click on the blue house icon at the top left corner of your screen.
6 - Browse the applications you have installed using the category menu on the left side of the screen.
7 - To launch an application click on the application icon in the central area of the screen.
7. Update your system
Make sure your netbook is connected to the Internet.
With Jolicloud, updates come really easy. Check for and run new updates in: Jolicloud > Dashboard > Updates.
If there are updates available for your machine then you should always run them as soon as you can. That will allow you to always be on top and benefit from our latest improvements.
8. How to find and follow Jolicloud users
Make sure your netbook is connected to the Internet.
1 - Click on the blue Jolicloud icon (in the central part of the launcher, or at the top left corner of your screen).
You will see a Welcome screen with four main tabs: Dashboard, Applications, Settings and Lab, and a yellow box on the top right side ‘Search friends and apps'.
2 - Use ‘Search friends and apps’ to find who you are looking for.
3 - Click on the user name to access their profile. Click on the ‘Follow’ button under ‘Status’ on the right side of your screen.
4 - You are now able to follow the activity of the people you follow under Dashboard > Notifications.
5 - When you receive new notifications, you will see the Jolicloud icon in orange with a number underneath. It will look like this:
Click on the orange icon to access your notifications.
We hope you enjoy Jolicloud! For further assistance and real time support, please use our Twitter channel: @jolisupport, or send us your feedback.