Install & Run¶

This is step 3 of the journey. You have optionally set up a config repo — if you skipped it, that is fine. You can run with defaults now and add a private repo any time.

Not sure what will happen yet? The Try It in 5 Minutes walkthrough covers what a dry run is and why it is safe to paste the command.

Run the bootstrap¶

ROG AllySteam DeckAndroid (ALPHA)

Prerequisites¶

Open an Administrator terminal. Right-click the Start button (or press Win+X) and select Terminal (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin).

The one-liner¶

irm https://bootible.dev/rog | iex

What happens next¶

1. Bootstrap downloads and verifies itself. The server serving bootible.dev pins a SHA-256 checksum at deploy time. What you download matches exactly what was released.

2. Tooling is set up. Git and supporting scripts are placed under ~\.bootible. The bootible command is registered on your PATH. This tooling is the only permanent change made during the preview run.

3. Private repo question. Bootible prints a blank line then asks:

Do you have a private config repo? (y/N)

Press Enter to run with the default configuration (empty answer means No). If you have a private config repo, type y and press Enter. You will then be asked for:

Your GitHub username: 
Private repo (e.g., owner/repo):

After entering those, Bootible opens a GitHub device-flow login — a QR code appears alongside a short code and a URL. Scan the QR code with your phone, or visit github.com/login/device on any device and enter the code. Once you authorize, the clone proceeds automatically.

4. Instance selection (private repo with multiple configs only). If your private repo contains more than one device configuration, Bootible lists them and asks you to choose:

Multiple configurations found:

  1) ROGAlly
  2) AllyX

Select configuration [1-2]:

Enter the number for this device. If only one configuration is found, it is selected automatically.

5. Dry run begins. Bootible walks through the full setup in preview mode — no changes are made yet. See Reading the dry run below for what to look for.

Prerequisites¶

Bootible runs from Desktop Mode. Press the Steam button, go to Power, and select Switch to Desktop. Open Konsole from the application menu (System → Konsole).

If you have not set a sudo password yet, run passwd in Konsole first. You will need it during the run.

The one-liner¶

curl -fsSL https://bootible.dev/deck | bash

What happens next¶

1. Bootstrap downloads. The script is fetched from bootible.dev.

2. Tooling is set up. Ansible, Git, and the bootible command are placed under ~/.bootible.

3. Private repo question. Bootible asks:

Do you have a private config repo? (y/N):

Press Enter for No. If you answer y, you are prompted for your GitHub username and the repo path in owner/repo format. Bootible then opens GitHub device-flow auth — a QR code and a short code. Authorize on your phone or another device and the clone proceeds automatically.

4. Instance selection (private repo with multiple configs only). Same as ROG Ally: if multiple device configurations exist in your repo, Bootible lists them and asks you to choose. A single configuration is selected automatically.

5. Dry run begins. Ansible runs in check mode — no packages are installed, no settings are changed. See Reading the dry run below.

Android support is in alpha. The bootstrap provisions your handheld wirelessly over ADB from a computer connected to the same network.

curl -fsSL https://bootible.dev/android | bash

The private-repo prompt and instance selection follow the same pattern as the other platforms. The dry run shows what APKs and settings would be pushed. Press Enter at the private repo question to try with defaults.

Reading the dry run¶

The dry run makes no changes. Here is what to look for in the output.

Package preview and validation (ROG Ally)¶

Before the main preview, a Package Source Validation section runs and tests every winget package ID against the available sources:

[OK] All N packages validated successfully

or, if some packages cannot be found:

[!] Validated: X/N packages

  Packages not found in sources:
    - Some.PackageId (App Name)

Package not found entries mean those apps will not install during the real run. You can look up the correct winget ID and update your config before applying.

Each package that would install appears in the main output as:

-> [DRY RUN] Would install: Discord from winget

Smart App Control status (ROG Ally)¶

At the end of the validation section, Bootible reads and reports your Smart App Control state:

[OK] Smart App Control: off — no impact on the run.
-> Smart App Control is in evaluation mode — it may switch on by itself and silently block Armoury Crate components.
[!] Smart App Control is ON — it silently blocks ROG Live Service and ACSetup. The warning includes the path to disable it if you choose to.

Drift report (re-runs only)¶

If you are re-running Bootible after a previous successful run, the dry run also shows a drift report — a comparison against the state snapshot taken at the end of the last real run. This section only appears when a snapshot exists. On a first run, there is no snapshot yet and no drift section appears.

Apply for real¶

When the preview looks right, run:

bootible

The same command works on every platform. Before making any changes, Bootible creates a safety net first:

ROG Ally: creates a Windows System Restore Point. This is on by default (create_restore_point: true in your config) and can be disabled in config but rarely should be.
Steam Deck: creates a btrfs snapshot of your home folder (skipped automatically if the filesystem is not btrfs).

Bootible then installs packages, applies settings, and finishes. On Windows, a Bootible - Read Me.md receipt file is written to your Desktop with a summary of every app installed, every change applied, and first-aid steps. See Post Install for a full walkthrough of what the receipt contains and what to do next.

If a run is interrupted, re-running bootible is safe — the run is idempotent. Packages already installed are skipped and nothing is duplicated.

Re-running is always safe

Run bootible any time after the initial setup. It re-applies your configuration and compares the current device state against the last known-good snapshot (hibernate setting, Game Bar presence, GPU driver version, wallpaper, SSH state) — particularly useful after a Windows Update quietly reverts your setup.

Beta channel

irm https://bootible.dev/rog | iex serves the latest tagged release. To try the newest unreleased code from main, use irm https://bootible.dev/rog-beta | iex. On Steam Deck: curl -fsSL https://bootible.dev/deck-beta | bash. Both channels are served with checksum verification.

Multiple devices¶

If you manage more than one handheld from the same private config repo, each device gets its own directory in the repo — that is what the instance selection prompt is choosing between. See Multi-Device for how to structure your repo for multiple instances.