Automatic installation
The automatic installer prepares one Fedora USB drive on macOS. Internal keyboard and trackpad work during Fedora installation. The matching Apple Wi-Fi firmware and the guided KAIT2EN setup are carried into the installed system.
The installer currently supports Fedora Workstation, Fedora KDE Desktop and Fedora COSMIC Spin.
Before you start
You need:
- a T2 Mac with macOS still installed
- an empty USB drive
- an internet connection in macOS
Keep macOS installed. It is the clean source for Apple firmware and can recover T2/bridgeOS hardware states.
Open Disk Utility in macOS and create a real exFAT partition for Fedora. Do
not add an APFS volume, delete the EFI partition or delete macOS. Fedora will
reformat the new partition during installation.
Apple Secure Boot must be disabled and booting from external media must be allowed. The installer checks the current setting and shows the short Recovery steps when it needs to be changed.
Create the Fedora USB drive
Boot macOS and connect the empty USB drive. Open Terminal and run:
curl -fsSL https://github.com/kaiT2en/KaiT2en-Fedora/releases/latest/download/install-kait2en-fedora.sh | bash
Choose the Fedora desktop and USB drive. The script downloads and verifies the official Fedora image, finds the Apple Wi-Fi firmware used by this Mac and asks for an exact confirmation before erasing the USB drive.
The official Fedora image itself is not modified. After writing the verified vanilla image, the script adds KAIT2EN boot files only to the USB drive's EFI partition. Separate initramfs overlays provide the temporary input drivers and installer integration at boot; Fedora's live system and installation payload remain unchanged.
Be exact when selecting the drive. All data on it will be destroyed.
Install Fedora
Shut down or reboot the Mac. Hold Option during startup and select the orange
EFI Boot entry for the Fedora USB drive. The KAIT2EN Fedora entry starts
automatically.
Keyboard and trackpad should work in the live system and installer. Wi-Fi is not expected to work in the live system; it becomes available after Fedora is installed.
Install Fedora normally. Use manual partitioning and select the Linux partition
you created in macOS. Do not erase the whole disk or macOS. When reinstalling,
format an existing Linux /boot partition so old kernels do not fill it.
After installation finishes, remove the USB drive and boot the installed Fedora system.
Finish the KAIT2EN installation
Sign in to Fedora and connect to Wi-Fi. A terminal opens automatically and starts the KAIT2EN installer in two phases. Do not close this window and follow the prompts.
The first phase updates Fedora and prepares the new kernel. Reboot when asked. After signing in again, the second phase opens automatically and runs the regular KAIT2EN installer. Reboot once more after it completes successfully.
If the terminal does not appear, open one and run this command without sudo:
kait2en-install
The installer asks for administrator access when it is needed. It can also be started again at any later time to update KAIT2EN.