diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index df4d239a..ab2ea174 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -45,14 +45,50 @@ With that out of the way please continue on if you are still interested...
 
 - [Organizing Cluster Access Using kubeconfig Files](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/organize-cluster-access-kubeconfig/)
 
-### 💻 Systems
+### 💻 System Preparation
 
-- One or more nodes with a fresh install of [Ubuntu 22.04 Server](https://ubuntu.com/download/server) (not minimal / not raspi edition).
-  - These nodes can be ARM64/AMD64 bare metal or VMs.
-  - An odd number of control plane nodes, greater than or equal to 3 is required if deploying more than one control plane node.
-- A [Cloudflare](https://www.cloudflare.com/) account with a domain, this will be managed by external-dns. You can [register new domains](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/) directly thru Cloudflare.
+Download [Debian 12](https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-dvd/) (for raspi/arm64 use the [tested images](https://raspi.debian.net/tested-images/))
 
-📍 It is recommended to have 3 master nodes for a highly available control plane.
+
+#### AMD64
+
+There is a decent guide [here](https://www.linuxtechi.com/how-to-install-debian-12-step-by-step/) on how to get Debian installed.
+
+1. Deviations from that guide
+
+    ```txt
+    - Choose "Guided - use entire disk"
+    - Choose "All files in one partition"
+    - Delete Swap partition
+    - Uncheck all Debian desktop environment options
+    - Keep ssh server checked
+    ```
+
+2. (Post install) Enable SSH for root user
+
+    ```sh
+    sed -i 's/#\?\(PermitRootLogin\s*\).*$/\1yes/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
+    systemctl restart sshd
+    ```
+
+3. (Post install) Add SSH keys (or use `ssh-copy-id` on the client that is connecting)
+
+    ```sh
+    mkdir -m 700 ~/.ssh
+    curl https://github.com/${github_username}.keys > ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
+    chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
+    ```
+
+4. (Post install) If you cannot run `apt update` without errors, try removing CD/DVD as apt source
+
+    ```sh
+    sed -i '1d' /etc/apt/sources.list
+    apt update
+    ```
+
+#### Raspberry Pi / ARM64
+
+TBD
 
 ## 📂 Repository structure
 
@@ -186,9 +222,9 @@ In order to expose services to the internet you will need to create a [Cloudflar
    task configure
    ```
 
-### ⚡ Preparing Ubuntu Server with Ansible
+### ⚡ Preparing Debian Server with Ansible
 
-📍 Here we will be running an Ansible Playbook to prepare Ubuntu server for running a Kubernetes cluster.
+📍 Here we will be running an Ansible Playbook to prepare Debian server for running a Kubernetes cluster.
 
 📍 Nodes are not security hardened by default, you can do this with [dev-sec/ansible-collection-hardening](https://github.com/dev-sec/ansible-collection-hardening) or similar if supported. This is an advanced configuration and generally not recommended unless you want to [DevSecOps](https://www.ibm.com/topics/devsecops) your cluster and nodes.
 
diff --git a/ansible/playbooks/cluster-prepare.yaml b/ansible/playbooks/cluster-prepare.yaml
index 39e9efce..769ff9d5 100644
--- a/ansible/playbooks/cluster-prepare.yaml
+++ b/ansible/playbooks/cluster-prepare.yaml
@@ -15,75 +15,81 @@
           community.general.timezone:
             name: "{{ timezone | default('Etc/UTC') }}"
 
-    - name: Networking
+    - name: Packages
+      block:
+        - name: Packages | Install
+          ansible.builtin.apt:
+            name: apt-transport-https,ca-certificates,conntrack,curl,dirmngr,gdisk,gnupg,htop,
+              iptables,iputils-ping,ipvsadm,libseccomp2,lm-sensors,neofetch,net-tools,nfs-common,
+              nvme-cli,open-iscsi,parted,psmisc,python3,python3-apt,python3-kubernetes,python3-yaml,
+              smartmontools,socat,software-properties-common,unzip,util-linux
+            install_recommends: false
+        - name: Packages | Remove
+          ansible.builtin.apt:
+            name: apparmor
+            state: absent
+            purge: true
+            autoremove: true
+
+    - name: User Configuration
+      block:
+        - name: User Configuration | SSH keys
+          ansible.posix.authorized_key:
+            user: "{{ ansible_user }}"
+            key: "https://github.com/{{ github_username }}.keys"
+        - name: User Configuration | Silence login
+          ansible.builtin.file:
+            dest: /root/.hushlogin
+            state: touch
+            owner: "{{ ansible_user }}"
+            mode: "0644"
+            modification_time: preserve
+            access_time: preserve
+
+    - name: Network Configuration
       notify: Restart systemd-networkd
       block:
-        - name: Networking | Set hostname to inventory hostname
+        - name: Network Configuration | Set hostname
           ansible.builtin.hostname:
             name: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
-        - name: Networking | Update hosts file to include inventory hostname
-          ansible.builtin.blockinfile:
-            path: /etc/hosts
-            block: |
-              127.0.1.1   {{ inventory_hostname }}
         # https://github.com/cilium/cilium/issues/18706
-        - name: Networking | Cilium (1)
+        - name: Network Configuration | Cilium (1)
           ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
             dest: /etc/systemd/networkd.conf
             regexp: ManageForeignRoutingPolicyRules
             line: ManageForeignRoutingPolicyRules=no
-        - name: Networking | Cilium (2)
+        - name: Network Configuration | Cilium (2)
           ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
             dest: /etc/systemd/networkd.conf
             regexp: ManageForeignRoutes
             line: ManageForeignRoutes=no
 
-    - name: Packages
+    - name: System Configuration
+      notify: Reboot
       block:
-        - name: Packages | Install required packages
-          ansible.builtin.apt:
-            name: hdparm,htop,ipvsadm,lm-sensors,nano,nfs-common,nvme-cli,
-              socat,python3-kubernetes,python3-yaml
-            state: present
-            update_cache: true
-        - name: Packages | RasPi packages
-          ansible.builtin.apt:
-            name: ["linux-modules-extra-raspi"]
-            install_recommends: false
-          notify: Reboot
-          when: "'raspi' in ansible_kernel"
-
-    - name: System Configuration (1)
-      block:
-        - name: System Configuration (1) | Disable ufw
-          ansible.builtin.systemd:
-            service: ufw.service
-            enabled: false
-            masked: true
-            state: stopped
-          register: stop_service
-          failed_when:
-            - stop_service.failed == true
-            - '"Could not find the requested service" not in stop_service.msg'
-        - name: System Configuration (1) | Enable fstrim
-          ansible.builtin.systemd:
-            service: fstrim.timer
-            enabled: true
-
-    - name: System Configuration (2)
-      block:
-        - name: System Configuration (2) | Enable kernel modules now
+        - name: System Configuration | Neofetch
+          ansible.builtin.copy:
+            dest: /etc/profile.d/neofetch.sh
+            mode: "0755"
+            content: neofetch --config none
+        - name: System Configuration | Disable swap
+          ansible.posix.mount:
+            name: "{{ item }}"
+            fstype: swap
+            state: absent
+          loop: ["none", "swap"]
+        - name: System Configuration | Kernel modules (1)
           community.general.modprobe:
             name: "{{ item }}"
             state: present
           loop: ["br_netfilter", "ceph", "ip_vs", "ip_vs_rr", "nbd", "overlay", "rbd"]
-        - name: System Configuration (2) | Enable kernel modules on boot
+        - name: System Configuration | Kernel modules (2)
           ansible.builtin.copy:
+            dest: "/etc/modules-load.d/{{ item }}.conf"
             mode: "0644"
             content: "{{ item }}"
-            dest: "/etc/modules-load.d/{{ item }}.conf"
           loop: ["br_netfilter", "ceph", "ip_vs", "ip_vs_rr", "nbd", "overlay", "rbd"]
-        - name: System Configuration (2) | Set sysctls
+        - name: System Configuration | Sysctl
           ansible.posix.sysctl:
             name: "{{ item.key }}"
             value: "{{ item.value }}"
@@ -95,16 +101,6 @@
               fs.inotify.max_queued_events: 65536
               fs.inotify.max_user_watches: 524288
               fs.inotify.max_user_instances: 8192
-        - name: System Configuration (2) | Disable swap at runtime
-          ansible.builtin.command: swapoff -a
-          when: ansible_swaptotal_mb > 0
-        - name: System Configuration (2) | Disable swap at boot
-          ansible.posix.mount:
-            name: "{{ item }}"
-            fstype: swap
-            state: absent
-          loop: ["none", "swap"]
-      notify: Reboot
 
   handlers:
     - name: Restart systemd-networkd
diff --git a/template/templates/ansible/supplemental.yaml.j2 b/template/templates/ansible/supplemental.yaml.j2
index 6c9c8afb..6c2bcdc4 100644
--- a/template/templates/ansible/supplemental.yaml.j2
+++ b/template/templates/ansible/supplemental.yaml.j2
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 ---
 timezone: "{{ bootstrap_timezone }}"
+github_username: "{{ bootstrap_github_username }}"
 coredns_addr: "{{ bootstrap_coredns_addr }}"
 kube_vip_addr: "{{ bootstrap_kube_vip_addr }}"
 cluster_cidr: "{{ bootstrap_cluster_cidr }}"