Just Beginning
Introduction
Read this first before you try Ubuntu*

Which Ubuntu to pick?
Getting Ubuntu
Making a bootable USB of Ubuntu

Ubuntu inside Windows
Dual-boot with Windows
Install Desktop CD Ubuntu
Modest Specs

Install Software
Security in Ubuntu
Where's the Terminal?
Password in Terminal

Next Steps
Install Proprietary Drivers
Mount Windows
Install Proprietary Plugins
Finding iTunes Alternatives
Export as MP3 in Audacity
Use Wine

Beyond the Basics
Backing up Ubuntu
Upgrade Ubuntu*
Change boot menu
Mount Linux

Playing Around
Unity to classic Gnome
KDE/Gnome Comparison
Install KDE
Install XFCE
Pure Gnome
Pure KDE
Pure XFCE
Pure LXDE

Troubleshooting
Can't sudo
Graphical sudo
Forgot password

* Off-site link

Cheap Plugs
If you've found these tutorials useful, please consider donating a small amount to one of my favorite non-profits/charities. Every little bit helps.

You may also want to consider donating directly to the Ubuntu project.

If you have a low-spec'ed computer (64 to 128 MB of RAM, less than 1 GHz processor), you may have difficulty with a regular Ubuntu installation. You may, even if you have a higher-spec'ed computer want to create a minimal installation for other reasons.

Go to the Ubuntu Minimal CD Image page to get the minimal CD.

This guide will help you burn the .iso to CD

Note: a high-speed wired internet connection is recommended for a minimal installation.

When you boot up, you'll get a boot prompt. Just hit Enter there.

Select Command-line install

After a short wait, you'll be presented with a series of easy questions. Use Tab to move between options and Enter to select the option you want to proceed with.

Ubuntu gives you the option to have your keyboard autodetected. I would advise against this. It's a little involved with a lot of guesswork based on what letters you type on your keyboard. It's easier to just select what keyboard layout you have.

More easy questions. If you don't know the answer to certain questions, just go with the default.

Still more easy questions.

Partitioning isn't as scary as you might think it is. If you want to take up the whole disk with Ubuntu and erase everything you have on your drive now, choose the Guided - use entire disk option. If you want to save what you have installed and carve out some space for Ubuntu, choose Manual. You'll have to resize your current hard drive partition and then create a new partition for Ubuntu.

The rest of this tutorial assumes you're using your entire disk. If you need help with partitioning, post a thread on the Ubuntu Forums.

More easy questions. Keep going.

Lots of questions. Just as before, most of the questions are easy to answer. If a question is hard or confusing to you, just go with the default answer.

After you boot up without the CD, log in and you should be at a prompt that looks like username@computername:~$. So in this example, the prompt looks like jessica@ubuntu:~$.

At the prompt, type these three commands (unfortunately, you won't be able to copy and paste into the fullscreen terminal, so please be careful to type exactly what you see here; be mindful of the spaces and spelling):

You should get to a graphical login screen. After you log in, you should then see a very basic menu with Firefox and the terminal.

After this minimal install (using Ubuntu 10.04 as an example for these screenshots), the total installation size is a little under 1 GB.

For the older version of this page, go here.

Variations
If you think GDM (the Gnome Display Manager that manages the login screen) and Firefox are too heavy for your hard drive size, your processor, or your RAM; and/or you'd prefer to do your own package management through the terminal instead of Synaptic Package Manager; you can use this instead for the second command:

Some people prefer Fluxbox, Openbox, PekWM, or Windowmaker to IceWM. If you know how to configure those window managers, you can obviously substitute those in for IceWM in the second command. You can learn more about different window managers at http://xwinman.org

Note: Screenshots are from Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx), but I have also tested these exact instructions on Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat), and not only do all the instructions work as written, but the screenshots would be exactly the same, too.

I have not yet tested this fully on Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal), but for almost all of the installation process, it looks as if it's exactly the same, except with a purple background. The one tiny difference (thanks to Dan for the comment) is that you have to press Alt-F1 to get the command prompt after you reboot.

I have fully tested this on Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot), and it's exactly the same process as in the screenshots, except needing, as with 11.04, to press Alt-F1 to get to the command prompt after reboot.

Last updated 01/28/12 12:02