Modest Spec or Barebones Installation of Ubuntu

What is this page about?
Installation of Xubuntu, Ubuntu, or Kubuntu
A Barebones Installation

What is this page about?

If you have a computer with 128 MB of RAM or less, you will not be able to use the Desktop CD to install Ubuntu. For low-specification computers, the Desktop CD is too resource-intensive to be running and trying to install Ubuntu at the same time.

Installation of Xubuntu, Ubuntu, or Kubuntu

The main Ubuntu download page links to the Desktop CD by default. You would need the Alternate Install CD, which should be one of the non-default options on the download page.

If you have 128 MB of RAM, your best bet is to select Xubuntu and then select the Alternate CD.

What to do with the .ISO once it's downloaded
Instructions for burning the ISO in Windows XP
Instructions for burning the ISO in Mac OS X

Once you've burnt the ISO to CD, reboot your computer with the CD in the drive to start up the installer.

As you can see, the Alternate Install CD starts off with a menu that looks similar to the Desktop CD, but the options are different. If you do not have the resources to run the live CD while installing, you'll want to use this Alternate Install CD and pick the first option: Install to Hard Disk.

The Alternate CD is a graphical installer, but it's text-based. If you want to install Ubuntu (to do a dual-boot with Windows) using this text-based graphical installer, visit this site.

A Barebones Installation

You definitely should use this if you have less than 128 MB of RAM, but even if you have 128 MB of RAM or more, you may want to do this to get a slight performance boost over even Xubuntu, which already has a lighter desktop environment than Ubuntu and Kubuntu.

Warning: you must have a working internet connection in order to use this tutorial. A wired broadband connection is ideal. Dial-up modem or wireless configurations could be problematic.

Download the mini.iso
Since you're doing a barebones installation, you don't need to download an entire 700-MB .ISO (disk image). Go to the MinimalCD page in the Ubuntu Community Help, and download the appropriate Minimal CD—they're all less than 10 MB in size.

Starting the installation

When you boot the CD, you should get a screen that looks like the one in the above screenshot.

At the boot: prompt, type

cli

in order to install just the base system. You'll be adding some more software packages later.

If you see some gobbledygook messages fly by, don't worry. Those messages are normal. Just be patient.

After all the messages fly by, you should be asked some questions about your location, language, keyboard layout, username, password, etc.

Tab will move between elements
Space Bar will toggle selection on an element
Enter will confirm a selection and allow you to proceed to the next screen.

Once the installation has finished, and you've rebooted, you should get a terminal that fills the whole screen. Log in with your username and password. At the prompt (something like username@ubuntu:~$), you can type terminal commands given in the next sections.

Enabling extra repositories
IceWM and most of the lightweight window managers are in a different set of software repositories from the standard set, so we'll have to add that other set. In the latest version of Ubuntu, the extra repositories should be already enabled, but for some older versions, they might not be.

Type this command to edit the repositories list. The terminal is case-sensitive, and the -B parameter creates a backup of the file before editing it.

sudo nano -B /etc/apt/sources.list

This will bring up the sources.list file in the Nano text editor. Remove the # sign from any line that looks like a web address.

For example...

Before

# deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper universe
# deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper universe

After

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper universe

Then save the file by pressing Control-X, Y, and then Enter.

Getting a usable home desktop
Be careful to type these exact commands (pick the appropriate set of commands for the version you're installing). Spaces are important, as is case (upper or lower).

If you're using Hardy Heron (8.04), or Gutsy Gibbon (7.10):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xorg xterm gdm icewm menu firefox gksu synaptic
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

If you're using Dapper Drake (6.06):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install x-window-system-core xterm gdm icewm menu firefox gksu synaptic
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

The first command lets the software package manager know what software is available to install.

The second command installs the appropriate software packages.

The third command configures your video screen resolution. You'll be asked a series of questions. Answer them as best you can. If you don't know the answer, just go with the default selection.

The last command starts up your graphical login.

You may encounter an error that says There was an error loading the theme Human; Can't open file /usr/share/gdm/themes/Huma/Human.xml That's okay. Just click OK and continue. Once you've logged in, you can use gksudo gdmsetup in the terminal and under the Local tab, you can select a different theme.

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:

sudo apt-get install xorg xterm wdm icewm menu dillo

You would then have to use this for the fourth command:

sudo /etc/init.d/wdm start

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