Getting started with Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an Linux distribution based on Debian package management system. Ubuntu is widely used on servers and in the cloud. Ubuntu is composed of thousands of software packages distributed under mostly free and open-source licenses.

Downloading Long-Term Support version

The Long-Term Support versions tagged as LTS are recommended for production environments where stability is a must. For 64-bit machines with 4GB+ of memory pick the amd64 releas, otherwise stick to i386.

For high-end PC-s and laptops the original Ubuntu is recommended:

wget ftp://ftp.estpak.ee/pub/ubuntu-releases/14.04/ubuntu-14.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso
wget ftp://ftp.estpak.ee/pub/ubuntu-releases/14.04/ubuntu-14.04.3-desktop-i386.iso

For low-end PC-s and laptops Ubuntu MATE is recommended:

wget https://ubuntu-mate.r.worldssl.net/trusty/ubuntu-mate-14.04.2-LTS-desktop-amd64.iso
wget https://ubuntu-mate.r.worldssl.net/trusty/ubuntu-mate-14.04.2-LTS-desktop-i386.iso

MATE carries on the GNOME classic desktop spirit which many users are used to.

Downloading bleeding edge version

Due to rapidly evolving hardware you might stumble on for example WiFi chip or some other component which doesn't work as expected with Long-Term Support release, in that case you might want to check out later releases. Be ware that non-LTS releases also incorporate software changes that might break your workflow!

wget ftp://ftp.estpak.ee/pub/ubuntu-cdimage/ubuntu-mate/releases/vivid/release/ubuntu-mate-15.04-desktop-amd64.iso
wget ftp://ftp.estpak.ee/pub/ubuntu-cdimage/ubuntu-mate/releases/vivid/release/ubuntu-mate-15.04-desktop-i386.iso

Writing the LiveCD image to memory stick

All of the ISO images listed above contain hybrid bootloader, which means that same image can be written to CD-R or USB memory stick both.

For Linux there is no need to fetch extra tools to write the image to a USB memory stick, simply use dd:

 sudo dd if=ubuntu-14.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdx # Substitute sdx with your memory stick

Or if you're already root, you can simply use cat:

 cat ubuntu-14.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso > /dev/sdx # Again substitute sdx with your memory stick

If you're running on Windows, you can use Win32 Disk Imager to write the ISO image to the USB memory stick

Booting LiveCD

Reboot your machine and identify the keystroke for temporarily booting from external storage such as USB memory stick. If the machine fails to boot check that Secure Boot is disabled in BIOS.

Once the Ubuntu desktop appears check that all necessary hardware is properly detected:

 iwconfig
 lspci -t -v -nn
 lsusb -t
 dmidecode

For checking smartcard support for Estonian ID-card you have to install some extra packages:

 apt-get update
 apt-get install opensc pcscd
 opensc-tool -l

If you identify Broadcom 43xxx wireless chip in your laptop you have to install extra package to have a snowballs chance in hell, note that you need wired network for this:

 apt-get update
 apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
 modprobe wl

Also check that:

• suspend and resume work as expected.
• audio playback/recording works.
• wired/wireless network connectivity works.
• your Bluetooth devices work.

Checking EFI support

If you want to keep your Windows installation alongside with your new Linux installation you should identify whether EFI or legacy boot mode is used by Windows. Linux should use the same method. Note that Windows 8 mandates the use of EFI, for Windows 7 it's optional. Latest x86 based Mac-s also use EFI. In some BIOS-es you can also check whether EFI, Legacy or mixed mode is used for booting. Some motherboards boot LiveCD using legacy method even though the Windows might have been installed using EFI method, in that case you'll end up with non-bootable machine because LiveCD is unable to manipulate EFI boot entries.

The easiest way to check whether LiveCD is booted in EFI mode is using efibootmgr:

 modprobe efivars
 apt-get update
 apt-get install efibootmgr
 efibootmgr

If you see a list of boot targets then the LiveCD has access to EFI boot entries. If you see efibootmgr: EFI variables are not supported on this system. this means the LiveCD has been booted in Legacy mode.

To check whether Windows is installed in EFI mode you should see whether GPT partition table is used and EFI boot partition exists:

 apt-get update
 apt-get install gdisk
 gdisk -l

If no GPT partition table is present it's surely a Legacy boot installation.

Installing on permanent storage

While you can do a lot of stuff directly off the memory stick, it's not suitable for daily use. If you're confident you want Linux installation of your machine and you're backed up all important data proceed with this chapter, otherwise check below how to run Linux in a virtual machine.

Before continuing make sure you have backed up all important data!

Double click on the Install Ubuntu 14.04 on the LiveCD desktop and follow instructions on the screen up to the harddisk partitioning. To make upgrades as easy as possible make sure you use separate mountpoints for / and /home.

Hence for Legacy dual-boot installations the partition table would look like this:

 sda1: Windows 7, NTFS, mounted at /mnt/windows
 sda2: Windows recovery, NTFS, not mounted
 sda4: Extended partition
 sda5: Linux root filesystem, 20GB, ext4, mounted at /
 sda6: Linux swap, 4GB
 sda7: Linux home filesystem, ext4, mounted at /home

And for EFI dual-boot installations:

 sda1: EFI boot partition (ef00), mounted at /boot/efi
 sda2: Windows 8, NTFS, mounted at /mnt/windows
 sda3: Windows recovery, NTFS, not mounted
 sda4: Linux root filesystem, 20GB, ext4, mounted at /
 sda5: Linux swap, 4GB
 sda6: Linux home filesystem, ext4, mounted at /home

For Linux-only legacy installations:

 sda1: Linux root filesystem, 20GB, ext4, mounted at /
 sda2: Linux swap, 4GB
 sda3: Linux home filesystem, ext4, mounted at /home

For Linux-only EFI installations, you may take advantage of the BIOS boot partition to avoid adding EFI entries which may get lost with BIOS reset:

 sda1: BIOS Boot Partition (ef02), 1MB
 sda2: Linux root filesystem, 20GB, ext4, mounted at /
 sda3: Linux swap, 4GB
 sda4: Linux home filesystem, ext4, mounted at /home

Installing in VirtualBox

Download VirtualBox and install it on your PC. Create a virtual machine for Ubuntu, make sure you allocate at least 1GB of memory and attach 10GB virtual disk image. Download Ubuntu MATE ISO files referenced above and use the newly created virtual machine to boot the ISO. Use the Linux-only partitioning scheme described above.