Install Ubuntu Server
3 min read

Install Ubuntu Server

Install Ubuntu Server

So, after the CentOS news, I went on to search another release-based distribution. The obvious choice now is Ubuntu server (20.04 LTS at the time of writing).

Here are my steps to install the server on VMWare ESXi

Prerequisites

First, you have to download the ISO:

  • Go to the site
  • Select to download the ISO
  • Upload the iso to the ESXi machine so VMWare can find it.

Next step is to set up the VM:

  • I chose a 4 CPU/8GB RAM/24GB HDD.
  • I also set up a fixed MAC address for the NIC, because the DHCP server assigns the same IP address based on the MAC address.
  • I pointed the 'CD/DVD' to the freshly downloaded ISO.

Note: The number of CPUs and memory can be adjusted later (all you need is to shut down the VM). I found that for installation, about 4GB RAM is OK.

Note: You can set a thick and a thin disk. The difference between the two is that a thick disk is preallocated and can exceed the specified size (read: can grow above the specified size). A thin disk will be preallocated to the specified size, but it will not exceed it.

Installation

Installation is mostly 'going through the motions'.

Boot up

First we need to wait that the system boots up:

boot

Language and keyboard

We start by selecting the language:

language

If there's a more recent installer, you'll get hte option to download and use it:

installer

We select the keyboard and flavour:

keyboard

Networking

Next step is to select the network:

network

Here, I've left the DHCP, because I've had the address fixed via the MAC address.

If you have a proxy, you have the chance to set it up here:

proxy

Next step is to select the mirror from where Ubuntu will download its packages needed for install.

mirror

Note: Ubuntu will download quite a few packages, so it might be a good idea to figure out which mirror is faster from you before you move to the next step.

Size the disk

Normally, the default disk configuration is OK.

disk

If you're worried about the data, you can encrypt it.

You can see the summary then:

disk summary

Once you're happy, you'll be asked to confirm the disk set up:

confirm

Configuration

Now, we set the machine name and the 'root' credentials. As you probably know already, ubuntu makes profuse use of the sudo command, so the user you set up here will have sudo capabilities.

profile

Once you did that, you are provided with the opportunity to install OpenSSH:

ssh

An then some popular snaps like docker:

snaps

Once you hit 'Done', the installation will start.

setup

Note the install will take a while as it downloads a number of packages off the mirror you have set up at the beginning. If you get bored, feel free to look at the logs! :)

logs

HTH,