Ubuntu Installation Guide

By Joseph Benamy (jbenamy@gatech.edu)

There are two methods for running Ubuntu alongside your Windows or Mac OS environment. The first method is by using a virtual machine on top of your operating system. This is the easiest, safest, and quickest way to get up and running with Ubuntu. With a virtual machine, your Ubuntu environment is virtually independent of your primary operating system. It is very difficult to damage your computer from inside of a virtual machine. The second method is dual booting in which you have two independent operating systems on your computer. If you are unsure about a step, please ask. Mistakes can cause irreversible damage including data loss.

Installing Oracle VirtualBox and Creating the Ubuntu Virtual Machine

For Windows 7, Windows 8, and Mac OS X

1. Download Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS (Precise Pangolin) 64-bit at http://www.gtlib.gatech.edu/pub/ubuntureleases/precise/ubuntu-12.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso 2. Download and install Oracle VirtualBox from https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads (VirtualBox platform packages) 3. Open Oracle VirtualBox and click New in the top left corner 4. In the Name field, enter Ubuntu 64, and click Next 5. In the textbox on the left, enter the amount of memory (RAM) to allocate in megabytes (512 MB recommended, > 1536 MB for better performance), and click Next 6. Click Create, Next, and Next 7. In the textbox on the right, enter the amount of hard drive space to allocate in gigabytes (> 16 GB recommended), and click Create 8. Click Start in the top taskbar 9. Click OK in the prompt 10. Click the folder icon on the right of the prompt and choose the ISO file you downloaded in step 1 11. Click Start 12. Wait for Ubuntu to boot and the installer to launch 13. Choose your preferred language on the left and click Install Ubuntu 14. Click Download updates while installing and click Continue 15. Click Continue and Install Now 16. Click Continue, choose your keyboard layout (usually default), and click Continue 17. In the Your name field, enter your first and last name. In the Your computers name field, enter the desired name of your computer. In the Pick a username field, enter your desired username (must start with a lowercase letter). Then enter your desired password twice as designated and click Continue 18. When the install is complete, click Restart Now 19. Hit the enter key when prompted

Dual Booting in Windows 7

Not for Windows 8

1. Download the Windows Ubuntu installer at http://www.ubuntu.com/startdownload?distro=wubi&bits=64&release=lts 2. Open wubi.exe 3. Choose your installation drive and installation size (> 16 GB recommended). In the Username field, enter your desired username (must start with a lowercase letter). Then enter your desired password twice as designated and click Install 4. When the installation is complete, click Finish and your computer will reboot. On reboot you will be prompted to choose between your primary operating system and Ubuntu. 5. Wait for Ubuntu to boot and login with the credentials you created in step 3

Dual Booting in Mac OS X

Dual booting in Mac OS X requires additional software. The instructions are available at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MactelSupportTeam/AppleIntelInstallation

Dual Booting in Windows 8

Dual booting in Windows 8 is much more difficult than dual booting in Windows 7 because of Windows 8s Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), which replaces Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). UEFIs secure boot feature prevents Linux distributions including Ubuntu from being installed (dual boot) on Windows 8 machines. This process should only be attempted by advanced users. Most users with Windows 8 should resort to the virtual machine method. The instructions are available at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI.