How to Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop (Focal Fossa)

Introduction

Ubuntu 20.04 (codenamed Focal Fossa) was released on April 23, 2020. It is a Long-Term Support (LTS) release, which will receive support and updates until April 2025.

This guide will help install a fresh copy of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on your computer.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A credit score is a number that depicts a consumer’s creditworthiness. FICO scores range from 300 to 850.
• Factors used to calculate your credit score include repayment history, types of loans, length of credit history, debt utilization, and whether you’ve applied for new accounts.
• A credit score plays a key role in a lender’s decision to offer credit and for what terms.
• The three main U.S. credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) may each calculate your FICO score differently.

Prerequisites

• System requirements (recommended):
  • 2 GHz dual-core processor
  • 4GB memory
  • 25GB available disk space for storage (less if installing the minimal version)
  • DVD drive or USB port
• At least a 4GB USB drive

Step 1: Download the Installation Media

1. In a web browser, visit the Ubuntu download page and pick the Ubuntu version suitable for your machine. The most popular versions include:

• Ubuntu Desktop
• Ubuntu Server
• Ubuntu Derivatives

2. Once you find the version you need, click the green Download button. You will be taken to a thank-you page, and your download should start. (We will download and install Ubuntu 20.04 for desktops.)

3. Save the file to a location of your choice.

The download is a .iso file. You can use it to create a bootable USB drive.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A credit score is a number that depicts a consumer’s creditworthiness. FICO scores range from 300 to 850.
• Factors used to calculate your credit score include repayment history, types of loans, length of credit history, debt utilization, and whether you’ve applied for new accounts.
• A credit score plays a key role in a lender’s decision to offer credit and for what terms.
• The three main U.S. credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) may each calculate your FICO score differently.

Step 2: Create Bootable USB

You will need a USB drive with 4GB or more. This process will delete all data on the USB drive. Make sure to back up any existing data on the USB drive.

Option 1: Create a Bootable USB Drive on Ubuntu

Use the Create startup disk tool:

1. Open a search dialog, and type create startup.
2. If it is not installed, the Software Center will offer the option to install it – choose the option for a USB drive, then open the utility.
3. In the top pane, click Other, then browse and select the Ubuntu 20.04 .iso file you downloaded.
4. In the bottom pane, select your USB drive.
5. Click Make startup disk.

Option 2: Create Bootable USB Drive on Windows

You will need to install a third-party utility called Rufus to create a USB bootable drive.

1. Download the Rufus utility. Scroll down to the download section and click the link to download the latest version of Rufus.

2. Run the file once downloaded.

3. A pop-up dialog opens. You will be prompted whether you want to check for online updates. Select No.

4. The Rufus utility launches. Plug in the USB drive – you should see the drive pop up in the device field.

• Set the USB as the device you wish to write to.
• In the Boot Selection drop-down, click Disk or ISO Image.
• Click the Select button to the right.
• Browse and select the .iso Ubuntu file you downloaded earlier.

5. Click Start.

Step 3: Boot up Ubuntu from the USB

1. Turn off your system. Ensure you remove all other USB devices, such as printers, memory cards, etc.

2. Insert the Ubuntu USB drive into the system and turn on your machine.

There are two possible scenarios:

• The computer boots the USB drive automatically.
• You must manually configure USB booting in the Boot Menu or BIOS/UEFI.

3. To manually configure the boot order, tap the boot menu key about once or twice per second as soon as the computer powers on.

The boot menu key may be different depending on your computer manufacturer. Below is a list of common boot keys associated with a brand:

4. Once you see your boot menu, use the arrows to pick the Ubuntu media to boot from. For a DVD, the entry will usually have DVD or Optical in the name, and the USB is generally labeled USB.

Your system should start loading the Ubuntu live disc menu.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A credit score is a number that depicts a consumer’s creditworthiness. FICO scores range from 300 to 850.
• Factors used to calculate your credit score include repayment history, types of loans, length of credit history, debt utilization, and whether you’ve applied for new accounts.
• A credit score plays a key role in a lender’s decision to offer credit and for what terms.
• The three main U.S. credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) may each calculate your FICO score differently.

Step 4: Run Ubuntu

You can test Ubuntu 20.04 before you commit to installing it. The .iso includes a live mode that only runs in memory.

Launch this mode by clicking Try Ubuntu.

Step 5: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop

To begin the installation, click Install Ubuntu.

Choose Keyboard Layout

By default, the system will select English and English.

If you have a non-standard keyboard, you can select it from the list. Alternately, click Detect Keyboard Layout, and the system will automatically choose your keyboard. If you need to test your keyboard, use the labeled field.

When you’re ready, click Continue.

Choose Starting Applications

• Normal Installation – This is the whole Ubuntu Desktop experience, with office software, games, and media players.
• Minimal Installation – Choose this to save disk space, especially if you won’t be using media players or productivity software.

You will also be prompted to confirm other options:

• Download updates while installing Ubuntu – This does the work of downloading large package files during the installation. Once the installation finishes, the packages will be ready to apply as updates.
• Install third-party software for graphics and Wi-Fi hardware and additional media formats – Some hardware, like graphics cards and Wi-Fi cards, do not have open-source driver support. Also, some media formats, such as .wmv, do not fall under the GPL license. If you need help with these, you must agree to additional terms of use.

Disk Partitioning

Next, you will be presented with an Installation Type dialog. You can clean the hard drive before installing Ubuntu by clicking Erase disk and installing Ubuntu. If you go this route, skip ahead to the next step.

Advanced users may want to edit Advanced Features. Use this to specify your disk partitions or set other advanced options:

• Use LVM with the new Ubuntu installation: LVM stands for Logical Volume Management. This is a tool for dynamically managing different virtual drives on your system, and it is much like an enhanced version of the gparted tool.
• Encrypt the new Ubuntu installation for security: This will encrypt the drive’s contents. You will choose a security key, which will be required to decrypt and use the drive.
• Experimental: Erase disk and use ZFS:  ZFS refers to Zettabyte File System, but it has grown into a hybrid file system and volume manager. Since it is still being tested, avoid this setting on mission-critical production systems.

If you would rather create your hard drive partitions, click Something Else.

The next screen will allow you to create your partition table and logical drives. This lets you divide a physical hard drive into different partitions, and the operating system sees partitions as individual drives.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A credit score is a number that depicts a consumer’s creditworthiness. FICO scores range from 300 to 850.
• Factors used to calculate your credit score include repayment history, types of loans, length of credit history, debt utilization, and whether you’ve applied for new accounts.
• A credit score plays a key role in a lender’s decision to offer credit and for what terms.
• The three main U.S. credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) may each calculate your FICO score differently.

Click Continue to apply your changes to the drive partitions.

Will you be asked to Write changes to disks? None of the selected options are permanent until you click Continue on this screen. Click Continue to proceed.

Select Time Zone

Once the system formats the disk partitions, the installer will ask Where are you?

Type the nearest large city into the box, and the system will set your local time zone.

Click Continue.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A credit score is a number that depicts a consumer’s creditworthiness. FICO scores range from 300 to 850.
• Factors used to calculate your credit score include repayment history, types of loans, length of credit history, debt utilization, and whether you’ve applied for new accounts.
• A credit score plays a key role in a lender’s decision to offer credit and for what terms.
• The three main U.S. credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) may each calculate your FICO score differently.

Note: It is always possible to change the timezone on Ubuntu later.

Create User Account

Next, you will need to configure a user account. Fill in the following fields:

• Name: Your actual name.
• Computer name: This is the hostname or network name.
• Username: The user account name you want to use.
• Password: Enter and confirm a strong password – the installer will evaluate your password strength automatically.
• Log in automatically: This is not recommended for publicly accessible servers.
• Require my password to log in: This is recommended for publicly accessible servers.

Click Continue to install Ubuntu.

Once the installer finishes, remove the Ubuntu installation media. You will be prompted to Restart Now.

The system should boot into your fresh install of Ubuntu 20.04.

Conclusion

You should now have successfully installed Ubuntu 20.04 on your computer.

You may see a prompt to install updates if you are on a network. Install them; the only time to avoid updates is when newer versions conflict with mission-critical software.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A credit score is a number that depicts a consumer’s creditworthiness. FICO scores range from 300 to 850.
• Factors used to calculate your credit score include repayment history, types of loans, length of credit history, debt utilization, and whether you’ve applied for new accounts.
• A credit score plays a key role in a lender’s decision to offer credit and for what terms.
• The three main U.S. credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) may each calculate your FICO score differently.