3.6 Installing Ubuntu

From within either the live session or the boot menu, select the option to begin the Ubuntu installation and wait for the initial screen of the installer to appear:

Figure 3-7

On the welcome screen, select your preferred language before clicking on the Continue button to proceed to the next screen:

Figure 3-8

Either select your keyboard layout or, if you are unsure, click on the Detect Keyboard Layout button to work through some steps to identify your keyboard before clicking on Continue. On the next screen, choose whether to perform the Normal or Minimal installation:

Figure 3-9

Select the Normal option if you have plenty of disk space and want to explore the main applications and utilities included with Ubuntu without having to manually install them later. Alternatively, to avoid cluttering the system with software you may never need, select the Minimal option. Regardless of the choice made here, all of the software provided with Ubuntu can be easily installed or removed at any point in the future if needed.

The option is also available to update the software packages that comprise the Ubuntu distribution during the installation. Ubuntu, as with most actively supported operating systems, continues to be updated with bug fixes and security patches long after it has been released to the public. If this option is selected and the system is connected to the internet, the installer will download any updates issued since the Ubuntu installation image was released and applies them to the system during installation. If you choose not to perform this update during the installation process these updates may still be applied at any time after the installation completes.

A second option provides the choice of whether to install 3rd party non-open source software to support specific hardware devices and the playback of proprietary media files on the system. Some users object fervently to using any software which is not published under a public license. If you are one of those people then do not select this option. If, on the other hand, you just want the best experience from your Ubuntu installation then this option is recommended.

Having made appropriate selections, click the Continue button to proceed to the disk allocation screen:

Figure 3-10

Assuming that this is a new disk on which an existing operating system is not present, the installer will provide the option to erase the entire disk and use it for Ubuntu (in which case the installer will calculate and implement a typical and recommended partition layout). Alternatively, to define your own custom disk layout, select the Something else option to manually create and size the disk partitions that will contain the operating system and your data.

Clicking on the Advanced Features button will provide the option to use Logical Volume Management (LVM). LVM is strongly recommended to make the management of the disks and partitions on the system easier, a topic covered in detail in the chapter entitled “Adding a New Disk to an Ubuntu Volume Group and Logical Volume”:

Figure 3-11

If the security of the data stored on the disk is of paramount concern, select the option to encrypt the Ubuntu installation. If this option is selected the next screen will prompt you to choose a security key which will then need to be entered each time the system starts.

The option is also provided to use the ZFS filesystem. ZFS is an advanced filesystem that has many of the features of Logical Volume Management built-in together with a range of other features such as the ability to take disk snapshots and shadowing (copy-on-write). Although ZFS has been around for many years, the implementation on Ubuntu is considered to be experimental at this stage and should not be used for production environments.

Once the selections have been made, click on the Install Now button to begin the installation process at which point the system will seek confirmation that the changes are to be made to the disk drive:

Figure 3-12

While the installation is in progress, the installer will ask for information about your geographical location in order to configure time zone settings:

Figure 3-13

Next, the installer will ask you to provide a user name and password for the first account on the system:

Figure 3-14

The option is also provided to dictate whether the password must be specified each time the user wishes to log into the system. By default, each time Ubuntu starts a login screen will be presented seeking username and password credentials. If you are the sole user of the system and would like to bypass this screen and be logged in automatically each time the system boots, be sure to set the Log in automatically checkbox before proceeding.

Once all the questions have been answered, the installer will simply proceed with the installation. Depending on the speed of your system, and whether or not you opted to download updates during the installation, this process can take some time. For a more detailed view of the steps being performed by the installer, click on the status title located above the progress bar:

Figure 3-15

When the installation is complete, a dialog will appear to inform you the system is ready to be restarted:

Figure 3-16

When you are ready to reboot, press the Restart Now button. The installer may prompt you to remove the installation media and the system will take a few moments to shut down. At this point remove the USB flash drive and press the Enter key to proceed.