Ubuntu Server Installation
Wipe off the USB drive
Windows
Mac
Insert the USB drive.
Open Terminal.
Find the location of the USB drive:
Type in the following command to list all the drives. This should show a listing of the different drives.
diskutil list
Find your USB drive in the list (it will be something like
/dev/diskX (external, physical)
where X is the number assigned to your USB drive. Look at the size of the drive to verify that it is the correct drive.
Before erasing, you may need to unmount the drive. Replace
X
with the correct disk number (e.g.,/dev/disk2
).diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX
Erase the drive:
Use the following command to completely erase the USB drive and remove all partitions. This will erase everything, so be sure you have selected the correct disk.
sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 NEWNAME MBRFormat /dev/diskX
Replace
NEWNAME
with the name you want to assign to the USB drive, and replacediskX
with the correct disk number. You can also change the file system type (FAT32
,APFS
, etc.) and partition scheme (MBRFormat
for BIOS systems orGPT
for UEFI systems) if needed.For example,
Linux
Image the USB drive
Windows
Mac
Insert the USB drive on which to install the Ubuntu Server image.
This installation requires the use of Balena Etcher.
A local archive of the Balena Etcher installation files can be found on Sharepoint here: https://uofwaterloo.sharepoint.com/sites/tm-eng-ecelabinstructors/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2Ftm%2Deng%2Decelabinstructors%2FShared%20Documents%2FGeneral%2FLab%20Software%2FBalena%20Etcher&viewid=bd9d77ef%2Ddd67%2D4c6a%2Daccd%2Dd84e9b3c6a43
Installation files for Balena Etcher can be found on the Internet here: https://etcher.balena.io/#download-etcher
Download a copy of the Ubuntu Server ISO.
A local archive of the Ubuntu Server ISO files can be found on Sharepoint here:
the Ubuntu Server ISO files can be found on the Internet here: https://ubuntu.com/download/server#get-ubuntu
Start balenaEtcher.
Click the Flash from file button.
Select the Ubuntu Server ISO file (e.g., ubuntu-24.04.1-live-server-amd64.iso) and click the Open button.
Click the Select target button.
Click the checkbox for the desired drive and click the Select button.
Click the Flash! button.
Enter the password for an account with administrator privileges in order to authorize the installation.
The installation of the image will take about 5 minutes, depending on the speed of the USB drive.
Linux
Install Ubuntu Server
Insert the Ubuntu Server install USB drive into the computer.
Boot the computer from the USB drive.
Server configuration settings:
Select language:
English
Do not update to new installer - Continue without updating
Keyboard layout
Layout:
English (US)
Variant:
English (US)
Type of installation:
Ubuntu Server
Network configuration: use MAC address to register IP address in IPAM
Verify that mirror location passed tests.
Guided storage configuration:
Use an entire disk:
checked
Set up this disk as an LVM group:
checked
Storage configuration:
Set ubuntu-lv to use maximum available storage.
Profile configuraion:
Your name:
ECE LI Admin
You servers name: match DNS address entered in IPAM
Pick a username:
ece-li-admin
Choose a password: use the standard password for the
ece-li-admin
account
Upgrade to Ubuntu Pro:
Skip for now
Install OpenSSH server:
checked
After installation, select Reboot now
You may be prompted to remove the installation medium and press ENTER.
Remove the USB drive from the computer.
Press ENTER.
Proxy server
Access to the public Internet using a proxy server can be setup during the installation process. For manual setup:
Edit the
/etc/environment
file.Add the following lines to the
environment
file:
Standard packages
Install the following packages.
net-tools
- Forifconfig
.
Setup administrators accounts
The ece-li-admin account should not be used regularly. Create individual accounts for each administrator.
Account Administration | Create administrator account