How to install and set up an Ubuntu server

You can start in­stalling an Ubuntu server as soon as you have created a bootable medium con­tain­ing the in­stal­la­tion image of the open-source operating system. The in­stal­la­tion assistant then guides you through the setup process. We have sum­ma­rized the most important in­for­ma­tion and the initial con­fig­u­ra­tion steps for you.

How to install Ubuntu Server and set it up step by step

The server edition of the popular Linux dis­tri­b­u­tion Ubuntu offers a lean, min­i­mal­ist foun­da­tion for a wide range of server use cases—whether as an email server, a web hosting platform, or a file server. Because Ubuntu Server Edition runs without a graphical user interface, it is es­pe­cial­ly resource-efficient and well suited to per­for­mance-focused server en­vi­ron­ments:

• At least a 1 GHz CPU (rec­om­mend­ed: 2 GHz dual-core or better)
• At least 1 GB of memory (RAM) (rec­om­mend­ed: 3 GB RAM or more)
• At least 5 GB of hard drive space (rec­om­mend­ed: 25 GB or more)

The following section provides all the essential in­for­ma­tion you need to install and configure an Ubuntu server. This guide uses version 22.04 as an example.

Step 1: Create an Ubuntu server boot medium

The easiest way to get the in­stal­la­tion of the Ubuntu Server Edition underway is to create a boot medium. For this, you can use a CD/DVD or, more tra­di­tion­al­ly, a USB flash drive with at least 4 gigabytes of available storage capacity. You’ll also need the image file for the Ubuntu server ap­pli­ca­tion, which you can download in the first step from the official Ubuntu website.

After down­load­ing, copy the ISO file to the selected medium.

Step 2: Start the in­stal­la­tion

Once you have created a boot medium, you can set up or install Ubuntu Server. To do so, connect your server to the bootable USB drive and start the device. If you are using a CD or DVD, insert the disc and reboot the server. As soon as the image file has been read, your server will display a window from the GNU GRUB boot­loader. Confirm the selected entry “Try or Install Ubuntu Server” to begin in­stalling Ubuntu Server.

Step 3: Select the system language and keyboard layout

After a brief pre-con­fig­u­ra­tion, the in­stal­la­tion wizard for Ubuntu Server will launch. The process is straight­for­ward. Use the arrow keys to move between the available options and press the Enter key to confirm your selection. In the first step, choose the system language, which will also be used through­out the rest of the in­stal­la­tion.

After you’ve selected the general system language, continue with con­fig­ur­ing the keyboard layout by either selecting the desired keyboard language manually from the available list or using the “Identify keyboard” option to have the wizard detect the layout.

Step 4: Select the Ubuntu server variant

In the next step, you define the base con­fig­u­ra­tion for the in­stal­la­tion. If you choose the standard option, “Ubuntu Server,” a basic set of software packages will be installed. These packages provide all the essential tools needed to work with Ubuntu Server com­fort­ably in everyday use.

Al­ter­na­tive­ly, selecting “Ubuntu Server (minimized)” installs a reduced system in which many user tools are omitted. This resource-saving option is best suited for scenarios where you expect very little direct in­ter­ac­tion with the server.

To choose between the two options, press the Enter key to place an X next to the desired option.

Step 5: Network and proxy settings

Next come the settings options for the network con­nec­tion and proxy server.

If your Ubuntu Server is already connected to a network with an active DHCP service, the ap­pro­pri­ate network adapter is usually con­fig­ured au­to­mat­i­cal­ly. If you cannot or do not want to establish a network con­nec­tion at this stage, you can continue the in­stal­la­tion by selecting “Continue without network.”

If your Ubuntu server is supposed to use a proxy server to connect to the internet, enter the in­di­vid­ual address of the HTTP proxy in the following dialog.

Step 6: Configure the Ubuntu archive mirror

The many software packages included in the Ubuntu dis­tri­b­u­tion are updated regularly and stored in the public archive at archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu. However, you are not limited to this single source. Numerous copies of the archive exist in the form of so-called Ubuntu archive mirrors, also known as Ubuntu mirror servers. These mirrors provide re­dun­dan­cy and help dis­trib­ute server load. If you prefer to use a different source, you can enter the address of an al­ter­na­tive mirror instead of the default archive.

Step 7: Manage storage space

One large hard drive or multiple par­ti­tions? You’ll make this decision in the next step of the setup, under “Guided storage con­fig­u­ra­tion.” In most cases, the pre­s­e­lect­ed option to use the entire disk is the best choice for an Ubuntu server.

In the following screen, the wizard displays a summary of the file system. Even if you chose not to create multiple par­ti­tions, you may still see several listed. This is normal, as Ubuntu au­to­mat­i­cal­ly creates small par­ti­tions for essential system files and the boot­loader.

Once you confirm the storage con­fig­u­ra­tion, you’ll be informed that all existing data on the selected drive will be deleted. To proceed with the in­stal­la­tion, you must confirm and agree to this deletion.

Step 8: Set up your profile

Create the user account for logging in to your Ubuntu server by entering your name, your desired username, and a password. You can also specify the name of your server, which will later be used when com­mu­ni­cat­ing with other computers.

Step 9: Set up SSH

SSH is an important tech­nol­o­gy for secure remote access to your server. During the in­stal­la­tion process, you can install the OpenSSH package by simply selecting the ap­pro­pri­ate checkbox. If you already have SSH keys stored with GitHub or Launchpad, you can import them directly at this stage.

Step 10: Complete the Ubuntu server in­stal­la­tion

After setting up SSH, the wizard au­to­mat­i­cal­ly starts the actual in­stal­la­tion. If it was suc­cess­ful, you’ll see the message “Install complete!”

Remove the boot media and select “Reboot now” to complete the in­stal­la­tion.