How to Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop

Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop

On Thursday, April 23rd, 2020, Canonical Ltd, the makers of Ubuntu Linux distribution officially released the long-awaited Ubuntu 20.04 version code-named “Focal Fossa”, it is an LTS (Long Term Support) version based on Linux kernel series 5.4, for which maintenance updates will be provided for 5 years until April 2025 and it will reach end-of-life in 2030.

New Features in the Desktop Edition

The new desktop features include a new graphical bootsplash (integrates with the system BIOS logo), refreshed Yaru theme, GNOME 3.36, Mesa 20.0 OpenGL stack, BlueZ 5.53, PulseAudio 14.0 (prerelease), Firefox 75.0, Thunderbird 68.7.0, and LibreOffice 6.4. Concerning network configuration, netplan comes with many added features.

Download Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop ISO

The Ubuntu installation ISO image can be downloaded using the following link for the x64 bit system only.

ubuntu-20.04-desktop-amd64.iso

In this article, you will learn how to install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS with screenshots. If you prefer an upgrade, read our guide that shows HowTo Upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 from Ubuntu 18.04

Installation of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop

1. Once you have obtained the Ubuntu 20.04 desktop image, Next, insert the bootable DVD or USB into the appropriate drive on your machine

Once the BIOS detects the bootable media, it boots from it. After a successful boot, the installer will check your disk (file system), press Ctrl+C to skip this process.

Checking Ubuntu Disk

2. When disk checking is complete or if you have canceled it, after a few seconds, you should see the Ubuntu 20.04 welcome page as shown in the following screenshot.

Select Install Ubuntu.

Select Install Ubuntu

3. Next, choose your keyboard layout and click Continue.

Select Keyboard Layout

4. After that, choose the apps you want to install based on the installation type (normal or minimal installation). Also, check the option to install updates during the installation process and where to install third-party software.

Select Ubuntu Installation Type

5. Now choose the actual installation type.

Choose Installation Type

6. Now you need to partition your hard drive for the installation. Simply select/click on the unpartitioned storage device from the list of available storage devices. Then click New Partition Table.

Note that the installer will auto-select the device on which the boot-loader will be installed as shown in the following screenshot.

Create New Partition Table

7. Next, click Continue from the pop-up window to create an empty partition table on the device.

Create New Empty Partition

8. Now you should be able to see the free space created equivalent to the capacity of the hard drive. Double click on the free space to create a partition as described next.

Free Space for Ubuntu Installation

9. To create a root(/) partition (where the base system files will be installed), enter the size of the new partition out of the total free space. Then set the file system type to EXT4 and the mount point to / from the drop-down list.

Create root partition

10. Now the new partition should appear in the list of partition as shown in the next screenshot.

New Ubuntu Partition Table

11. Next, you need to create a swap partition/area. Double click on the current free space to create a new partition to be used as swap area. Then enter the swap partition size and set swap area as shown in the following screenshot.

Create Swap partition

12. At this point, you should see two partitions created, the root partition and the swap partition. Next, click Install Now.

Ubuntu Partitions

13. You will be prompted to permit the installer to write the recent changes concerning partitioning to disk. Click Continue to proceed.

Write changes to disk

14. Here, there are two scenarios we will consider.

First is using an unpartitioned hard drive with no operating system installed. Then secondly, we will also consider how to install on an already partitioned hard drive (with an existing OS e.g Ubuntu 18.04).

But we are followed first scenario on this tutorial.

15. Next, select your location and click Continue.

Select Current Location

16. Then provide your user details for system account creation. Enter your full name, computer name and username, and a strong, secure password as shown in the following screenshot. Then click Continue.

Create User

17. Now the actual base system installation will begin as shown in the following screenshot. Wait for it to finish.

Ubuntu Base System Installation

18. Once the system installation is complete, reboot your system by clicking Restart Now. Remember to remove the installation media, otherwise, the system will still boot from it.

Ubuntu Installation Complete

19. After the restart, click on your name from the interface below, then log into your new Ubuntu 20.04 installation by providing the correct password you entered during the user creation step.

Select user login

20. After login, follow the on-screen instructions to connect to online accounts (or skip), set up Livepatch (or click Next), accept the option to send usage information to Canonical (or click Next), then one you see Ready to go, click Done to start using your system.