Minimal Ubuntu Install

This page describes how to install the Regolith Desktop into Ubuntu Server. This approach produces a minimal setup as many of the standard GNOME desktop packages present in a desktop install will be avoided.

Steps

Install Ubuntu Server

Follow online instructions for installing a fresh copy of Ubuntu Server versions either 20.04 or 22.04.

Add Regolith’s package key and apt repository

Once Ubuntu Server has been installed, log into a terminal session. Use the following URLs to download the installation directions as a text file:

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble): install-release-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.txt
Ubuntu 23.10 (Mantic): install-release-ubuntu-23.10-amd64.txt
Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar): install-release-ubuntu-23.04-amd64.txt
Ubuntu 22.10 (Kinetic): install-release-ubuntu-22.10-amd64.txt
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy): install-release-ubuntu-22.04-amd64.txt
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal): install-release-ubuntu-20.04-amd64.txt

Debian 12 (Bookworm): install-release-debian-12-amd64.txt
Debian 11 (Bullseye): install-release-debian-11-amd64.txt

Example:

wget https://regolith-desktop.com/install-release-ubuntu-22.04-amd64.txt
cat install-release-ubuntu-22.04-amd64.txt

Manually execute each step in the text file, or source the file if you’re feeling adventurous. Once complete, the Regolith Desktop package repositories are installed into the new system.

Install the Regolith Ubuntu System

There is a special package that is used in the ISO that can also be used in a minimal install such as this: regolith-system-ubuntu. This package includes extra branding not used in typical desktop installs which may share multiple desktop environments. Run the following command to install Regolith Desktop and all of it’s dependencies:

sudo apt install regolith-system-ubuntu

Reboot

Once the system boots back up, the lightdm login manager will allow you to log into your new Regolith environment.