1. Overview
Ubuntu server 20.04 is the latest LTS release of the Ubuntu Server edition. In this tutorial, we’re going to install Ubuntu Server 20.04 using a bootable USB drive, let’s get started.
2. Prerequisite
Before we can proceed let’s download the Ubuntu Server ISO image from ubuntu.com. You’ll also need a USB flash drive of at least 4 GB. please refer to Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive with Rufus to create a bootable USB flash drive. If you’re using a Linux system you can also use dd command to create a bootable drive.
sudo dd if=Downloads/ubuntu-20.04.1-live-server-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdb status=progress
3. Boot target system
Restart/start the target system and change the boot device to the USB flash drive. On the most system, this can be easily done by accessing One-Time Boot Menu by pressing the F12 key while system starts. If this does not work go to bios settings and change the boot device to USB flash drive. Once the system boots up you’re presented with the language selection screen. Select the appropriate language and press the Enter key.
4. Select Keyboard Layout
select the appropriate keyboard layout and select DONE and press the Enter key. You can go to different options by TAB key or arrow keys.
5. Configure network
If you do not want to set static IP Select Done and press Enter. If you want to set static IP Select the network interface name and press Enter to reveal options. Select Edit IPv4 and press Enter and fill in the necessary details like IP address, netmask, gateway, etc.
6. Configure Proxy
This step is required only if your web server is behind the proxy. If your server is behind the proxy enter the proxy information in the format http://[[user][:pass]@]host[:port]/. If you don’t use a proxy then just leave the field blank, select Done, and press the Enter key.
7. Configure Mirror
If you use an alternative mirror enter the mirror address otherwise Ubuntu selects the mirror nearest to you, leave it as it is and select Done and press Enter key.
8. Create a partition table
If you’re installing this for just testing select Use an entire disk option and select Done and press the Enter key. If you’re using this server for any other purpose then, it’s better to create a custom partition. You might create a different partition based on your requirement. Generally following partition’s are created swap, /boot, /boot/efi, home, /var and /tmp. Here we’re going to create the following partitions.
- Swap 8 GB
- /boot 1 GB
- /var 25 GB
- /usr 10 GB
- / 55 GB
Select Custom Storage Layout and select Done and press Enter.

/boot partition:
Select the storage Device from under the AVAILABLE DEVICES and press Enter to reveal options. Select Add GPT Partition and press Enter.
Now fill the details as shown.
Similarly, we’ll create the rest of the partition.
SWAP partition:
/var partition:
/usr partition:
/ partition:
After creating all the required partition select Done and press Enter.
The system will present a confirmation dialog. Verify that all partitions are created as required, select Continue and press Enter.
9. Profile Setup
Enter username, hostname, password and other information to create the user account.
10. SSH setup
select Install OpenSSH Server and select Done and press Enter.
11. Additional software installation
Select the applications that you’d like to install and select Done.
wait for the Ubuntu installation to finalize. Once you see the following screen. The installation is successfully completed. Select Reboot and press Enter.
Remove the installation media when the screen prompt asks to do so, and press Enter.
12. Log in to installed system
After the system reboots, use the credentials that we created in the previous step and log in to the system. Before you start using make sure everything is Up-TO-Date by issuing the following command.
sudo apt update && apt upgrade
13. Conclusion
You have successfully deployed Ubuntu Server 20.04 in your system. Now your system is ready for application installation and other uses. Please feel free to share your feedback and comments.