Ubuntu Tutorials

Happy Ubuntu release day! The latest and greatest that the Ubuntu team has to offer is now available for download. Good luck getting it from the main site though. The only chance of getting a reasonable download speed is getting it from an alternate location, or updating what you currently have! In this short article I will outline how to update your existing alpha, beta or RC images to the final image in a fraction of the time it takes to download the full CD!

zsync

The download mirrors for this release have started to include .zsync files. zsync is similar to rsync, but it puts the load on the client vs the server, and it allows you to update your existing images in a fraction of the time it would take to re-download the full image.

I just finished using zsync to update my existing RC image, and I had the final version in just under three minutes. Not bad considering the amount of people trying to download!

To get started using zsync you’ll need to run the following command (or click the link):

sudo aptitude install zsync

Once that is installed you’ll need to rename your existing image, whether it be the alpha, beta or RC image, to the final image. As an example, I did:

mv ubuntu-9.10-rc-desktop-i386.iso ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso


After you’ve renamed your image to match the final, you can run zsync using one of the commands below. Find your version (Desktop, Alternate, Netbook Remix or Server) and architecture:

32bit Desktop

zsync http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.as29550.net/releases.ubuntu.com/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Ubuntu/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirrors.xmission.com/ubuntu-cd/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.osuosl.org/releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.inode.at/cdimage/karmic/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso.zsync

64bit Desktop

zsync http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.as29550.net/releases.ubuntu.com/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Ubuntu/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.osuosl.org/releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirrors.xmission.com/ubuntu-cd/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.inode.at/cdimage/karmic/ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync

32bit Alternate

zsync http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.as29550.net/releases.ubuntu.com/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Ubuntu/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.osuosl.org/releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirrors.xmission.com/ubuntu-cd/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.inode.at/cdimage/karmic/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-i386.iso.zsync

64bit Alternate

zsync http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.as29550.net/releases.ubuntu.com/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Ubuntu/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.osuosl.org/releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirrors.xmission.com/ubuntu-cd/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.inode.at/cdimage/karmic/ubuntu-9.10-alternate-amd64.iso.zsync

32bit Netbook Remix

zsync http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-netbook-remix-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-netbook-remix-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.as29550.net/releases.ubuntu.com/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-netbook-remix-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Ubuntu/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-netbook-remix-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.osuosl.org/releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-netbook-remix-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirrors.xmission.com/ubuntu-cd/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-netbook-remix-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.inode.at/cdimage/karmic/ubuntu-9.10-netbook-remix-i386.iso.zsync

32bit Server

zsync http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.as29550.net/releases.ubuntu.com/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Ubuntu/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.osuosl.org/releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirrors.xmission.com/ubuntu-cd/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-i386.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.inode.at/cdimage/karmic/ubuntu-9.10-server-i386.iso.zsync

64bit Server

zsync http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu-releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.as29550.net/releases.ubuntu.com/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Ubuntu/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.osuosl.org/releases/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://mirrors.xmission.com/ubuntu-cd/9.10/ubuntu-9.10-server-amd64.iso.zsync
zsync http://ubuntu.inode.at/cdimage/karmic/ubuntu-9.10-server-amd64.iso.zsync

zsync will automate the rest of the process by scanning your image, comparing it to the list of files on the final image, and then synchronizing the two. Your download speed may vary, but mine was finished in just a few minutes.

Once you have the final image please seed it by downloading the .torrent file and allow it to share the updated .iso!

So the new Ubuntu is here and you’re just dying to upgrade and have a look at all the new features! With just a few simple steps you’ll be up and running the new system in no time! Before you dive right in there are a few things you should know, and a few ways to (hopefully) make your upgrade process more pleasant.

Upgrade vs Fresh Install

You may wonder if its a better idea to do a fresh install vs upgrade your current installation. There are benefits to doing a fresh installation, but there are also benefits to upgrading your system in place. First, you don’t need to deal with finding and backing up all of your data. Ever done that before and forget something? It’s easy to do. Doing a fresh installation will require that you backup anything you want to keep, because a fresh install will clobber your drive and start fresh. An upgrade on the other hand can be done in place, and you can generally keep working while it churns along in the background. Keep working on the web, or write emails. Do whatever it is that you normally do while your machine upgrades quietly in the background. This is not a problem with the upgrade process.

Another reason that I might suggest doing an in-place upgrade is that it is supposed to be a supported method to move from one release to another, and we should ensure that is the case by using and testing it. The last thing we want to do is provide new and exciting releases every six months, yet require everyone to start fresh each time. This goes particularly for those running Ubuntu that are not tech enthusiasts. Ubuntu should be easy to install, once, and then easy to upgrade as needed after that. I would suggest doing an in-place upgrade and ensure that process continues to mature.

Preparation

Before you get started there are a few things you should know.

First, this upgrade only works from Ubuntu 9.04 to 9.10. If you’re on a previous version (8.10 or earlier) you will not be able to directly upgrade to 9.10. In that situation you’ll either want to do a fresh installation OR do incremental upgrades leading up to 9.10. Incremental upgrades are beyond the scope of this article, but there is plenty of documentation regarding the process here.

Second, I suggest that you apply all available updates to your current system before you move to the new version. You can do this in two ways. One involves the command line and another includes the graphical interface. I’ll outline each below.

Command Line Updates (Pre-Upgrade)

On the command-line (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) you can run the following command to check for and apply any updates pending for your current installation.

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude safe-upgrade && sudo aptitude full-upgrade

Apply any updates that are pending from the command above before you move onto the next step, Upgrading. Follow any suggestions to reboot before moving on as well.

Graphical Updates (Pre-Upgrade)

If you prefer the graphical environment you can check for and apply updates by way of the Update Manager tool (System > Administration > Update Manager). This tool will automatically scan for and list any pending updates. Again, be sure to apply these before moving to the next step. This includes applying and rebooting for kernel updates before proceeding.

Selecting a Mirror

The steps outlined below describe how to do a network-based in-place upgrade. This will require an internet connection as well as a repository to connect to. I can’t stress this next point enough. Please. Please configure your system to use an alternate Ubuntu mirror other than the default. The default mirror(s) will be so overwhelmed with traffic that it’ll take forever to update your system. I might suggest using something like mirrors.kernel.org or another public mirror with a healthy pipe. You can also look for regional mirrors here. The list of regional mirrors also communicates how up to date the mirror is. You will, of course, need to select and up to date mirror.

To configure your system to use an alternate mirror you can follow the following steps:

1. Open “Update Manager” (System > Administration > Update Manager)
2. Click “Settings”
3. On the “Ubuntu Software” tab there is a drop-down box labeled “Download From”
4. Select “Other”
5. Manually select a regional mirror OR click the button “Select Best Server”

Upgrading to Ubuntu 9.10

So you’ve applied all of the pending updates for Ubuntu 9.04 and now you’re ready to move on to Ubuntu 9.10. As above, this can be done via the command line or graphical interface. In this case, I might suggest the graphical interface.

Navigate to System > Administration > Update Manager and let it scan for available updates.

If you are reading this after the release of Ubuntu 9.10 (Oct 29th), this tool will automatically suggest that there is a new version available and offer to let you upgrade. This process will be automated for the most part, and quietly work in the background while you continue with your day. When it is finished it will suggest that you reboot your machine for the changes to take effect. When your machine comes back up you’ll be ready with Ubuntu 9.10.

Enjoy!

Yesterday I installed the Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala” Beta release by way of the desktop (Live-CD) based installer. The installation was very clean and polished. It has been a while since I’ve used a graphical installer and I am pleased with the improvements that I found. It definitely rivals any “professional” or “enterprise” install session that I’ve ever seen, and easily beats them in terms of speed and ease. I’d like to give a short review of the Beta release and encourage everyone to try it and finalize any remaining bugs.

Installation

The installation was quick and painless. All of the questions were asked in the beginning and then the installer took over. During the installation messages were displayed regarding the benefits of Ubuntu and the software that it provided. Below are some screenshots of the installation process.

This is the initial installation screen. As you can see it offers a number of options including disk and memory checks, as well as booting off existing installations. I selected “Install Ubuntu” and hit [ENTER].

This appears to be the initial boot splash screen while the Live-CD installer is booting.

A preview of the new default wallpaper.

Welcome to the installer! Select your preferred language. This language will be used during and after the installation.

Select your timezone. I very much like this improved location selector tool. Instead of trying to find myself on a map that zooms in and out (you may remember what I’m referring to from previous releases), this simply slices up the world into timezones and allows you to select yours.

Select your keyboard layout. For US English standard qwerty layouts you can click forward. I needed to select “Choose your own:” and “USA – Dvorak” for my layout.

Partitioning was simple. I erased and used the entire disk.

Username information. Enter your full name, username and password information. Remember that this user will also act as the initial administrator.

I also like the addition of the “Require my password to log in and to decrypt my home folder” as well as the other options. I selected the last option and am using the encrypted home folder system.

Final review point before installation. From here you can still go back and make changes. Once you click install it should be hands free from here out.

Welcome to Ubuntu 9.10 – “Ubuntu is designed to be easy. Feel free to explore!”

Browse the web with Firefox

Relive Memories with F-Spot Photo Manager

Accessibility in Ubuntu

Control your digital life with Evolution

Keep in contact with Empathy IM

Office tools at your fingertips

Watch and listen on Ubuntu

Installing additional software

Getting Help with Ubuntu

Post Installation

Installation complete. At this point you can restart the machine and your installation should be done.

This is a screenshot of my final installation. I have changed the following:

• GNOME panels moved to top. Panel size 23px.
• All fonts set to Droid Sans 8pt.
• 96 DPI, LCD antialiasing
• Shiki Brave Theme
• Selected the space desktop wallpaper(s). These auto-rotate.
• Installed Gnome-Do, Dropbox and Chromium Browser

Conclusion

So far I think this release seems very polished. The graphics and artwork are very clean and professional. I had no trouble getting things installed properly, and I haven’t had any issues post-installation. The notification system appears to be a little more polished as compared to 9.04. We’ll see what my feelings are with continued use.

So far I am pleased with this release and would confidently suggest it to others, even if it is the Beta release.

Bugs

I did submit two bugs since I installed. I’ve listed them below for feedback, verification and hopefully closure:

• Required icon themes missing from included theme set – #440635
• GDM ignores keyboard layout selections for variants – #421212

I very briefly tried out the fifth alpha release of Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala” tonite and I thought I would share some of my immediate impressions with the rest of you. To sum it up, I hope others are having better luck with it than I did.

System

The machine that I installed on is a Dell Latitude D630. That is a Core 2 Duo 2.10GHz, 2G RAM, 80G HDD, Integrated Intel video and Intel 3945ABG wireless adapter. It is pretty standard hardware as far as I’m concerned–the intel hardware is all supported just fine.

Negatives

I installed using the alpha 5 alternate installer (text based). I used LVM + encryption for my partitioning and otherwise used all default settings, but my problems started before the installer was even finished. Actually, I don’t know if I can accurately say that because the installer never actually did finish. It got to the point of adding the user(s) and then hung. I finally decided to reboot the machine and see what state it was in.. maybe it could be salvaged. Luckily it seemed to be in working bootable order. at least at first glance..

Some of you may remember that I’m a dvorak user. Most of the time this doesn’t cause any problems as I’m the only user on my machine and I can configure the keyboard anyway I’d like. There are those few exceptions however where it ends up causing issues. This was one of them.

When I tried logging into my new installation I noticed the keyboard settings weren’t in place. It was still trying to use qwerty, even though I had used dvorak throughout the installation. I tried setting it manually, which worked during my session, but didn’t persist. I even tried reinstalling the console-setup package to alter the system-wide keyboard. That didn’t seem to take effect either.

I noticed some other oddities as well, most of them linked back to the keyboard layout issue.

Positives

On the positive side I was very impressed with the improved boot time and splash screen. I didn’t time the boot, but I want to say the speed was improved. The graphics were also a bit cleaned up. Ohh, and the horrible GDM graphic from 9.04 was gone as well!

I was also glad to see that ext4 is the new default filesystem. I’ve been running ext4 since it become “stable” and I’ve had no problems with it at all. It is *much* faster than ext3 as well as most of the other common file systems.

The addition of GRUB2 will be very interesting I’m sure. I didn’t get to play with it much, but I’m glad to see that is finally being used. I understand there are a lot of technical improvements in GRUB2 vs the traditional “legacy” GRUB.

I also noticed that some of the issues I’ve had in the past with Intel video were gone. This is due to the replacement of EXA with UXA. For any of you Intel users, this is a big one to be excited about, particularly if you have issues currently on Ubuntu 9.04.

Conclusion

In conclusion I think there are going to be a lot of very noticeable improvements in Ubuntu 9.10 and I’ll be happy to use it. Based on my keyboard issues however it will be hard for me to use at this point. I’ve gone back to Ubuntu 9.04 for the meantime. Perhaps I’ll try it again when it hits Beta.

What regressions or improvements have you found with Ubuntu 9.10 releases? Are you excited to see it coming or are you going to be reluctant to upgrade? I’d really like to hear that other people are having better luck than I did. Chances are, considering my problems were dvorak related, you probably did.

What a difference thirty minutes can make. I checked for the final release before I left for work, nothing. I checked when I got into work and there it was! I also noticed that the main site was already lousy with traffic and it is only going to get worse. I thought it’d be a good idea to share the .torrent links from here, which will allow you to download the latest image without affecting the main site or any of the mirrors.

Find your preferred version below and start downloading. Also, please be a good citizen and seed at least 1:1.

note: alternate images are text-based installers. desktop images are live-CD installers.

Update: added Edubuntu torrents.
Update: added Netbook Remix (no .torrents) metalink

Ubuntu
ubuntu-9.04-alternate-amd64.iso
ubuntu-9.04-alternate-i386.iso
ubuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso
ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso
ubuntu-9.04-server-amd64.iso
ubuntu-9.04-server-i386.iso

Kubuntu
kubuntu-9.04-alternate-amd64.iso
kubuntu-9.04-alternate-i386.iso
kubuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso
kubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso

Mythbuntu
mythbuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso
mythbuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso

Ubuntu Studio
ubuntustudio-9.04-alternate-amd64.iso
ubuntustudio-9.04-alternate-i386.iso

Xubuntu
xubuntu-9.04-alternate-amd64.iso
xubuntu-9.04-alternate-i386.iso
xubuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso
xubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso

Edubuntu
edubuntu-9.04-addon-amd64.iso
edubuntu-9.04-addon-i386.iso

Netbook Remix
jaunty-netboox-remix-i386.metalink

UPDATED: added Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Ubuntu Studio links!!

Well its official.  Ubuntu 8.10 “Intrepid Ibex” has been officially released.  Everyone get your torrents ready and seed! seed! seed!

In an attempt to try and relieve some of the load I’ve made the .torrents, .jigdo, metalink and MD5SUM files available on my server.  If you’re unable to access the main site(s) you can find the torrents for your preferred flavor below:

Ubuntu
Kubuntu
Xubuntu
Ubuntu Studio
Mythbuntu

The upgrade series of posts that published over the last week have been updated to represent a final release (vs a devel-release), and should all work properly.  If you have any problems with upgrading try using the ubuntu tutorials forums and we’ll see if we can help you out.

Enjoy!

With only four days to go before Ubuntu 8.10 is released we should start preparing.  Those of us that know we are going to be upgrading, or would like to seed torrents, should do what we can ahead of time to help conserve bandwidth.  Here are some things you can do to be prepared come release day:

1. Use jigdo to download your image(s) now, and simply do an incremental download on release day.
2. Make sure your internal mirrors are up-to-date.
3. Use apt-cacher if you’ll be using network-upgrade to update multiple machines.
4. Volunteer your internal mirror to your local release party.
5. Use a local or regional mirror and take the load off the main sites.

Continuing the series on upgrading Ubuntu to 8.10 “Intrepid” today I’ll outline using a downloaded CD for the upgrade.  If you already have the CD downloaded there is no need to use one of the previous methods and use your bandwidth.  You already have the packages available on the CD, and you can use that as a source.

What you’ll need to do is insert your 8.10 “Intrepid” CD into the machine to be upgraded.  You should recieve a graphical notification that a new version is available and the upgrade process should begin.

If for whatever reason this process does not start automagically you can manually begin the process with the following:

gksu "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

If you are a Kubuntu user you can begin the process with this command:

kdesu "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

Good luck.

Continuing my series on how to upgrade to Ubuntu 8.10 “Intrepid” I now bring you steps on how to upgrade your Ubuntu Server installation.  Again, these steps are nearly as simple as a desktop upgrade.  The Ubuntu development team has done a really great job of making upgrading simple and painless.

First of all you’ll need to install the upgrade management utility:

sudo aptitude install update-manager-core

Once that is installed (it may already be there, YMMV), start the upgrade manager:

sudo do-release-upgrade

Simply follow the on-screen instructions at this point.  Note: The upgrade manager will alert you that upgrading via remote ssh connection is not suggested, however I have done it multiple times without issue.  Again, your milage may vary.

Enjoy

My last post outlined how to upgrade your Ubuntu desktop from 8.04 LTS to 8.10.  This post addresses those fans of the bling that is KDE.

To upgrade your Kubuntu 8.04 system to 8.10 follow these few steps:

Use the shortcut key “Alt+F2″.  Within the resulting dialog box enter:

kdesu "adept_manager"

You should then see a prompt for “Version Upgrade”.  Select this and follow the prompts.

Both Kubuntu and Ubuntu desktops should be pretty seamless to upgrade using these steps.