Chapter 1. Deploying Ubuntu Server

Ubuntu Server is an extremely powerful distribution for servers and network appliances. Whether you're setting up a high-end database host or a small office file server, the flexible nature of Ubuntu Server will meet and surpass your needs. In this book, we'll walk through all the common use-cases to help you get the most out of this exciting platform. In this chapter in particular, I'll guide you through the process of deploying Ubuntu Server on your system. We'll start off with some discussion on best practices, and then we'll obtain the software and create our installation media. Next, I'll give you a step by step rundown of the entire installation procedure. By the end of this chapter, you'll have an Ubuntu Server installation of your own to use throughout the remainder of this book. I'll even show you the process of installing Ubuntu Server on a Raspberry Pi for good measure.

In particular, we will cover:

• Setting up our lab
• Determining your server's role
• Obtaining Ubuntu Server
• Deciding between 32-bit and 64-bit installations
• Creating a bootable Ubuntu Server flash drive (Windows)
• Creating a bootable Ubuntu Server flash drive (Linux)
• Creating a bootable Ubuntu Server flash drive (Mac)
• Planning the partition layout
• Installing Ubuntu Server
• Installing Ubuntu Server (Raspberry Pi)