University of Duisburg-Essen / Institute for Experimental Mathematics / Computer Networking Technology Group / Thomas Dreibholz

Thomas Dreibholz's Little Ubuntu Linux Installation Guide

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Introduction

Ubuntu Linux already comes with a set of useful programs on the installation CD itself. However, a basic install lacks of many different things (e.g. media codecs, compilers and development files, LaTeX). The repository file (sources.list) and install script on this page have been created to automatically install the missing stuff after setting up a basic Ubuntu system from CD. The package choice of this script is intended to create a system allowing for software development, LaTeX document processing, HTML editing, web browsing, networking and multimedia.

Installation

The following items are a step-by-step installation guide.

Get an Installation CD

First, you have to create an Ubuntu installation CD for your system. The installation CD depends on the choice of the desktop environment (KDE with Kubuntu, GNOME with Ubuntu, XFCE with Xubuntu), CPU type and installation type (Desktop or Alternate). You can boot from the CD and test the desktop. However, if unsure, I recommend Kubuntu with KDE desktop. The 32-bit version works on all x86 CPUs, the 64-bit version requires AMD64 or Intel Core processors. If unsure, use the 32-bit version. Usually, you want the Desktop installation type. Alternate is for experienced users with special hardware.
Download an installation CD here:

After download, burn the image to a CD.

Install from CD

Boot your installation CD and start the installer. The installation should be self-explaining.
For the partitioning of your harddisk, I recommend the following partition sizes:

From my experience, reiserfs is much more reliable and also faster than the default setting ext3 or ext4.
After the new system has booted, verify that your network access is okay. If necessary, configure it first. You need Internet access (e.g. DSL) for the following steps.

Prepare Repositories

The next step is to set up the repository sources where to download additional software from. First, get the sources.list file from the Download section for the version of your Ubuntu distribution. Then, open a shell and copy this file to the appropriate place: 

sudo cp sources.list.Version /etc/apt/sources.list

Note: sudo executes the copy command with root permissions (since only the administrator of a computer may do this)! You will be asked for your user account's password.
The new repository list adds repositories for media codecs and RSerPool. All files are signed with keys for security reasons. In order to check the validity of the packages downloaded from these repositories, you need to install the repository's public key with the following command: 

./install.Version initial

Run the Install Script

Download the install script from the Download section. Make it executable using the following command: 

chmod +x ./install.Version

Open the script in an editor (e.g. kate, emacs, etc.) and have a look! If you have a 64-bit system, comment in the line in the 32-bit section (i.e. add #) and comment out the line in the 64-bit section (i.e. remove #). Also have a look over the choice of packages.
If everything is okay, run the script (as root using sudo): 

./install.Version

Usually, you can agree to all questions. However, do not agree if the install program complains about being unable to verify a package signature! If you get such an error, check repository configuration! The install script will start downloading all files - about 1.5 GiB - and install them after the download. If there is a problem, try to execute the script again; sometimes the download servers are just overloaded.
When the installation is completed, reboot your system (since usually the kernel has been updated from the version on CD). After the system has booted, you can enjoy your new Ubuntu Linux installation!

Keep Your System Up-to-Date

If there are updates to be installed, your system will inform you by a symbol in the task bar. You can click on the symbol to start a self-explaining update. You can also manually check for updates and install them using: 

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Always try to keep your system up-to-date in order to avoid security risks!

Additional Steps to Install OMNeT++

This step is only necessary if you want to install the discrete event simulation toolkit OMNeT++. Your Ubuntu installation already includes all packages to install OMNeT+. In order to install it, download the latest version from https://www.omnetpp.org/ and unpack the archive to an appropriate directory in your home directory. I recommend to create a directory src for all your sources and unpack OMNeT++ there.
Assuming the directory where you have unpacked OMNeT++ is /home/user/src/omnetpp-VERSION, add the following lines to the file .basrc in your home directory (This file is the shell configuration which is loaded every time you log in and start a new shell): 

export OMNETPPDIR=/home/user/src/omnetpp-VERSION
export TCL_LIBRARY=/usr/lib/tcl8.5
export PATH=$PATH:$OMNETPPDIR/bin
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$OMNETPPDIR/lib
ulimit -c unlimited

This setup works for Tcl/Tk 8.5. If your use another Tcl/Tk version, you have to review the TCL_LIBRARY setting. The ulimit command turns the creation of core dumps for debugging on.
The new settings are activated the next time you start a bash shell (i.e. when you open a new terminal window). You should now be ready to configure and compile OMNeT++ in its directory: 

cd $OMNETPPDIR
./configure
make

Download

Download the corresponding sources.list and install script for your Ubuntu version here.

Script for Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark)

Script for Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus)

Script for Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety Yak)

Script for Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf)

Script for Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet)

Script for Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn)

Script for Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr)

Script for Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander)

Script for Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail)

Script for Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal)

Script for Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)

Script for Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot)

Script for Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal)

Script for Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat)

Script for Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)

Script for Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)

Script for Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)

Script for Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)

Script for Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron)

Script for Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)

Script for Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)

10.08.2017 Thomas Dreibholz, University of Duisburg-Essen / Institute for Experimental Mathematics / Computer Networking Technology Group

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