Every server we run starts the same way: a blank machine, a USB drive, and the Ubuntu Server installer. This is the step before the step before Nginx — before you can harden a fresh server or install anything on it, Ubuntu itself has to actually be on the machine. This guide covers exactly that: downloading the installer, writing it to a USB drive, and getting through the installation screens, on real hardware or a spare machine you’re setting up yourself.
If you’re provisioning a cloud VPS instead (DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS Lightsail, and similar), the provider usually images the disk with Ubuntu for you and this whole guide doesn’t apply — skip straight to our post on initial server setup once the box boots. This one is for installing Ubuntu yourself, from scratch, on physical or virtual hardware you control directly.
What you’ll need
- A USB drive, at least 4GB, that you don’t mind erasing completely
- Another computer to download the installer and write the USB drive from
- The target machine — the one Ubuntu is actually being installed on — with a monitor and keyboard attached, or remote access to its BIOS/IPMI console if it’s headless
- A wired network connection for the target machine, if possible — the installer can configure Wi-Fi, but wired is simpler and more reliable during setup
- About 20–30 minutes, most of it unattended once the install actually starts
This will erase everything on the target machine’s disk. Back up anything on it you want to keep before starting Step 9.
Step 1: Download the Ubuntu Server ISO
Go to ubuntu.com/download/server and download the latest LTS release — currently Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (“Resolute Raccoon”). LTS releases get five years of security updates, which is what you want on anything running unattended; skip the interim (non-LTS) releases for a server. The file you’re looking for is named something like:
ubuntu-26.04-live-server-amd64.isoIt’s a couple of gigabytes, so this is the slowest part of the whole process on a typical connection.
Step 2: Verify the Download
Worth the extra minute, especially over a slow or flaky connection — a corrupted ISO tends to fail partway through installation rather than up front, which wastes far more time than checking now. Ubuntu publishes checksums alongside every release. Download the checksum file from the same release page (or directly, replacing the version if needed):
curl -O https://releases.ubuntu.com/26.04/SHA256SUMSThen, from the same directory as the ISO, check it:
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missingYou’re looking for a line that says ubuntu-26.04-live-server-amd64.iso: OK. If it says FAILED instead, delete the ISO and download it again — don’t install from a file that fails this check.
Step 3: Create a Bootable USB Drive
Plug in the USB drive and write the ISO to it. Whichever tool you use, this erases everything currently on the drive.
On Windows: use Rufus. Open it, select the ISO, select your USB drive, and click Start with the default settings.
On macOS or Windows (GUI option): use balenaEtcher — select the ISO, select the drive, click Flash, and confirm.
On Linux (or from a terminal anywhere that has dd), first find the correct device name for your USB drive — this matters, since writing to the wrong device can destroy data on the wrong disk:
lsblkIdentify your USB drive by its size in the list (for example /dev/sdb), then write the ISO to the whole disk, not a partition on it:
sudo dd if=ubuntu-26.04-live-server-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress conv=fsyncDouble-check the device name in of= before pressing Enter. dd doesn’t ask for confirmation and doesn’t care if you point it at the wrong disk.
Step 4: Boot From the USB Drive
Plug the USB drive into the target machine and power it on, then get into its boot menu — the key varies by manufacturer, but it’s almost always one of F12, F10, F2, Del, or Esc, pressed repeatedly right after the machine powers on, before the OS would normally start loading. Select the USB drive from the boot menu.
If the machine boots straight past the USB drive into whatever’s already installed, go into the BIOS/UEFI settings instead (usually the same keys) and either change the boot order to put USB first, or disable Secure Boot if it’s blocking the installer from starting — Ubuntu’s installer is signed and normally works fine with Secure Boot on, but some older firmware doesn’t recognize it correctly.
You’ll land on Ubuntu’s installer welcome screen — a full-screen, keyboard-navigated text interface (this is normal for Server; there’s no mouse involved anywhere in this process). Use the arrow keys to move, Enter to select, and Space to check/uncheck boxes throughout.
Step 5: Language and Keyboard Layout
First screen: pick the installer’s display language. This only affects the installer itself, not anything about how the finished server runs. Next, keyboard layout — the installer can auto-detect it by asking you to press a few keys, or you can pick it manually from the list. Get this right; it’s easy to overlook and annoying to have wrong once you’re typing passwords blind at a login prompt later.
Step 6: Choose the Installation Type
You’ll be offered Ubuntu Server (the standard install) or Ubuntu Server (minimized). The minimized option strips out packages that a typical server doesn’t need (things like documentation and some default utilities), resulting in a smaller footprint and a slightly faster boot. Either works fine for what comes next in this series — we use the standard install, since the space saved rarely matters and it’s one less thing to think about if you need a common utility later.
Step 7: Network Configuration
The installer detects available network interfaces and, if a cable is plugged in, usually configures one automatically via DHCP — you’ll see it listed with an IP address already assigned. That’s fine to accept as-is for now; it’s simpler to set a static IP or DHCP reservation from your router once the server is up and you know its hardware address, rather than fighting with it here. If nothing is detected, double-check the network cable and that the right interface is selected, then continue.
Step 8: Proxy and Mirror
Two short screens, both fine to leave alone in almost every home or small-office setup. The proxy field is only relevant if your network requires one to reach the internet — leave it blank otherwise. The mirror screen picks which Ubuntu package server to download from during installation and afterward; the installer tests the default automatically and will warn you if it can’t reach it. Just continue if the test passes.
Step 9: Partition the Disk
This is the step that erases the disk, so make sure anything you need is backed up before continuing. For a first server, “Use an entire disk” is the right choice — the installer handles the partitioning for you. You’ll also see options to set up LVM (makes resizing partitions later much easier) and to encrypt the disk with LUKS (protects the data at rest if the physical drive is ever lost or stolen, at the cost of needing a passphrase on every boot). Turning LVM on is a reasonable default; encryption is worth it for anything holding sensitive data but adds a step to every reboot, so skip it if the server needs to come back up unattended after a power loss.
The next screen shows the exact partition layout that’s about to be created, as a final review. Confirm it, and the installer will warn you one more time before it actually writes anything — that’s your last chance to back out.
Step 10: Set Up Your Profile
Enter your name (used for display only), a name for the server itself (its hostname — keep it short, lowercase, no spaces), a username, and a password. This account is created with sudo access automatically — there’s no separate root password to set here, which is exactly the non-root-by-default setup our server hardening guide recommends anyway.
Step 11: Skip Ubuntu Pro (For Now)
You’ll be offered the chance to attach an Ubuntu Pro subscription, which adds extended security maintenance and a few compliance-focused tools. It’s free for personal use up to a handful of machines, but not something you need to decide on right now — skip it and attach it later with sudo pro attach if you ever want it.
Step 12: Install OpenSSH Server
This is the one screen on this list worth stopping for. Check the box to install OpenSSH server — without it, the only way to reach this machine afterward is with a monitor and keyboard physically attached to it, which defeats the point of a server.
The installer also offers to import your SSH public key directly from GitHub or Launchpad by username, which pre-populates key-based login before the server even finishes installing. If you already have keys set up there, it’s a genuine shortcut and worth using. Otherwise, leave it and follow the SSH key setup steps in our initial server setup guide once the install is done — either way, don’t enable password authentication over SSH here if you’re offered the choice; leave it off.
Step 13: Skip Featured Server Snaps (For Now)
The last screen offers a checklist of common server software — Docker, Kubernetes tooling, and similar — installable right now as snaps. Skip all of them for a first install. It’s easier to install exactly what a given server needs later, deliberately, than to start from a machine with software on it you didn’t choose and now have to account for.
Step 14: Let It Install, Then Reboot
From here it’s unattended — the installer copies files and configures the system while showing a running log, which usually takes 5–10 minutes depending on the machine and network speed. When it finishes, you’ll see “Reboot Now.” Select it, and when prompted, remove the USB drive and press Enter to continue — this step exists specifically so the machine doesn’t just boot straight back into the installer.
Step 15: First Login
After rebooting, you’ll get a text login prompt directly on the machine — log in with the username and password from Step 10 to confirm it worked. From here, everything else happens over SSH from your own computer instead. Find the server’s IP address (it’s shown right on that login screen, or check your router’s connected-devices list), then connect from your own terminal:
ssh your-username@server-ipChecklist
- The ISO checksum matched before you wrote it to USB
- The machine booted the installer from USB, not its existing disk
- OpenSSH server was installed during setup
- You can log in locally on the machine with your username and password
- You can also connect to it over SSH from your own computer, using its IP address
Troubleshooting
The boot menu never appears, or it boots straight into the old OS. You’re either missing the boot-menu key window (it’s brief — try tapping the key repeatedly starting the instant you power the machine on) or the firmware needs the boot order changed in BIOS/UEFI settings directly, as described in Step 4.
The installer won’t start, or the screen stays black after selecting the USB drive. Usually a bad USB write — re-run Step 3, ideally with a different USB drive if one’s available, and re-verify the checksum from Step 2 first.
No network detected during installation. Confirm the cable is actually connected and the correct interface is selected on the network screen; if you’re relying on Wi-Fi, some adapters aren’t supported by the installer’s built-in drivers and need a wired connection for the initial install instead.
Can’t connect over SSH after rebooting. Confirm you actually checked the “install OpenSSH server” box in Step 12 — if you missed it, log in locally on the machine and install it manually: sudo apt update && sudo apt install openssh-server -y.
Wrapping Up
At this point you have a plain Ubuntu Server install, reachable over SSH, with nothing else on it yet — which is exactly where you want to be before locking it down. From here, follow our initial server setup guide to create a proper non-root user, switch to key-only SSH, and turn on a firewall, then our guide on installing Nginx once the server itself is hardened.
Need help setting up or migrating your store to a production-ready server? Get in touch with our team — server setup and store migration is one of our core services.
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