How to install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on Raspberry Pi
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS came out a couple of months ago for PCs. It was also released for the Raspberry Pi family of devices. So, you’ll be able to use Ubuntu on a variety of different Pi devices, such as the 4, 3B+, 2, and 1.
There are quite a few ways to get Ubuntu working on the Raspberry Pi. However, the best way to do it, and the way we’ll be covering it in this guide is with the official Raspberry Pi imager tool. Why? It provides official releases of 20.04 LTS, and various versions to choose from.
Install Raspberry Pi Imager tool
The Raspberry Pi Imager tool is not pre-installed on any mainstream Linux operating systems out there. As a result, we must go over how to get the program working. Luckily, the Raspberry Pi Imager is quite easy to install on a variety of modern Linux operating systems.
Ubuntu
The Raspberry Pi Imager comes as an installable DEB package. As Ubuntu Linux uses DEB packages as one of the ways users can install programs, this installation method is perfect. To start the installation, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, use the wget command below to grab the latest RPI Imager DEB package.
wget https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/imager/imager_amd64.deb
After downloading the DEB package onto your computer, you can use the Apt package manager to load up the package to your system.
sudo apt install ./imager_amd64.deb
Debian
The DEB package release of the Raspberry Pi Imager means that if you’re a Debian Linux user, setup is easy. To start the installation, open up a Linux terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, use the wget download command below to grab the latest Raspberry Pi Imager file from the internet.
wget https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/imager/imager_amd64.deb
Once the DEB package is done downloading, use the dpkg command in a terminal window to get the Raspberry Pi Imager tool set up on your Debian PC. Keep in mind that during this installation, you may notice errors. Do not be alarmed, they’re dependency errors and can be fixed by running sudo apt-get install -f.
sudo dpkg -i imager_amd64.deb
Arch Linux
Those on Arch Linux will be able to install the Raspberry Pi Imager tool directly through the Arch Linux AUR. To start the installation, open up a terminal window. Then, from there, use the pacman tool to install the “Git” and “Base-devel” packages, as they are required to work with the AUR.
sudo pacman -S base-devel git
Now that the two packages are set up, use the following commands to install the Trizen AUR helper. Trizen will automate the installation of the Raspberry Pi Imager so that you do not need to deal with dependencies manually.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git cd trizen makepkg -sri
When Trizen is installed, set up the Raspberry Pi Imager app with the trizen -S command.
trizen -S rpi-imager
Snap package
If you’re not on Arch Linux, Ubuntu, or Debian, the only way to install the Raspberry Pi Imager is as a Snap. To install, ensure that you have Snapd set up on your PC. Then, enter the following command below.
sudo snap install rpi-imager
Installing Ubuntu 20.04 LTS for Raspberry Pi
Installing Ubuntu 20.04 LTS for the Raspberry Pi is a lot different than Ubuntu for the PC. To start the installation process, launch the Raspberry Pi Imager through your app menu. Then, when the Raspberry Pi Imager app is open, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Step 1: Plug in your SD Card to your SD card reader. Then, put it into your PC via the USB port or the SD card reader port.
Step 2: In the Raspberry Pi Imager app, locate the “Operating System” section, and click on the “CHOOSE OS” button with the mouse. When you click on “CHOOSE OS,” a UI will appear.
Step 3: In the “CHOOSE OS” UI, you’ll see various operating system choices to choose from. Look for the “Ubuntu” option, and click on it with the mouse. After clicking on Ubuntu, select Ubuntu 20.04 LTS for Pi 2/3/4. It’s the latest release of Ubuntu Server and is perfect for most Pi devices, especially if you plan on building an appliance or application, etc.
Select Ubuntu 20.04 LTS in the menu Pi by clicking on it with the mouse.
Step 4: Locate the “CHOOSE SD CARD” button and click on it with the mouse. Then, use the UI to select your SD Card in which you’d like to install the latest Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
Step 5: Click on the “WRITE” button to start the installation process. Keep in mind that this installation process could take a bit of time. Be patient!
Step 6: Unplug the SD Card from your PC, plug it into the Raspberry Pi, and power it on. Be sure to connect an HDMI cable, mouse, and keyboard.
When the Raspberry Pi powers on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS will be installed, however, Ubuntu has a welcome wizard, which you will need to go through to set up extra goodies.
