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Home Server Ubuntu Setup
Copyright: © 2025 VEXIT , Tomorow is today ® , www.vexit.com
Author: Vex Tatarevic
Date Created: 2025-09-18
Date Updated: 2025-09-18

Definitions

Term Definition
Server / Remote (machine) / Host Ubuntu Linux server computer
PC / Local (machine) / Client Your personal computer

Example Data Used

We will use the following data for the examples.

You should replace the sample data with your own data.
Company name my-com
Personal USername on Server my-user
Admin Username on Server admin
Server name my-server
Server IP 192.168.1.105
SSH Port 22
Website Domain Name my-site.com
Host Name my-site.com

Install System

Prerequisites

  • Ensure laptop/PC has minimum 25GB storage space
  • Have USB flash drive (12GB or above recommended)
  • Backup existing data if reinstalling on used device

Ref: Ubuntu.com - Overview

Download Ubuntu Image

  • Open browser
  • Go to https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop
  • Download latest Ubuntu Desktop ISO (24.04 LTS recommended)
  • Save ISO to memorable location on your PC

Ref: Ubuntu.com - Download An Ubuntu Image

Create Bootable USB

  • Download balenaEtcher for your current OS from https://www.balena.io/etcher/
  • Install and run balenaEtcher
  • Select downloaded Ubuntu ISO file
  • Select your USB flash drive
  • Click Flash! to write the image

Ref: Ubuntu.com - Create A Bootable Usb Stick

Boot from USB

  • Insert USB drive into target laptop/PC
  • Restart device
  • Enter BIOS boot menu (usually F12, F2, F10, or ESC key)
  • Select USB drive from boot menu
  • Choose language when prompted
  • Select accessibility options if needed
  • Choose keyboard layout
  • Connect to network (enables driver downloads)
  • Click "Try Ubuntu" to test or "Install Ubuntu" to proceed

Ref: Ubuntu.com - Boot From Usb Flash Drive

Installation Setup

  • Choose "Interactive installation"
  • Select installation type:
  • "Erase disk and install Ubuntu" for clean install
  • Or choose alongside existing OS if dual-booting
  • Check boxes for third-party software and media formats
  • Configure disk partitioning as needed

Ref: Ubuntu.com - Installation Setup

User Setup

  • Enter your name
  • Choose computer name (appears on network)
  • Create username and strong password
  • Choose login options (automatic or password required)

Ref: Ubuntu.com - Create Your Login Details

Location and Installation

  • Select your timezone/location
  • Review installation summary
  • Click "Install" to begin installation
  • Wait for installation to complete
  • Click "Restart Now" when prompted
  • Remove USB drive when prompted
  • Enter encryption password if set

Ref: Ubuntu.com - Choose Your Location

Start Using Terminal

After the installation you should be logged in as my-user into the Server machine.

  • Open Terminal : CTRL + ALT + T

  • You should see

    my-user@my-server:~$

  • Close Terminal - type command exit to close the Terminal

IMPORTANT: From this point on we will ONLY use the Terminal to interact with the Server machine. Whenever you see a command in this document, you should type it into the Terminal. We will not explicitly tell you to do so. You should know that seeing a code block with a command means that you should type it into the Terminal.

Sudo Disable Password Prompt

To run priviledged commands we must type sudo before the commands. By default using sudo asks for password every 15 minutes.

  • Run the following command to see how annoying it is. Cancel when it asks you for password by pressing CTRL + C
sudo apt update

Disable sudo password prompt so that you don't have to type it ever again when you want to run a sudo command.

  • Open sudoers file
sudo visudo
  • Look for the line starting with %sudo. It should look like this:
# Allow members of group sudo to execute any command
%sudo   ALL=(ALL) ALL
  • Add keyword NOPASSWD and a column symbol before the last ALL. It should now look like this
# Allow members of group sudo to execute any command
%sudo   ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
  • Save and close the file: CTRL + S CTRL + X

Update Upgrade Reboot

  • Update system - this will update the list of available packages
sudo apt update
  • Upgrade system - this will upgrade all the packages to the latest version
sudo apt upgrade
  • Restart
sudo reboot

SSH - Remotely Connect to Server

Set Up SSH on Server (Remote) Machine

On Server machine:

  • Install SSH server
sudo apt install openssh-server
  • Print internal IP address of server machine
hostname -I
  • You should see address like : 192.168.1.105
  • Note the IP address for remote access

Connect to Server from PC (Local) Machine

  • Log into your local PC computer

  • Open Terminal

  • Connect to Server using SSH with the server IP address you noted down earlier and your user name on the server

ssh my-user@192.168.1.105
- You will see prompt

```bash
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?
```
  • Type yes and hit Enter
  • You will be prompted for password.
  • Type the password and hit Enter
  • You will see the welcome message of the Server machine

You are now connected to the Server machine remotely and can run any commands as if you were sitting in front of it.

  • Disconnect from Server: CTRL + D

FROM THIS POINT ON, YOU WILL ONLY CONNECT TO THE SERVER REMOTELY USING SSH VIA THE TERMINAL ON YOUR PC.

Enable root User

  • SSH into Server as my-user
ssh my-user@192.168.1.105
  • Generate password
head -c 8 /dev/urandom | base64 | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9'; echo

  • Copy the password

  • Enable "root" user

sudo passwd root

  • Paste the password and hit Enter

  • You should see prompt: Retype new password:

  • Paste the password and hit Enter again

NOTE: If you make a mistake, exit out of interactive mode by typing CTRL + D and try again.

IMPORTANT: Save the password somewhere safe. You will need it in the next section

NOTE: We will be using root user to set up the admin user. This is only temporary. We will disable the root user very soon.

  • Enable password-based login via SSH for root user - This is disabled by default in SSH config.

  • Open ssh config file sshd_config for editing

    sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    - Locate line starting with #PermitRootLogin - Change its value to yes - Uncomment the line - remove the # from the start - It should now look like this: PermitRootLogin yes - Save and close the file: CTRL + S CTRL + X - Restart ssh service

    sudo systemctl restart ssh
    - Reload daemon

    sudo systemctl daemon-reload
    - Verify status of ssh service

    sudo systemctl status ssh
    - You should see Active: active (running)

  • Disconnect from Server

exit

Create Admin Account

  • SSH into Server as root
ssh root@192.168.1.105
  • Create admin user
adduser admin

NOTE: The rest of the setup is exactly the same as for Linux Mint walktrough