20 May 2019
This page attempts to capture the process of installling ubuntu on a SLAC desktop machine.
News
6/14/2019 - the 'old' comet (rhel6-64) is replaced with ubuntu 18.04.2
References relating to the building and configuration of a Ubuntu desktop machine at SLAC.
https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/display/SUITOCIO/Ubuntu+Desktop+How-To (protected, but here's a snapshot)
https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=223229364
https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/display/SCSPub/Installing+YFS+on+Ubuntu+Desktop
https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/display/SCSPub/Ubuntu+System+Administration
Downloading ubuntu and creating a bootable dvd
These instructions assume one is running on an existing rhel6-64 machine.
- At https://ubuntu.com, select "Ubuntu Desktop" LTS (Long-term support) which is currently v18.04.2
- Download. The file should be ubuntu-18.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso and is about 1.9 GB in size
- Insert a fresh DVD (4.7 GB) into the drive
- $ cdrecord -v -dev='/dev/scd0' ubuntu-18.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso
If you are uncertain as to the proper device name, you may use the command "cdrecord --devices" to find out.
Install ubuntu
- Boot from installation disc created above
- Select "Normal Install" (rather than "Minimal")
- Follow your nose...
- At some point, the installation script will assess the contents of your system disk. There are several choices: automatic install (empty disk or overwrite anything that is already there); install along side whatever is already there; create your own partitions. Select this last option.
Now you will see a list of all the hard drives on the computer (typically only one). Select "New Partition Table", and then manually add partitions from the table below.
Mount point Size (GB) Notes /boot 2 / 30 /home 30 swap 24 (I selected 3x RAM, but need not be this large) /opt 40 /tmp 10 /var 10 /scswork 10 /usr/vice/cache 5 /scratch all remaining Define your local account. NOTE: this should NOT be the same as your SLAC unix account userid.
- Allow the installation to proceed. (~10 min)
- Reboot, remove the installation dvd, and log in!
- One of the first items will be the OS will want to download and install a hefty number of updates. (~10 min)
- Begin the process of installing various packages (see next section)
Installed software
In addition to the "Normal Installation" of ubuntu, the following packages have been installed.
| Package | Procedure | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| curl | sudo apt install curl | file transfer command | |
| go-chef | curl http://yum.slac.stanford.edu/go-chef | sudo /bin/sh | This integrates a freshly installed OS into the SLAC family Note: if you need to re-install the OS, then one must first "reset" chef with the following curl yum/ungo-chef | sudo /bin/sh | |
| chrome | https://www.google.com/chrome | Follow the download instructions for the debian/ubuntu build, which should automatically trigger the "Ubuntu Software" installer | |