2.11.2. Appendix: Installation

Note

The exercises in this section do not apply if you are working in the TU Delft student lab rooms of the course. These rooms already have a Linux distribution installed on them. On computer startup, you can select SLED 12-SP1 (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12) to start openSUSE.

Important

Since these exercises are not a required part of the course, we will not take any responsibility for loss of your data or any other difficulties related to the installation process. Due to the large number of students in the course, we will not be able to assist you with the installation.

If you want to use Linux on your own computer or laptop, you will need to install it. Fortunately, this is very easy, but there are a number of ways you can do it. For this course, we recommend using the CD/DVD installer, but it is also possible to install using a USB or a network installer. Since the installation of linux will involve making changes to your harddisk, it is strongly advised to make a backup of your files before doing so.

For installing Linux in this course we assume you have a computer with either Windows or Mac OS X installed and you want to install Linux next to it so that at startup you can choose which OS you want to load[^altvm].

[altvm]: Alternatively, you could install Linux on a Virtual Machine, using for instance VMWare Player or Oracle VirtualBox. While the installation procedure should be identical to the one described in this chapter, no special consideration will be given to VM installations.

Ubuntu updates its OS every 6 months, but it also provides stable versions that receive Long Term Support (LTS). At the time of writing, Ubuntu Xenial Xerus (16.04), Bionic Beaver (18.04) and Focal Fossa (20.04) are the supported LTS releases. This text is written with Bionic Beaver (18.04) in mind[^roslater].

[roslater]: If you plan on doing the ROS module later, know that your choice of Ubuntu version at this step determines which version of ROS you can install: ROS Kinetic can only be installed on Ubuntu Xenial (16.04), ROS Melodic can only be installed on Bionic (18.04) and ROS Noetic can only be installed on Focal (20.04).

2.11.2.1. Downloading Ubuntu

To install Ubuntu you will first need to download it. As Bionic Beaver is not the most recent release, it is more easily found on one of the download mirrors, of which the mirror of the TU Delft is geographically the closest.

Exercise 2.130

Go to the TU Delft mirror page of Ubuntu at http://ftp.tudelft.nl/releases.ubuntu.com/22.04/ and download the appropriate ISO file. The filename should indicate it is for desktop use. Also, make sure to download for the correct architecture: for older computers with a 32-bit processor choose the Intel x86 desktop CD. For Mac and newer processors with 64-bit support, select the AMD64 desktop CD. Note: AMD64 is also for Intel processors.

2.11.2.2. Installation

2.11.2.2.1. Bootable media

The Ubuntu installer supports installation from USB stick, or from a CD/DVD. In order to create a bootable DVD, the ISO image you downloaded in Exercise 2.130 will need to be burned to an empty disc. A more convenient choice might be to install from USB, which requires just an empty stick of at least 4GB. Information on both types of installation can be found on the Ubuntu download page.

Warning

By default, creating a bootable USB stick will erase the stick, so be sure to make a backup first!

Exercise 2.131

Now that you have downloaded the correct image, create a bootable USB stick. Alternatively, burn the downloaded ISO to an empty CD or DVD. Use the information on the Ubuntu download page (http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop) to find out how to do this.

2.11.2.2.2. Partitions

At this point it is helpful to know something about the organisation of your hard disk into partitions.

A partition is a part of your hard disk that is seen by the operating system as a single drive, such as C:. The files in a partition are organized in a certain way, called the file system. Linux, Mac and Windows use different file systems, and therefore have to be installed in different partitions. Most likely, Windows or Mac is now occupying your entire hard disk, so while installing Ubuntu you will need to resize its partition and create a new Linux partition in the empty space. If the disk is empty, you can simply select the option for Ubuntu to erase and use the entire disk.

2.11.2.2.3. Passwords

Use a strong password, as someone logging in to your Ubuntu installation will be able to access all of your Windows files as well! A strong password is can be derived from a sentence by taking the first letter of each word. For example, if you liked the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you might turn the sentence “Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” into “TiaILDs”. Better yet, exchange some letters for numbers and other characters, like “T=aI.L2s”. Never use words that can be found in a dictionary, even if you replace letters with numbers or add numbers to the beginning or the end. There are specialized programs for guessing these kinds of passwords. In Linux, like most systems, passwords are stored using a one-way hash. This means that the computer calculates a number (called hash value) based on the password, but that the password cannot! be reconstructed from this hash value. When you enter your password, a hash is generated and compared to the stored value and you are allowed access if they match. Therefore, no one on a Linux system, not even the administrator, knows your password.

Exercise 2.132

Boot from your installation medium and go through the installation procedure. See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GraphicalInstall for a detailed guide.

2.11.2.3. Networking

After rebooting your computer, you will see the Ubuntu login screen. Select your username, enter your password, and you’ll be presented with the desktop environment. At this point, it would be helpful to get your network up and running. Some of the exercises will require you to find information on the Internet, so make sure that it is working correctly! If you get stuck, please contact your supervisor.

As there are so many different computers and laptops available, we cannot explain how to set up all of them. However, in most cases a simple procedure will make it work. The easiest is a wired network connection to your Internet router. This should work out of the box, by simpling inserting an ethernet cable into your computer. Wireless networks are a bit more tricky, and require some setup.

Exercise 2.133

Set up your wireless network connection. Click the icon with the two arrows on the top right-hand side of the screen, and select eduroam from the available wireless networks. If the Network Manager suggests to use Tunneled TLS for Authentication, choose PAP for the Inner authentication field. If however, Authentication is set to Protected EAP, choose MSCHAPv2 for Inner authentication. Now use your netid@tudelft.nl as username and enter your password. Then click Connect. You can ignore the security warning that follows. See also IT Manuals - Eduroam on the TU Delft Portal.