The Raspberry Pi has become one of the most popular micro-computers. Its price (around 35 euros), its possibilities and how easy it is to get hold of one have managed in a short time to turn it into an essential device for many users. However, hardware without software doesn’t do much good, and since the launch of the first micro-computer in 2012, users have been missing a specific operating system: Ubuntu.
On the network we can find a large number of operating systems specially designed and programmed for the Raspberry Pi. Raspbian, for example, is the official Debian-based distro to get the most out of this team. Then we can find other interesting distros (such as LibreELEC, for multimedia centers, or RetroPie, to mount a retro-console) that allow us to take this distro to the maximum. Even Microsoft has brought Windows to the Raspberry Pi.
But Canonical was not encouraged to bring Ubuntu. Luckily, everything ends up coming, and Canonical could not afford to continue turning its back on the Raspberry Pi any longer, and less considering its situation.
Ubuntu is certified for Raspberry Pi
With the release of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Canonical has finally finished bringing its Linux distro to the Raspberry Pi. And it has also done so by certifying its launch. This means that the images are thoroughly tested before publishing and optimized to get the most out of the micro-computer hardware.
Another of the windows of this certified software is that it guarantees us security updates for the lifetime of the distro, updates that are also checked before taking them to users.
Although the performance may not be optimal, with this Canonical certificate you agree to continue debugging and improving the distro for the Raspberry Pi.
Of course, it is only available for the Raspberry Pi 2, 3 and 4, both 32-bit and 64-bit (for 3 and 4). The Raspberry Pi 1 and RPi Zero run out of Ubuntu.
Note: Ubuntu Server is only available for the Raspberry Pi
Unfortunately, the Ubuntu that we can install on a Raspberry Pi is not the same that we can install on the computer. At least serial. The version that Canonical has brought to this micro-computer has been the server version, that is, Ubuntu Server.
This makes perfect sense, since the Raspberry Pi is a device designed to function as a server. The image is considerably smaller (approximately 600 MB) than that of the normal distro (which exceeds 2 GB), consumes fewer resources and gives the user absolute control over all the configuration and packages they will use.
Of course, users can easily install any desktop to convert Ubuntu Server into a desktop version with a graphical interface and applications to use it as a PC.
Download Ubuntu from Raspberry Pi Imager
Although we can download Ubuntu for the Raspberry Pi from its official website, there is a much faster way to download the latest version and create an ISO image ready to allow us to start the micro-computer: use Raspberry Pi Imager .
Raspberry Pi Imager is an open source program designed to make it easy to download the main distros for this micro-computer. With 3 clicks we are going to be able to download the image for the RPi that we want, prepare the micro-SD and leave it ready to start the micro-computer.
We can download this program from the following link . Once downloaded, we install and run it on our computer. We can see a window like the following.
We will click on ” Choose OS ” to choose the operating system. In the list we can see how “Ubuntu” will appear . And by clicking we can see all the different editions that we can choose. If we have a Pi 3 or a Pi 4, we must choose the second one, the 64-bit one. Otherwise, the first one is better. ” Ubuntu Core ” editions have another purpose (for IoT, or Internet of Things), so we should not select them.
When selecting the image, we will return to the main window, but now our “Ubuntu” will be selected as the operating system to install. The next step will be to click on ” Choose SD Card ” to choose the micro-SD where we are going to install Ubuntu, and voila.
We just need to click on “Write” to start writing the image to the SD. The process can take between a couple of minutes and 10 minutes, depending on our Internet connection (since the image has to be downloaded) and the speed of the micro-SD.
When the process ends, we disconnect the micro-SD from the computer, put it in the Raspberry Pi, connect it and we can now enjoy the official Ubuntu on the micro-computer.
What to consider
The first thing we will find when we start the distro is that it will ask us for a username and password . If we haven’t installed it, what will it be? Canonical has opted to use the classic ubuntu / ubuntu as username and password for the Raspberry Pi Ubuntu image.
With these credentials we can log in and start controlling the distro. But we must bear in mind that this represents a more than notable loss in security. Therefore, the first thing we would have to do, before even connecting it to the Internet, is change the default username and password. And disable the user “ubuntu” so that nobody can use it as a back door.
Once this is done, we can start using our Ubuntu just like on a PC. If we have a screen and a keyboard we can control it locally, or else we can connect remotely, by SSH, to control it from the network. We can install the packages and services that we are going to use, and adapt this Ubuntu to our needs.
If we want to use it as on the PC we will have to install a desktop. Although we can install the original Ubuntu GNOME desktop, it is better to opt for a lighter alternative given the limitations of the micro-computer. Mate or LXQt are two excellent options. All programs, including VLC and Kodi, will run smoothly on Raspberry Pi Ubuntu, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for the micro-computer.