How To Install GNOME Desktop On Ubuntu Server 18.04
If you have adopted Ubuntu Server 18.04, you must be very proud. However, no matter how much you care about it, you realize you've spent most of your IT management life using a GUI, and you're not quite sure what to do next? If that describes it, you'll be happy to know that you can install a handy GUI on your Ubuntu server. In fact, this task is easy to accomplish.
This article will show you how to install GNOME Desktop with a few simple commands.
Let me show you how.
what do you need
- All you need is a running instance of Ubuntu 18.04 and a user account with sudo privileges.
update/upgrade
Before we get to that, the first thing you need to do is update and upgrade your server. Since the server core can be upgraded, it is best to run this procedure when a reboot is possible. Also, you will need to restart the server after installing the desktop GUI. So if the kernel is upgraded, you will reboot twice.
To run the update/upgrade process, log into your server and issue the following two commands:
linuxidc@linuxidc:$ sudo apt-get update
linuxidc@linuxidc:$ sudo apt-get upgrade -y
After completing these commands, restart the server (if necessary) and continue.
Install
We'll use a special tool to install the GNOME desktop (because it's usually a safer path). The tool is the task. Tasksel is an Ubuntu and Debian-specific tool that facilitates the installation of multiple related packages as coordinated tasks. Tasksel makes it very easy to install dependent packages, which make up the following:
- LAMP Server
- Mail Server
- Print Server
- Database servers
- Samba file server
- And more
To install Tasksel, log into your server and issue the command:
linuxidc@linuxidc:$ sudo apt-get install tasksel -y
After completing the above commands, issue the command:
linuxidc@linuxidc:$ sudo tasksel
A curses-based GUI will open. Using the keyboard arrow keys, scroll down to select Ubuntu desktop (Figure 1).
figure 1
Select the Ubuntu desktop for installation.
With the Ubuntu desktop selected, hit the spacebar to select it, press Tab to select Ok, and press Enter on your keyboard. This will install everything needed for a successful GNOME desktop installation on Ubuntu Server. Once the process is complete, restart the server, and after restarting, you will be greeted by the LightDM display manager (Figure 2).
figure 2
LightDM display manager for you.
Congratulations, you are now ready to use the server with a convenient GUI desktop. You'll still need to do many tasks in a terminal window, but at least some handy GUI tools are available.
Invasion
Reprinted to: https://www.linuxidc.com/Linux/2018-12/156031.htm