How to install Ubuntu Server on a Raspberry Pi 4

Mon, Sep 20, 2021

I just got my hands on Raspberry Pi 4. As I wanted to install a 64 bit Operating System, Ubuntu seemed to be the best choice. Unfortunately, the official tutorial on installing Ubuntu Server 21.04 on a Raspberry Pi didn't work for me, so here is how I proceeded.

Flashing the OS onto the micro SD card

From Linux

lsblk -p

You should see the list of the attached disks. Note the device of the micro SD card (for example: /dev/sdb) and replace X in the following command:

$ sudo dd if=your_image.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync

Finally, you can eject the card.

From macOS

$ diskutil list

You should see the list of the attached disks. Note the number of the micro SD card (for example: /dev/disk2 is 2) and replace N in the following commands by it:

$ diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN
$ sudo dd bs=1m if=your_image.img of=/dev/rdiskN; sync
$ sudo diskutil eject /dev/rdiskN

Setting up the OS

Then, SSH into the Raspberry Pi. Username: ubuntu, Password: ubuntu

$ ssh ubuntu@[IP_ADDRESS]

And follow the instructions.

Updating the software and firmware

This step is meant to ensure that your Raspberry Pi runs the latest software and firmware:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
$ sudo apt install rpi-eeprom-update
$ sudo rpi-eeprom-update

Setting up Wi-Fi

This is where the official tutorial stopped working for me. Indeed, instead of editing the network-config file,
you need to edit /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml, such as follow:

network:
    ethernets:
        eth0:
            dhcp4: true
            optional: true
    version: 2
    wifis:
        wlan0:
            optional: true
            dhcp4: true
            access-points:
                "{{SSID}}":
                    password: "{{PASSWORD}}"

And, that's all :)

Reboot your Raspberry Pi with sudo shutdown now -h and you are ready to rock 🚀