It can be mapped to any partition/filesystem (e.g.: /dev/sda5)/home – folder that contains user data, like application settings and documents. For example: /usr – folder that contains application data. Entries under the root will then point to different folders/files. The top-tree element is called root, and it is identified by the forward-slash character (/). In Linux, there is a single tree that contains all mount points to all filesystems. Synonymous with how partitions are shown to the user through Window Explorer (C:\, D:\, etc). The logical endpoint by which the filesystem on a particular partition is made accessible to the user. Linux supports many other filesystems, and can also read/write Windows filesystems. By default, Windows uses NTFS.īy default, Linux uses Ext4. The logical structure used to store files on a drive. For instance, /dev/sda3 denotes the third partition on the first hard disk. If you have only one hard disk, it will be a.Y – number that denotes the partition on a particular hard disk. Partitions in Linux use the following notation: /dev/sdXyX – letter (a, b, c, etc) that denotes which the hard disk number. In Windows, these are identified by drive letters, like C:\, D:\ The installation sub-step during which the hard disk is configuredĪ logical slice of the hard disk. Once the installation completes, the next time you reboot your computer, it will start Ubuntu.Ī session in which the operating system runs in memory only and does not touch the hard disks it is great for non-destructive testing of the operating system and softwareĬopy of the installation media to hard drive and user setup At this point, the operating system will warn you that changes are going to be written to your hard disk, so you can back out if you are unsure or do not want to proceed, for any reason. The actual installation is the next step.
Once you’re happy and confident with the overall look & feel, you can proceed to install the operating system.
Next, you need to instruct your computer to boot from the external media. Typically, this means connecting the external media (placing a DVD into the tray or inserting a thumb drive into a USB port).
For instance, if you download Ubuntu, then you will find a file called something like ubuntu-18.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso in your download folder location. The installation media will usually come in the form of ISO files. You need to download the installation media (think an exe file in Windows for an application setup).The setup of a new operating system is broadly called installation. Some of the terms can seem vague at this point, but they will make more sense as we go along. Let’s start with the phrases we will use in this tutorial.
In the last tutorial of this series, we will tour the Ubuntu desktop, install popular applications, and learn how to use Ubuntu. Here, we will show you how to safely install Ubuntu.
In the first article, we talked about the preparation steps – the differences between Windows and Ubuntu, software parity, hardware support, and data backup ahead of the change. In this article, we’d like to continue the journey we started last week – how to successfully migrate from Windows 7 to Ubuntu. The process can be intimidating, but we will try to make it as simple as possible. The vast majority of people buy computers with the operating system already installed, so they never have to manually run through the system setup. For most people, this is something they will never have done. Installing an operating system is not an easy task.