Ubuntu – Where is the MinimalCd / mini.iso for Groovy Gorilla

20.10command lineguiubuntu-minimal

I have searched all of the internet for this and nothing is helpful. I want the option to select nothing in the software selection page. I need a command-line version of Ubuntu with a GUI. There is already a mini.iso for focal fossa but I guess there is none for groovy? Why? Where can I get something similar?

Best Answer

The mini.iso for 20.10 was not produced.
We have already asked Canonical to continue providing such images. But no luck.

So personally I'm happy with the following solution:

  1. Download mini.iso for 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) from

    http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/focal/main/installer-amd64/current/legacy-images/netboot/mini.iso

  2. Install the minimal system from mini.iso for 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)

  3. Upgrade just installed minimal system from 20.04 LTS to 20.10

    sudo sed -i "s/Prompt=lts/Prompt=normal/" /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades
sudo do-release-upgrade

  4. Use minimal Ubuntu 20.10 (Groovy Gorilla) system as a starting point.

I will use this solution until Canonical developers change their mind about this problem.
Existence of netboot mini.iso is essential thing.
It is a way to have highly customized system (yes, without Snaps) to start from scratch, to use apt with --no-install-recommends and --no-install-suggests on minimal system to keep it really minimal.
It is like stage3 for Gentoo.
It should be noted that Debian still have netinst images for stable and even testing versions.
So I hope that the next LTS - 22.04 LTS will have traditional mini.iso in place.

Stuff to read and engage:

  1. https://pad.lv/1884538
  2. https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/installing-groovy-via-pxe-boot/18494
  3. https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/netbooting-the-live-server-installer/14510
  4. Participate in Poll about possible netboot mini.iso revival in future Ubuntu releases
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