Nah,Ubuntu doesnt need 4 GB, that was the smallest stick I could find compatible with my Cubi.
Ubuntu doesnt need more than 512MB for the desktop version, but Id say go for something with a bit more, like 2GB - otherwise it will be a bit slow and frustrating to work with
further info:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements
Ok Cool
My thinking is build it on a bigger pc which will cost me nothing I can probably hide in cupboard anyway. but once I learn and get all set up then spend the money
So any pc with a hard drive im guessing SSD is not essential. small hard drive wiped and formatted and I dont think i have much kicking around under 4gb ram anyway.
You dont live in the south of england do youā¦ you could set it up for me lol
Correct, any disk is fine, I just got SSD because its quicker
I actually do live in the South, unfortunately, I dont have much time over the next couple of weeks to get on with my own projects - let alone someone elses, (baby on the way) 
congrats.
Im just outside gatwick myself but a geordie hence the name.
Just sorted an i3 8gb ram 500gb hard drive. inc dvd drive and usb ports etc etc
so should be good enough
cheers 
Im Swindon, probably a good 2-3 hours to you then - youll have it done by the time i could get there haha
That machine has more than enough power
Also note, this is going to be slightly more complex than just getting HA on a Pi - dont give up
start with getting an ubuntu server ISO image, create a bootable USB stick, and boot it - follow on screen steps
This be the baby I guess. Excuse the punā¦
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/daily-live/current/artful-desktop-i386.iso
I think im worng with this but cant find UBUNTU server 17
http://releases.ubuntu.com/17.04/ubuntu-17.04-server-i386.iso
stupid I amā¦
yeh
ubuntu-17.04
Downloaded and used rufus to create a bootable flash drive.
Put PC in the car. Will try to get it up and running tonight. As i know you have more time during the day what is the next step.
Once Ubuntu server is installed
I have more time because im at work and can easily look like this is productivity. plus its more interesting haha
Boot off the USB
Install ubuntu with everything to start with. you should get a GUI once its finished
let it do its own thing when it asks about disk partitions or anything like that
then follow the steps to install home assistant. you may also need to install python and pip, but try HA first as it may put python on for you
the steps are on the HA site somewhere under āgetting startedā
see how far you get with this, this took me a few hours to get right on my first attempt back in the day
Yeah but your going to tell me your some it guruā¦
Im a sales director. with a little knowledge of pcs which makes me dangerous.
By HA you mean Hassbian? or home assistant
Tried reading for the guide under getting startedā¦
OK true. I am a network engineer by trade, primarily windows though, so my Linux knowledge is (was) few and far between
HA - home assistant. I never bothered with docker, hassbian, or any of the other images, so assume I mean home assistant
start here:
Ubuntu installs python by default, to verify, do a āpython -Vā (no quotes) in a terminal to get the version number.
alternatively, āpython3 -Vā
Then you also need pip. I dont think that is installed with ubuntu, soā¦ do the following in a terminal
This is, 3 different commands.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install python3-pip
āpip -Vā or āpip3 -Vā in a command window will verify its installed
Finallyā¦
To install home assistant.
If at any point you get errors or have any questionsā¦ post all you can, errors and everything to this thread - myself, or someone from this awesome community will help
Cheers Paul. I guessed you were. so i will pick your brains on many other it issues in the future. NEVER give me your direct contact or I will be emailing you with tech issues at work lol
If im honest I like the above idea better that all in one as my brain is logica and i think by installing each component on a phtsical pc will mean i can better understandā¦
I will update the thread later this eve when I have the install done.
Hopefully you see this before you get to far on your journey. Ubuntu 17.04 is what we call an interim release, and is only supported for 9 months, so updates will stop in January 2018. Ubuntu 16.04 is termed a Long Term Support version, and is supported until April 2021. Iād suggest you install the 16.04 server version and not worry about security.
@cariboo
oooh, I didnt know this
Possible to do a āsudo do-release-upgradeā to an LTS version when it finally is released???
In the meantime, yeah, my bad, maybe you should go with 16 LTS
Itās ok guys the logic is learn Iām building on a full size pc which will never be long term plan. So I get I will start again from what you are saying but with knowledge at that time.
I have Ubuntu installed and working so pretty pleased tonight
Tomorrow I can reinstall 16 if needs be then network it and move further forward
Thanks you are all great on here
well as I said I learned a lot. Bloody stupid PC wouldnt give option to boot from usb in bios. why i do not know.
So partitioned a small bit of hard drive copied files accross and told it to boot from D and installed from there.
Due to this I took longer than i thought to install. then I messed up and forgot what I put as user name so had to reinstall again. Fool i am.
Anyway as I sat comfortably in front room to do it on a table I didnt have a long enough cat 5 cable to reach the nearest port so on installation I didnt install network. all in all it means I needed to redo again tonight so will download 16.04 and install that.
last but not least does the server software just sit in terminal or does it have a UI you know a desktop for want of a better word?
Thanks again all
You should have a desktop GUI option when you start the installation. Maybe its under custom installation?
Also an option to boot into the desktop environment when you do an install too
If you just get a terminal, then there are ways to install a desktop with the package manager (apt-get)
good to see some progress, keep going, youre learning curve will be a steep one for a good few weeks
The question is am i better installing the desktop environment for furture use or is it pointless. I feel I will lock it away and never see it again i guess as I will SSH for any changes
I suppose im asking what is best option. Happy to reinstall tonight with 16.04
Best option is to just not bother with the GUI/desktop experience in my opinion.
Everything home assistant is command line orientated so all you need is a terminal
Having said that, if you want to use it you can remotely from another machine - but thats a whole other ball game
VNC or something like it needs to be installed for that to happen, which is fairly easy, but just another step to add to your process of installation
To install a desktop environment, youāll need to enable package installation from the Internet (the desktop packages arenāt on the server installation CD). The installation program should have done that for you if it found an Internet connection, but apparently it didnāt.
Then run these commands to install a desktop environment:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
I guess these are the commands what i have rad so far say that it isnt on the server installation image.
I might ut it on just so I have a clickable environment to learn a little easy enough to run terminal from desktop environment anyway.
Yes very steep curve. thanks again