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I found a video on YouTube that shows someone using the command tasksel from the server's boot menu after a fresh install of Ubuntu Server. Simple enough it looked like, but when I go to the options I want to choose for installation it has no information on how to select them, and when I click Enter on one of them it takes me back to the command prompt.

So how do I make a selection of the items listed under tasksel?

I have tried Shift++ to add, but no luck. Anyone know?

I want to install Ubuntu Desktop, as Ubuntu GNOME GUI is not an option in the listing for Ubuntu 17.10 Server.

muru
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AWFordJr
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  • So I installed Ubuntu Mate with no problems, so why did I have so many problems with the GUI's on Ubuntu? Ubuntu Mate is working perfectly, but obviously I would have been better off with using server on a server right? Any way not really sure what was up with all that but because Ubuntu Mate claims to work well with Steam I am at least happy with that.

    Thanks for all the help & sorry I was so grouchy just been up 2 days now messing with all this.

     – AWFordJr Dec 23 '17 at 14:47
  • How do I mark this as resolved? Because I am never trying to install server or desktop for Ubuntu on a server again. Id rather eat .... – AWFordJr Dec 23 '17 at 14:48

3 Answers3

5

Open the terminal and type:

sudo tasksel

A Package configuration window will open. Select a task by scrolling down or pressing the down arrow key ( ↓ ) and pressing space. This will put an asterisk beside the selected task and mark it for installation. Tasks that are already installed are marked by an asterisk. If you make a mistake, press space again to unselect a selected task. From the Software selection list select a task and use the Tab key to select <Ok> and then press Enter as shown in the below screenshot:

enter image description here

Depending on the size of the group of packages in the selected task, you may need to wait a while for the packages in the selected task to finish installing.

karel
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  • The space bar did in fact allow for me to select the software that I wanted to install, but even after I hit ok now nothing happens. – AWFordJr Dec 23 '17 at 10:55
  • Never mind its just a bit slow its installing now. – AWFordJr Dec 23 '17 at 11:00
  • So I installed the softwares only to find a blank screen for the GUI when I restarted. Its Orange screen with nothing on it, instead of the screen for me to login. – AWFordJr Dec 23 '17 at 11:44
  • Open a console and login by following the instructions from here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/438783/how-to-switch-to-a-command-line-console/438804#438804 Then start the lightdm login display manager with the command sudo systemctl start lightdm and login to the desktop environment. You can configure the default login screen by running this command: sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm – karel Dec 23 '17 at 11:53
  • I can not open a console its frozen with mouse in center of the screen. I tried to use CTRL + ALT + F3 & nothing happened. – AWFordJr Dec 23 '17 at 12:00
  • Reboot the server and remount it with write permissions by following the instructions at the beginning part of this answer up to where it says mount -o rw,remount /: https://askubuntu.com/questions/24006/how-do-i-reset-a-lost-administrative-password/24024#24024 Then uninstall the ubuntu-desktop package with the command: apt remove ubuntu-desktop lightdm && reboot – karel Dec 23 '17 at 12:27
  • If you don't like the idea of uninstalling ubuntu-desktop and want to try to repair it instead this may also be possible by rebooting the server and remounting it with write permissions and run some commands to try to repair it, but this should be asked as a separate question. Also ubuntu-desktop recommends having at least 2GB RAM. – karel Dec 23 '17 at 12:31
  • I am running a rack mount server with 28GB memory, 6x 74.3GB SAS 15K, and I have tried restarting but even when I get the command line it starts the GUI to quickly for me to type anything. So I removed the SAS drives & turned off RAID. I am now using my 3TB SATA drive instead sacrificing speed for space. I am trying to install a desktop version now but I have glitches in the GUI as its showing the UBUNTU TEXT log off the lower right side of my screen. So instead of asking me if I want to install or what ever I have no options. Installs fine on my laptop, but its a living nightmare otherwise. – AWFordJr Dec 23 '17 at 13:11
  • this answer saved my time Great answer! – BZKN Oct 20 '22 at 16:22
1

From the tasksel menu, you should be able to mark which packages you want to install by pressing "Space" on each one. Did you try that?

Manolis Lykos
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0

This is how you can use the keyboard to navigate:

Keys Action
Down/Up Arrows Scrolling
Space Select software
Tab focus on OK button
Enter OK
Shadi Alnamrouti
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