Lubuntu on an Old Laptop

By the end of this chapter you'll have a real Linux server running in your room, and you'll be controlling it from your main computer over SSH. Like the pros do.

Install Lubuntu → boot it → SSH in from your main machine → make it ignore the lid → you officially have infrastructure.

Step 1: Grab the ISO

Lubuntu is the lightweight Ubuntu flavor — perfect for old laptops with weak specs. Same apt, same tutorials, less RAM hunger.

Go to lubuntu.me/downloads and grab the LTS desktop ISO (~2.5 GB)
Find a USB stick, 4 GB+. Anything on it gets wiped — don't pick the one with your wedding photos.

Step 2: Burn ISO to USB

Burning ≠ copying. We need a special tool that makes the USB bootable. Easy mode: Balena Etcher — drop ISO, pick USB, hit write.

Install Etcher → open it → "Flash from file" → pick the Lubuntu ISO → "Select target" → pick your USB → hit Flash. Wait ~5 min.

Step 3: Boot the laptop from USB

Every laptop has a hidden "boot menu" key. Manufacturers pick different ones because chaos.

Dell: F12
Lenovo: Enter then F12
HP: Esc then F9
If none: google "[your model] boot menu key"

Plug USB into the old laptop
Power on, immediately mash your boot menu key
Pick the USB from the boot menu
Select "Try or install Lubuntu"

Old laptop hiccup: if pre-2012, you may need to enable "Legacy Boot" or "CSM" in firmware settings first.

Step 4: Install it

You're now in a "live" Lubuntu — running off USB, nothing on disk yet. Double-click Install Lubuntu on the desktop to commit.

Language, keyboard, timezone — answer truthfully
Erase disk (or manual partition if dual-booting)
Username: erictey. Strong password. Don't tick "auto login"
Hostname: pick something short like home-server — your other devices will find it by this name later

Hit install, wait ~10 min, reboot, yank the USB.

Step 5: Update everything

Fresh install = frozen-in-time software. First job is to bring it up to date.

Open QTerminal (or Ctrl+Alt+T) and run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Quick decode: update refreshes the package list (like reading today's menu). upgrade -y actually installs new versions of everything (-y = "yes to all"). Coffee break, this takes 5–20 min.

Step 6: Install SSH (the game-changer)

SSH = open a terminal on another computer over the network. Once SSH is on, this laptop can live in a cupboard while you control it from your main machine. This is how every real server works.

sudo apt install openssh-server -y
sudo systemctl enable --now ssh

Now find this machine's IP:

hostname -I

You'll see something like 192.168.0.19. Write it down. That number is your server's address on your home network.

First Login Ritual

Goal: ditch the laptop's keyboard forever. Control it from your main computer.

On your Windows machine, open PowerShell or Terminal
Run ssh erictey@192.168.0.19 (sub in your actual IP)
Type your password when prompted
You're now controlling Lubuntu from Windows! Run uname -a to confirm — it'll show Linux info, proving you're on the server
Run uptime to see how long it's been running
Type exit to disconnect

Stretch: close the Lubuntu laptop lid. Try SSH again from Windows. It should still work... actually it won't yet. That's the next step.

Step 7: Stop the lid-close nap

Laptops sleep when the lid closes. Servers shouldn't. Fix it:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/logind.conf

Find these lines, uncomment (remove the #), and set them to ignore:

HandleLidSwitch=ignore
HandleLidSwitchExternalPower=ignore
HandleLidSwitchDocked=ignore

Save: Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X. Apply:

sudo systemctl restart systemd-logind

Close the laptop lid. From your Windows machine, run ssh erictey@192.168.0.19. You should still be able to log in. Server keeps running with the lid shut. That's a server.

Find the laptop a permanent home (closet shelf, under desk, anywhere with airflow + power + WiFi). Plug it in. Close the lid. From now on, every command you run on Lubuntu comes through SSH from your main machine. Welcome to remote operations.