In this tutorial, we will show you how to install LXDE Desktop on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) is a lightweight desktop environment that is designed to be fast and easy to use. With LXDE, users can have the best of both worlds i.e. latest software upgrades without having to compromise with systems’ performance.
This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the LXDE (lightweight X11 desktop environment) on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
Prerequisites
- A server running one of the following operating systems: Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
- It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
- SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
- A
non-root sudo useror access to theroot user. We recommend acting as anon-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.
Install LXDE Desktop on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa
Step 1. First, make sure that all your system packages are up-to-date by running the following apt commands in the terminal.
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
Step 2. Installing LXDE Desktop on Ubuntu 20.04
By default, LXDE is not available on Ubuntu 20.04 base repository. Now run the following command below to install the latest LXDE to your Ubuntu system:
sudo apt install lxde
During installation, you need to choose your preferred display manager. Choose ‘gdm3‘ option to enjoy a full Ubuntu LXDE desktop experience.
Step 3. Accessing LXDE Desktop on Ubuntu.
Once successfully installed, restart the computer. When you come back to the login screen, click on the little wheel icon and select Lubuntu from the desktop list.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed LXDE. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the LXDE (Lightweight X11 desktop environment) on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official LXDE website.
