How To Install Tasksel on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Tasksel on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Tasksel provides a simple interface for users who want to configure their system to perform specific tasks. Instead of manually installing individual packages, Tasksel groups related software into predefined collections that can be installed together. This functionality is similar to meta-packages, and most tasks available from Tasksel are also available as meta-packages from Ubuntu package managers.

Tasksel offers several advantages:

• Simplified Software Management – Install groups of related packages with single commands
• Customizable Work Environments – Quickly set up servers, desktops, or specialized software collections
• Intuitive Interface – Menu-driven selection process for ease of use
• Efficient Package Handling – Saves time compared to installing packages individually
• Compatibility – Works across multiple Ubuntu versions and maintains compatibility with Debian

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 Tasksel 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 user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install Tasksel on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa

Step 1. Update Your Ubuntu system.

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
sudo apt install tasksel

Step 2. Installing Tasksel on Ubuntu 20.04.

By default, Tasksel is available on the base repository Ubuntu. Now run the following command below to install it:

sudo apt install tasksel

Once successfully installed, to open the user interface to install software applications enter the following command below:

sudo tasksel

Output:

To install one or more software, use the Up and Down arrows to move the red highlighter, press the Space bar to select the software, and use the Tab key to move them to <ok>.

To see a list of all predefined software packages use –list-task:

sudo tasksel list-task

Output:

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Tasksel. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the Tasksel Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you to check the official Tasksel website.