2013: Installing Edubuntu

Installing Edubuntu 12.04.2 LTS is a straight forward process. It also seems to install all the necessary drivers etc. The most relevant package(s) can also be installed e.g. pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary. So this disk image is very useful.

I found the following programs also very useful on Ubuntu (amongst others): openshot, wine, customisation kit(uck), audacity, freemind ,playonlinux, ubuntu restricted extras, geogebra. And I also wanted to create a disk image so that once these programs were installed on one computer, the same image could be installed on the others (with all necessary updates). Some of our team members – Srikanth Venugopal (Teacher at Redbank High School), Bernard Li (QUT staff), Shalvin Deo (Student at UQ), Andy Ng (QUT staff), and Shivneil Deo (Student at QUT) brainstormed numerous ideas. Finally Bernard’s idea worked. He proposed the following procedure:

[Steps 1-3 not required if Edubuntu already installed]:
1. Get a copy of the Edubuntu iso
2. Create a live usb using the iso from (1)
3. Install edubuntu onto a computer
4. Log into edubuntu on the computer
5. Install Ubuntu Customization Kit using Ubuntu Software Centre
6. Make the following changes
– open terminal and type the following
– sudo gedit /usr/lib/uck/remaster-live-cd.sh
– search for “cp -f /etc/resolve.conf”
– change “-f” to “-d”
– end up with “cp -d /etc/resolve.conf”
– save and exit
7. Copy the Edubuntu iso onto the computer
8. Run UCK
– choose language packs
– “en” for english
– choose which GUI you want (all)
– find and select the edubuntu iso
– name the system you are to create (anything)
– select “Yes” when asked if you want to customize the Cd manually
– select “no” when asked if you want to delete all windows-related files
– select “no” when asked if you want to generate a hybrid image
– take note of where the new iso will be saved and click “OK”
– enter your admin password when asked on the terminal
– when the options come up, to go command line first (option 2)
– enter the following to install a package manger (synaptic)
– sudo apt-get install synaptic
– exit terminal to return to options
– select package manager
– install extra software/packages
– close
– continue with live cd creation
9. Livecd iso is now created and saved on the computer
10. Use Ubuntu’s Startup Disk Creator to create either a LIVEDVD or LIVEUSB
11. Done!

Thanks Bernard – good idea. I also looked at a number of forums without much success. The only aspect that could not be achieved was that the updates needed to be done on all computers one by one. Given that these images would be installed on computers that would go to schools in developing countries – not all these have internet access. Even if they do – it is slow and can be expensive. So if there is way to incorporate the updates in an image – then this would be quite useful.

In the process I also found the following resources quite useful:

http://edubuntu.org/deployments

http://edubuntu.org/documentation/12.04/installation-guide

http://edubuntu.org/news/12.04-release

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/AppGuide

http://www.edubuntu.org/news/13.04-release

http://www.howtogeek.com/109736/how-to-create-a-custom-ubuntu-live-cd-or-usb/

http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Flash-Player-on-Ubuntu

https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/serverguide/apt-get.html

http://www.howtogeek.com/63997/how-to-install-programs-in-ubuntu-in-the-command-line/

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal