The purpose of this tutorial is to install a desktop environment GUI on Ubuntu 20.04 focal fossa, whether you already have a GUI installed and wish to use a different desktop environment, or if you are only using the command line and would like access to a GUI. You can also use these instructions to install a GUI on Ubuntu Server 20.04, which doesn’t have a desktop environment installed by default. Follow along with our instructions below to install a GUI on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa Server and Desktop.
Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions
# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user
Ubuntu 20.04 Install GUI step by step instructions
For users who have completed an ubuntu 20.04 install, there are numerous ways to install a GUI on Ubuntu 20.04. One of the easiest ways is with a tool called tasksel, which streamlines the process for us by automatically installing the correct window manager and other package dependencies.
Next, select the GUI you wish to install. The below table shows main desktop environments available for installation via tasksel. You can choose from various options including the lightweight lxqt desktop environment, the ubuntu mate desktop, or the lightweight ubuntu-desktop-minimal for a basic GNOME experience. For those seeking a streamlined system, the ubuntu minimal desktop provides an efficient alternative. The mate desktop offers a traditional and user-friendly interface:
Main available Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) installations using tasksel’s tasks
Task
Description
kubuntu-desktop
Kubuntu desktop ( KDE Desktop )
lubuntu-desktop
Lubuntu Desktop ( LXQt desktop )
ubuntu-budgie-desktop
Ubuntu Budgie desktop
ubuntu-desktop
Ubuntu desktop ( default GNOME )
ubuntu-desktop-minimal
Ubuntu minimal desktop ( default GNOME )
ubuntu-mate-desktop
Ubuntu MATE desktop
ubuntustudio-desktop
Ubuntu Studio desktop ( Xfce-based desktop )
ubuntustudio-desktop-core
Ubuntu Studio minimal DE installation ( Xfce-based desktop )
xubuntu-desktop
Xubuntu desktop ( Xfce desktop )
To list all of the GUIs available for selection, execute the below command:
$ tasksel --list-tasks
Once you have selected the GUI you wish to install on Ubuntu, execute the following tasksel command. After you install ubuntu, you can use this command to install the default Ubuntu desktop environment, which is GNOME. But you may change this command to match your own selection.
$ sudo tasksel install ubuntu-desktop
tasksel will now begin to download and install all of the packages required for the desktop environment you have chosen. Depending on which GUI is being installed, you may be prompted during installation on whether or not you wish to change the default window manager for the system.
👁 Prompt from tasksel to change the default window manager Prompt from tasksel to change the default window manager
After installation, reboot your system.
$ reboot
At this point, the GUI should start. You may need to select your desired desktop flavor on the login page before you login. In case the GUI is not starting at all, make sure your system boots into the graphical target. To do so execute the systemctl set-default graphical.target command:
In this tutorial, you saw how to install a variety of different desktop environments on Ubuntu 20.04 Server and Desktop. This is made easier by the tasksel command, so that we don’t need individual instructions for each GUI available. If you decide to switch GUIs again in the future, these same instructions can be used.
