How to Install Ubuntu on Android

Prepare Device for Ubuntu

1. Open the Market app, tap “Search,” type “TightVNCServer” in the search text-field and press “Enter.” Tap “TightVNCServer” in the list of results and tap “Install” to download and install the application on your Android device.

2. Install the driver that allows you to connect your Android device to your computer using the USB connector cable for development purposes. This process will depend on which hardware you are using. For details on which driver you need for your phone, go online to Google’s Android Developer SDK guide at Developer.android.com/sdk.

3. Go online to Androlinux.com/android-ubuntu-development/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-android and click “Download Ubuntu.zip” to download a ZIP file containing an Ubuntu image for your Android device.

4. Extract the Ubuntu image from the ZIP file, connect your Android device to your computer, turn USB storage on to mount your SD card to your computer, and save the Ubuntu image to the root directory of your Android SD card.

Install Ubuntu on Android Device

5. Turn on your Android device, open the Settings app, tap “Applications,” select “Development” and tap “USB Debugging.”

6. Connect your Android device to your computer using its USB connector cable and select “Just Charge.” Do not mount your Android device while its in debugging mode.

7. Click “Start” on your computer, type “CMD” and press “Enter” to open the Windows command shell.

8. Type the path to your SDK folder and press “Enter” to open the SDK directory in the command line. For instance, if your SDK directory is located in the C: drive, type “C:\Users\max\cd\sdk”.

9. Open the “Platform-Tools” directory by typing “platform-tools” and pressing “Enter.”

10. Type “adb shell” and press “Enter” to open the Android shell.

11. Type “su” and press “Enter” to activate super user mode.

12. Type “cd /sdcard”, press “Enter,” type “cd ubuntu” and press “Enter” to open the Ubuntu directory you saved on the SD card of your Android.

13. Type “sh ubuntu.sh” to activate the script that prepares Ubuntu to run on your Android device.

14. Type “bootubuntu” in the command line and press “Enter” to open the Ubuntu operating system. The command line displays “root@localhost,” which means you've accessed the Ubuntu image on your Android device.

Install Necessary Software to Ubuntu

15. Update Ubuntu on your Android by typing “apt-get update” and pressing “Enter.”

16. Type “apt-get install openssh-server” and press “Enter.” This command installs the OpenSSH-server to enable IP address support on your device’s Ubuntu.

17. Type “apt-get install tightvncserver” to install the TightVNCServer on your Android Ubuntu. This allows you to access the graphical user interface of Ubuntu on your Android device using the Android VNC app.

Run Ubuntu Using TightVNCServer

18. Type “export USER=root” in the command line, press “Enter,” type “vncserver -geometry 1024X800” and press “Enter.”

19. Close the command line window and disconnect your Android phone from the computer.

20. Open “TightVNCServer” on your Android, type “127.0.0.1” in the “IP Address” text-field, type “5901” in the “Port Number” text-field and tap “Connect.” Ubuntu launches on your Android device.