Create an Ubuntu image for a Raspberry Pi on Ubuntu

1. Overview

In this tutorial, we will walk you through creating a bootable Ubuntu microSD card for your Raspberry Pi .

What you’ll learn

How to create a bootable microSD card to run Ubuntu on your Raspberry Pi

What you’ll need

  • A microSD card
  • An Ubuntu Server image
  • A computer with a microSD card drive

Warning
Following these steps will erase any existing content on the removable drive!

Please note
The following instructions are for Ubuntu users. We also have tutorials for Windows and MacOS users.


2. On your Ubuntu machine

  1. Download the Ubuntu image for your device in your Downloads folder
  2. Insert your microSD card
  3. Open the “Disks” application and select your microSD card
  4. In the menu, select “Restore Disk Image…
  5. Then in the “Image to Restore” box, select the Ubuntu image file you have downloaded, ending with an .xz file extension
  6. Then select the “Start Restoring…” button
  7. When it has finished writing the image, you can eject your removable drive

3. That’s all folks!

You did it!

Now you can put the microSD card in your Raspberry Pi and boot it up. See the How to install Ubuntu Server on your Raspberry Pi tutorial and learn about booting it up, installing a desktop and installing software from our Snap Store.