Minimal Ubuntu Gnome Intrepid install on Virtual Box

Pre-requisite:
- internet connection
- Virtual Box installed on host machine. This exercise will be using Vista as host.

Download server edition of Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10 from the nearest mirror. Once done, create a new virtual machine using Virtual Box, use the following configuration: 512 MB Memory, 120 GB HD, enable PAE, use Intel PRO/1000T server network. Start virtual machine of the CD-ROM. During the install sequence, select F4. Select the option which mentions about virtual machine installation. Use the default options, reboot and login to the newly install minimal system.

Update the system and install aptitude, say:

username@hostname:/# apt-get update
username@hostname:/# apt-get safe-upgrade
username@hostname:/# apt-get install aptitude

Then install minimal Gnome, thus say do:

username@hostname:/# aptitude install xorg gnome-core gdm gdm-themes 

My first install of gnome-core didn't work well. Doing

username@hostname:/# apt-get update
username@hostname:/# apt-get safe-upgrade
username@hostname:/# aptitude install gnome-core

fixed it. Go figure.... Let us now make our minimal Ubuntu look prettier, do:

username@hostname:/# aptitude install gtk2-engines gtk2-engines-pixbuf ubuntu-artwork ubuntustudio-icon-theme

After the installation, log-off then log back in. You should now have a more appealing Ubuntu installation.

See the ff links for related posts:
Installing a minimal Ubuntu installation<@ >.
Now, it is time to install Virtual Box guest additions. From the Virtual Box main menu, select Devices | Install Guest Additions... This will cause the media to be auto-mounted. Open up a terminal then do:

username@hostname:/# sudo su
username@hostname:/# aptitude install build-essential
username@hostname:/# aptitude install linux-headers-`uname -r`
username@hostname:/# cd /media/cdrom
username@hostname:/# sh VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run

Enjoy!
~ts~