Install Ubuntu 20.04 Compiler Edition

Complete guide for setting up Ubuntu 20.04 as a dedicated compilation and development environment. This "Compiler Edition" includes all necessary tools for building software from source code.

System Requirements

Compiling is a resource-intensive task! Choose the appropriate setup based on your needs:

Minimal Setup

Storage: 30 GB SSD
Memory: 2 GB RAM
CPU: 2 cores
Usage: Small projects, learning, testing

Good Setup (Recommended for most users)

Storage: 120 GB SSD
Memory: 4 GB RAM
CPU: 4 cores
Usage: Medium projects, web browsers, applications

Better Setup

Storage: 1 TB SSD + 2 TB HDD
Memory: 16 GB RAM
CPU: 8 cores
Usage: Large projects, Chromium, Linux kernel

Best Setup (Professional)

Storage: 3 TB SSD + 10 TB HDD
Memory: 64 GB RAM
CPU: 24 cores
Usage: Multiple large projects simultaneously, enterprise development

Step 1: Install Ubuntu 20.04

Download Ubuntu 20.04

Download Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS from ubuntu.com

Installation Options

For Virtual Machine:

VMware Workstation
VirtualBox
Hyper-V
Proxmox

For Physical Machine:

Create bootable USB with Rufus (Windows) or dd (Linux)
Boot from USB and follow installer

Installation Type

Choose Minimal Installation to reduce bloat:

Unchecks web browsers, games, media players
Keeps only essential system utilities
Faster installation and updates

Step 2: Initial System Update

After installation, update the system:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt autoremove -y

Step 3: Enable Source Code Repositories

Via GUI

Open Software & Updates
Go to Ubuntu Software tab
Check ✓ Source code
Go to Updates tab
Ensure all update types are enabled
Click Close and Reload

Via Command Line

sudo sed -i 's/# deb-src/deb-src/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt update

Step 4: Install Essential Build Tools

Build Essentials Package

This includes GCC, G++, Make, and other core compilation tools:

sudo apt install -y build-essential

Verify installation:

gcc --version
g++ --version
make --version

Additional Development Tools

sudo apt install -y git curl wget vim nano htop

Step 5: Install Compiler Toolchains

GCC/G++ (Multiple Versions)

Install different GCC versions for compatibility:

sudo apt install -y gcc-7 g++-7 gcc-8 g++-8 gcc-9 g++-9 gcc-10 g++-10

Set default version:

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-10 100
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-10 100

Clang/LLVM

sudo apt install -y clang llvm lld

Rust

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source $HOME/.cargo/env

Go

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:longsleep/golang-backports
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y golang-go

Node.js and npm

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Step 6: Install Build Dependencies

CMake and Ninja

Modern build systems:

sudo apt install -y cmake ninja-build

Autotools

For older projects:

sudo apt install -y autoconf automake libtool

Package Config

sudo apt install -y pkg-config

Step 7: Install Common Libraries

Development Libraries

sudo apt install -y \
  libssl-dev \
  libcurl4-openssl-dev \
  zlib1g-dev \
  libbz2-dev \
  libreadline-dev \
  libsqlite3-dev \
  libncurses5-dev \
  libncursesw5-dev \
  xz-utils \
  tk-dev \
  libffi-dev \
  liblzma-dev \
  libgdbm-dev \
  libnss3-dev \
  libedit-dev

Graphics Libraries (for GUI applications)

sudo apt install -y \
  libx11-dev \
  libxext-dev \
  libxrender-dev \
  libxrandr-dev \
  libxinerama-dev \
  libxi-dev \
  libxcursor-dev \
  libgl1-mesa-dev \
  libglu1-mesa-dev

Audio Libraries

sudo apt install -y libasound2-dev libpulse-dev

Step 8: Install Version Control

Git Configuration

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

Subversion (SVN)

For older projects:

sudo apt install -y subversion

Step 9: Install Python Development Tools

sudo apt install -y python3-pip python3-dev python3-venv
pip3 install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel

Step 10: Optimize for Compilation

Increase Swap (for low-memory systems)

sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Adjust Build Parallelism

Add to ~/.bashrc:

# Use all CPU cores for compilation
export MAKEFLAGS="-j$(nproc)"

Apply changes:

source ~/.bashrc

Step 11: Install IDE/Text Editors (Optional)

Visual Studio Code

wget -qO- https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > packages.microsoft.gpg
sudo install -o root -g root -m 644 packages.microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list'
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y code

Vim with plugins

sudo apt install -y vim-gtk3

Verification

Test your compiler setup:

C Program Test

Create hello.c:

#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
    printf("Hello, World!\n");
    return 0;
}

Compile and run:

gcc hello.c -o hello
./hello

C++ Program Test

Create hello.cpp:

#include <iostream>
int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello, C++!" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}