Complete CROUTON Installation Guide : LINUX on any CHROMEBOOK

Complete CROUTON Installation Guide : LINUX on any CHROMEBOOK

 Crouton! What is it?

Crouton stands for Chromium OS Universal Chroot Environment. It allows you to run full Ubuntu on top of Chrome OS. Unlike dual booting, you can easily switch between Ubuntu and Chrome OS with a keyboard shortcut, no reboots necessary.

Why install Crouton?

1. Full Linux power. Linux is a powerful operating system that is highly customizable and has a library of great open source applications. If you’ve ever wanted to give Linux a try, now is your chance.
2. Speedy and reliable. Crouton runs alongside Chrome OS and doesn’t skip a beat in terms of speed. The full Linux desktop is only a keyboard shortcut away so it is there only when you need it.
3. Software and Games. Your Chromebook will be able to run full open source office applications among other software including Steam and Minecraft! The Chrome Web Store is not bad but it does not compare to installing full-fledged desktop applications and Steam 

What Chromebooks are Compatible with Crouton?

Crouton works on ANY Chromebook, but for this guide, I will be installing it on a Broadwell based Intel i3 Toshiba Chromebook 2 (2015 Edition). However, you can use this guide for any Chromebook, the process is the same across the board.

Step One: Upgrade your SSD (optional)

Chromebooks by default do not come with a lot of internal storage space. After all, they’re meant to be primarily cloud-based devices. But with a full installation of Linux, you would benefit from having extra storage space for software, games, and media.

Some Chromebooks allow you to swap the internal SSD to a bigger one. Depending on the model of your Chromebook will determine if you are able to do this. I highly recommend it if your Chromebook is compatible.

I’ve written a guide on how to do this specifically for the Toshiba Chromebook 2 (2015) model here  . The process is basically the same for other models but will vary when getting into the internals and the location of the actual drive.

Step Two: Enable Developer Mode

In order to install Crouton, your Chromebook will need to be in developer mode.

Step Three: Install Crouton

Firstly, download Crouton

Now, we will install Ubuntu via Crouton. Before doing this you should make a few decisions:

1. Desktop Environment – Unity of Xfce?
   Xfce is less graphic intensive and as such is recommended for lower end systems that have less processing power, such as Baytrail or Celeron models. If you have an Intel i3/i5/i7 Chromebook I recommend using Unity.
2. Encryption vs. No Encryption?
   If you would like to encrypt your chroot to add more security you can enable this option when installing Crouton. This will add an additional password prompt when entering Ubuntu.
3. Enable Touch 
   If your Chromebook display doubles as a touch screen (eg Chromebook Pixel) you can turn this option on.
4. Choose your Ubuntu release
   This is entirely up to your personal preference but by default, Crouton will install Precise (Ubuntu 12.04). You may want to use Raring (13.04) or Trusty (14.04). I personally prefer Trusty because of its stability. For more information about Ubuntu releases, check here.
5.  Install browser extension and/or Xiwi
   The Crouton browser extension allows you to have synchronized clipboards, the option of using Chromium OS to handle URLs and allows chroots to create graphical sessions as Chromium OS windows. The downside to running chroot in a tab is that it has graphical limitations and does not have enough power to run Linux games.
   

Once you have an idea of what you want you can begin installing Crouton by following these steps.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T to bring up a terminal on your Chromebook.
2. At the Terminal, run the following command to enter a Ubuntu shell:
   
   1

   shell

3. Next, you will type out your install script. This will change based on the decisions you made above.
   For example, if you want to install Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty) that uses the Unity desktop environment and browser extension, you would type this:
   
   1	sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r trusty -t unity,extension

   I recommend the above for Intel i3/i5/i7 Chromebooks and the following for Celeron based Chromebooks:
   
   1	sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r trusty -t xfce,extension

   

Breakdown of parameters

As you can see from the install scripts above, there are many options when installing Crouton. In this section, I will break down what each of the parameters means so that you can install the exact setup you want.

• The -r parameter specifies which Ubuntu release you want to use. Run
  
  1	sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r list

  to list the recognized releases and which distros they belong to. Replace trusty with the release you want to install (eg -r precise or -r raring).
• The -t parameter denotes target. You must always type this in your install script.
• Decide on the unity or Xfce desktop environment and add it after typing -t.  (eg -t unity or -t xfce)
• The -e parameter is used when you run crouton to create an encrypted chroot or encrypt a non-encrypted chroot.
• Add touch to the end of your install script to enable your installation for touchscreen Chromebooks.
• Add extension for the Crouton browser extension to work
• Add xiwi to be able to run Ubuntu in a browser tab

Once you type your install script and press enter, Ubuntu should begin to install!

Switching between Ubuntu and Chrome OS 

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T to bring up a terminal on your Chromebook.
2. Type shell and press enter.
3. At the terminal type:
   
   1	sudo startunity

   or
   
   1	sudo startxfce4

   Depending on which desktop environment you installed.
4. If you chose encryption, enter your password.
5. If you used xiwi and you’re running in a browser tab, you’ve now got Ubuntu running in one of your Chrome tabs. You can resize it as you see fit. Remember that Chrome has a fullscreen mode and a dedicated button to toggle this on and off.
   If you’re not running it in a tab, then you’ll be in fullscreen by default. To change back and forth between Ubuntu and Chrome OS, press and hold the following keys:Control+Alt+Shift+Forward
6. Congratulations! You’ve now installed Ubuntu and figured out how to switch back and forth from operating systems.

Updating your chroot 

Ubuntu may stop working after a Chrome OS update. If that’s the case, update all the installed targets using the following command.

In Chrome OS, open a terminal using Ctrl + Alt + T, then type “shell” and:

1	sudo sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -u -n <strong>chrootname</strong>

Where “chrootname” is the name of the chroot you want to update. For example, if you’ve installed Ubuntu 12.04 Precise, the default chrootname is “precise”, or if you installed Ubuntu 14.04 you would use “trusty.”

By: Hemant Gupta

Contact: +91 9116866718