Setting up Ubuntu Live Environment

Performing administrative tasks using Ubuntu tools saves time and stress. However, installing and configuring Ubuntu for such a purpose is inefficient. Using an Ubuntu live environment for such purposes allows access to Ubuntu's tools without having to install Ubuntu to your hard disk. The typical Ubuntu installer is a live environment that is booted from a USB flash drive, or a DVD. While used to install Ubuntu, it is essentially a fully-functional Ubuntu environment that can be used for system administration.

After creating an Ubuntu flash drive, boot from the flash drive by following your motherboard's manual. Usually, pressing F12 on your keyboard while the computer is starting up shows a boot menu, from which, your USB flash drive can be selected. However, it varies based on motherboard configuration and manufacturer. After booting the USB flash drive, select Try Ubuntu if prompted and wait for the desktop to be shown.

Any changes, including software installations, will be lost when the system is powered off or restarted unless persistence was enabled when the Live USB was created.

Open a new terminal
1) Open the terminal by holding down Control (Ctrl) and Alt (Alt) keys at the same time and pressing (t) with the other hand.

Connect to The Internet
The first step is to connect your machine to the Internet. If you have connect to the Internet using a cable, then Ubuntu has probably automatically completed this step. Modern versions of Ubuntu have support for Wifi, so in most cases, your computer's Wifi capabilities can be used to connect to the Internet.

1) Verify that you have Internet connectivity by typing the following command:

ping google.com

The output should look similar to below. If not, then you are not yet connected to the Internet.

2) Abort the ping operation by pressing Ctrl until it stops.

Add Third Party Sources
1) Install the package, software-properties-common by typing the following:

sudo apt-get install -y software-properties-common

2) Add the main repositories by typing these commands:

sudo apt-get install -y sudo apt-add-repository universe

3) Update the system now that the repositories have been added:

sudo apt update

It is very important that no errors occur during repository updating. If an error occurs, it could be due to lack of Internet connectivity.

4) Set a password on the root user by typing:

sudo passwd

When prompted, enter your desired password and press enter.

5) Set a password on the Ubuntu user account by typing:

sudo passwd ubuntu

When prompted, enter your desired password and press enter.

Ready
The environment should now be ready for administrative use.