Install Unity 8 desktop preview in Ubuntu

Install Unity 8 desktop preview in Ubuntu

If you keep following the news, you will know that Ubuntu will switch to the Mir Display Server with the Unity 8 desktop. However, a preview version of Unity 8 is available for you to experience and test before you determine whether Unity 8 running on Mir will appear on Ubuntu 15.10 Willy Werewolf. With the official PPA, you can easily install Unity 8 to Ubuntu 14.04, 14.10, and 15.04.

So far, developers have been able to get this Unity 8 preview through ISO (the main channel) for testing. However, Canonical also released it through the LXC container. In this way, you can use Unity 8 desktop sessions to run on the Mir Display Server like other desktop environments. Just like installing the Mate desktop in Ubuntu, and then selecting a desktop session from the LightDm login screen.

Want to try Unity 8? Let's see how to install it.

Note: it is an experimental preview, and may not all allow it to work correctly.

 

Install Unity 8 desktop to Ubuntu

The steps for installing and using Unity 8 are as follows:

 

Step 1: Install Unity 8 to Ubuntu 12.04 and 14.04

If you are running Ubuntu 12.04 and 14.04, you must use the official PPA to install Unity 8. Run the following command to install the SDK:

1. sudo apt-add-repository ppa:unity8-desktop-session-team/unity8-preview-lxc
2. sudo apt-get update
3. sudo apt-get upgrade
4. sudo apt-get install unity8-lxc

 

Step 1: Install Unity 8 to Ubuntu 14.10 and 15.04

If you are running Ubuntu 14.10 or 15.04, Unity 8 LXC is ready in the source. You only need to run the following command:

1. sudo apt-get update
2. sudo apt-get install unity8-lxc

 

Step 2: Set Unity 8 desktop preview LXC

After installing Unity 8 LXC, set it. The following command can be used:

1. sudo unity8-lxc-setup

It will take some time to set, so be patient. It downloads the ISO file, decompress it, and then complete the final necessary settings to make it work. It also installs a slightly modified version of LightDM. After all this is done, you need to restart.

 

Step 3: Select Unity 8

After restarting, on the logon screen, click the Ubuntu icon next to your logon:

You can see the options of Unity 8 here and select it:

 

Uninstall Unity 8 LXC

If you find that there are too many issues with Unity 8, or you don't like it, you can switch back to the default Unity version in the same way. In addition, you can use the following command to remove Unity 8:

1. sudo apt-get remove unity8-lxc

This command removes the Unity 8 option from the LightDM screen, but the configuration is retained.

The above is the whole process of installing Unity 8 with Mir in Ubuntu. Please share your thoughts on Unity 8 after a try!