Download ISO¶
Work on the workstation (not the target machine). This page uses the 24.04.5 live-server amd64 image from releases.ubuntu.com/24.04 — a newer 24.04 point release is fine if you update the filename.
Official landing page (same files): Ubuntu Server download.
1. Working directory¶
mkdir -p "$HOME/Downloads"
cd "$HOME/Downloads"
pwd
/home/…/Downloads
2. Fetch checksum list and ISO¶
BASE=https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04
ISO=ubuntu-24.04.5-live-server-amd64.iso
curl -fL -o SHA256SUMS "$BASE/SHA256SUMS"
curl -fL --continue-at - --progress-bar -o "$ISO" "$BASE/$ISO"
ls -lh "$ISO" SHA256SUMS
-rw-rw-r-- 1 you you 893 … SHA256SUMS
-rw-rw-r-- 1 you you 3.9G … ubuntu-24.04.5-live-server-amd64.iso
--continue-at - lets you resume if the transfer drops.
3. Verify SHA256¶
Check only the server ISO line (the SUMS file also lists desktop/WSL images you did not download):
ISO=ubuntu-24.04.5-live-server-amd64.iso
grep " ${ISO}$\| \*${ISO}$" SHA256SUMS | sha256sum -c
ubuntu-24.04.5-live-server-amd64.iso: OK
Do not continue on FAILED
If you see FAILED or a mismatched hash, delete the ISO and download again.
Do not write a bad image to USB.
Evidence note: this guide’s authoring pass used
97f3d7ffb032c3eb3b23d2c8be9cc76e60c2c1f2c0146ba5ba9fe01cafae0fd8 for
ubuntu-24.04.5-live-server-amd64.iso (from the published SHA256SUMS).