Ubuntu Minimal Setup on Intel Atom (16GB Disk)

Installing Ubuntu Minimal on Intel Atom with 16GB Storage – Complete Practical Guide

Introduction

This guide explains how to install and optimize Ubuntu Minimal on an Intel Atom system with only 16GB disk space. This setup is suitable for edge devices, SBC simulations, IoT gateways, and lightweight DevOps labs.

Hardware Assumption:

Processor: Intel Atom

RAM: 4GB–8GB

Disk: 16GB SATA / eMMC

Use case: Lightweight server / container host / edge gateway

Goal:

• Install Ubuntu minimal

• Keep disk usage under control

• Disable unnecessary services

• Prepare system for Docker or microservices

STEP 1 – Download Ubuntu Minimal ISO

Download Ubuntu Server LTS (Minimal install during setup)

Recommended:

Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS or 24.04 LTS

Create bootable USB using:

On Windows:

Use Rufus

On Linux:

sudo dd if=ubuntu.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress

STEP 2 – Installation Settings (VERY IMPORTANT for 16GB)

During installation:

1. Choose “Ubuntu Server (minimal installation)”

2. DO NOT select:

   
   

   • Snap packages

   • OpenSSH (if not required immediately)

   • Any extra features

3. 
   

4. Manual partitioning (Recommended)

Partition Layout for 16GB Disk:

/ (root)      → 14GB   ext4

swap          → 1GB    swap

/boot/efi     → 512MB  (if UEFI)

This keeps system small and manageable.

STEP 3 – First Boot Cleanup

After login:

Check disk usage:

df -h

Check installed packages:

dpkg –list | wc -l

Remove unwanted packages:

sudo apt purge snapd -y

sudo apt autoremove -y

sudo apt clean

Disable snap completely:

sudo systemctl disable snapd

sudo systemctl stop snapd

STEP 4 – Reduce Journald Log Size

By default logs can grow large.

Create limit file:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/journald.conf.d

sudo nano /etc/systemd/journald.conf.d/size.conf

Add:

[Journal]

SystemMaxUse=100M

RuntimeMaxUse=50M

Restart journald:

sudo systemctl restart systemd-journald

Verify:

journalctl –disk-usage

STEP 5 – Install Only Required Utilities

Minimal required packages:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install -y

curl

ca-certificates

gnupg

lsb-release

ufw

nano

htop

Avoid installing:

• build-essential

• large desktop packages

• full monitoring stacks

STEP 6 – Enable Basic Security

Enable firewall:

sudo ufw default deny incoming

sudo ufw default allow outgoing

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp   (only if SSH required)

sudo ufw enable

Check:

sudo ufw status

STEP 7 – Optional: Install Docker (Lightweight)

If using for containers:

Install Docker:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh

Check:

docker –version

Disable docker logging growth:

Create:

sudo nano /etc/docker/daemon.json

Add:

{

“log-driver”: “json-file”,

“log-opts”: {

“max-size”: “10m”,

“max-file”: “3”

}

}

Restart:

sudo systemctl restart docker

STEP 8 – Disk Space Monitoring

Check large folders:

sudo du -h –max-depth=1 / | sort -hr

Check apt cache:

sudo du -sh /var/cache/apt

Clean cache:

sudo apt clean

Expected Disk Usage After Setup

Fresh minimal install:        2.0GB – 2.5GB

After utilities installed:    3GB – 3.5GB

With Docker installed:        4GB – 5GB

Remaining usable space:       ~10GB

This is sufficient for:

• Lightweight microservices

• MQTT broker

• Redis

• Small Postgres

• Edge gateway stack

Performance Tips for Intel Atom

1. Disable unnecessary services:

   
   

   sudo systemctl list-unit-files –type=service

   
   

   sudo systemctl disable

2. Reduce swappiness:

   
   

   sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf

   
   

   Add:

   
   

   vm.swappiness=10

   
   

   Apply:

   
   

   sudo sysctl -p

3. Avoid heavy databases unless external storage available.

Final Notes

This setup is ideal for:

• Edge computing

• SBC lab simulation

• IoT gateway

• Lightweight Docker host

• DevOps learning lab

For production:

Use external storage or at least 32GB disk.