Linux is a family of open-source UNIX-like operating systems and is used on many servers. Running your own server also provides more flexibility in customizing services.

For the security of your data, nothing beats having a server on-site in a locked server room. Many companies find it is more cost-effective to use cloud services instead of their own server. Visiting a website? Your computer is connecting to a web server. When you set up an email account on your Apple device, you’re connecting to a mail server. File server (shared and private directories).What’s a Linux Server?įor businesses, a server is a computer that provides services for a group of users. Today, I continue the theme of recycling and reusing older Mac minis by turning one into a Linux server. If you run into any issues during the installation, leave a comment and I will try to help.I recently showed you how to use a used Mac mini as a media server for your home. With the 20.04.2 update of Ubuntu, everything works out of the box with the Mid 2012 version of the Mac Book. Next, I ran sudo apt update & sudo apt upgrade -y to make sure I had all the updates to my laptop. This will clear the black screen and error when booting. I found out that Mac’s EFI wants a signed OS.

After installation, I noticed a weird error about MOK and EFI. I managed to install Ubuntu, and everything went smoothly. I burned Ubuntu 20.04.2 on a DVD (From ) and booted up the mac by inserting the DVD in the drive and holding down the “Option” key while booting up and I select the first EFI Partition to boot from by pressing the Up arrow after selecting it. So, the installation was pretty straight forward. (I’m actually writing this blog from the laptop running Ubuntu.) This proved to be harder than I expected, but if you keep reading, I’ll tell you how I finally did it.

I was going to update it to Mac OS 11, but found out that it didn’t support it, so I figured I would try to revive life to it by installing Ubuntu on it. I got my girlfriend a new Macbook Pro M1 for Hanukkah and she gave me her old one (It’s a Macbook Pro Mid 2012, or 14,1). Been a while and I have a new blog entry so that I don’t forget how to do this if I ever have to do it again.

How to install linux on old macbook