Apple adding Boot Camp to macOS made it easy for people to dual boot Windows, but installing Linux is another matter entirely. Follow the steps below to learn how to do this. Why Install Linux on a Mac or MacBook Pro?Your Mac offers excellent performance, superb battery life, and long durability. The hardware on a Mac is difficult to match, which makes it an incredibly powerful machine for running Linux.What’s more, Linux breathes life into old Macs that are no longer eligible for macOS updates. Rather than letting your old MacBook Pro turn into an expensive paperweight, install the latest version of Linux and keep it going for years to come. Ubuntu Is Our Linux Distribution of ChoiceThere are many different versions of Linux available, but for the purposes of this tutorial, we suggest installing Ubuntu on your Mac.
With a bootable Ubuntu USB stick, you can: Install or upgrade Ubuntu, even on a Mac; Test out the Ubuntu desktop experience without touching your. I log in and it’s a full Ubuntu 16.0 Linux installation and system, ready to go online, run various included utilities and games, and much more: And that’s it. Congrats, you’re now running a full install of Ubuntu Desktop Linux on your Mac with VMware Fusion!
Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distribution, which means there are lots of active support communities available if you ever need help.We even wrote an you can use to get started with it. To Dual Boot or Not to Dual BootWith a dual boot system, both macOS and Linux are installed on your Mac. Hold Option while your computer boots up to choose which operating system to use.
The main is that you can only use one OS at a time while dual-booting, but you get better performance.If you don’t plan to ever use macOS again, you might want to completely replace it with Linux instead. That way, none of your storage is used up by its system files.However, if you ever change your mind, it’s difficult and time-consuming to restore macOS again in the future. This is especially true since Linux writes over the macOS Recovery partition.For that reason, we recommend you dual boot Linux on your Mac. If you’re really certain you don’t want to do that, just skip the Partition step in the instructions below. Step 1: Prepare Your Mac for Installing LinuxTo install Linux on your Mac, you need a USB flash drive with at least 2GB of storage.
You’ll erase the flash drive in a future step to put an Ubuntu installer on it, so make sure you’ve backed up any important files first.Use an Ethernet adapter to connect your Mac to the internet. This is important, because your Wi-Fi may not work in Ubuntu without third-party drivers. Similarly, iMac users should get hold of a USB keyboard or mouse, in case Bluetooth doesn’t work.If you plan to dual boot your Mac with Linux, you also need to make sure you have enough free storage.
Go to Apple menu About This Mac Storage to check that you have at least 25GB free (but preferably more). You shouldn’t lose any data by installing Linux in a dual boot partition.
However, if something goes wrong, you may need to erase your entire Mac to fix it.If you plan to replace macOS with Linux, rather than creating a dual-boot system, use to. This makes it far easier to revert back to macOS again in the future.
Step 2: Create a Partition on Your Mac DriveFor a dual boot system (which we strongly recommend), you need to create a Linux partition on your Mac’s hard drive. If you don’t want to create a dual boot system, skip ahead to the next step. In fact, to dual boot Linux on a Mac, you need two extra partitions: one for Linux and a second for swap space. The swap partition must be as big as the amount of RAM your Mac has. Check this by going to Apple menu About This Mac.Use Disk Utility to create new partitions on your Mac:. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder in your Applications, or search for it via Spotlight.
In the top-left corner, select View Show All Devices. Select the highest-level drive for your Mac hard disk, then click Partition. Use the Plus button to create a new partition. Name it UBUNTU and set the format to MS-DOS (FAT). Give it as much space as you want to use for Linux. Click Apply to create the partition. Repeat the steps above to create another partition.
Name this partition SWAP and set the format to MS-DOS (FAT) again. Make the size match the amount of RAM in your Mac. This might be 4GB or 8GB, for instance.
Click Apply to create the partition.If you can’t create new partitions, it could be because FileVault is encrypting your hard drive. Go to System Preferences Security & Privacy FileVault to turn it off. Install rEFInd for Better Boot OptionsThe standard boot manager on your Mac doesn’t always work with Ubuntu. This means you need to install a third-party boot manager instead, which will let you easily choose between macOS or Linux when you start up your computer.Thus, your next step is to, which is the boot manager we recommend.
To install rEFInd, you need to. This is an important security feature for macOS, so make sure you enable it again afterward.To install the rEFInd boot manager:. With SIP disabled, open Terminal from the Utilities folder in Applications (or search for it using Spotlight). Open Finder in a separate window and navigate to the rEFInd download.
Drag the refind-install file into your Terminal window and press Enter. When prompted, enter your administrator password and press Enter again.
After the installation, remember to enable SIP again.Next time you restart your Mac, the rEFInd menu should appear automatically. If it doesn’t, hold Option while booting up to load your boot manager. Step 3: Create an Ubuntu USB Installeras a disk image from the Ubuntu website. You need to use a third-party app to create a USB installer from the Ubuntu disk image. One of the simplest apps for this is, but you can use anything you like.To create an Ubuntu USB installer:. Open balenaEtcher and click Select Image.
Navigate to the Ubuntu disk image you downloaded and click Open. Insert your USB flash drive and balenaEtcher should automatically select it. If it doesn’t, click Select Target or Change to select the flash drive yourself. Make sure the correct drive is selected, since the next step erases it. Click Flash and enter your administrator password to erase the USB flash drive and create an Ubuntu USB installer. When it’s finished, macOS prompts you to Eject the flash drive.Step 4: Boot Ubuntu From Your USB InstallerRestart your Mac while holding Option and reinsert the USB flash drive directly into your computer. When the boot loader appears, use the arrow keys to select the Boot EFI option and hit Enter.An Ubuntu loading screen appears, followed by the Ubuntu desktop.Use this opportunity to test Ubuntu on your Mac.
Keep in mind that because it’s running from your USB flash drive, it may be slow. Since Ubuntu can’t use your Mac’s Wi-Fi by default, use an Ethernet adapter to connect to the internet.
Disable Secure Boot on Macs With the T2 Security ChipIn 2018, Apple introduced the T2 security chip to new Macs. This advancement might stop you from booting other operating systems on your machine. If you experience any boot issues, follow. Step 5: Install Ubuntu on Your MacWhen you’re ready, double-click the Install Ubuntu item on the desktop.Follow the on-screen prompts to choose your language and keyboard layout. Choose a Normal installation and select the option to Install third-party software.
You need to connect your Mac to the internet using an Ethernet cable to install this software, which makes functions like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work. Then click Continue.If prompted, choose to keep your partitions mounted. Option 1: Dual Boot Ubuntu With macOSFrom the Installation type screen, select Something Else and click Continue.On the next screen, you need to identify and select the UBUNTU partition you created. Unfortunately, there are no recognizable partition names, so look for a device with fat32 in the name that matches the partition size, measured in MB.Double-click to select it and choose Use as: Ext4 journaling file system.
Set the Mount point to / and check the box to Format the partition. In the popup alert, click Continue to write previous changes to the disk.Now identify your SWAP partition, which should also have fat32 in the name.
Double-click it and choose to Use as: swap area, then click OK.Open the Device for boot loader installation dropdown menu and select your UBUNTU partition again. The name should match what you selected for it from the table above.Take a moment to ensure you selected the correct partitions, then click Install Now. Click Continue in the popup alert to confirm you want to write changes to those disks.Finally, follow the on-screen prompts to choose your time zone and create a user account, then wait for the installation to complete.
Option 2: Replace macOS With UbuntuFrom the Installation type screen, select Erase disk and install Ubuntu.Be warned: this erases everything from your Mac, including the operating system and the Recovery partition!When you’re ready, click Install Now and select your hard disk.Follow the on-screen prompts to set the correct time zone and create a user account, then wait for the installation to complete. Make Using Linux on Mac Even EasierCongratulations! You successfully installed Linux on your MacBook Pro, iMac, or Mac mini!
If you chose to dual boot Linux on your Mac, hold Option while booting up to choose between macOS and Ubuntu.Next, take a look at some. By adding some familiar macOS features to Ubuntu, you’ll make the most of Linux on your Mac in no time!Explore more about:,.Affiliate Disclosure: By buying the products we recommend, you help keep the site alive.
Install rEFIndRELATED:rEFInd is a boot manager that will allow you to choose between Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, and other operating systems when you boot your computer. Installing rEFInd makes the dual-boot process easier. (Some older how-to’s will instruct you to use rEFIt, but it’s no longer maintained. REFInd is a currently maintained boot manager based on rEFIt.)causes problems with rEFIt, so you’ll need to disable full-disk encryption or before installing rEFInd.First, visit the and click the Download button to download the latest refind-bin-version.zip file. Open a Terminal window by pressing Command + Space and, typing Terminal, and pressing Enter. Drag and drop the install.sh file from the downloaded zip file into the terminal window and press Enter to run it.Shut down your Mac — a full shut down, not a restart — and boot it back up again. You should see the rEFInd boot manager screen.
Partition Your MacYou’ll now need to resize your Mac OS X system partition to make room for your Linux distribution of choice. From within Mac OS X, press Command + Space, type Disk Utility, and press Enter to open the Disk Utility. Select your Mac’s hard drive in the list on the left and select Partition on the right.RELATED:Shrink the current Mac OS X to make space for your Linux system.
How much space you want for Linux is up to you. Ubuntu’s system requirements say it requires at least 5 GB of space, but something like 20 GB is much more reasonable. Drag and drop the handle on the partition volume or enter a final size for the partition and click Partition to partition it.Don’t create a new partition after shrinking your current partition — just leave the space empty for now.Boot and Install LinuxYou’ll need Linux installation media to continue. For example, if you’re using Ubuntu, you’ll need to download an Ubuntu ISO file — download the “64-bit Mac” version. Burn the ISO to disc or follow to create a bootable USB drive from the ISO file.Restart your computer and rEFInd will appear. Select the USB or disc drive containing the Linux system and boot it on your Mac.Launch your Linux distribution’s installer and go through the installation process.
On Ubuntu, launch the Install Ubuntu application from the desktop and install Ubuntu as you normally would. Be sure to select the “Install Ubuntu alongside Mac OS X” option instead of overwriting your Mac OS X system with Ubuntu. The installation process should otherwise be normal.Whenever you boot your computer, you’ll have the ability to choose between Mac OS X and Linux on the rEFInd boot manager screen.Depending on your Mac, some hardware components may not work perfectly on Linux. This depends on the version of Linux you use, how recent it is, and what Mac hardware you’re using.
If something doesn’t work, you may have to perform some Google searches with the model and year of your Mac as well as the name and version of the Linux distribution you’re using. Other users have probably dealt with the same problems before you, and they’ve probably written guides to making everything work. How to Remove Linux and rEFIndRELATED:If you decide you no longer want to dual boot Linux on your Mac, you can remove Linux fairly easily.
Boot into OS X, open the Disk Utility, and delete your Linux partitions. You can also boot from your Linux USB media and use the GParted partition manager to remove these partitions.
After the partitions are deleted, you can enlarge your Mac OS X partition afterwards from the Disk Utility in OS X to reclaim the space used for Linux.If you installed Linux as the only operating system and replaced Mac OS X, you’ll need to if you want to leave Linux behind.To remove the rEFInd boot manager, follow. You don’t have to remove rEFInd — your Mac will continue working fine with rEFInd installed even if you remove Linux.The rEFInd bit isn’t mandatory, but you’ll have to perform other tweaks to make Linux boot properly on a Mac if you opt to not use rEFInd. While Apple makes installing Windows easy through Boot Camp, they don’t provide any simple solution for installing Linux.Image Credit.