Gladys Assistant OS: install Gladys on a mini-PC with a simple USB key 🚀

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Hello everyone!

It’s official: Gladys Assistant OS is available! :tada:

This is the new official way to install Gladys on a mini-PC: you write the image to a USB key, you boot the mini-PC from it, you answer a few questions, and Gladys installs itself. No more command line, no more docker run to copy-paste :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

Everything is explained step by step, with a screenshot of each screen, in the new documentation:

:package: What Gladys Assistant OS does

  • Under the hood, it’s a standard Ubuntu Server 26.04 LTS, prepared for Gladys
  • The installer only asks for the language, the keyboard, and your account. With a single disk, there’s not even a disk to choose
  • On first boot, it installs Docker, downloads the latest version of Gladys, and launches it. You can follow the progress on the mini-PC screen or from your phone
  • Gladys updates itself, and Ubuntu installs its security updates automatically
  • An Internet or power outage during the first boot? It resumes where it left off
  • At the end, Gladys is accessible on http://gladysassistant.local

And it’s not a black box: it remains a classic Ubuntu, accessible via SSH, with no default account or password.

:clipboard: What you need for this first version

  • an Intel or AMD mini-PC (x86-64) that boots in UEFI, which is almost all mini-PCs
  • an Ethernet cable
  • a screen and a keyboard, only during installation

On Raspberry Pi, we keep the Raspberry Pi image, and the Docker installation remains for those who already have a server or a NAS. And if Gladys is already running at your place, nothing changes: no need to reinstall!

:books: All the installation documentation revised

I took the opportunity to revise all the installation documentation (in French, English, German, and Spanish) so that Gladys Assistant OS is the first thing we see:

:blue_heart: A huge thank you

Gladys Assistant OS is a community project from start to finish:

  • @howmationfr started the project and did most of the work
  • @cicoub13 took it over, refined it, and released v0.1.0
  • thanks also to everyone who tested and gave feedback in the original topic :folded_hands:

And as always, everything is open source: GitHub - GladysAssistant/ubuntu-server-gladys: Gladys Assistant OS · GitHub

:test_tube: Now it’s your turn to test!

This is a first version: if you have a mini-PC on hand, install it and tell us how it went in a reply to this post! Every feedback on real hardware (Intel N100/N150, Core, AMD Ryzen, NVMe, SATA…) helps to make the installer more reliable. The test checklist is here: HARDWARE-TEST-CHECKLIST.md

Don’t hesitate to give your feedback on the forum :slight_smile:

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I’ll take this opportunity to clarify: if you already have Gladys Assistant installed, this doesn’t concern you. It’s mainly useful for new users :sunglasses:

Gladys Assistant OS is nothing more than Ubuntu Server + Docker + Gladys + Watchtower, so nothing new if you followed the Docker tutorial: you already have the same thing at home, no need to reinstall! The only difference is that everything installs automatically, without command lines.