Setting Up Ubuntu 24.04 on the Khadas Edge2 (AARCH64)
If you’ve just unboxed a Khadas Edge2 — congratulations! You’re holding one of the most powerful ARM64 SBCs around, built for AI, edge computing, and even gaming. But before you can unlock its potential, you’ll need a rock-solid Ubuntu 24.04 setup.
This guide walks you through system-level setup, software installation, and developer tool configuration, all tested on the Edge2 running Ubuntu 24.04 (aarch64).
🧩 1. Essential System Setup
Before diving into fancy tools and GUIs, let’s get the essentials right.
Change the Default Password
Always secure your device first:
sudo passwd khadas
Update the System
Keep everything fresh and patched:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
Remove Preinstalled Bloat (LibreOffice)
Clean up unnecessary packages:
sudo apt remove --purge 'libreoffice*' && sudo apt autoremove --purge
🧰 2. Core Utilities & System Enhancements
Install GDebi (GUI Installer for .deb Files)
sudo apt install gdebi
Install Printer Drivers
For Epson or universal printer support:
sudo apt install printer-driver-escpr
# or for all drivers
sudo apt install printer-driver-all
Install 3D and GPU Utilities
Test your GPU rendering and OpenGL performance:
sudo apt install mesa-utils mesa-utils-extra glmark2-es2-wayland
🌐 3. Web Browser Installation (Firefox)
Ubuntu 24.04 on ARM doesn’t always ship with Firefox by default, so let’s install the official version from Mozilla.
Add Mozilla’s APT Repository
sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
wget -q https://packages.mozilla.org/apt/repo-signing-key.gpg -O- | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc > /dev/null
Verify the Key Fingerprint
gpg -n -q --import --import-options import-show /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc | awk '/pub/{getline; gsub(/^ +| +$/,""); if($0 == "35BAA0B33E9EB396F59CA838C0BA5CE6DC6315A3") print "\nThe key fingerprint matches ("$0").\n"; else print "\nVerification failed: the fingerprint ("$0") does not match the expected one.\n"}'
Add the Repository Source
For Debian-based Ubuntu 24.04 (“Trixie and newer”):
cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.sources
Types: deb
URIs: https://packages.mozilla.org/apt
Suites: mozilla
Components: main
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc
EOF
Set Priority for Mozilla Packages
echo '
Package: *
Pin: origin packages.mozilla.org
Pin-Priority: 1000
' | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla
Install Firefox
sudo apt update && sudo apt install firefox
🖋️ 4. Fonts and Aesthetic Improvements
Make your desktop and IDEs look great:
sudo apt install fonts-opensymbol fonts-ibm-plex fonts-firacode fonts-jetbrains-mono fonts-jetbrains-mono-web fonts-noto fonts-roboto fonts-font-awesome
💻 5. Developer Environment Setup
Install BellSoft Liberica JDK 25
A stable Java runtime for ARM64:
wget -q -O - https://download.bell-sw.com/pki/GPG-KEY-bellsoft | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/GPG-KEY-bellsoft.gpg > /dev/null
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/GPG-KEY-bellsoft.gpg] https://apt.bell-sw.com/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bellsoft.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install bellsoft-java25-full
Download Apache Maven
Visit: https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi
Download Gradle
Visit: https://gradle.org/next-steps/?version=9.1.0&format=bin
Install Go
Visit: https://go.dev/dl/
Install Node.js & npm
Visit: https://nodejs.org/en/download/current
Install Miniforge (for Conda & Python)
Visit: https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases
🧠 6. AI and Coding Tools
Install Qwen Code
Qwen is an open-source code LLM—perfect for local coding assistance: https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code
Install Visual Studio Code
ARM64 build available at: https://code.visualstudio.com/Download
🎮 7. Graphics & Game Development
Install Raylib (C/C++ Game Framework)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:texus/raylib
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libraylib-dev
🧾 8. Office & Productivity
Download LibreOffice (ARM64 Build)
🚀 Final Thoughts
Once you’ve completed these steps, your Khadas Edge2 will be transformed into a fully capable ARM64 workstation — ready for development, AI research, or multimedia workloads.
The combination of Ubuntu 24.04 and the RK3588 SoC provides blazing performance while staying efficient and compact.
Happy hacking on the Edge2! 🧑💻🔥
Did you find this guide helpful? Leave a comment below or share your own setup tips with the Khadas community!