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Gladys Assistant OS: install Gladys on a mini-PC from a USB drive

· 4 min read
Pierre-Gilles Leymarie
Pierre-Gilles Leymarie
Founder of Gladys Assistant

Hey everyone,

Today I'm releasing Gladys Assistant OS, the new official way to install Gladys on a mini-PC 🎉

The idea is simple: you write Gladys Assistant OS to a USB drive, you start your mini-PC from it, you answer a few questions, and Gladys installs itself. No command line, no Docker command to copy and paste.

The Gladys Assistant OS boot menu

👉 Install Gladys on a mini-PC with Gladys Assistant OS

Why an installer?​

When I released the new Raspberry Pi image in June, I told you I was working on an "Ubuntu + Gladys" image for mini-PCs. Here it is!

Until now, installing Gladys on a mini-PC meant installing Ubuntu Server yourself (without forgetting to check the OpenSSH box), connecting over SSH, installing Docker, copying a long docker run command, then setting up Watchtower for the updates. Nothing impossible, but many steps, and many people got stuck on one of them.

The mini-PC is the setup I recommend for a long-term smart home, so it deserved an installation as simple as on the Raspberry Pi.

What Gladys Assistant OS does​

Under the hood, Gladys Assistant OS is a standard Ubuntu Server 26.04 LTS, set up for Gladys:

  • The installer only asks for your language, your keyboard and your account. With a single disk, there is not even a disk to choose.
  • On first boot, it installs Docker, downloads the latest version of Gladys and starts it. You follow the progress on the screen of the mini-PC, or from your phone at the address it displays.
  • Gladys updates itself as soon as a new version is out, and Ubuntu installs its security updates automatically.
  • It detects your time zone, and Gladys is reachable at http://gladysassistant.local from any device on your network, or at the IP address shown on the screen of the mini-PC if that name does not open.
  • It is built to be robust: if the Internet connection drops or the power goes out while it sets up Gladys on first boot, it simply resumes where it left off.

The first boot of Gladys Assistant OS

The image never contains Gladys itself: Gladys is downloaded on first boot, so you always start with the latest version, even with an image downloaded a few months ago.

A normal Ubuntu, not a closed box​

Gladys Assistant OS is not a locked-down system. It is an Ubuntu Server like any other: you can log in over SSH, run other containers next to Gladys, and keep full control of your machine. There is no default password: the only account is the one you create during the installation.

And as always with Gladys, everything is open source: GladysAssistant/ubuntu-server-gladys.

Proxmox too​

Gladys Assistant OS also works in a Proxmox VE virtual machine. I rewrote the Proxmox guide around it: create the VM in UEFI mode, start it on the image, and Gladys installs itself the same way.

👉 Install Gladys on Proxmox VE

What it needs (for now)​

This first version has a few requirements:

  • an Intel or AMD computer (x86-64) that starts in UEFI mode, which is the case of virtually every mini-PC. On a Raspberry Pi, keep using the Raspberry Pi image;
  • an Ethernet cable: the installer does not set up Wi-Fi;
  • a screen and a keyboard, only during the installation.

Docker is of course still available if you install Gladys on a machine that already runs other things, like a NAS or a server: the Docker guide is still there.

New installation guides​

For the occasion, I rewrote the installation documentation so Gladys Assistant OS is the first thing you see:

If you try it, tell me how it went on the forum! This is a first version, and your feedback will help make it even simpler 🙂

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