What you need: - Ubuntu (or Kubuntu, etc.) installation image - Free disk space - Root access to a Linux system - Internet access Steps: 1. Mount the Ubuntu image somewhere. # mount loop /root/ubuntu.iso /root/ubu-iso/ 2. Mount the compressed filesystem inside it somewhere else. # mount /root/ubu-iso/casper/filesystem.squashfs /root/ubu-squash/ 3. Copy the whole contents of the filesystem to your mounted partition(s). # cp -a /root/ubu-squash/* /root/ubu-install/ 4. Chroot into the new installation and mount the virtual filesystems. Set up resolv.conf, fstab, and hosts. Install GRUB. Run apt-get dist-upgrade, and apt-get install the latest kernel. Set up a user (or users). Reboot. Congrats, you now have a working Ubuntu system. BTW this isn't just for Ubuntu. It can be done for any distro that uses squashfs images for its live filesystems. Enjoy!