up vote 31 down vote favorite
16

How can I install Gnome Desktop on Ubuntu 15.04 with unity? Don't want to make a new clean install-- Any idea? Can't find any information about it!

share|improve this question
up vote 37 down vote accepted

Log out and open a terminal on TTY1 Ctrl+Alt+F1 and run the following commands:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-gnome-desktop
sudo service gdm restart

As @Exocom said, the following step is not necessary.

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm

Then choose the desktop you want and you can log in again.

share|improve this answer
1  
As far as I can see it, step 2) and 3) are not necessary. You will be asked to choose your display manager on step 1) and after logging out gdm will be started automatically. – Exocom Jun 1 '15 at 15:32
    
@Exocom Thx, I will add your comment. – A.B. Jun 1 '15 at 15:34
3  
The gdm restart is necessary after all, sorry about the wrong information in the comment before. I corrected the answer accordingly (and tried it a few times this time ;-))! – Exocom Jun 2 '15 at 6:43
    
What if I do it in terminal without logging out. Any cons? – Rehan Ullah Jul 31 '15 at 13:56
    
Thanks @A.B. but on 15.10 if you see black screen on login then you can switch back to lightdm. See this: askubuntu.com/questions/571252/… – Abhimanyu Aryan Dec 12 '15 at 23:42
up vote 4 down vote

Open a terminal and execute:

sudo apt-get install gnome

Choose "gdm" when asked.

In case not being asked execute : 

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm

To restart the system execute : 

sudo reboot

Rebooting after installing a new DE is not necessary, however some say it is recommended.

Update :

To make up your own mind on this topic, read When is it necessary to reboot an Ubuntu system?

share|improve this answer
6  
Why reboot?! That's not Windows. – A.B. Apr 27 '15 at 8:27
2  
No, sudo service gdm restart. – A.B. Apr 27 '15 at 8:38
3  
Where is this written? – A.B. Apr 27 '15 at 8:48
3  
ubuntu 15 has its own set of issues, ubuntu is going the windows way and not working of the box for basic stuff like wifi... so stop getting annoyed at reboot.. – Siddharth Aug 16 '15 at 7:08

protected by Community♦ Mar 25 '16 at 4:29

Thank you for your interest in this question. Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).

Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.