Create a home server from your old laptop
Next, we'll show you how to set up the bare bones of a great headless home server running Ubuntu. We'll be using Ubuntu Server, but you may also want to use Ubuntu Desktop, depending on the applications and tools you're planning on running.
We recommend that you make any required upgrades to your laptop in advance; it'll only be harder to set up your machine and make hardware changes later. We've already got great guides on how to install Ubuntu Desktop, and Ubuntu Server is largely the same process (minus a few steps, even.) You can download an Ubuntu Server ISO from Ubuntu's website. We'd recommend installing the full version, not the minimized version, as it contains some tools we'll need later.
Once Ubuntu Server is installed, we'll be making a few changes. First, we'll connect to a network. If you've already done this in the installer, you can skip this step. After Ubuntu is installed, we'll make a few small changes.