Finally after some last minute drama, Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx has finally been released. As expected, the server is very busy and downloading through torrent is recommended. However, if you have a previous image of Lucid - a beta, RC or even a development image, you can download only the parts that are not already there in the image. This saves a lot of bandwidth and is benificial to both you and to the Ubuntu community.

Here is how to downlaod Ubuntu 10.04 using zsync:

Note: Downloading using zsync requires a previous image file. If you do not have one, zsync is not an option for you.

1. Rename the image you have as one of the following, whichever is relevant. This will be the seed file.

ubuntu-10.04-alternate-amd64.iso
ubuntu-10.04-alternate-i386.iso
ubuntu-10.04-desktop-amd64.iso
ubuntu-10.04-desktop-i386.iso
ubuntu-10.04-netbook-i386.iso
ubuntu-10.04-server-amd64.iso
ubuntu-10.04-server-i386.iso

2. Open the terminal and go to the location of the seed file.

3. In the terminal, type in

zsync <URL>

Choose the relevant URL from below:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-alternate-amd64.iso.zsync
http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-alternate-i386.iso.zsync
http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync
http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-desktop-i386.iso.zsync
http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-netbook-i386.iso.zsync
http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-server-amd64.iso.zsync
http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-server-i386.iso.zsync

As, Lucid has just been released, it is possible that the main server might be slow. In that case, choose one of the mirrors given here - http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors