I would recommend Debian 10 Buster instead of Ubuntu. I was able to install Percona Server 8 no problem. Start with a barebones install not installing anything but the XFCE desktop. Ubuntu has too much bloatware like Windows or Mac OSX to be a proper server OS.
If you want to go even more secure, do a barebones install with no desktop and uncheck all additional packages at the installation manager. You could install KickSecure on top of the barebones Debian 10 install.
Follow the instructions here to install Kicksecure over Debian 10 Barebones:
[URL]https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Kicksecure/Debian[/URL]
It’s best to start from the foundation up, secure your OS first, then build on top of that.