Ubuntu

Use apt changelog to inspect package changelog in Debian-based systems before upgrading.

Use the NVIDIA Container Toolkit with Docker.

Eavesdrop and log D-Bus notifications.

Recover forgotten password for 7-zip archive file.

Automate APT logging with JSON using hooks.

Determine computer manufacturer, model and bios information.

Enumerate power sources and display battery status.

Prevent the GNOME initial setup wizard on first login.

Execute command before service startup.

Automatically decrypt LUKS-encrypted root partition during boot using TPM and clevis.

Expand encrypted disk on Ubuntu.

Export and import Bluetooth device configurations.

Use D-Bus interface to alter default session type configured a couple of days ago.

Configure default session type.

End GNOME session using command-line utility.

Remove specific user from the login screen.

Disable Wayland on Ubuntu desktop.

Discard unused blocks on an encrypted filesystem.

Configure unattended upgrades.

Display battery percentage for Bluetooth device using D-Bus.

Enable experimental Bluetooth D-Bus interfaces to get additional information.

Inspect NTP service to determine common issues.

Perform LogQL query using command line.

Long time ago I have described how to start service on the privileged port as a regular user, but there is a simpler way to bind socket to privileged port without root in a controlled way.

Let’s blacklist the i915 module.

Limit interface animations in Ubuntu.

Define static IP address using netplan.

Download system updates.

Use GeoIP database within nginx for request logging and access restrictions.

Start gnome-terminal over SSH using X11 forwarding.

Install NFS Subdir External Provisioner.

Copy or backup IMAP mailbox to different server.

Automatically clear APT cache after each operation.

Re-read partition table without machine reboot using blockdev utility which is a part of the util-linux package that contains several applications oriented towards maintenance of your system.

Use the Uncomplicated FireWall to create basic host-based firewall.

Install packages non-interactively using apt-get utility.

Enable RBAC in MicroK8s.

Display examples from kubectl help.

Rename photos by date and time based on EXIF data.

Perform DNS query by tracing delegation path from the root name servers.

Take control over trash using command-line utility.

Create Kubernetes cluster.

Display release information using command-line.

Check for pending upgrades on Ubuntu.

Install MicroK8s.

Time can go off inside Ubuntu on Windows with WSL when you hibernate notebook.

Display directory tree using text or JSON output.

Install ephemeral OpenShift Local cluster for testing and development purposes.

Install Elasticsearch 8.x on Ubuntu operating system.

Define and set default browser.

Add or remove repository using command-line utility.

Simulate apt operations to inspect dpkg actions like install, remove, and configure.

Display inotify watches and instances using dedicated inotify-info reporting application.

List manually installed packages.

Increase the maximum number of file watches that are allowed for each user.

Distinguish between rotational and non-rotational block devices.

Install and execute isolated Python applications as regular user.

Bind to a non-local IP address to start the service before the required IP address becomes available.

Install flameshot a simple to use screenshot application.

Downgrade and keep specific package version.

Use Cloudflare’s PKI and TLS toolkit to quickly generate self-signed certificates.

Disable Ubuntu APT news about security updates, features and services.

Install Forgejo using podman.

Configure wireless connection using command-line utility.

Construct and send magic packet to take advantage of the Wake-on-LAN.

Display NVIDIA devices using nvidia-smi management command-line utility.

Determine recommended NVIDIA driver using Detection tool for nVidia graphics cards by Alberto Milone.

Display hardware information using inxi a full featured system information script.

Create directory with defined ownership and permissions using a simple single-step command.

Remove disabled snaps which are no longer used.

Define a custom number of snap revisions.

Inspect a path during the troubleshooting process.

How to bypass the OpenSSL security level using curl or openssl utility to access legacy services.

Install Guest Agent inside Proxmox virtual machine.

Use ddcutil to manage monitor using DDC/CI protocol.

Load kernel modules at boot.

Determine when package index was updated.

Check memory subsystem from user space.

Execute non-executable binary file.

Parse and filter dpkg database to display selected fields or other specific information.

Configure cursor size using command-line on Ubuntu 22 Jammy Jellyfish.

Control Power Profiles daemon using a dedicated powerprofilesctl command-line utility.

Display hardware information.

Install and configure Consul.

Manage wireless Logitech devices using command-line.

Permanently disable DPMS (Display Power Management Signaling) using Xorg.

Flush buffers on a specific device using blockdev utility.

Determine session type (X11, Wayland).

Configure HashiCorp repository.

Ensure that every Ubuntu virtual machine from the same template gets its own IP address.

Display CPU information.

Set the title for GNOME terminal emulator.

Use SingleFile to archive entire web page in a single HTML file.

Install Ubuntu Release Upgrader on an older system.

Fix pkeys are immutable on OpenSSL error inside Vagrant on Ubuntu Jammy Jellyfish.

Enumerate power sources and display battery status using UPower, a System-wide Power Management daemon.

Today I have installed Ubuntu Jammy Jellyfish (release 22.04) on Acer Aspire One (A114-32-P991), but the i801 SMBus interrupt storm made this system unusable.

Improve apt download times by using apt-fast a shell-script wrapper for apt, apt-get or aptitude.

Upgrade Ubuntu 21.10 LTS (Long Term Support) to the latest development version of Ubuntu 22.04 release.

Convert line endings inside text file from DOS to UNIX format.

Install nala a human-friendly apt front-end using the python-apt API.

Display information about NVMe storage device.

Share USB device over network using usbip utility.

Use DPMS (Display Power Management Signaling) to turn screen on or off.

Define favorite applications on Ubuntu desktop using command-line utility.

Incorporate EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) into initrd (initial ramdisk) image.

Define idle delay (blank screen) on Ubuntu desktop.

Identify a GNOME application that acquired an inhibitor lock and is blocking power-off or reboot operations.

Install LibreWolf a fork of Firefox that is focused on privacy, security and freedom.

Remove trash icon from sidebar on Ubuntu desktop.

Use solid color instead of picture on Ubuntu desktop.

Identify YubiKey device using dynamic device manager to send desktop notification.

Funny netcat issue with additional X characters sent over UDP protocol and why this is not a problem.

Install GitLab on Raspberry Pi.

Install mainline Linux kernel on Ubuntu-based distribution.

Enable Control Group v2 for podman to display container’s resource usage statistics.

Upgrade Ubuntu distribution from 20.10 to 21.04 using GUI.

Export block devices list as JSON and parse using jq utility.

Recover deleted photos from SD card.

Start service on the privileged port as a regular user.

Four different ways to disable Network Manager connectivity checks.

Using passive adapters to connect DisplayPort output to HDMI or DVI input is problematic with wide-screen monitors as these adapters support a maximum resolution of 1920×1200 at 60Hz. This issue can be alleviated by adding a specific mode to the set of valid output modes.

Today, I will connect the secondary encrypted hard disk from the previous Ubuntu installation to copy personal data, so there will be a problem with overlapping LVM names.

Configure a lightweight compressed cache for swap pages to mitigate the performance impact of swapping on your desktop.

Configure compressed swap using zram device at system boot.

Take advantage of compressed RAM based block devices to create temporary filesystems and swap disks.

Use the native IPsec stack to connect multiple networks over the internet.

Fix multipath daemon error about missing path when using VirtualBox.

Display packages that were installed automatically to satisfy various dependencies and are no longer required.

Install Kubernetes on LXD. Essential information to just get you started.

Manage firewall rules on the LXD bridge by yourself.

Start using Docker Swarm to easily manage your containers.

This is just a reminder to always enable docker service at system boot.

Alter Ubuntu desktop configuration using gsettings utility. I will use it to change the number of seconds the desktop computer needs to be inactive before it goes to sleep.

Expand encrypted swap partition after system installation.

Today I will describe how to deal with missing AppArmor profiles for microk8s on LXD.

Upgrade Ubuntu 18 LTS to the latest Ubuntu 20 LTS (Long Term Support) release.

Hibernate desktop system using systemd.

Disable mitigations for CPU vulnerabilities.

I am using PyCharm and GoLand, both of these applications are available as snap packages.

Export directory over local network using NFSv4 to access data on a central server.

Enable HTTP/2 on HAProxy 1.8 and temporarily fix the bad request problem with the Nginx backend using FastCGI/uWSGI.

Install recent HAProxy version to take advantage of the new fancy features.

Recently, I tried to update uwsgi package on Ubuntu Xenial, but received an error about broken package. It looks like the mentioned package was pushed to the repository before its dependencies. This issue is thoroughly described in <a href=“https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/uwsgi/+bug/1719363" target=_blank” rel=“external”>#1719363 bug report.

It is time to mention about simple sequential or simultaneous upgrade process on lxd guests. It is adapted to Debian-like operating systems using apt as I am using these daily.

lxd is a real pleasure to use, but mdadm constantly segmentation faults inside Ubuntu guest operating system. This issue affects only Ubuntu as mdadm is not disabled by default inside these containers. It is nothing scary or dangerous, but in this specific case, repetitive segfaults needlessly raise alertness level.

I have already described how to disable the touchpad when an external mouse is connected using the udev device manager, but today I want to share a simple shell script that I am using on Dell XPS 13 to disable/enable the touchpad using a single keyboard shortcut.

Recently I needed to update integrated Intel graphics drivers to gain access to more recent OpenGL extensions. Packages available by default in base system do not provide such functionality, so I used Updated and Optimized Open Graphics Drivers as it is built almost simultaneously with the latest updates.

Once in a while, I have a problem with Intel Corporation Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 on Dell XPS 13 during the resume process as it just stops working and won’t connect to any network. The solution is to simply reload the kernel module.

A week ago, I illustrated a simple way to connect to the NordVPN server using Network Manager. Today I will describe a more advanced solution to automatically import NordVPN configuration using a shell script.

I am using NordVPN OpenVPN service to protect myself from prying eyes, especially now when the government defined insane data retention laws combined with unstable political situation. It is better to be safe than sorry, so I will illustrate the whole process using very simple step by step instructions.

It is almost two years since I have discovered an amazing org-mode. I am using it in more situations every day, so recently, I wrote a simple tray application to use org-protocol with defined org-capture templates directly from the desktop.

It is quite easy to manage startup applications in Ubuntu Wily Werewolf even though this functionality is not integrated into system settings dashboard. Just follow these instructions to start applications after login.

There are cases where I prefer to install and use Gnome fallback mode (Gnome Flashback in recent system versions) instead of full-blown Unity desktop. I will give you simple instructions on how to change the default session manager.

The more hard drives are lying around and the more you use them, then it becomes more important to know how to unambiguously determine file system type without mounting it.

I unconsciously keep my thumbs on built-in touchpad, so I decided to use external mouse and automatically disable touchpad for the time mouse is connected.

It is a short entry, but a useful one, as it is important to have a basic knowledge of how to schedule system reboot or power it down automatically at specified time.

I constantly forget to add myself to the proper user group to access USB devices from within VirtualBox virtual machines, so I need to write it down.

Currently, I am playing with recent Ubuntu Wily Werewolf on my personal notebook. The first thing I did after system installation was to configure CPU governor and set it at system boot.

While this is not my primary area of expertise, I have been using John the Ripper more frequently lately, so I began to wonder how to take advantage of the powerful Nvidia GPU…

I have mentioned youtube-dl several times previously, but never really had the time to explain why I like it so much. Therefore I will describe it now.

I am using Sublime Text to write this blog post. It is a great piece of software. However, it does not contain a desktop file, so you need to create it separately.

Virtual desktops also known as workspaces are disabled by default in current Ubuntu 15.04 release. I will not delve into the reasons why, but simply describe how to turn them on.

I am currently using the latest Ubuntu on Dell XPS 13. It works great, and using it is a real pleasure. However, after a while, I got an idea to add the SSH menu to the Unity launcher for enhanced usability.

I have already bought several of point and click adventure games using Adventure Game Studio engine. Current GOG.com versions are prepared to work on Ubuntu 14.04 and Mint 17. I am using more recent Ubuntu 15.04, so the above-mentioned game engine needs to be compiled beforehand.

Today, I will show you how to set all tunable PowerTOP options at boot time using systemd service.

I got very annoyed by the ALT shortcut opening Unity HUD. It was driving me crazy till I disabled it.

What do these four things have in common? Ubuntu headless server will not boot after power failure as Grub will indefinitely wait for user input. The root of this problem lies inside Ubuntu default Grub configuration as Grub will simply set timeout to infinity when recordfail parameter is set.

If you ever wondered how to determine whether the processor is 64-bit capable, then I have a simple and straight answer for you.

Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference by Keir Thomas is a great book for the beginners as it covers a wide range of topics needed for everyday Ubuntu use. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to install or try Ubuntu.

I spent all day testing custom roms on Nexus 7 but finally decided to roll back everything and use stock rom with encryption. I will describe here how to unlock the device, install a recovery image, return to stock rom and root Nexus 7 (Android 4.2) using Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Precise 12.04 currently contains in repository youtube-dl version 2012.02.27-1. Due to recent YouTube changes, this package version is no longer usable but there is an updated version in the Ubuntu Quantal 12.10 repository. To use it you need to perform a couple of steps described below.

Quick Response Codes are appearing everywhere. You can see them in museums, near the tourist attractions or all over the web. There is no doubt that QR Codes are useful as they can contain any information within reasonable limits.

A couple of days ago I encountered an audio conversion failed: Unknown encoder ‘libmp3lame’ error when I tried to convert YouTube videos to mp3 format using youtube-dl.

Simple solution using Linux Unified Key Setup.

The answer is to recreate an encrypted tmp partition at every boot with a random key as you do not need to keep temporary data in memory.

Create partition for swap (/dev/sdaX in this example). Prepare and enable it using mkswap and swapon commands. If you already use swap partition then omit these steps. $ sudo mkswap /dev/sdaX Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 4194300 KiB no label, UUID=325d9718-8532-460d-afec-74e6aee9ae5f $ sudo swapon /dev/sdaX Execute ecryptfs-setup-swap script (it is part of ecryptfs-utils package): $ sudo ecryptfs-setup-swap WARNING: An encrypted swap is required to help ensure that encrypted files are not leaked to disk in an unencrypted format. HOWEVER, THE SWAP ENCRYPTION CONFIGURATION PRODUCED BY THIS PROGRAM WILL BREAK HIBERNATE/RESUME ON THIS SYSTEM! NOTE: Your suspend/resume capabilities will not be affected. Do you want to proceed with encrypting your swap? [y/N]: y INFO: Setting up swap: [/dev/sdaX] * Stopping remaining crypto disks... * cryptswap1 (stopped)... [ OK ] * Starting remaining crypto disks... * cryptswap1 (starting).. * cryptswap1 (started)... [ OK ] INFO: Successfully setup encrypted swap! Changes are automatically applied to crypttab and fstab configuration files.

After I started my journey with squashfs I encountered a problem with VideoLAN as I couldn’t start it.

The easiest way to download YouTube videos is to use youtube-dl.

DOS partition table We can use sfdisk to dump partition table in usable format and store it: $ sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda > sda_partitions Partition table can be restored using stored backup: $ sudo sfdisk /dev/sda < sda_partitions Partition table can be easily cloned (from sda to sdz in this example): $ sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda | sfdisk /dev/sdz GPT To backup GUID partition table use sgdisk command (from gdisk package): $ sudo sgdisk -b sda_gpt_backup /dev/sda Restore it in similar way:

I recently needed to know the UUID (universally unique identifier) of my bootable USB root partition. It is a better way to distinguish storage devices because device names can change depending on the connection order.

This post contains notes on this topic in the form of a concise guide.

Edit /etc/grub.d/40_custom file to add a custom entry in grub2 menu.

Recently I started to use Minimal CD for customized installation so I need to write down places where I can get it.

Dell Inspiron 14z (N411z) has three small shortcut buttons above the keyboard. First button First one with small gears on it can be used out of the box in KDE or GNOME. xev output: KeyPress event, serial 35, synthetic NO, window 0x6000001, root 0xb1, subw 0x0, time 137282557, (-94,112), root:(1047,135), state 0x0, keycode 133 (keysym 0xffeb, Super_L), same_screen YES, XLookupString gives 0 bytes: XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: XFilterEvent returns: False KeyPress event, serial 35, synthetic NO, window 0x6000001, root 0xb1, subw 0x0, time 137282558, (-94,112), root:(1047,135), state 0x40, keycode 53 (keysym 0x78, x), same_screen YES, XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (78) "x" XmbLookupString gives 1 bytes: (78) "x" XFilterEvent returns: False KeyRelease event, serial 35, synthetic NO, window 0x6000001, root 0xb1, subw 0x0, time 137282560, (-94,112), root:(1047,135), state 0x40, keycode 53 (keysym 0x78, x), same_screen YES, XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (78) "x" XFilterEvent returns: False KeyRelease event, serial 35, synthetic NO, window 0x6000001, root 0xb1, subw 0x0, time 137282563, (-94,112), root:(1047,135), state 0x40, keycode 133 (keysym 0xffeb, Super_L), same_screen YES, XLookupString gives 0 bytes: XFilterEvent returns: False Second button

From time to time I use Wine to play some Good Old Games but I experienced annoying problems while using the touchpad when I tried to play on a notebook. The solution was to install a recent version from Latest official WineHQ releases.

Recently I ran into small problems related to PHP. Problem A – sqlite.so The first one was a PHP warning: PHP Warning: PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library '/usr/lib/php5/20090626/sqlite.so' - /usr/lib/php5/20090626/sqlite.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory in Unknown on line 0 PHP tried to load sqlite.so from /etc/php5/conf.d/sqlite.ini (php5-sqlite package). $ dpkg -L php5-sqlite /. /etc /etc/php5 /etc/php5/conf.d /etc/php5/conf.d/sqlite3.ini /etc/php5/conf.d/pdo_sqlite.ini /etc/php5/conf.d/sqlite.ini /usr /usr/share /usr/share/doc /usr/lib /usr/lib/php5 /usr/lib/php5/20090626 /usr/lib/php5/20090626/pdo_sqlite.so /usr/lib/php5/20090626/sqlite3.so /usr/share/doc/php5-sqlite As suspected there was sqlite3.so file.

I use Dell Inspiron N411z with Intel HD Graphics 3000 and recently I ran into problems with 3D support. I suppose it happened after I installed something but don’t remember exactly what.

Funny thing happened today. I got really surprised that using CTRL + F keyboard short-cut executed xterm. Then I realized that I installed xbindkeys recently…

Install lm-sensors package: $ sudo apt-get install lm-sensors Execute sensors-detect command as root: $ sudo sensors-detect It will determine needed modules and at the end it will ask for your permission to automatically add them to the /etc/modprobe file. If you answered yes then load them using command: $ sudo service module-init-tools start Now you can use sensors command: $ sensors acpitz-virtual-0 Adapter: Virtual device temp1: +44.0°C (crit = +100.0°C) temp2: +44.0°C (crit = +100.0°C) coretemp-isa-0000 Adapter: ISA adapter Physical id 0: +45.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) Core 0: +45.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) Core 1: +44.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

If you downloaded deb package and wonder how to install it then just look at the snippet posted below.

I am using ASUS 1005HA for light web browsing, but recently I experienced CPU fan failure. It’s hard to get a new fan when most people celebrate Christmas. Hopefully, there is a solution that will give me some time.

The easiest way to check Ubuntu release is to use lsb_release command.

Install LibreOffice in Ubuntu.