Linux General #

Disks #

Disk info and usage #

Display infos:

sudo lsblk	# list devices (blocks), simple overview
sudo blkid	# list ids/attributes of devices (blocks)
sudo fdisk -l	# advanced infos and manipulation on disks

df -h /dev/sda2	# storage usage via command line

Change Blocksize #

Change blocksize of disk, which will also remove all data!

hdparm --set-sector-size 4096 --please-destroy-my-drive /dev/sdX

Create partitions #

WARNING: Partiton table GPT is different than MBR

Adjust partition table with fdisk:

sudo fdisk /dev/sda
m for help
p for print current
d delete one
n add new
l list all known types	[1:EFI 10:MSReserved 11:MS basic data 20:Linux]
t change part type
x for extra functions
m for help
n change name [EFI System Partition; Microsoft reserved partition; Basic data partition (Windows)]
f fix order
r return to main menu
q for quit without saving
w for save and quit

use the help menu of fdisk to perform your operations
after save and quit, a new partition table is created
But no partitions have been created yet, see next step to do so

Format partitions:

sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sd... -L MyName		# Create an ext4 partiton with a label
sudo mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/sd...				# Create an fvat partiton
sudo mkfs.ntfs /dev/sd...					# Create an ntfs partiton

EFI partition #

Overview of EFI partition #

/boot/efi #is the disk
# On disk:
EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI
EFI/ubuntu/shimx64.efi
EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi

How to restore EFI Partition #

Use this if you want to transfer your installed OS to another hard drive and you need to install grub again to boot your OS

prerequisite is to have already created a new efi partition

Boot into Ubuntu live demo and then:

sudo mkdir /mnt/my
sudo mount /dev/sdXY /mnt /my	#mount the root part
sudo mount /dev/sdXX /mnt/my/boot/efi 	#mount efi partition
sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/my/dev
sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/my/proc
sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/my/sys
sudo chroot /mnt/my
grub-install /dev/sdX
grub-update

CTRL-D
sudo umount /mnt/my/dev
sudo umount /mnt/my/proc
sudo umount /mnt/my/sys
sudo umount /mnt/my

# adjust fstab to suit partitions
blkid
sudo nano /mnt/etc/fstab

/ was on /dev/sda2 during installation

UUID=642af999-3b41-4c99-98fd-a3db5b95e585 /				 ext4	errors=remount-ro 0		 1

/boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation

UUID=F492-3210	/boot/efi		 vfat	umask=0077		0		 1
/swapfile								 none			swap	sw				0		 0

more disks maybe ext4 and ntfs are listed:

/dev/disk/by-uuid/f44f696e-f96e-41c4-891d-0a61aa83ca77 /mnt/Backup auto nosuid,nodev,nofail 0 0
/dev/disk/by-uuid/0793EAFD5759B133 /mnt/Data auto nosuid,nodev,nofail,uid=freddy,gid=freddy,umask=000 0 0
UUID=e31add1c-c5af-45e8-9b1c-532f7bacf6a3		 /home/freddy	auto	defaults		0		 2
UUID=f44f696e-f96e-41c4-891d-0a61aa83ca77		 /home/freddy/Backup	 auto	defaults,nofail 0		 2

bootmgr for EFI #

Some useful functions to manipulate efi bootmgr

sudo efibootmgr -c -d /dev/sda -p 1 -l \\EFI\\ubuntu\\grubx64.efi -L UbuntuMain -b 0000
sudo efibootmgr -c -d /dev/sdb -p 1 -l \\EFI\\Microsoft\\Boot\\bootmgfw.efi -L WindowsMain -b 0002
sudo efibootmgr -b xxxx -a
sudo efibootmgr -o 0000,0002,0001

Changing drives and fixing UUID #

If you have your installation on one drive and want to transfere it e.g. via clonezilla to another external drive, check that in fstab the correct deivce uuids are set, if not done by clonezilla automatically

sudo blkid

get the PARTUUID, like boot: ae2bd6d7-01 and root ae2bd6d7-02

then adjust in

sudo nano /etc/fstab

example for Raspberry:

proc			/proc			 proc	defaults			0		 0
PARTUUID=ae2bd6d7-01	/boot			 vfat	defaults			0		 2
PARTUUID=ae2bd6d7-02	/				 ext4	defaults,noatime	0		 1

LVM and LUKS encrypted #

Overview LVM and Luks #

guide on lvm

“LVM Hierarchy” by xmodulo is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Disk Partitioning System	LVM
Partitions	Logical Volumes
Disks	Volume Groups

Physical volumes are not so easy to represent in this comparison

LVM components:

Physical Volumes = pv
Volume Groups = vg
Logical Volumes = lv

Example overview of Ubuntu if using luks encrypted partition and lvm

nvme0n1				 259:0	0 119,2G	0 disk	
├─nvme0n1p1			 259:1	0	 512M	0 part	/boot/efi
├─nvme0n1p2			 259:2	0	 1,7G	0 part	/boot
└─nvme0n1p3			 259:3	0 117,1G	0 part	
	└─nvme0n1p3_crypt	 253:0	0 117,1G	0 crypt 
	├─vgubuntu-root	 253:1	0 116,1G	0 lvm	 /
	└─vgubuntu-swap_1 253:2	0	 980M	0 lvm	 [SWAP]

We have the real partition on the drive nvme0n1p3
- we cannot access it like this, because it is encrypted
- so we have to decrypt it and map it somewhere
  - sudo cryptsetup open /dev/nvme0n1p3 nvme0n1p3_crypt
  - now we have the decrypted part sitting on top of the real partition
  - in real it is mapped to /dev/mapper/nvme0n1p3_crypt
Further the mapped crypt parition represents also our lvm physical volume
- sudo pvs
On top of this physical volume their sits the volume group vgubuntu
- sudo vgs
And the group itself contains two lvm logical volumes, the root volume and the swap partition
- sudo lvs
The logical volumes itself contain the real file system, which can be of any type
- Note: the underlying file system must not be the same size as the logical volume where it is placed in, so take care, that they are always the same size, such that no erros come up

Commands:

sudo pvs
sudo vgs
...

Encrypt drives #

A guide for external devices https://opensource.com/article/21/3/encryption-luks

Option 1: You can also use Ubuntu disk manager to create external encrypted drives
- You can also use it to mount devices
Option 2: Command line version:

sudo cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sdX
sudo cryptsetup open /dev/sdX mydrive
# sudo cryptsetup close mydrive
# Create a filesystem
sudo pvcreate /dev/mapper/mydrive
sudo vgcreate vg-name /dev/mapper/mydrive
sudo lvcreate -l 100%VG -n lv-name vg-name
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/vg-name/lv-name

# Mount
sudo mount /dev/mapper/mydrive /mnt/mydrive

Encrypt Ubuntu #

During installation of ubuntu, choose to erase the whole disk and during this step press the advanced button
then check the two boxes to use lvm as volume manager and choose to encrypt the disk

Resize logical volumes #

guide on shrinking volumes

shirnk:

unmount the logical volume if it is mounted
- sudo umount /dev/vgubuntu/root
resize
- Resize the underlying filesystem with -r flag and also automatically the logical volume (-L for the desired size)
- sudo lvreduce -r -L 80G /dev/vgubuntu/root

Extend logical volumes #

You add a new physical volume to a volume group and finally extend the logical volume of the group
Make sure that both physical volumes have the same sector-size
With crypt devices you can format those with
- sudo cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sdb --sector-size 4096
- Now they have the same logical sector size
- sudo cryptsetup open /dev/sdb dm_crypt-1
- sudo pvcreate /dev/mapper/dm_crypt-1
vgextend vg1 /dev/mapper/dm_crypt-1
lvextend -r -l 100%VG /dev/vg1/lv1
- This automatically also resizes the file system underneath, thanks to -r

Remove drive from logical volume group #

Move all data away from the drive you want to remove
- pvmove /dev/mapper/dm_crypt-1
Remove it
- vgreduce vg1 /dev/mapper/dm_crypt-1

Swap #

Section about Swap files and partitions

Swapfile #

See here or here how to create new

check current state

swapon --show
free -h

change old

sudo swapoff /swapfile

create or increase

sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile

enable it

sudo swapon /swapfile

Check if new created that it gets mounted

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Must look somehow like this

/swapfile swap swap defaults 0 0
# or like this for fresh Ubuntu e.g.
/swapfile								 none			swap	sw				0		 0

Swap partition #

Swap partition is registerd in fstab

sudo nano /etc/fstab

/dev/mapper/vgubuntu-swap_1 none			swap	sw				0		 0

LUKS #

You can use the above information about #Resize logical volumes to change the size of your swap partition if LUKS encrypted

Boot into a live usb stick or something similar where your desired disk does not need to be mounted
sudo cryptsetup open /dev/sda3 mydrive
check that everything is correct and you use the right names
- sudo lsblk
- sudo lvs
sudo lvresize -r -L -16G /dev/vgubuntu/root
automatic resize is for swap partition not possible
- sudo lvresize -l +16G /dev/vgubuntu/swap_1
- so manually format again
- sudo mkswap /dev/vgubuntu/swap_1
done reboot

Prevent file system checks on boot #

Not working, sadly

sudo tune2fs -c 0 /dev/sda2

Setup #

Preserver Data during new Installation #

If you are coming from a previous installation and want to transmit your data to your new installation

Backup #

Simply backup your home folder to an external drive
- sudo rsync -aHvP --delete /home/freddy/ /media/freddy/Test/freddy-surface/freddy/
Note all installed programs, write output to some text file or so
- snap list
- flatpak list
- List all programs manually installed
  - apt list --installed | grep -ve "\[installed,automatic\]"

Install #

Install new OS
At first boot, boot directly into root shell via grub
- Press ESC repeatetly during boot until you enter grub-console
- Execute normal
- Now you are in the grub menu
- Now use advanced settings and enable network and afterwards go to root shell
Now you are in a root shell
- Mount external drive
  - mount /dev/sdb /mnt
- Move newly generated home partition out of the way
  - mv /home/freddy /home/freddy.backup
- Restore from backup your home partition
  - rsync -avHP /media/freddy/Test/freddy-surface/freddy /home/
- Now you can install all programs
- I wrote a scrip for myself to automate this installation process
  - See my repo for an example

Linux-Surface #

Follow this guide surface installation, basically for SP4:

install ubuntu
install linux-surface:

wget -qO - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/master/pkg/keys/surface.asc | gpg --dearmor | sudo dd of=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/linux-surface.gpg

echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://pkg.surfacelinux.com/debian release main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux-surface.list

sudo apt update
sudo apt install linux-image-surface linux-headers-surface iptsd libwacom-surface
sudo systemctl enable iptsd

sudo apt install linux-surface-secureboot-mok

sudo update-grub

# Post installation
sudo apt install intel-microcode linux-firmware

# Reboot and check kernel
uname -a

Problem I encountered when installing linux-image-surface

# Error
Setting up linux-image-5.19.2-surface (5.19.2-surface-1) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.19.2-surface
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/bxt_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/glk_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/cml_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/icl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/ehl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/ehl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/dg1_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/tgl_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/adlp_guc_70.1.1.bin for module i915
I: The initramfs will attempt to resume from /dev/dm-2
I: (/dev/mapper/vgubuntu-swap_1)
I: Set the RESUME variable to override this.

After installation you can check error again with:

sudo update-initramfs -k all -u

Fix it with:

Need linux firmware from internet, since newer then the one form linux-surface
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/
and copy the downloaded files over

sudo cp /home/freddy/Downloads/linux-firmware-20220815/i915/*70* /lib/firmware/i915/

files are:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 289472 Aug 25 21:27 adlp_guc_70.1.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 206464 Aug 25 21:27 bxt_guc_70.1.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 206976 Aug 25 21:27 cml_guc_70.1.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 265152 Aug 25 21:27 dg1_guc_70.1.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 365568 Aug 25 21:27 dg2_guc_70.1.2.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 369600 Aug 25 21:27 dg2_guc_70.4.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 274496 Aug 25 21:27 ehl_guc_70.1.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 206784 Aug 25 21:27 glk_guc_70.1.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 274496 Aug 25 21:27 icl_guc_70.1.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 206976 Aug 25 21:27 kbl_guc_70.1.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 206208 Aug 25 21:27 skl_guc_70.1.1.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 277440 Aug 25 21:27 tgl_guc_70.1.1.bin

Surface Firmware #

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/no3rz4/how_to_fix_surfacepro4_type_cover_issue_battery/
After over install was necessary to repeat procedure with delete driver and reboot and than call same launcher again to be able to uninstall. Then install desired.
Links to this website on how to do it with Linux somehow: https://github.com/linux-surface/surface-uefi-firmware and https://github.com/linux-surface/surface-uefi-firmware/issues/12 on how to fix maybe if not working

Surface IPTS Touch #

sudo gedit /etc/ipts.conf

16 looks good

Commands for iptsd

sudo systemctl stop iptsd.service
sudo systemctl start iptsd.service
sudo systemctl restart iptsd.service;
sudo iptsd-reset-sensor

If touch doesn’t work, try this:

sudo systemctl stop iptsd.service
sudo killall iptsd
sudo rmmod ipts
sleep 5
sudo modprobe ipts
sudo systemctl start iptsd.service

Backups #

I use Kopia to do regularry backups of my home folder: Linux Backup#My Home Backups

Programs #

Take a look at my Programs script in my Linux-Scripts repository, which contains some little bash functions to install some programs automatically
In the following sections are some more program installations listed

Launchers #

Use launchers to start applications, which do not automatically create a launcher and a Application Menu entry.

You can place user launchers here: ~/.local/share/applications/
It is easy to create launchers with the menulibre application sudo apt install menulibre
More details available under the specification specs
Force an update of launchers by update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications/

Snap #

Some general snap commands I often forget

sudo snap install mysnap
snap connections --all
snap connections mysnap
snap connect <mysnap>:<plug interface> :<slot interface>

Backups under:

/var/lib/snapd/snapshots

Examples:

sudo snap install clion --classic
sudo snap install pycharm-professional --classic
sudo snap install gitkraken --classic

Flatpak #

Install:

sudo apt install flatpak
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install my.flat.pak
flatpak run my.flat.pak

You can create anacron job to automatically update flatpak (not part of ubuntu auto updates yet)

also see #Anacron as user

5	5	flatpak_update.weekly	(gnome-terminal -- bash -c 'flatpak update')

Examples:

flatpak install us.zoom.Zoom

Kdocker / App Tray #

You can use kdocker (sudo apt install kdocker) to force applications to the tray. This is useful for mail programs like evolution, which do not support tray by default.

Example for app launcher with automatic tray function for xorg:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.1
Type=Application
Name=Mail Tray
Comment=Starts mail and sends it to tray.
Icon=evolution-symbolic
Exec=bash -c "if [ $( pgrep -x evolution ) ] ; then evolution; else kdocker -q -- evolution -c mail; fi"
Actions=
Categories=Email;Utility;

Kdocker is broken for Wayland, but by launching the apps as xorg ones, it is still possible with this workaround

Launcher:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.1
Type=Application
Name=Mail Tray
Comment=Starts mail and sends it to tray for wayland.
Icon=evolution-symbolic
Exec=bash -c "if [ $( pgrep -x evolution ) ] ; then GDK_BACKEND=x11 evolution; else my-mail-tray-wayland.sh; fi"
Actions=
Categories=Email;Utility;

And my-mail-tray-wayland.sh script, which must be on your path:

#!/bin/bash

GDK_BACKEND=x11 evolution -c mail &
sleep 1
pid=$( pgrep -x evolution )
QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb kdocker -q -x $pid

Obsidian #

Download Obsidian AppImage

Place it in ~/Programs/Obsidian.AppImage
Create desktop launcher which also enables obsidian URI

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.1
Type=Application
Name=Obsidian
Icon=obsidian
Exec=bash -c "/home/$(id -un 1000)/Programs/Obsidian.AppImage %u"
Terminal=false
StartupWMClass=obsidian
MimeType=text/html;x-scheme-handler/obsidian;

.
- Update launchers update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications/
Now you can use URI calls like
- xdg-open "obsidian://open?path=%2Fhome%2Ffreddy%2FNextcloud%2FNotes%2FSachen"
- Only working if vault is already opened once manually, such that it is registerd as a valid vault
Now we want to enable opening of md files via Obsidian as default program
- Create a new script, which will link files, which are not in vaults to a tmp vault, such that they can be opened
  - For this first manually create a ObsidianTmp vault
  - and get the my-obsidian.py script from my linux-scripts repo
  - change your path to your ObsidianTmp vault
  - this script will call the previous created obsidian launcher via the URI method
- Now create a new launcher, which will call the new script and pass the filename

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.1
Type=Application
Name=Obsidian Auto
Icon=obsidian
Exec=my-obsidian.py %u
Terminal=false

.
- Now you can right click on of your md files and change the default program to your new Obsidian Auto launcher

Signal #

https://signal.org/download/
Use the flag to start signal in tray --use-tray-icon
- sudo nano /usr/share/applications/signal-desktop.desktop
- add --use-tray-icon
Or as little automatic program

sudo sed -i 's/ %U/ --use-tray-icon %U/' /usr/share/applications/signal-desktop.desktop

Typora #

wget -qO - https://typora.io/linux/public-key.asc | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/typora.asc
sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://typora.io/linux ./'
sudo apt update
sudo apt install typora pandoc

Python #

Anaconda #

Download on homepage, chmod +x and execute script as user
Install to .anaconda3, and start ini
- adds anaconda to path in .bashrc
- Conda base enviroment gets activated on startup, disable by conda config --set auto_activate_base false

Since anaconda slows down terminal start due to change of .-bashrc, I revert this change

cd ~
gedit .bashrc &
# Copy the conda part into a new file
gedit .bashrc-conda
# Add a new alias in real .bashrc
alias anaconda='source  ~/.bashrc-conda'

and if you want to use anaconda do in a terminal from now on

anaconda

Activate conda enviroment with conda activate base

conda create --name myenv creates new empty env, you can choose .anaconda3/envs as folder
conda list to show packages in env
pip install if conda activated and to install packages not available otherwise

conda bin is located under~/.anaconda3/bin/conda

Requirements #

You can create a requirements file of your python projects to be able to install all dependencies if you share the project with others

With Anaconda

In your conda environment
conda env export --from-history --file environment.yml
- Double check the environment.yml file and verify, everything is in there
Restore the environment again
- conda env create --file environment.yml

With pip:

In the python environment or in your conda environment
- In conda, your environment needs pip installed conda install pip
pip freeze > requirements.txt
- Verify file
And to restore
- pip install -r requirements.txt

Matlab #

Download and install as user into programs (do not install as root, only has disadvantages)

link scripts to .local/bin during installation (do not link to the root bin)
create app launcher and maybe use my matlab.py script, which allows opening of files via explorer
- from my linux-scripts repo
logout and log in again
optionally import old settings to .matlab
start matlab

VMware Workstation Player #

I would recommend VirtualBox, much better lately for Linux https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player.html https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Player-for-Linux/16.0/com.vmware.player.linux.using.doc/GUID-BF62D91D-0647-45EA-9448-83D14DC28A1C.html

Fix error with vmmon https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2146460 Tried also this:

sudo apt install open-vm-tools-desktop open-vm-tools reboot
sudo apt install libaio1

Tailscale VPN #

See under Linux Server#Tailscale VPN on how to connect to your local network via tailscale vpn

Work Programs #

Some Programs I need at work

VPN Openconnect Cisco #

Option1: use rwth one form software shop https://help.itc.rwth-aachen.de/service/vbf6fx0gom76/

Option2: use openconnect to connect to cisco vpn integrated into linux

Install the openconnect network manager
- for gnome use this one
- sudo apt install network-manager-openconnect-gnome
Start advanced network manager via launcher or via terminal nm-connection-editor
Create a new openconnect vpn connection
choose a name and set the gateway vpn.rwth-aachen.de, do not set anything else and click save
start the vpn via your network settings
you will be asked for your username and the password
- you can also check the box to store the password

Sciebo #

wget -nv https://www.sciebo.de/install/linux/Ubuntu_22.04/Release.key -O - | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/sciebo.asc
echo 'deb https://www.sciebo.de/install/linux/Ubuntu_22.04/ /' | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/owncloud.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y sciebo-client sciebo-client-nautilus

Zotero #

website zotero zotero deb support

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/retorquere/zotero-deb/master/install.sh | sudo bash

sudo apt update

sudo apt install zotero

Uninstall

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/retorquere/zotero-deb/master/uninstall.sh | sudo bash

sudo apt purge zotero

Setup

We have two systems:

Data folder containing local library
- it also contains the pdfs
Zotero cloud
- containing library without media via their cloud
- and link to media folder in my cloud, which only contains the pdfs

Setup:

Start Zotero and choose in settings as data folder, the one I synced via cloud
- delete the one in home directory
- syncing the local data folder is only additional, since media folder is synced also, which contains pdfs
Start sync by connecting to your zotero account
- Also enable sync my own media via webdav and enter the address to cloud resources zotero folder
done…

Wireshark #

sudo apt install wireshark tshark
sudo dpkg-reconfigure wireshark-common 
sudo usermod -a -G wireshark $USER
# Log out to be ok
gnome-session-quit --logout --no-prompt

Debugging tools #

sudo apt install -y openocd gcc-arm-none-eabi libncurses5

Boxycryptor #

Use portable linux version
Move to Programs and create launcher via menulibre

ChibiStudio #

Also manually copy folder to home/user
create launcher

ProM #

Move the ProM folder which contains the .sh script to your Programs directory
- e.g. ~/Programs/Prom
it stores data in
- ~/.ProM611
- ~/.UITopia
you need Java to get it working
- sudo apt install openjdk-8-jdk
create a launcher
You need to manipulate the .sh script with your Java path
- open it
- gedit ~/Programs/Prom/ProM611.sh
- and add the following lines at top

cd $(dirname $0)
JAVA=/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java

RapidMiner #

Move extracted folder somewhere like ~/Programs/RapidMiner
it stores data in
- ~/.RapidMiner
Java 8 is necessary so install it parallel to your current java by:
sudo apt install openjdk-8-jdk
java --version
Should still display previous one and now change environment variable in
gedit ~/Programs/RapidMiner/RapidMiner-Studio.sh
by adding this line in beginning (check that version is correct)
JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8.0-openjdk-amd64
change also 3 lines accoriding to https://community.rapidminer.com/discussion/comment/67912/#Comment_67912
create an application launcher

QT #

Option 1:

Download installer https://www.qt.io/download
Choose the open-source version
Make installer executable and run as user and select your installation folder e.g. /home/user/Programs/QT
Select custom installation as installation method
Select components, check default
- additionally add a Qt installation like 6.4.0
Install

Option 2:

Use QT and QT Creator provided by your package manager
sudo apt install qtcreator cmake qmake6 qt6-base-dev qml-qt6 libqt6charts6-dev
Optionally for Wayland: sudo apt install qt6-wayland-dev

Post setup:

Ubuntu
- Install also sudo apt install mesa-common-dev for graphic compatibility
Now you can launch QT Creator
Under settings, kits, the desktop kit should be available and configured with your QT installation
- If that is not the case manually add your qmake executable under the QT Versions tab
- Linux: located under /usr/bin/qmake6

CLion Alternative #

You can also use CLion to compile and debug your Qt project
Check the official guide from CLion
You basically have to import the project as a CMake project
- the CMakeLists.txt must be created for this
Go to CLion settings and under Build and CMake add the Qt prefix path to your CMake options
- -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="~/path-to-your-installation/Qt/6.4.0/gcc_64"
- This works best, if you have installed Qt via “Option 1”
Now you have to add the modules to the CMakeLists.txt

set(CMAKE_AUTOMOC ON)
set(CMAKE_AUTOUIC ON)
set(CMAKE_AUTORCC ON)

find_package(Qt6 COMPONENTS Core Widgets Charts REQUIRED)

...

target_link_libraries(your-program Qt6::Core Qt6::Widgets Qt6::Charts)

Post Setup #

After I did the initial setup of an installation and after I installed programs, I normaly do some more customization

This is to remind my self about some things I do

Scrips #

I always set up my scripts repo, such that launchers and custom scripts are directly available

Follow Readme in my scripts folder
Environment variables can be accessed from within a script if a .env file is located in the same directory as the script via this trick. So you do not have to hardcode your passwords into the script

SCRIPT=$(readlink -f "$0")
SCRIPT_PATH=$(dirname "$SCRIPT")
source "${SCRIPT_PATH}/.env"

Extension #

screenshot tool
sound output chooser
AATWS, I also change the follwing settings:
- center
- monitor with mouse pointer
- up/down key toggle single app mode
- status no
- default button system super key
- disable hot edge position
- app
  - no favorite and grid
  - hide single counter

Anacron as user #

scheduled - How can I run anacron in user mode? - Ask Ubuntu
Running anacron as a user – Come and Tech it !
enable anacron in ~/.profile

# User anacron 
/usr/sbin/anacron -s -t $HOME/.anacron/etc/anacrontab -S $HOME/.anacron/spool

Create mkdir -p .anacron/{etc,spool}
copy default cp /etc/anacrontab .anacron/etc
In nano ~/.anacron/etc/anacrontab

# .anacron/etc/anacrontab: configuration file for anacron user 

# See anacron(8) and anacrontab(5) for details. 
SHELL=/bin/sh 
PATH=/home/frederik/.local/bin/my-bin:/home/frederik/.local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
HOME=/home/frederik
LOGNAME=frederik 

# period delay job-identifier command
1	2	flatpak.weekly	bash -c 'echo "flat" && sudo flatpak update && read'
1	2	snap.weekly	bash -c 'echo "snap" && sudo snap refresh && read'

anacron is using its own environment variables, so take care to set those correctly
- maybe add your own paths to the PATH variable

Shortcuts #

my shortcuts
- manually set window minimize (<Shift><Super>w), and close (<Shift><Super>q)
- use my installer script to set the custom ones automatically

Check current ones

dconf dump /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/
or via gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings and
- gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/ binding
- gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/ command
- gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/ name

Set new ones

#!/bin/bash

set -xe

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings "['/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/', '/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom1/']"

# Keybind 0
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/ binding "<Primary><Alt>BackSpace"
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/ command "gnome-system-monitor"
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/ name "Monitor"

# Keybind 1
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom1/ binding "<Shift><Super>s"
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom1/ command "systemctl suspend"
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom1/ name "Suspend"

Unmap Windows #

Alternative to push windows to tray
- You can simply unmap the windows

Install sudo apt install xdotool

Check my script in my scripts repo

System #

Upgrade Ubuntu #

update-manager -c

Gnome Restart #

sudo systemctl restart gdm3.service

Path, Scripts, profile, bashrc #

You can add stuff to your PATH in ~/.profile:

# set PATH so it includes my custom private scripts if it exists
if [ -d "$HOME/.local/bin/my-bin" ] ; then
	PATH="$HOME/.local/bin/my-bin:$PATH"
fi

Path is also handled in .bashrc, just more bash specific stuff in there in .bashrc for example:

# My aliases and functions
function mfind { find -iname \*$1\*; }
alias mgrep='grep -rl -e'

systemd user service #

Creating a Simple Systemd User Service
- Useful if you want to automate some scripts
Look at ~/.config/systemd/user

[Unit]
Description=[Service description]

[Service]
Type=simple
StandardOutput=journal
ExecStart=[script path]

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Example for service, would be to have a service, which checks if a specific drive gets mounted, in this case to something, see also #Detect Drives Attached

[Unit]
Description=SecondBackup
Requires=media-freddy-SecondBackup.mount
After=media-freddy-SecondBackup.mount

[Service]
ExecStart=/home/freddy/.local/bin/my/doowncloudautosecondbackup.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=media-freddy-SecondBackup.mount

Detect Drives Attached #

usb - How to run a script when a specific flash-drive is mounted? - Ask Ubuntu

Quotes:

There’s much nicer solution with systemd now. You create a service which depends and is wanted by you media e.g.: /etc/systemd/system/your.service

[Unit]
Description=My flashdrive script trigger
Requires=media-YourMediaLabel.mount
After=media-YourMediaLabel.mount

[Service]
ExecStart=/home/you/bin/triggerScript.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=media-YourMediaLabel.mount

Then you have to start/enable the service:

sudo systemctl start your.service
sudo systemctl enable your.service

After mount, systemd fires your trigger script. The advantage over udev rule is that the script really fires after mount, not after adding system device.

Use case: I have an encrypted partition which I want to backup automatically. After adding the device I have to type in the password. If I hooked the backup script to udev, the script attempts to run at the time when I’m typing password, which will fail.

Resource: Scripting with udev

Note: You can find your device unit with:

systemctl list-units -t mount

Enable Hibernation #

https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2021/08/enable-hibernate-ubuntu-21-10/

df -h
blkid
sudo filefrag -v /swapfile #get first physical address
sudo gedit /etc/default/grub #add resume=UUID=xxx resume_offset=xxx to spalsh...
sudo update-grub
reboot

Download gnome extension to enable the Hibernation button next to reboot and shutdown…

Root user display x server xhost #

Add root to display

xhost +SI:localuser:root

apt-key deprecated #

Use this instead, replace url and name of e.g. owncloud.asc resulting file

wget -qO- https://download.owncloud.com/desktop/ownCloud/stable/latest/linux/Ubuntu_22.04/Release.key | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/owncloud.asc

Updates, sources, keyrings #

Keyrings can be stored under:

/usr/share/keyrings/
# e.g
/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

Sources located here:

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list #example for one app

Canberra GTK Module fix #

sudo apt-get install libcanberra-gtk-module

Disable BIOS ACPI warnings via grub #

here explaine

sudo nano /etc/default/grub
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash loglevel=3"
sudo update-grub

Fingerprint authentification #

sudo pam-auth-update

Disable root need for command #

sudo visudo

add the following to the file

%sudo ALL=NOPASSWD:/usr/sbin/pm-suspend
%sudo ALL=NOPASSWD:/usr/sbin/pm-hibernate

now you can execute sudo pm-suspend without being asked for a password

Reset App Overview #

gsettings reset org.gnome.shell app-picker-layout

APT Package Dependencies #

Check why a package is installed
- aptitude why my-package
What depends on it
- aptitude search '~i~my-package'
Simulate purge
- aptitude -s purge my-package

Firmware Manager #

Firmware Manager Linux
fwupdmgr --get-devices

Network #

For information about network commands and vpn look at the dedicated page about Network

Commands #

Useful commands I often need and forget about

Find without errors #

find / -name "*search*" 2>/dev/null

Find Files and Replace Text #

find ./ -name "*.m" -exec sed -i 's/TextFind/TextReplace' {} \;

Find Files containing Text - Grep #

grep -rl -e "doowncloudautosecondbackup" /

Text Multiline Replace #

print("Open file")
	file = open("./cal.ics", "r")
	text = file.readlines()
	file.close()

	print("Start process")
	i = 0
	line_start = -1
	found_identifier = False
	matches = ["Datenstrukturen", "Datenbanken", "Datenkommunikation", "Business", "Reinforcement", "Algorithmic"]
	for k in range(len(text)):

		# Check for start phrase
		if text[i].__contains__("BEGIN:VEVENT"):
			line_start = i

		# if start phrase found, check for further cases
		if line_start != -1:
			# check if identifier found
			if any(x in text[i] for x in matches):
				found_identifier = True

			# check if already found end phrase
			if text[i].__contains__("END:VEVENT"):
				# if identifier found, delete the lines
				if found_identifier:
					# delete lines
					text = text[:line_start] + text[i+1:]
					# fix index, since lines deleted
					i -= (i - line_start + 1)
				# Reset line Start again
				line_start = -1
				found_identifier = False
		i += 1

	# Save new text
	file_out = open("cal_new.ics", "w")
	file_out.writelines(text)
	file_out.close()
	print("Saved")

Change time of files #

Useful for summer and winter time fix find ./ -type f -exec bash -c 'touch -m --date="$(stat -c %y "$1") - 3600 sec" "$1"' -- {} \;

Fix Date Taken of Pictures #

For Whatsapp or Signal pictures find ./ -name "*signal*" -exec exiftool -overwrite_original_in_place "-datetimeoriginal<filename" {} \;

ADB sync #

adb root

from phone to pc
- adb-sync -dfR sdcard/Music/Media/ /mnt/Backup/owncloud/Music/ --dry-run
from pc to phone
- adb-sync -df /mnt/Backup/owncloud/Music/ sdcard/Music/Media/ --dry-run

Rsnyc SSH Root #

rsync -rthv --rsync-path="sudo rsync" pi@192.168.0.129:source dest

some rsync flags I always forget the meaning of
- a:archive (-rlptgoD), r:recursive, t:time, l:symlinks, p:permission, g:group, o:owner, D:device?, H:hardlinks, h:humanReadable, v:verbose, A:acls, X:extendedAttrb, P:progressAndPartial

Terminal prevent disappear #

gnome-terminal -- bash -c "ls & read"

Tar #

Compress and extract to a folder

tar cf ./some_folder/file_compressed.tar -C ./some_folder file_original
tar xf ./some_folder/file_compressed.tar -C ./some_folder

Via network

ssh root@pi4.lan 'tar cf - /opt/docker' > /home/freddy/Backup/pi4/docker.tar

Nautilus ssh #

sftp://root@my.server.com/
# OR, the same:
ssh://root@my.server.com/

Generate SSH Keys #

ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/my-new-key -b 4096

Nautilus Error Searching - Clear Cache #

If Nautilus crashes on searching: tracker3 reset -rs