SaltyCrane Blog

Notes on Python, Django, and web development on Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu notes

Date: 2009-03-25 | Modified: 2013-06-08 | Tags: notestoself, ubuntu

Boot process

What are the stages of the boot process?
1. BIOS
2. Master Boot Record
3. Bootloader (LILO, GRUB)
4. Kernel
5. init
6. Run Levels
Where is the GRUB menu list?
/boot/grub/menu.lst
How do I get rid of Ubuntu splash screen / progress bar and show scrolling text?
Remove quiet and splash from "kernel" line in /boot/grub/menu.lst

Run levels

What are the run levels for Ubuntu?
1: single user
2: default
3-5: same as 2
6: reboot
Where can I find the default startup programs for run level 2?
/etc/rc2.d
How do I update the symbolic links in /etc/rc?.d?
Use update-rc.d. For help, man update-rc.d.
Where is the default run level set in Ubuntu?
/etc/event.d/rc-default

Xsessions

Where is another location for startup programs?
/etc/X11/Xsession.d

Restarting

What are some alternatives to rebooting?
1. Restart the display manager, gdm
  sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart or CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE
2. Switch to runlevel 1 then back to runlevel 2
  sudo telinit 1 then telinit 2 (this didn't work for me; I wasn't able to get to runlevel 1.)
3. This article has a lot of good tips including Alt+SysReq+"Raising Skinny Elephants Is Utterly Boring" - http://www.linuxclues.com/articles/09.htm
How can I reboot?
reboot or CTRL+ALT+DEL

Keeping Ubuntu time up to date

I would think Ubuntu would install something to keep the system clock from drifting, but it seems they haven't. There are at least 2 options: ntpdate and ntpd. Ntpdate is used from a cron script to sync the time once a day. Ntpd runs as a daemon and ajusts the time continually but it costs resources. On my machine, using ps -e -O rss | grep ntpd, I got 1.3 MB of memory use. Here is how to install ntpd:

sudo apt-get install ntp

The ntp config file is located at: /etc/ntp.conf

Reference: https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/serverguide/C/NTP.html

My /etc/apt/sources.list

This sources.list includes security, updates, and proposed (but not backports) and source for the main, restricted, universe, and multiverse repositories.

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-security main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-updates restricted main universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-updates restricted main universe multiverse

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-proposed restricted main multiverse universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-proposed restricted main multiverse universe

My filesystem changes

For wmii:

sudo ln -s /usr/include/freetype2/freetype /usr/include/freetype

System config file changes:

These changes apply to Ubuntu Karmic

Disable xsplash before session load: Comment out the following from /etc/gdm/PreSession/Default:
```
if [ -x '/usr/bin/xsplash' ];
then
        /usr/bin/xsplash --daemon
fi
```
To run ~/.xsession from gdm: Create a '.desktop' file in '/usr/share/xsessions' [owned by root:root with permissions 644] whose 'Exec' entry is '/etc/X11/Xsession'.

How to show what you've installed with apt-get

Haven't found a way that I'm happy with yet. Here are some options:

sudo apt-get install apt-show-versions
apt-show-versions

```
dpkg --get-selections
```
```
dpkg -l 
```
```
cat /var/log/dpkg.log | grep installed 
```

Sound troubleshooting

Make sure speakers are plugged in / power strip on. (For some reason, the power to my speakers keeps going out.
Run gnome-volume-control. Make sure volume is up and not muted. (For some reason on Karmic this resets to mute on restart.)

Skype microphone troubleshooting

Running Skype 2.1.0.47-1 on Ubuntu Karmic

Run gnome-volume-control. Select Microphone 1. Raise the volume up to almost Max.
(Testing can be done with gnome-sound-recorder.)

Flash

Karmic w/ Firefox 3.5.5
Can't click in Flash - http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1314910

Emacs keybindings

Copy /usr/share/themes/Emacs/gtk-2.0-key/gtkrc to ~/.gtkrc-2.0. Edit as necessary.

(Hardware) System Information

sudo apt-get install sysinfo

custom xsession

Edit /usr/share/xsessions/user.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Name=~/.xsession
Comment=User's .xsession
Exec=/etc/X11/Xsession
TryExec=/etc/X11/Xsession
Icon=
Type=Application

Can't create test file error

Trying to move datadir from /var/lib/mysql to /mnt/mysql-data on EC2

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=782224

Had to edit /etc/apparmor.d/usr.sbin.mysqld

Troubleshooting X freezes

Thinkpad W510 suspend

http://math.umons.ac.be/an/W510/#ACPI
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/522998
For Ubuntu 10.10:
/etc/pm/config.d/unload_modules

SUSPEND_MODULES="xhci_hcd"

Note: in 10.04, I had "xhci" instead of "xhci_hcd"

Cisco VPN¶

$ sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc

Click on network manager icon in gnome-panel
VPN Connections -> Cofigure VPN...
Import
Select file from my company
Set user name
Apply
Close

Restart newtork-manager

$ sudo /etc/init.d/network-manager restart

Click on network manager icon in gnome-panel
VPN Connections -> My Company
Enter password
Done

VPN change to gain access to important stuff on our network¶

 - click network icon
 - "VPN Connections" > "Configure VPN..."
 - highlight "My Company VPN"
 - "Edit"
 - "IPv4 Settings" tab
 - "Routes..."
 - uncheck "Use this connection only for resources on its network"
 - "OK"
 - "Apply"
 - "Close"

When the above vpn setup didn't work with my Verizon mifi¶

...using vpnc from the command line worked: http://www.debuntu.org/how-to-connect-to-a-cisco-vpn-using-vpnc See also: http://www.chicagotech.net/routingissuesonvpn.htm.

/etc/vpnc/mycompany.conf:

IPSec gateway vpn.abc.mycompany.com
IPSec ID MyCompanyVPN
IPSec secret mygrouppassword
#IKE Authmode hybrid
Xauth username myusername

To use it, I run:

$ sudo vpnc mycompany

To disconnect

$ sudo vpnc-disconnect

vpnc: no response from target error¶

vpnc: no response from target

I added the following line to /etc/vpnc/mycompany.conf:

NAT Traversal Mode cisco-udp

Connection really slow and nothing happens: disabled encryption.

Debugging:

$ sudo vpnc --debug 2 --no-detach  mycompany

Help:

$ man vpnc

Prevent vpnc from periodically disconnecting due to timeout¶

See http://superuser.com/questions/309723/vpnc-it-keeps-disconnecting-after-24-minutes

Start vpnc with the --dpd-idle 0 option. e.g.:

$ sudo vpnc --debug 2 --dpd-idle 0 mycompany

Set the timezone on a server¶

run as root

# dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Set the hostname on a server¶

run as root

# echo "plato" > /etc/hostname 
# hostname -F /etc/hostname

Edit /etc/hosts:

127.0.0.1        localhost.localdomain    localhost
12.34.56.78      plato.example.com        plato

HTML messages in Claws Mail¶

Install extra plugins

$ sudo apt-get install claws-mail-extra-plugins

Load the Fancy HTML plugin
Configuration -> Plugins.. -> Load... -> fancy.so
Configure preferences
Configuration -> Preferences... -> Message View/Text Options, under "HTML messages", uncheck the first box and check the second and third boxes.
Configuration -> Preferences... -> Plugins/Fance, check "Auto-Load images" and uncheck "Block external content"

How to set the folders for Sent, Drafts, and Trash¶

Ensure that all folders (e.g. "Sent Items", "Deleted Items") are available:

Configuration -> Preferences for current account... -> Receive
Uncheck "Show subscribed folders only"

Set the folders:

Configuration -> Preferences for current account... -> Advanced
Select the appropriate folders
OK

Set custom keyboard shortcuts for Claws Mail¶

You can also modify each menu shortcut by pressing any key(s) when focusing the mouse pointer on the item.

Change the location of the popup notification¶

http://askubuntu.com/questions/130124/how-can-i-make-notifications-appear-on-a-specific-monitor

$ sudo apt-get install dconf-tools 
$ dconf-editor &

apps -> notify-osd. Change multihead-mode to "focus-follow"

How to suspend from the command line¶

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/precise/man8/pm-action.8.html

$ sudo pm-suspend

Switching TTYs¶

The default TTY on Ubuntu is TTY7

How to determine which TTY you're currently on:

$ sudo fgconsole
7

How to switch to TTY1 from the command line

$ sudo chvt 1

How to switch to TTY1 by pressing a key combo:

CTRL + LEFT ALT + F1

How to switch to TTY7 by pressing a key combo:

CTRL + LEFT ALT + F7

Install Claws Mail on Ubuntu 12.04¶

The claws-mail package included in Ubuntu 12.04 has a bug that doesn't allow you to click any buttons in one of the Filtering dialogs. See http://www.thewildbeast.co.uk/claws-mail/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=2624. To fix, install the PPA from the Claws Mail team: https://launchpad.net/~claws-mail/+archive/ppa

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:claws-mail/ppa

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install claws-mail

That did not work. So install from source:

1. sudo apt-get build-dep claws-mail
2. download claws mail source
3. untar
4. ./configure --prefix=/home/saltycrane/lib/claws-mail-3.8.1
5. make
6. make install

That didn't work either.

To get filtering working, I copied the filtering rules file: ~/.claws-mail/matcherrc. Here is an example file:

[#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/BP]
enabled rulename "Mark as read" all mark_as_read

[#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/INBOX]
enabled rulename "Archive" age_greater 90 move "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Archive/Inbox"

[#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Serverconfig]
enabled rulename "Archive" age_greater 90 move "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Archive/Serverconfig"

[preglobal]

[postglobal]

[filtering]
disabled rulename "Test (copy to)" all copy "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/BP" set_tag "inbox"
enabled rulename "Serverconfig (copy to)" from matchcase "serverconfig@mycompany.com" copy "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Serverconfig"
enabled rulename "Jira (copy to)" from matchcase "jira@mycompany.com" copy "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Jira"
enabled rulename "Confluence (copy to)" from matchcase "confluence@mycompany.com" copy "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Confluence"
enabled rulename "Jenkins (move to)" from matchcase "jenkins@mycompany.com" move "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Jenkins"
disabled rulename "Mark non-inbox messages as read" ~tag matchcase "inbox" mark_as_read
enabled rulename "Build Announce" from matchcase "Build Annouce " move "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Build Announce"
enabled rulename "Database builder" from matchcase "\"database_builder@mycompany.com\" " copy "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Database builder"
enabled rulename "Daily News (copy to)" from matchcase "dailynews@mycompany.com" copy "#imap/saltycrane@mycompany.com@owa013.msoutlookonline.net/Daily News"

Printer Settings from the command line Ubuntu 12.04¶

$ system-config-printer &

Ref: http://askubuntu.com/questions/147019/how-can-i-learn-the-command-which-will-start-an-application-in-unitys-system-s

Settings from the command line Ubuntu 12.04¶

$ gnome-control-center &

How to resize an image from the command line¶

Install imagemagick

$ sudo apt-get install imagemagick

Resize an image

$ convert 2012-10-31_14-49-38_807.jpg -resize 50% 2012-10-31_14-49-38_807-halfsize.jpg

How to determine what type of (wireless) network adapter (card) you have¶

Reference: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1734728

$ sudo lshw -c network


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