Linux

Linux related stuff

Bandwidth monitoring

Useful console programs

To install them all:

sudo apt install bwm-ng iftop nethogs nload

Useful gui programs

FreeRADIUS

Message-Authenticator and Mikrotik

As of RouterOS version 7.15 changelog, Mikrotik introduced the following two changes:

*) radius - added "require-message-auth" option that requires "Message-Authenticator" in received Access-Accept/Challenge/Reject messages;
*) radius - include "Message-Authenticator" in any RADIUS communication messages besides accounting for all services;

When you upgrade from a previous version, currently Mikrotik sets the require-message-auth=yes instead of no. This means that if you're running FreeRADIUS, most likely you won't be able to login to your routers anymore using RADIUS authentciation. I hope you know what the local credentials are!

It's taken much too long to learn how to get FreeRADIUS to add the Message-Authenticator attribute in response messages.

# Ubuntu 22.04 - /etc/freeradius/3.0/mods-config/files/authorize
# Add the following to the end of the file, and make sure you're not breaking anything else in the process
DEFAULT
        Message-Authenticator = 0

 

 

 

 

ImageMagick

Use ImageMagick to create, edit, compose, and convert digital images. Resize an image, crop it, change its shades and colors, add captions, and more.

Resizing files in a directory

nice -n 19 mogrify -path . -filter Triangle -define filter:support=2 -unsharp 0.25x0.25+8+0.065 -dither None -posterize 136 -quality 82 -define jpeg:fancy-upsampling=off -define png:compression-filter=5 -define png:compression-level=9 -define png:compression-strategy=1 -define png:exclude-chunk=all -interlace none -colorspace sRGB -strip *.jpg

[Source]

#end

Linux Performance Observability

https://www.brendangregg.com/linuxperf.html

image.png

image.png

#end

Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 Touchscreen on Linux

Getting the touchscreen to work on Garuda / Arch Linux

I recently came across the Garuda Linux SwayFX variant. It looked nice so I decided to give it a try on some older Microsoft Surface Laptops. I've never used Arch Linux or a variant before. I like the look and feel of the Garuda SwayFX distribution. After loading the Surface-Linux kernel, everything worked just find on a Surface Laptop 5, but not on the Surface Laptop 2's.

After comparing the Garuda / Arch system to a working Surface Laptop 2 running Ubuntu Sway Remix 24.04, I noticed the kernel modules mei and mei_me weren't loaded on the Garuda / Arch system. When I manually used modprobe to load the two modules the touchscreen began to work immediately.

It took me a while to track it down, but I finally found that these two modules were blacklisted in the file shown below. After commenting those two lines out and rebooting, the touchscreen started working on boot.

# File: /usr/lib/modprobe.d/noime.conf
# Intel VPRO remote access technology driver.
# 202040704 - Comment these two lines out. They're needed for Surface Laptop 2 touchscreen to work
#blacklist mei
#blacklist mei_me

With those two modules no longer blacklisted the IPTS devices finally showed up in the input devices list.

 ╭─user@local in ~ took 2ms
 ╰─λ lsmod | grep mei
mei_hdcp               28672  0
mei_pxp                20480  0
mei_me                 57344  3
mei                   200704  7 mei_hdcp,mei_pxp,mei_me,ipts

 ╭─user@local in ~ took 9ms
 ╰─λ grep IPTS /proc/bus/input/devices
N: Name="IPTS 1B96:0979 Touchscreen"
N: Name="IPTS 1B96:0979"
N: Name="IPTS Touch"
N: Name="IPTS Stylus"

 

SSH load key error in libcrypto

Occasionally on Ubuntu 22.04 I've experienced the error message shown below when trying to connect to a server using an ssh key:

$ ssh user@server.com -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 
Load key "id_ed25519": error in libcrypto

I finally realized the problem was the presence of DOS style CRLF end of line designators. Using dos2unix to convert the end of line designators resolved the issue.

$ dos2unix ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

#end

Sway

Ubuntu Sway Remix

Recording changes I make to the default configuration in Ubuntu Sway Remix

bind keys

# /etc/sway/modes/default.conf
$bindsym Ctrl+Alt+delete exec nwg-bar -x

brightness control

# from /etc/sway/variables
# brightness control - very fine grained control
set $brightness_step bash -c 'echo $(( $(light -Mr) / 100 * 1 < 100 ? 50 : $(( $(light -Mr) / 100 * 2 )) ))'
set $brightness_up light -r -A $($brightness_step) && $onscreen_bar $(light -G | cut -d'.' -f1)
set $brightness_down light -r -U $($brightness_step) && $onscreen_bar $(light -G | cut -d'.' -f1)

idle configuration

Set $idle_timeout to 300, $locking_timeout to 3600, and $screen_timeout to 600.

Update the timeout $idle_timeout action to set the idle light level to 1 instead of 10.

### Idle configuration
# This will lock your screen after 300 seconds of inactivity, then turn off
# your displays after another 300 seconds, and turn your screens back on when
# resumed. It will also lock your screen before your computer goes to sleep.
#
set $lock ~/.config/swaylock/lock.sh
set $idle_timeout 300
set $locking_timeout 3600
set $screen_timeout 600
set $idle swayidle -w \
    timeout $idle_timeout 'light -G > /tmp/brightness && light -S 1' resume 'light -S $([ -f /tmp/brightness ] && cat /tmp/brightness || echo 100%)' \
    timeout $locking_timeout $lock \
    timeout $screen_timeout 'swaymsg "output * dpms off"' \
    resume 'swaymsg "output * dpms on"' \
    before-sleep 'playerctl pause' \
    before-sleep $lock & \
    lock $lock &

power alert

Add the following to ~/.config/mako/config and then reload sway:

[app-name="poweralertd"]
invisible=1


background

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# file:~/.azotebg
pkill swaybg
#swaybg -o '*' -i "/usr/share/wallpapers/warty-final-ubuntusway.png" -m fill &
swaybg -o '*' -c \#003366

 

 

#end

Ubuntu console-setup for setting console font

By default, on a Surface laptop running Ubuntu Sway Remix, the console font is waaay too small for my aging eyes, so I set off to learn how to change it.

sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup

Results in the following /etc/default/console-setup contents:

ACTIVE_CONSOLES="/dev/tty[1-6]"

CHARMAP="UTF-8"

CODESET="guess"
FONTFACE=""
FONTSIZE=""

VIDEOMODE=

#end

Ubuntu desktop launchers

Recognized desktop entry keys

Mikrotik The Dude

The Dude runs well under Wine. Running the installer will generate all needed desktop launchers.

[Desktop Entry]
Name=The Dude 7.15.2
Exec=env WINEPREFIX="/home/msharp/.wine-dude-7.15.2" wine C:\\\\Dude-7.15.2\\\\dude.exe
#Exec=wine C:\\\\Dude\\\\dude.exe
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Icon=/usr/share/icons/Mikrotik/thedude.png


Mikrotik Winbox

~/.local/share/applications/winbox.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Winbox
Path=~/bin
Exec=wine-stable winbox.exe
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Keywords=winbox;

or

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Winbox
Comment=Mikrotik Winbox
Exec=wine "C:\\\\Scripts\\\\winbox.exe"

# Name=Winbox64
# Comment=Mikrotik Winbox64
# Exec=wine "C:\\\\Scripts\\\\winbox64.exe"

Icon=wine
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Wine;
StartupNotify=true

/usr/share/applications/winbox.desktop

# Make sure winbox.exe has been saved to /usr/local/bin/winbox.exe

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Winbox
#Path=/usr/local/bin
Exec=wine-stable winbox.exe
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Keywords=winbox;

#end

Useful system commands

Memory

# Show maximum capacity and number of RAM slots
sudo dmidecode -t 16
# Show information on RAM in slots
sudo dmidecode -t 17

# Shows all memory related information in the system. Slow as it polls all hardware first.
sudo lshw -class memory

VBAN for Linux

https://github.com/quiniouben/vban

I've used Voicemeeter Banana and Potato for a long time to do advanced audio management on my various computers, including streaming audio from various computers in the house to my laptop and vice versa.

VBAN for Linux allows me to incorporate some older laptops (that have trouble running Windows but no problem running Ubuntu Desktop) into my various setups. Primarily I use a second laptop to stream Youtube or Udemy videos while I'm using my primary Windows laptop. Bluetooth headset is connected to the primary laptop and all other audio sources are sinked to it. 👍

Configuring Ubuntu 20.04 to sink audio and use vban_emitter to stream to a VBAN receiver

Preparing Pulseaudio
#!/bin/bash

pactl load-module module-null-sink sink_name=vbanmix

# use "pactl info" or "pactl list" to find the proper alsa_output interface
pactl load-module module-combine-sink channels=2 slaves=vbanmix,alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo

pactl set-default-source vbanmix.monitor

 

Running vban_emitter
#!/bin/bash

IPADDR=10.10.10.10
UDPPORT=6980
STREAMNAME=Linux_Laptop
SAMPLERATE=48000

AUDIOBACKEND=pulseaudio

vban_emitter --ipaddress=$IPADDR --port=$UDPPORT --streamname=$STREAMNAME --backend=$AUDIOBACKEND --rate=$SAMPLERATE

Running on a headless system

After banging my head against the wall for weeks trying to figure out how to get vban_emitter working on a Raspberry Pi and an f80a, here's what I found.

By default, Pulseaudio only works with a user logged in directly to the system. After trying to get Pulseaudio setup to run in system mode, I realized it's much easier to just leverage ALSA directly.

The default ALSA configuration is set to use CARD 0. When using USB devices, these are inserted as CARD 1. In order to use this, you need to either update or create the /etc/asound.conf file with the information below:

# /etc/asound.conf
defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.ctl.card 1

Here's the vban_emitter command to use:

vban_emitter -i IP_ADDRESS -p 6789 -s STREAM_NAME -b alsa

 

-end

Wayland

While trying out Ubuntu 23.04 via Ubuntu Sway Remix 23.04, I've noticed a lot of issues with blurry programs. After doing some research, I've found that this is due to applications using the X11 protocols to access the display via Xwayland instead of using the native Wayland protocols. I didn't have this issue running Ubuntu Sway Remix 22.04, so I'm very curious what has changed.

I'm starting to document what I'm learning hear and adding links.

Resources

Individual applications

atlauncher on Arch / Garuda Linux 

In order for atlauncher to run properly in Sway or SwayFX on Wayland, you need to tweak the Exec line by adding env _JAVA_AWT_WM_NONREPARENTING=1 as shown below. This is the launcher file located at /usr/share/applications/atlauncher.desktop

Install atlauncher, java jre21, and Visual Studio Code (editor)

pacman -S atlauncher jre21-openjdk visual-studio-code-bin

From a console, use VSCode to edit the atlauncher.desktop file to match the contents shown below.

# use Visual Studio Code to edit the atlauncher.desktop file
EDITOR="code -w" sudoedit /usr/share/applications/atlauncher.desktop

Reference content of the atlauncher.desktop file:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=ATLauncher
GenericName=ATLauncher
Comment=A launcher for Minecraft which integrates multiple different modpacks to allow you to down
load and install modpacks easily and quickly.
Exec=env _JAVA_AWT_WM_NONREPARENTING=1 atlauncher
Icon=atlauncher
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Game;
Keywords=game;Minecraft;

Flatpak


VS Code

Adding "--enable-features=UseOzonePlatform --ozone-platform=wayland" to the code launcher fixes the issue. I updated all of the /usr/share/applications/code*.desktop files appropriately.


Wayvnc

Make sure you change the username and password in the configuration file you create.

RSA-AES encryption configuration
mkdir ~/.config/wayvnc
ssh-keygen -m pem -f ~/.config/wayvnc/rsa_key.pem -t rsa -N ""
cat <<EOF > ~/.config/wayvnc/config
use_relative_paths=true
address=0.0.0.0
enable_auth=true
username=luser
password=p455w0rd
rsa_private_key_file=rsa_key.pem
TLS encryption configuration
# creating a self-signed key pair
mkdir ~/.config/wayvnc
openssl req -x509 -newkey ec -pkeyopt ec_paramgen_curve:secp384r1 -sha384 \
        -days 3650 -nodes \
        -keyout ~/.config/wayvnc/tls_key.pem \
        -out ~/.config/wayvnc/tls_cert.pem \
        -subj /CN=`hostname` \
        -addext subjectAltName=DNS:localhost,DNS:localhost,IP:127.0.0.1
use_relative_paths=true
address=0.0.0.0
enable_auth=true
username=luser
password=p455w0rd
private_key_file=tls_key.pem
certificate_file=tls_cert.pem

-end

Arch Linux, Gnome-Keyring and 1Password

Source

I've been playing with Garuda Sway linux recently because I like their Sway/SwayFX configuration and layout. The "downside" is that I've had to learn the ins and outs of an Arch Linux based distribution.

1Password will not work "properly" out of the box. When you enter your OTP codes, you will see the message "1password was unable to save your two-factor token" at the bottom of the screen. The changes below will fix the glitch.

Needed changes

  1. Configure PAM as shown below.
  2. Logout.
  3. Login.
  4. Create a gnome-keyring and set it as default. This can easily be done with seahorse, as referenced in the source link above.
    1. Run seahorse
    2. Create a new Password keyring
    3. Set the new Password keyring as default
  5. Re-open 1Password and enter the requested authentication tokens. It will now be able to save the authentication tokens to the gnome-keyring

Configure PAM

Source

File: /etc/pam.d/login

#%PAM-1.0

auth       requisite    pam_nologin.so
auth       include      system-local-login
auth       optional     pam_gnome_keyring.so
account    include      system-local-login
session    include      system-local-login
session    optional     pam_gnome_keyring.so auto_start
password   include      system-local-login

File: /etc/pam.d/greetd

#%PAM-1.0

auth       required     pam_securetty.so
auth       requisite    pam_nologin.so
auth       include      system-local-login
auth       optional     pam_gnome_keyring.so
account    include      system-local-login
session    include      system-local-login
session    optional     pam_gnome_keyring.so auto_start

dnsdist DNS proxy

dnsdist is a highly configurable DNS-, DoS- and abuse-aware loadbalancer.

Here's an example configuration file:

-- File: /etc/dnsdist/dnsdist.conf 

-- listen for console connection with the given secret key
controlSocket("0.0.0.0:53530")
setKey("supersecretAPIkey")
setConsoleACL({"172.16.16.0/24","192.168.168.0/24","10.10.20.0/24"})

-- start and configure the web server
webserver("0.0.0.0:8053")
setWebserverConfig({password="supersecretpassword", apiKey="supersecretAPIkey"}, acl="172.16.16.0/24,192.168.168.0/24,10.10.20.0/24")

-- accept DNS queries on UDP/53 and TCP/53
addLocal("0.0.0.0:53")
-- accept DNS queries on UDP/5200 and TCP/5200
-- addLocal("0.0.0.0:5200")

-- fix up possibly badly truncated answers from pdns 2.9.22
truncateTC(true)

-- Log message
warnlog(string.format("Script starting %s", "up!"))

-- define the server pools
-- public-google
newServer({address="8.8.8.8", pool="public-google", checkInterval=300})
newServer({address="8.8.4.4", pool="public-google", checkInterval=300})

-- public-cloudflare
newServer({address="1.1.1.1", pool="public-cloudflare", checkInterval=300})

-- public-quad9
newServer({address="9.9.9.9", pool="public-quad9", checkInterval=300})
newServer({address="149.112.112.112", pool="public-quad9", checkInterval=300})

-- internal pools
newServer({address="192.168.1.53",  pool="company1-auth", checkInterval=300})
newServer({address="192.168.2.53",  pool="company2-auth", checkInterval=300})
newServer({address="192.168.3.53",  pool="company3-auth", checkInterval=300})

-- local router
newServer({address="172.16.16.254", pool="router", checkInterval=300})

newServer({address="127.0.0.1:53531", pool="nodeapp1", checkInterval=300})

-- switch the server balancing policy to round robin,
-- the default being least outstanding queries
setServerPolicy(roundrobin)

addAction({"camera.project1.loc.", "device.project1.loc."}, PoolAction("nodeapp1"))
addAction({"company1.loc"}, PoolAction("company1-auth"))
addAction({"company2.loc"}, PoolAction("company2-auth"))
addAction({"company3.loc"}, PoolAction("company3-auth"))

addAction(AllRule(), PoolAction("public-google"))
-- addAction(AllRule(), PoolAction("public-cloudflare"))
-- addAction(AllRule(), PoolAction("public-quad9"))
-- addAction(AllRule(), PoolAction("router"))

-- refuse all queries not having exactly one question
-- addAction(NotRule(RecordsCountRule(DNSSection.Question, 1, 1)), RCodeAction(DNSRCode.REFUSED))

-- return 'refused' for domains matching the regex evil[0-9]{4,}.powerdns.com$
-- addAction(RegexRule("evil[0-9]{4,}\\.powerdns\\.com$"), RCodeAction(DNSRCode.REFUSED))

-- spoof responses for A, AAAA and ANY for spoof.powerdns.com.
-- A queries will get 192.0.2.1, AAAA 2001:DB8::1 and ANY both
-- addAction("spoof.powerdns.com.", SpoofAction({"192.0.2.1", "2001:DB8::1"}))

-- spoof responses will multiple records
-- A will get 192.0.2.1 and 192.0.2.2, AAAA 20B8::1 and 2001:DB8::2
-- ANY all of that
-- addAction("spoof.powerdns.com", SpoofAction({"192.0.2.1", "192.0.2.2", "20B8::1", "2001:DB8::2"}))

-- spoof responses with a CNAME
-- addAction("cnamespoof.powerdns.com.", SpoofCNAMEAction("cname.powerdns.com."))

-- spoof responses in Lua
--[[
    function spoof1rule(dq)
        if(dq.qtype==1) -- A
        then
                return DNSAction.Spoof, "192.0.2.1"
        elseif(dq.qtype == 28) -- AAAA
        then
                return DNSAction.Spoof, "2001:DB8::1"
        else
                return DNSAction.None, ""
        end
    end
    function spoof2rule(dq)
        return DNSAction.Spoof, "spoofed.powerdns.com."
    end
    addAction("luaspoof1.powerdns.com.", LuaAction(spoof1rule))
    addAction("luaspoof2.powerdns.com.", LuaAction(spoof2rule))

--]]

-- alter a protobuf response for anonymization purposes
--[[
function alterProtobuf(dq, protobuf)
    requestor = newCA(dq.remoteaddr:toString())
    if requestor:isIPv4() then
        requestor:truncate(24)
    else
        requestor:truncate(56)
    end
    protobuf:setRequestor(requestor)
end

rl = newRemoteLogger("127.0.0.1:4242")
addAction(AllRule(), RemoteLogAction(rl, alterProtobuf))
--]]

-end

AppImage

What is AppImage

"Download an application, make it executable, and run! No need to install. No system libraries or system preferences are altered. Can also run in a sandbox like Firejail"

System Prep

Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04

AppImage expects libfuse2. Ubuntu by default installed libfuse3.

apt install libfuse2

Applications

Helix Editor

The script below downloads the 0.10.1 version appimage of nvim and places files where they need to be. Make sure you run this as root as most of the commands need to be elevated.

The script below will only work for x64 version of linux. Currently there is no nvim appimage support for arm64.

ReleaseURL="https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases/download/24.07/helix-24.07-x86_64.AppImage" &&
OUTFILE="helix-24.07-x86_64.AppImage" &&
wget $ReleaseURL -O $OUTFILE &&
chmod 755 $OUTFILE &&
./$OUTFILE --appimage-extract &&
chown -R root:root $OUTFILE squashfs-root &&
cp squashfs-root/usr/share/applications/Helix.desktop /usr/share/applications/ &&
cp squashfs-root/helix.png /usr/share/icons/ &&
rm -rf squashfs-root &&
mkdir -p /usr/local/bin &&
cp $OUTFILE /usr/local/bin/ &&
ln -s /usr/local/bin/$OUTFILE /usr/local/bin/helix.appimage &&
ln -s /usr/local/bin/$OUTFILE /usr/local/bin/hx &&
ls -l /usr/local/bin/hx* /usr/share/applications/Helix.desktop /usr/share/icons/helix.png

Neovim / nvim

The script below downloads the 0.10.1 version appimage of nvim and places files where they need to be. Make sure you run this as root as most of the commands need to be elevated.

The script below will only work for x64 version of linux. Currently there is no nvim appimage support for arm64.

NVIMURL="https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/download/v0.10.1/nvim.appimage" &&
OUTFILE="nvim.0.10.1.appimage" &&
wget $NVIMURL -O $OUTFILE &&
chmod 755 $OUTFILE &&
./$OUTFILE --appimage-extract &&
chown -R root:root $OUTFILE squashfs-root &&
cp squashfs-root/usr/share/applications/nvim.desktop /usr/share/applications/nvim.desktop &&
cp squashfs-root/nvim.png /usr/share/icons/ &&
rm -rf squashfs-root &&
mkdir -p /usr/local/bin &&
cp $OUTFILE /usr/local/bin/ &&
ln -s /usr/local/bin/nvim.0.10.1.appimage /usr/local/bin/nvim.appimage &&
ln -s /usr/local/bin/nvim.appimage /usr/local/bin/nvim &&
ls -l /usr/local/bin/nvim* /usr/share/applications/nvim.desktop /usr/share/icons/nvim.png

-end

NUT - Network UPS Tools

Ubuntu 24.04 Issues

Out of the box, you receive the following errors when running nut-scanner:

$ nut-scanner -U
Cannot load USB library (libusb-1.0.so) : file not found. USB search disabled.
Cannot load SNMP library (libnetsnmp.so) : file not found. SNMP search disabled.
Cannot load XML library (libneon.so) : file not found. XML search disabled.
Cannot load AVAHI library (libavahi-client.so) : file not found. AVAHI search disabled.
Cannot load IPMI library (libfreeipmi.so) : file not found. IPMI search disabled.
Cannot load NUT library (libupsclient.so) : file not found. NUT search disabled.
nut-scanner : utility for detection of available power devices.

OPTIONS:
  -C, --complete_scan: Scan all available devices except serial ports (default).
* Options for USB devices scan not enabled: library not detected.
* Options for SNMP devices scan not enabled: library not detected.
* Options for XML/HTTP devices scan not enabled: library not detected.
  -O, --oldnut_scan: Scan NUT devices (old method).
* Options for NUT devices (avahi method) scan not enabled: library not detected.
* Options for IPMI devices scan not enabled: library not detected.
  -E, --eaton_serial <serial ports list>: Scan serial Eaton devices (XCP, SHUT and Q1).
  -T, --thread <max number of threads>: Limit the amount of scanning threads running simultaneously (default: 512).

Note: many scanning options depend on further loadable libraries.
Run-time loadable library search paths used by this build of NUT:
	NOTE: Reporting filtered (existing unique) built-in paths:
	Built-in:	/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
	Built-in:	/usr/lib64
	Built-in:	/usr/lib
	Built-in:	/usr/local/lib
	Built-in:	/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-

The only issue I could find posted was Libraries not found (Ubuntu 24.04 Server arm) #2431, yet it didn't seem to have a resolution. I haven't read every bit of the issue, but the root of cause is pretty obvious that some package is no longer providing the symlinks that are expected to exist.

The easy solution is to create symlinks for the files its looking for to the files that actually exist.

pushd /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
sudo ln -s libusb-1.0.so.0 libusb-1.0.so
sudo ln -s libnetsnmp.so.40 libnetsnmp.so
sudo ln -s libavahi-client.so.3 libavahi-client.so
sudo ln -s libfreeipmi.so.17 libfreeipmi.so
sudo ln -s libneon-gnutls.so.27 libneon.so
popd

After creating the symlinks, everything is working like a champ.

 

 

CyberPower CP1000PFCLCDa UPS Configuration

# /etc/nut/nut.conf
MODE=standalone
#MODE=netserver

# /etc/nut/ups.conf
maxretry = 3

# use "nut-scanner -U" to scan for connected UPS's

[cyberpower1]
        driver = "usbhid-ups"
        port = "auto"
        vendorid = "0764"
        productid = "0601"
        product = "CP1000PFCLCDa"
        serial = "CX1KP2001248"
        vendor = "CPS"
        bus = "001"
        pollinterval = 15

# /etc/nut/upsd.conf
LISTEN 0.0.0.0 3493

# /etc/nut/upsd.users

[monuser]
  password = REDACTED
  admin master

# /etc/nut/upsmon.conf
MINSUPPLIES 1
SHUTDOWNCMD "/sbin/shutdown -h +0"
POLLFREQ 5
POLLFREQALERT 5
HOSTSYNC 15
DEADTIME 25
POWERDOWNFLAG /etc/killpower
RBWARNTIME 43200
NOCOMMWARNTIME 300
FINALDELAY 5

-end

Fancy console

Components

Install Nerd Fonts

Here's an installer for Linux. Install at least Hack and JetBrains.

bash -c  "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/officialrajdeepsingh/nerd-fonts-installer/main/install.sh)"

The script installs to the local user .fonts directory. It can be beneficial to move those fonts to the system local folder.

sudo mv ~/.fonts/* /usr/local/share/fonts/
sudo fc-cache -fv

Update terminal config to use the Nerd Font

# ~/.config/foot/foot.ini
font=Hack Nerd Font:size=10

Starship

Install Starship

curl -sS https://starship.rs/install.sh | sh

Configure shell to run it

# for BASH
cat <<EOF > ~/.bashrc
eval "$(starship init bash)"
EOF
# for FISH
cat <<EOF > ~/.config/fish/config.fish
starship init fish | source
EOF
# for PowerShell
# Add the following to the end of your PowerShell configuration (find it by running $PROFILE):
Invoke-Expression (&starship init powershell)
# for Xonsh
cat <<EOF > ~/.xonshrc
execx($(starship init xonsh))
EOF
# for 
cat <<EOF > ~/

EOF

Configure to use preset

Make it pretty!

starship preset pastel-powerline -o ~/.config/starship.toml

Customize the preset

Adding the hostname to the prompt by editing the file ~/.config/starship.toml

# Add the $hostname\ line near the beginning of the file:
# $username\
# $hostname\
#

cat <<EOF >> ~/.config/starship.toml

[hostname]
ssh_only = false
style = "bg:#9A348E"
format = '[@ $hostname ]($style)'
trim_at = '.'
disabled = false
EOF

tmux configuration

The configuration below includes:

sudo apt install tmux
mkdir ~/.config/tmux

cat <<EOF > ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf
#improve colors
set -g default-terminal 'screen-256color'

# act like vim
setw -g mode-keys vi
bind-key h select-pane -L
bind-key j select-pane -D
bind-key k select-pane -U
bind-key l select-pane -R
bind-key -r C-h select-window -t :-
bind-key -r C-l select-window -t :+

# change prefix key because this is easier to hit
set -g prefix2 C-s

# reload config
unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf

# List of plugins
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'

set -g @plugin 'dracula/tmux'

set -g @dracula-show-powerline true
set -g @dracula-fixed-location "Baton Rouge"
set -g @dracula-plugins "weather"
set -g @dracula-show-flags true
set -g @dracula-show-left-icon session
set -g status-position top
  
# Other examples:
# set -g @plugin 'github_username/plugin_name'
# set -g @plugin 'github_username/plugin_name#branch'
# set -g @plugin 'git@github.com:user/plugin'
# set -g @plugin 'git@bitbucket.com:user/plugin'

# Initialize TMUX plugin manager (keep this line at the very bottom of tmux.conf)
run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'EOF

bat / batcat

I keep forgetting about this tool.

https://github.com/sharkdp/bat

Pastel Powerline Modified Preset

cat <<EOF > ~/.config/starship.toml 
# MSHARP 20240926
# Slightly modified from the Pastel Powerline Preset
# Adds the $hostname

format = """
[](#9A348E)\
$os\
$username\
$hostname\
[](bg:#DA627D fg:#9A348E)\
$directory\
[](fg:#DA627D bg:#FCA17D)\
$git_branch\
$git_status\
[](fg:#FCA17D bg:#86BBD8)\
$c\
$elixir\
$elm\
$golang\
$gradle\
$haskell\
$java\
$julia\
$nodejs\
$nim\
$rust\
$scala\
[](fg:#86BBD8 bg:#06969A)\
$docker_context\
[](fg:#06969A bg:#33658A)\
$time\
[ ](fg:#33658A)\
"""

# Disable the blank line at the start of the prompt
# add_newline = false

# You can also replace your username with a neat symbol like   or disable this
# and use the os module below
[username]
show_always = true
style_user = "bg:#9A348E"
style_root = "bg:#9A348E"
format = '[$user ]($style)'
disabled = false

# An alternative to the username module which displays a symbol that
# represents the current operating system
[os]
style = "bg:#9A348E"
disabled = true # Disabled by default

[directory]
style = "bg:#DA627D"
format = "[ $path ]($style)"
truncation_length = 3
truncation_symbol = "…/"

# Here is how you can shorten some long paths by text replacement
# similar to mapped_locations in Oh My Posh:
[directory.substitutions]
"Documents" = "󰈙 "
"Downloads" = " "
"Music" = " "
"Pictures" = " "
# Keep in mind that the order matters. For example:
# "Important Documents" = " 󰈙 "
# will not be replaced, because "Documents" was already substituted before.
# So either put "Important Documents" before "Documents" or use the substituted version:
# "Important 󰈙 " = " 󰈙 "

[c]
symbol = " "
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[docker_context]
symbol = " "
style = "bg:#06969A"
format = '[ $symbol $context ]($style)'

[elixir]
symbol = " "
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[elm]
symbol = " "
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[git_branch]
symbol = ""
style = "bg:#FCA17D"
format = '[ $symbol $branch ]($style)'

[git_status]
style = "bg:#FCA17D"
format = '[$all_status$ahead_behind ]($style)'

[golang]
symbol = " "
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[gradle]
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[haskell]
symbol = " "
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[java]
symbol = " "
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[julia]
symbol = " "
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[nodejs]
symbol = ""
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[nim]
symbol = "󰆥 "
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[rust]
symbol = ""
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[scala]
symbol = " "
style = "bg:#86BBD8"
format = '[ $symbol ($version) ]($style)'

[time]
disabled = false
time_format = "%R" # Hour:Minute Format
style = "bg:#33658A"
format = '[ ♥ $time ]($style)'

[hostname]
ssh_only = false
style = "bg:#9A348E"
format = '[@ $hostname ]($style)'
trim_at = '.'
disabled = false
EOF

-end

btrfs

 

 

Example of creating and mounting multiple sub-volumes

 

mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
mkfs.btrfs /dev/sda2 -f
mkswap /dev/sda3

mkdir /mnt-btrfs
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt-btrfs
btrfs subvolume create /mnt-btrfs/@
btrfs subvolume create /mnt-btrfs/@home
btrfs subvolume create /mnt-btrfs/@root
btrfs subvolume create /mnt-btrfs/@srv
btrfs subvolume create /mnt-btrfs/@varcache
btrfs subvolume create /mnt-btrfs/@varlog
btrfs subvolume create /mnt-btrfs/@vartmp

mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mkdir -p /mnt/home
mkdir -p /mnt/root
mkdir -p /mnt/var/cache
mkdir -p /mnt/var/log
mkdir -p /mnt/var/tmp
mkdir -p /mnt/srv

mount -o compress=zstd -o subvol=/@          /dev/sda2 /mnt/
mount -o compress=zstd -o subvol=/@home      /dev/sda2 /mnt/home
mount -o compress=zstd -o subvol=/@root      /dev/sda2 /mnt/root
mount -o compress=zstd -o subvol=/@srv       /dev/sda2 /mnt/var/srv
mount -o compress=zstd -o subvol=/@varcache  /dev/sda2 /mnt/var/cache
mount -o compress=zstd -o subvol=/@varlog    /dev/sda2 /mnt/var/log
mount -o compress=zstd -o subvol=/@vartmp    /dev/sda2 /mnt/var/tmp

 

Installation and Setup

These instructions are based around Ubuntu 24.04 (Ubuntu Sway Remix).

My workstation base

# get rid of neovim pre-0.10.1 and thunderbird just in case they're already installed
sudo apt purge neovim thunderbird
sudo apt install build-essential git pipx python3-pip vim-nox \
     fish xonsh \
     bat fzf ripgrep \
     filezilla nautilus thunar \
     remmina tshark wavemon wireshark \
     network-manager-gnome network-manager-config-connectivity-ubuntu \
     network-manager-l2tp-gnome \
     network-manager-openvpn-gnome \
     network-manager-ssh-gnome \
     network-manager-sstp-gnome \
     network-manager-strongswan \
     wireguard \
     wine wine32 wine64

Neovim appimage 0.10.1

pushd /usr/local/bin
sudo wget https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/download/v0.10.1/nvim.appimage
sudo chmod 775 nvim.appimage
sudo ln -s nvim.appimage nvim
ls -l nvim*
popd
sudo cat <<EOF > ~/sudo_editor.sh
export SUDO_EDITOR=nvim
EOF
sudo mv ~/sudo_editor.sh /etc/profile.d/sudo_editor.sh
source /etc/profile.d/sudo_editor.sh

VSCode

Download VSCode from here.

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/code*.deb

Google Chrome

Download Google Chrome from here.

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/google-chrome-stable*.deb

Microsoft Edge

Download Microsoft Edge from here.

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/microsoft-edge-stable*.deb

NodeJS using nvm

# installs nvm (Node Version Manager)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.0/install.sh | bash

source ~/.bashrc

# install current stable release
nvm install node
node -v
npm -v

nvchad

Quickstart install. Make sure git, node, nvm and ripgrep are installed.

git clone https://github.com/NvChad/starter ~/.config/nvim && nvim
# :MasonInstallAll
# rm -rf ~/.config/nvim/.git/

Network applications

sudo apt install remmina tshark wavemon wireshark
sudo apt install network-manager-config-connectivity-ubuntu network-manager-gnome network-manager-openvpn-gnome network-manager-l2tp-gnome network-manager-ssh-gnome network-manager-sstp-gnome network-manager-strongswan wireguard
sudo apt install wine wine32 wine64

Fancy console

Ref