Ubuntu:Hardy

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Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron)

Ubuntu Hardy Heron, the successor to Gutsy Gibbon was released on the 24th of April 2008. Please help test and perfect this guide.

Preface

About Hardy

• Ubuntu 8.04 was released on 24 April 2008 .
• It was code named Hardy Heron and is the successor to Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon.
• * Hardy Heron is a LTS (Long Term Support) release and will be supported with security updates for five years on the server and three years on the desktop.

How to find out what version of Ubuntu you're using

Use this command:

lsb_release -a

How to find out the Kernel version of the Ubuntu release you're using

Use this command:

 uname -r

Newer Versions of Ubuntu

• Ubuntu uses a six month release cycle
• These releases occur in April and October
• The next release is scheduled for the 30th of October, 2008 and will be Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) which is Hardy+1.

About Ubuntu and Official Ubuntu Derivatives

Ubuntu 8.04 Guides and Links

• Ubuntu Official Website
• Official About Ubuntu Page
• Official Ubuntu Forums
• Wikipedia: Ubuntu (Linux Distribution)
• Ubuntu Geek includes Tips,Howtos,Tutorials and Articles about Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu Screenshots

Ubuntu 8.04 Screenshots Gallery

Useful Knowledge

This section contains information useful in following this guide.

Using the console / terminal / shell

The console, terminal, and shell refer to the same thing - a command line interface. It can be used to control the system instead of the graphical user interface (GUI). Many of the tasks within the guide can be performed using the GUI, but it is simpler for many users to use the command line.

To open the console:

Applications --> Accessories --> Terminal

Any command prefixed by 'sudo' is given administrative (or root) access. You will be prompted for your user password.

Using manpages to display command-line options and help

Most programs and commands have a help manual or screen, named "manpages".

A command's function and command-line options can be displayed by typing in the terminal window (i.e. from the command line):

man <command>

For example,

man apt-get

will show the options for the command apt-get.

Keeping the system up-to-date

• It is important to have the system updated with the latest patches, security fixes and package upgrades from the repositories.

• Ensure that the correct repositories are enabled:

System --> Administration --> Software Sources

• Open the command-line terminal:

  Applications --> Accessories --> Terminal

• Update the repositories:

  sudo apt-get update

(The system will ask for your user password.)

• Upgrade the packages of the currently installed version:

  sudo apt-get upgrade

• If you wish to upgrade to the newest version, use:

  sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Upgrading to a new version should be done with caution. Make sure you are not using a system that requires a specific version of Ubuntu to function. Some applications are not compatible with newer releases and may stop functioning when you do a distribution upgrade. This is especially true if you are using an "appliance" version of Ubuntu. These often should only have a distribution upgrade in co-ordination with a complete appliance upgrade.

Installing packages (programs) and libraries

In Ubuntu there are two ways to install packages into your system.

You can install packages from the command-line Terminal or from the Synaptic Package Manager

How to install a package with Apt (from the command-line terminal)

• Apt is the Debian Package Manager and is used in Ubuntu as well.

• Start the command line terminal:

 System --> Accessories --> Terminal 

• Install a package by typing:

 sudo apt-get install package

• To install the music player Amarok, for example:

 sudo apt-get install amarok

• Remove a package:

 sudo apt-get remove package

• To remove the Exaile music player, for example:

 sudo apt-get remove exaile

• Apt checks the dependencies of a program automatically it is installed or removed.

How to install a package with Synaptic Package Manager

• Start Synaptic Package Manager:

System --> Administration --> Synaptic Package Manager

• Search for a complete or package using the Search Button.

• Click the box(es) of the package(s) to be installed; it/(they) will be entered into the installation queue.

• Press "Apply". Synaptic calculates the dependencies and installs the selected package as well as the packages on which it is dependent.

Searching for a package/program

There are several ways to find packages in the repositories.

Find a package in Synaptic

• Open Synaptic:

System --> Administration --> Synaptic Package Manager

• Press the Search button.

Select the fastest mirror

• See How to select the fastest mirror.

Find a package on the Ubuntu website

• Go to the Ubuntu Packages website.

• Search the Hardy packages at:

• http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/
• http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy-updates/
• http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy-backports/ :*http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy-backports/main/newpkg

Find a package with Apt

• Open a command-line terminal:

 Applications --> Accessories --> Terminal

• Search for a package-name in the cache.

  sudo apt-cache search <package-name>

• Example:

  sudo apt-cache search music player

Find a package in Aptitude

• Aptitude is a menu-driven version of apt. It is invoked from the command-line terminal.

Applications --> Accessories --> Terminal
user> aptitude

• Use the Search option similar to Synaptic Package Manager.

Add a program to the Applications menu

• Right click on the menu bar to edit the menus.

• Optionally, from the command-line terminal:

alacarte

• To find the location of the application on the hard drive:

  locate <applicationname>

Graphics cards and displays

Installation of ATI and nVidia Graphics drivers

Install latest EnvyNG driver (ATI & nVidia)

• Ensures you are always running the latest version of the drivers.
• Read this faq.

• Install the gtk package:

 sudo apt-get install envyng-gtk

Install drivers from the repository (ATI & nVidia)

• From Synaptic Package Manager:

 System --> Administration --> Hardware Drivers

• Choose your Graphics Card and desired options.

• Reboot.

Open Source rRadeon driver (ATI)

• For those that have older ATi GPU installed
• See these instructions.

RadeonHD driver (ATI only)

• For those that own the latest ATi cards (2xxx and 3xxx generations) and can't have appropriate display with the latest ATi drivers (via EnvyNG) or with the repository driver.

• Make sure that you don't have another ATI driver installed.
• Also see this location for more info.

• Search Synaptic Package Manager for the package:

  xf86-video-radeonhd

Fix for Video Playback Problem in Compiz-Fusion

Problem: While running Compiz-Fusion in fullscreen, a blue screen appears instead of special effects (3D cube, expo window viewing, video while moving the window).

Solution: Try this fix.

Note: This fix is not a permanent fix. It makes your CPU render the video, not your graphic card. The video will seem pixelated when re-sized at a higher resolution because the CPU is not able to post-process the video (and taxes your system resources). There seems to be no current fix for this video playback issue. This is a driver problem at the X-Server side.

Configuring multiple monitors with a nVidia graphics card

Install the nVidia graphics control panel:

  sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings

And then run the configuration utility:

  sudo nvidia-settings

You should be able to configure all your monitors, set them to seperate resolutions, and change their positioning relative to one another. When you are finished, make sure you click 'Save to X Configuration File'. It is possible that you may have problems with the boundries of monitors; logging off and back on again should resolve this.

How to install multimedia support on Hardy Heron

Installing Codecs

Open a terminal and type :

 sudo -s -H 

or

 sudo -i

and then enter your user password.

After that :

 apt-get update

 apt-get upgrade

To be upgraded. Please check that you have all repositories enabled in Software sources.

Then these commands :

 apt-get install gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse 
 gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg libxine1-ffmpeg libdvdread3

Now you have the most of the codecs needed to play most of multimedia you may own.

Installing DVD Support

If you want to install codecs in i386 and 64 bit check This

At the console, type:

  sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Αnd paste in the end of the file the below:

  ## Medibuntu - Ubuntu 8.04 "hardy" 
  ## Please report any bug on https://bugs.launchpad.net/medibuntu/ 
  deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non-free

save the document and then in the terminal type:

  wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

in order to receive the appropriate key.

Finally, at the terminal, type:

   sudo apt-get update 
   
   sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2

Pulseaudio

On Xubuntu, you may experience some glitches with Pulseaudio like no sound at all after upgrading from Gutsy. The reason may be that the Pulseaudio daemon is not started. Take note that the sound server is not started at boot time (to reduce the risk of inter-user audio corruption), but at login time. So, you will have to add an entry to your autostarted applications for Pulseaudio. Here is an example:

:[Desktop Entry]

:Encoding=UTF-8

:Version=0.9.4

:Type=Application

:Name=Pulseaudio

:Comment=

:Exec=pulseaudio

:StartupNotify=false

:Terminal=false

:Hidden=false

Installing VLC Media Player

At the console, type:

  sudo apt-get install vlc

To remove,

sudo apt-get --purge autoremove vlc

If you encounter sound problems (due to PulseAudio ), type:

   sudo apt-get install vlc-plugin-pulse

and choose PulseAudio as output in VLC options.

How to make VLC open when you insert a DVD

Totem is the default program for DVD-playback in Hardy, and there is no obvious way to change it. A lot of tips that worked in previous versions no longer work. The main problem is that VLC does not register itself as a DVD-capable application.

At the console, type:

   cp /usr/share/applications/vlc.desktop /home/hildenae/.local/share/applications/vlc-dvd.desktop

edit the file

   gedit ~/.local/share/applications/vlc-dvd.desktop

replace the line

   Exec=vlc %U

with either

1. (all you really need)

   Exec=vlc %f

2. (recommended settings from ubuntuforums for better dvd playback)

   Exec=vlc --vout-filter deinterlace --deinterlace-mode blend --volume 512 %f

3. (recommended settings from ubuntuforums for better dvd playback and automatic full screen playback)

   Exec=vlc --vout-filter deinterlace --deinterlace-mode blend --volume 512 --fullscreen %f

Save the file and close gedit. At the console, type:

   gedit ~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list

make the line «x-content/video-dvd=» under [Added Associations] read:

   [Added Associations]
   x-content/video-dvd=vlc-dvd.desktop;totem.desktop;

Open Nautilus (default file manager), and navigate to Edit->Preferences>Media>DVD Video and select VLC media player (you should be able to choose between Totem and VLC)

Installing Amarok (a Music Player)

Whilst Amarok is a KDE/Qt application, it will work fine on Ubuntu, and can be installed by typing:

  sudo apt-get install amarok

Installing Exaile (Amarok-like Music Player)

Exaile is a GTK, Amarok-like Music Player. From the command-line terminal:

  sudo apt-get install exaile

Make sure you have the appropriate multimedia codecs installed.

Installing Pulseaudio Tools

This will install pulseaudio utilities such as individual application volume controls and audio server tools.

Open a Terminal window and type the following:

  sudo apt-get install libasound2-plugins "pulseaudio-*" paman padevchooser paprefs pavucontrol pavumeter libflashsupport

Run Pulseaudio Device Manager from the Applications > Sound and Video menu to access the tools.

Installing XMMS

Note: XMMS is no longer included in the package tree and must be installed from source. This guide is based on <http://blog.sartek.net/2008/04/install-xmms-on-ubuntu-804-hardy-heron.html>.

Be extra carefull. The installation of a package out of PMS (package management system, that means apt and its frontend, Synaptic) may be dangerous, since the system doesn't have a trace of the binaries that are installed after the compilation.

Be sure that you know very well what you do.

Instead of that you should consider of making a .deb package so that you may do an appropriate installation'

XMMS depends on a lot of packages; install them by typing the following into a terminal:

  sudo apt-get install autotools-dev automake1.9 libtool gettext libasound2-dev libaudiofile-dev 
  libgl1-mesa-dev libglib1.2-dev libgtk1.2-dev libesd0-dev libice-dev libmikmod2-dev libogg-dev 
  libsm-dev libvorbis-dev libxxf86vm-dev libxml-dev libssl-dev build-essential make

Download the source from the XMMS website and unpack the .tar.gz:

  http://xmms.org/

From a terminal move to the newly untarred director and type:

  ./configure --prefix=/usr

Compile the code:

  make

Then install:

  sudo make install

You can remove the untarred directory if you so desire. To make audio output work properly, you may have to change the output audio plugin to ALSA from the OSS driver. This is done by opening xmms and navigating through the Options-Preferences menus.

Systems and Network Monitoring

Install the Zenoss stack

Zenoss is a full-featured open source networking monitoring application. To install a version of Zenoss which includes all dependencies, first add the repository by typing:

   sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Αnd paste in the end of the file:

  ## Zenoss - Ubuntu
  ## Please report any bugs at http://dev.zenoss.org/trac
  deb http://dev.zenoss.org/deb main stable

Save the file and exit. Then type:

   sudo apt-get update

   sudo apt-get install zenoss-stack

Start zenoss:

   sudo /etc/init.d/zenoss-stack start

Then in your browser, visit http://yourhost:8080, where yourhost is the FQDN of the server on which you installed Zenoss. Zenoss docs are available at http://docs.zenoss.com.

Internet and Web Development

Install a LAMP server on a Desktop

LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MSQL and PHP. You can install an integrated package that includes all four from the Synaptic Package manager (if you are using a Desktop Edition).

System-->Administration-->Synaptic Package Manager-->
Edit-->Mark Packages by Task-->LAMP server -->Apply

Install a LAMP server for local web development

This will install Apache2, PHP5, MySql5, and PHPMyAdmin.

Firstly, type the following command at the console:

  sudo apt-get install apache2 php5 mysql-server-5.0 phpmyadmin

This will install all the necessary applications. You may be prompted to decide on a MySQL root password (set one if you want), and to configure PHPMyAdmin (select apache2 as the server type). After this is complete, we need to perform some minor configuration to get PHPMyAdmin working. Type:

  sudo gedit /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Scroll right to the bottom of the file that opens, and add:

  # Enable PHPMyAdmin
  Include /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf

Now save, exit, and type:

  sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Everything should now be configured - go to http://127.0.0.1 for webpages, and http://127.0.0.1/phpmyadmin for database administration. The webroot is located in /var/www/ by default. This is not particularly useful, as we do not have write access to this directory. Fortunately, this is easy to solve, by...

Adding a virtual host to your LAMP server

This allows us to access a different folder as our webroot from a different address in our browser - face it, 'localhost' or 127.0.0.1 is boring.

Start by adding a new host. This is easy to do via System --> Administration --> Network; click on the Hosts tab, select the localhost item from the list and click properties. You may need to click the 'Unlock' button and enter your password first. Underneath the entry 'localhost', on a new line, add your entry of choice; for example, we'll use 'testhost'. Add this, and close all the dialogs.

Now we need to edit a configuration file, so type into the console:

  sudo gedit /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

In the resulting file (which may well be empty), add the definition for your host! My username is 'dan', and I want my webpages to be served from a directory named 'www' in my home, so I would add:

  <VirtualHost *>
     ServerName testhost
     DocumentRoot /home/dan/www
  </Virtualhost>

I can now add files to /home/dan/www, and access them by visiting http://testhost

Home Automation / Home Theater / Home Security

Complete Systems

Linux MCE (Media Center Edition)

LinuxMCE is an integrated home theater/home security/home automation/telephone PBX/intercom system for your home. It is a community project that is a fork of the Linux Pluto commercial endeavour. There is a version that runs on Kubuntu 7.04 (Feisty) and a version for Kubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy). A version for Kubuntu 8.04 (Hardy) is due out soon. It is available in 32 and 64 bit versions. LinuxMCE can run either as a standalone Home Theater PC or can co-ordinate a fully networked home, using the networking capabilities that are intrinsically part of the Kubuntu Linux OS. For more info see the LinuxMCE website.

LinuxMCE can be installed at the same time as the Kubuntu OS, on a new PC with an Nvidia graphics card (6000, 7000, or 8000 series), from a single DVD.

LinuxMCE can also be installed as an add-on package to an existing Kubuntu system, using the LinuxMCE 2 CD installation. You will need a Kubuntu LiveCD for your installation, even if you already have a full Kubuntu installation in place. (The LinuxMCE installation uses the Kubuntu LiveCD for additional modules.) Note that the LinuxMCE version must match the Kubuntu version -- i.e. the LinuxMCE 710 version CDs require the Kubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy) Live CD.

With the 2 CD installation, it is possible to run Kubuntu separately from LinuxMCE on the same PC, but it is recommended to dedicate at least one PC to LinuxMCE as a Core server.

LinuxMCE incorporates MythTV, Pluto home automation, Motion security surveillance, Asterisk PBX, VDR video disk recorder, and other home automation/security/theater packages in an integrated platform.

At this time, the automatic installer for Linux MCE uses the KDE desktop (Kubuntu). There are users that have made Linux MCE work with the Gnome desktop (Ubuntu) and other Linux distributions, but it is recommended to stick with the Kubuntu OS, as required by the LinuxMCE automatic installation.

PVR (Personal Video Recorder)

Mythbuntu

Mythbuntu is an Ubuntu-based derivative (based on the Xubuntu (XFCE) desktop) that is meant to function as a standalone PVR, based on MythTV. It can be used, however, with a Gnome (Ubuntu), KDE (Kubuntu) or XFCE (Xubuntu) desktop, which can be added at any later time.

Home Security

Zoneminder surveillance system

Zoneminder manages surveillance cameras and stores images on the hard disk. Images can be viewed using a (LAMP) server remotely. X10 devices can be triggered using built-in perl scripts. For more info see the Zoneminder website.

• Read #General Notes
• Read #Install a LAMP server on a Desktop

Installing the latest Zoneminder version

• Minor tweaks are required to install the latest version of Zoneminder on Hardy. See the Zoneminder forums.

Using the repository package

• There is a Zoneminder package for Hardy (that was the package from Gutsy). You should be able to install the package from Synaptic Package Manager.

• Detailed instructions that appeared to work for Gutsy are at the Zoneminder Installation Wiki.

Original Feisty installation instructions

• However, if that does not work, try the original instructions that worked for Feisty:

• You must have the LAMP server installed. In addition, you will need additional modules:

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg libarchive-tar-perl libarchive-zip-perl libdate-manip-perl libdevice-serialport-perl
sudo apt-get install libjpeg62 libmime-perl libstdc++6 libunwind7 libwww-perl zlib1g

• Download the .deb package from the package manager's website:

ftp://www.northern-ridge.com.au/zoneminder/ubuntu/edgy/zoneminder_1.22.3-8_i386.deb

• Install using the Debian package manager. (No other method seems to work.)

dpkg -i zoneminder_1.22.3-8_i386.deb

• (Note: If some dependencies are still unsatisfied, make sure you have these packages installed):

sudo apt-get install libc6 libc6.1 libgcc1 libgcc4 libstdc++6

(These should already be installed as part of the LAMP installation):

sudo apt-get install apache2-mpm-prefork libapache2-mod-php5 libmysqlclient15off mysql-client mysql-server php5  php5-mysql

Setup Zoneminder configuration

If your installation is successful, you will now need to set up the configuration files and databases for Zoneminder.

• Copy the configuration file and restart the Apache2 server.

sudo ln -s /etc/zm/apache.conf /etc/apache2/conf.d/zoneminder.conf
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload

• View Zoneminder from your web browser:

http://localhost/zm

• Set up a MySQL database for Zoneminder

If this is the first time you have used MySQL, the default global MySQL superuser root will not have a password. You should set one now. Instructions for setting mySQL initial privileges are here.

In short:

mysql -u root
mysql> UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('your_new_password') WHERE User='root';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
mysql> quit

In addition, you can set up an additional global MySQL user (such as mysql_user, for example) by following the instructions here. That way you can reserve root login for emergencies.

In short:

mysql -u root
mysql> CREATE USER 'mysql_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mysql_user_passwd';
mysql> quit

Now you must create a MySQL database for use by Zoneminder. This is an administrative MySQL command, so you must use one of your global MySQL users (either root or mysql_user, as created in the example above). You can name your Zoneminder database anything you want, instead of zmdatabase.

mysqladmin -u root -p CREATE zmdatabase

or

mysqladmin -u mysql_user -p CREATE zmdatabase

Create users for the Zoneminder database. As always, I create a root user for emergency use. I use the same password for root as I do elsewhere on my system. Then I also create a user named zm_user (but you could also creat a user named mysql_user, to keep everything consistent). [I use a unique user here because this is a home security system, after all, and I don't want it breached.] These users are specific to this database; they can be the same users as used elsewhere in the system or can be unique users.

mysql> GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, INDEX, ALTER, CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES, LOCK TABLES ON zmdatabase.* 
TO  'zm_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

mysql> GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, INDEX, ALTER, CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES, LOCK TABLES ON zmdatabase.* 
TO   'root'@'localhost' 
IDENTIFIED BY 'password'; (I used my usual root password here).
mysql> quit
mysqladmin reload

Note: mysql commands (i.e. any entered at the mysql> prompt) must end with a semicolon. If you forget the semicolon, nothing will happen.

Myth Zoneminder

MythZoneminder allows you to view your security cameras through Myth TV, essentially. It is a plugin that interfaces the two packages Zoneminder (which must be working on your system) and Myth TV (which must also be working.) It can be found in Synpatic Package Manager as the mythzoneminder package.

See the installation instructions.

How to restore GRUB to a partition or MBR with an Ubuntu Live CD

Sometimes, if an Ubuntu installation goes wrong, or a Windows NT bootloader overwrites MBR and doesn't recognise the Linux installation, we have to restore our GRUB bootloader that is, generally, very flexible.

First of all, we burn a Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04) ISO (on a CD(R , RW) or DVD (+R , +RW)) or make sure that we have one already.

Then, we change, in the BIOS, the boot load sequence and we put the CD/DVD option first.

After that, we boot the Live CD, we choose the first option and in a few minutes we have arrived at the Live CD Desktop.

So, we go :

 Applications --> Accessories --> Terminal 

Then, we have to remember which is our Ubuntu installation partition.

In our example, it is the second one (/dev/sda2), formatted as ext3, in the first HDD of a SATA controller. We suppose that it is the second one, since, in case we have Windows that demand to be in the first partition (/dev/sda1), this one is occupied.

Now, you have to be really careful. You have to enter the right partition, instead of sda2 (unless it is the same) In the terminal :

  cd /
  
 
  sudo -s -H

  mount -t ext3 /dev/sda2 /mnt

  mount -t proc proc /mnt/proc

  mount -t sysfs sys /mnt/sys

  mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev

  chroot /mnt  /bin/bash

And now, you are actually "running" Ubuntu within the Hard Drive but through Live CD's terminal.

Now we restore GRUB like that:

1) Restoration to MBR

  grub-install /dev/sda

2) Restoration to partition (example: /dev/sda2)

  grub-install /dev/sda2

In the first case (that is the most usual) you have certainly installed GRUB on MBR after you receive, in the terminal, the message that there are no errors.

After you reboot, you have your favorite bootloader restored.

Encrypt home partition with cryptsetup & LUKS

First step is to backup all necessary data, if something goes wrong your data will be lost in the process if it's not backed up. Also note that your home folder needs to be located on a separate partition than your root partition, if not see #How to make partitions.

Second, install necessary software:

  sudo apt-get install cryptsetup

Insert the new module, dm-crypt into the kernel:

  sudo modprobe dm-crypt

Check to see what encryption schemes are available:

  cat /proc/crypto

If only MD5 is listed, try inserting the appropriate modules into the kernel:

  sudo modprobe serpent

Above is an example, this could also be twofish, blowfish or anything other crypto module that you would like to use.

The following commands will assume that your home partition is /dev/sda1, please change it to match your own configuration.

Next step we use cryptsetup to change the partition with the luksFormat option, this command will cause you to lose all data on /dev/sda1.

  sudo cryptsetup luksFormat -c algorithm -y -s size /dev/sda1

Where algorithm is the algorithm that you chose above such as serpent aes, etc.

Size is the key size for encryption, this is generally 128 or 256. Without specifying the algorithm or the size, I believe it defaults to AES 256, more information and additional options can be found by reading the man page. The above step will ask you to choose a password and verify it. Do not forget this password.

We can then use the luksOpen option to open the encrypted drive.

  sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda1 home

Home is a nickname which cryptsetup uses to refer to /dev/sda1. It also creates the device /dev/mapper/home, this is what you would actually mount to access the filesystem. If you specify another name other than home, it will create the device /dev/mapper/[name], where [name] is the nickname that cryptsetup will use. This step will ask you for your LUKS passphrase, this is the password you created in the previous step.

Next, we create the actual filesystem on the device. I use reiserfs, but it could just as well be ext3.

  sudo mkreiserfs /dev/mapper/home

Or

  sudo mkfs.ext3 /dev/mapper/home

Next step is to mount your encrypted device and copy your files back to your home directory.

  mkdir new_home
  sudo mount /dev/mapper/home new_home
  cp -r * new_home

Now we have to set up everything so that it's ready to go at boot, we need to tell the system that there are encrypted disks that we want mounted.

  gksudo gedit /etc/crypttab

Enter the following as one line at the end of the file.

  home       /dev/sda1       none       luks,tries=3

remember home can be any name that you want, just remember that this maps to /dev/mapper/[name]. The option tries=3 allows 3 tries before a reboot is required or the disk is not decrypted.

Next enter the device info in fstab that we want to mount on boot.

  gksudo gedit /etc/fstab

Enter the information as one line at the end of the file.

  /dev/mapper/home       /home       reiserfs       defaults       0       0

Remember to substitute /dev/mapper/home with your device /dev/mapper/[name], /home is the mount point, since this is our home directory, reiserfs is the filesystem type, put ext3 if you formatted it as ext3. For now the default options should be good, change this if you need/require something else. Also, now is a good time to remove the old /dev/sda1 device entry so that fstab doesn't try to load it at boot. This can be accomplished by commenting out the /dev/sda1 line or deleting it.

Final step is to make sure that the proper modules are loaded at boot time.

  gksudo gedit /etc/modules

Now add dm-crypt and the crypto module that you used earlier, such as serpent, aes, etc. Each needs to be on its own line.

  dm-crypt
  serpent

That should be it, all that's required is a reboot. During the reboot process, the computer will say "Starting early crypto disks" and ask for your passphrase. If the passphrase is accepted, it will unlock the encrypted partition and mount it on your specified mount point.

Aliases

You can change the way you enter a command in order to be executed by entering an alias.

For example, you may enter in a terminal "update-system" (a command that in face doesn't exists) that replaces "sudo apt-get update". You can do the same thing for other commands.

This is what you do. Our example is going to be the alias of the command

 ls -FCal --color=auto

that shows with colours and many details the contents of a folder.

Open a terminal

  Applications --> Accessories --> Terminal

and enter

  gedit ~/.bashrc

Be carefull now. Don't erase anything there.

Now, go to the end of the document and enter

  alias ll="ls -FCal --color=auto"

As you can see, now with the command

  ll

whenever we want, we call, in fact, this one

  ls -FCal --color=auto

You can do the same thing for other commands that need a lot of switches.

Save the document, close the terminal and reopen it. You may now check your new alias.

Tips & Tricks

Change the splash screen color

Originally a brownish color to match the Ubuntu theme, it does not quite fit with other themes and might want to be changed. Enter the gdm.conf file (sudo gedit /etc/gdm/gdm.conf). About two-thirds of the way down you will see the lines:

 BackgroundColor=#dab082
 GraphicalThemedColor=#dab082

Change it to what you like. For all black, use:

 BackgroundColor=#000000
 GraphicalThemedColor=#000000

Change the default Terminal window size

The default size of the Terminal window is around 80 columns wide and 24 columns high. To alter this, edit the file /usr/share/vte/termcap/xterm. You can use the following command:

 sudo gedit /usr/share/vte/termcap/xterm

Just a few lines from the top will be the line reading:

 :co#80:it#8:li#24:\

Change the number right after co# to change the width. Change the number right after li# to change the height.

How to make partitions

It is very easy to make partitions with Ubuntu .

Open a terminal and type:

  sudo apt-get install gparted

Then navigate to

  System --> Administration --> Partition Editor

Then gParted is going to check for your disks and partitions.

There you can modify your partitions but on those that are NOT on the System.

More info :

1) Usage of gParted (it is distributed as Live CD as well) -->http://howtoforge.com/partitioning_with_gparted

2) How to separate your /home partition in Ubuntu --> http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/separatehome

How to enable Compiz Fusion in Ubuntu

In Ubuntu Hardy Heron, Compiz Fusion is already installed and is automatically enabled after you have installed your graphics' card drivers.

The only thing you have to do is to install the Compiz Configuration Settings Manager.

Open a terminal and type:

   sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

and it shall be installed. After that navigate to:

   System --> Preferences --> Advanced Desktop Effects Settings

and there you may enable/disable any plugin you want.

Add-on Applications

Wine

Wine is a Windows Win32 binary compatibility layer for Linux. Latest install instructions are always at: WineHQ.org

Add repository key:

 wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Add repository to apt sources:

 sudo wget http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.list

Update apt sources:

 sudo apt-get update

Install Wine:

 sudo apt-get install wine

The program menu then appears in Programs under Wine, or double-click a Windows/DOS .exe file.

Unison - file synchronization tool

Unison is a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows. It allows two replicas of a collection of files and directories to be stored on different hosts (or different disks on the same host), modified separately, and then brought up to date by propagating the changes in each replica to the other.

Nice Installation and Usage Guide check This

PlayOnLinux

PlayOnLinux is a Wine frontend which simplify installation and launch of many Windows programs, particularly games.

Add repository key:

wget -q http://playonlinux.botux.net/pol.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Add repository to apt sources:

sudo wget http://playonlinux.botux.net/playonlinux_hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list

Update apt sources:

sudo apt-get update

Install PlayOnLinux:

sudo apt-get install playonlinux

Tor,privoxy and Tor GUI (Vidalia)

Tor is a software project that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world:

If you want to install and configure tor follow This Guide

How to Sync your emails, files, bookmarks, and any other type of personal information

Conduit is a synchronization solution for GNOME which allows the user to take their emails, files, bookmarks, and any other type of personal information and synchronize that data with another computer, an online service, or even another electronic device.Conduit manages the synchronization and conversion of data into other formats.

If you want to install and configure in Ubuntu Follow This Tutorial

How to install applications for study of religious texts

• For study of Bible see GnomeSword
• For study of Quran see Zekr

How to install Gnomesword (Bible study program)

• Read #General Notes
• Read #How to add extra repositories
• This installs the english version of the program.

sudo apt-get install gnomesword sword-language-pack-en sword-text-web

• If you require other languages type:

sudo apt-cache search bible

• Take a look at the sword-language-pack's and the sword-text's for additional languages and install as needed.

Gnomesword is found under Applications-->Accessories.

• Under KDE, use kio-sword instead of Gnomesword:

sudo apt-get install kio-sword

How to install a Quran researching tool (Zekr)

Zekr is an open platform Quran study tool for simply browsing and researching on the Quran.

• Make sure that You have enabled universe and multiverse Ubuntu repositories: #How to add extra repositories.
• Install zekr with the following command:

sudo apt-get install zekr zekr-quran-translations-en ttf-sil-scheherazade ttf-farsiweb

• You can add more Quran translations from here.

• If you like to upgrade to the latest stable version of zekr, which supports Quran Recitation and advanced boolean/regular expression search, follow instructions available Zekr wiki.

Watching Live-TV On Your Ubuntu Desktop With Zattoo

Zattoo has developed a software program that allows you to watch TV on your computer. All you need is a broadband connection and a current operating system (Windows XP or Vista, Mac OS X, or Linux). The service is legal and free of charge.

If you want to install and configure Zattoo in Ubuntu, check out this tutorial.

How to upgrade from Hardy Heron to Intrepid Ibex (for developers and bug reports only)

• This isn't yet a safe way to upgrade to the next version of Ubuntu. The packages are still in experimental stage, since the dependencies aren't ready yet. Most users should continue using the current stable edition. Testers consider running Ibext in a testing environment (for example, on a Virtual Machine, Wubi or Lubi.)

Upgrade to Intrepid Manually

• Until the first Alphas enter the repositories, the update manager will not prompt you to install Intrepid Ibex with the command

  update-manager -d

• You can do it manually by changing your sources.list file:

• Backup the sources.list file:

 sudo -i
 cd /etc/apt/
 cp sources.list sources.list.backup

• Change the repositories:

• Delete everything in the old sources.list file and paste these:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid main universe restricted multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-security universe main multiverse restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-updates universe main multiverse restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-proposed universe main multiverse restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-backports universe main multiverse restricted

• Update the repository cache:

 sudo -i
 aptitude update

• Check in Software sources that everything has changed to Intrepid. No Hardy repos should be there. If there are, disable them and enable the Intrepid repos.

• Update the repository cache again, upgrade all packages, do a distrubution upgrade to Intrepid, then upgrade all the new Intrepid packages (some of these are voodoo steps):

 aptitude update 

 aptitude upgrade

 aptitude dist-upgrade

 aptitude upgrade

Every command should be done alone and you have to check continuously which packages have conflicts with the old ones and which ones are being removed. Be careful: if important system packages are removed (libs, gcc , xorg packages, bash , ubuntu-desktop , gdm etc), you must reinstall them (this can happen in the case of meta-packages)

• Everything sould be done by advanced users and ONLY in testing environment. These packages are unstable (like those in [experimental] in Debian Sid/Unstable).

Upgrade to Intrepid automatically

• When the first Alphas enter their way into the repositories, change the repositories:

  sudo update-manager -d

Check if the Hardy repositories are disabled and replaced by Intrepid repositories.