https://brb.epr.ch/blog/ 2026-04-05T13:04:06+00:00 https://brb.epr.ch/blog/ https://brb.epr.ch/blog/_media/wiki:dokuwiki.svg text/html 2014-04-24T07:02:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:ubuntu_post_install_tasks?rev=1398322958&do=diff Ubuntu post install tasks * If you run a proxy (apt-cacher-ng in my case), add the proxy directory in /etc/apt/apt.conf: Acquire::http::Proxy "http://aptcacher:3142"; * Add repositories for sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/y-ppa-manager sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tiheum/equinox sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/">http://archive.canonical.com/</a> $(lsb_release -sc) partner" text/html 2012-09-22T16:13:55+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:access_encrypted_lvm_disk_from_live_cd?rev=1348330435&do=diff Access encrypted lvm disk from live cd Installing ubunto on an encrypted lvm partition is easy using the ubuntu alternate cd. However, accessing your data in case of emergency using a life cd needs some additional steps * Boot from live cd sudo modprobe dm-crypt # Inserts a module we need sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda2 cheer # Unlocks the partition sda2 and names it cheer Enter LUKS passphrase: key slot 0 unlocked. sudo apt-get install lvm2 # installs the tools… text/html 2017-10-21T12:36:58+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:linux_on_usb_stick?rev=1508589418&do=diff Linux on USB Stick Carrying your private OS with you on an encrypted USB stick is very useful. Here are my personal notes how I did this. I have written them carefully, however I assume no responsibility for them. What you need: * Computer with Ethernet connection text/html 2024-09-29T10:55:30+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/wiki:syntax?rev=1727607330&do=diff Formatting Syntax DokuWiki supports some simple markup language, which tries to make the datafiles to be as readable as possible. This page contains all possible syntax you may use when editing the pages. Simply have a look at the source of this page by pressing text/html 2012-01-26T09:56:22+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:ubuntu_11.04_fingerprint?rev=1327571782&do=diff Ubuntu 11.04 fingerprint Fingerprint Reader There are apparently two ways to activate the Fingerprint Reader with 1) ThinkFinger (<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ThinkFinger> from Synaptic) and 2) Fprint from here <https://launchpad.net/~fingerprint/+archive/fprint> (fprint is also in Synaptic but something is missing). Long story short (kinda): Quick installation guide text/html 2018-10-11T14:40:47+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:set_up_davmail_gateway?rev=1539268847&do=diff How To Setup a DavMail Exchange Gateway on a Debian 7 VPS Introduction DavMail provides a solution for translating Microsoft Exchange to open protocols like POP, IMAP, SMTP, Caldav, Carddav, and LDAP. Installation Davmail requires some extra dependencies to work properly. Install them with apt: text/html 2012-02-13T17:37:01+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:installing_sage_on_ubuntu_11.10?rev=1329154621&do=diff Installing sage on ubuntu Sage is a very powerful computer algebra system. Especially nice is the LaTeX integration using sagetex. Here's how to set this up: Compile yourself Install prerequisite libraries sudo apt-get install build-essential m4 readline-common libreadline-dev texlive xpdf evince tk8.5-dev gfortran text/html 2014-04-29T05:46:30+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:installing_sage_on_debian_or_ubuntu?rev=1398750390&do=diff Installing Sage on Debian or Ubuntu Sage is a very powerful computer algebra system. Especially nice is the LaTeX integration using sagetex. Here's how to set this up: Compile yourself Install prerequisite libraries sudo apt-get install build-essential m4 readline-common libreadline-dev texlive xpdf evince tk8.5-dev gfortran text/html 2011-12-19T12:31:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:install_windows_codecs_and_support_for_encrypted_dvds_in_ubuntu?rev=1324297908&do=diff Install Windows codecs and support for encrypted dvds in ubuntu Install Mplayer in Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty) You have to make sure you have enabled universe,multiverse repositories Now you need to run the following command to update the source list sudo apt-get update text/html 2011-07-08T05:57:53+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:install_flash_player_in_linux_64bit?rev=1310104673&do=diff Install flash player in linux 64bit The flashplayer installed by flash-plugininstaller in Ubuntu 11.04 is buggy. To install a new version: Uninstall existing flash player: sudo aptitude purge flashplugin-installer sudo aptitude purge flashplugin-nonfree text/html 2018-10-11T14:40:57+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/files:davmail?rev=1539268857&do=diff #! /bin/sh ### BEGIN INIT INFO # Provides: davmail # Required-Start: $remote_fs $syslog # Required-Stop: $remote_fs $syslog # Default-Start: 2 3 4 5 # Default-Stop: 0 1 6 # Short-Description: DavMail Exchange gatway # Description: A gateway between Microsoft Exchange and open protocols. ### END INIT INFO # Author: Jesse TeKrony <jesse ~at~ jtekrony ~dot~ com> PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin DESC="Davmail Exchange gateway" NAME=davmail C… text/html 2011-06-06T05:57:00+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:configure_apache2_to_use_comodo_essential_ssl_certificate?rev=1307339820&do=diff Configure apache2 to use comodo essential ssl certificate * Generate key: openssl genrsa -out ssl_subdomain_com.key 2048 * Create CSR: openssl req -new -key ssl_subdomain_com.key -out ssl_subdomain_com.csr * Check CSR: openssl req -noout -text -in ssl_subdomain_com.csr text/html 2011-11-10T07:09:45+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:rkhunter_debian?rev=1320908985&do=diff rkhunter debian Report on hidden processes If the processes are truly hidden, then yes it's probably something you should worry about. But it's possible that you've got a false positive situation. When rkhunter tells you that there are hidden processes, try to cd to the /proc/<pid> directory for the process (where <pid> is one of the process ID numbers output by rkhunter). If you can't cd into the directory, then the process isn't really hidden, it was just in the middle of exiting when the r… text/html 2011-01-12T11:59:28+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:replace_oracle_openoffice_with_libreoffice_linux?rev=1294833568&do=diff Replace Oracle Openoffice with Libreoffice (Linux) Libreoffice is now available and installed easily for Ubuntu 10.10 and 10.04 by adding the libreoffice ppa. The following steps allow the addition of the ppa and the installation of LibreOffice: Optionally OpenOffice can be removed with the command text/html 2012-04-17T09:10:16+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:linux_adapt_keyboard?rev=1334653816&do=diff Linux adapt keyboard Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, I attempted starting a blog. It didn't last, but one of the things I posted was about this very subject. When I deleted the blog, I kept the articles. So here's that one. I apologise for the length. text/html 2022-11-29T07:28:05+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/start?rev=1669706885&do=diff text/html 2012-07-11T04:57:09+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:send_sms_from_the_command_line_using_skype_and_unix:linux?rev=1341982629&do=diff Send sms from the command line using skype and unix/linux Install the Skype4Py module sudo apt-get install python-pip sudo pip install Skype4Py #!/usr/bin/python # Send sms via Skype # v1.0 B.Brunner # Install skype for python: # > sudo apt-get install skype # > sudo apt-get install python-pip # > sudo pip install Skype4Py import Skype4Py import sys if (len(sys.argv)>2): s = Skype4Py.Skype(Transport='x11') if not s.Client.IsRunning: s.Client.Start() s.Attach() … text/html 2009-07-26T14:15:59+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:install_firefox_3.5_on_ubuntu_using_ubuntuzilla?rev=1248617759&do=diff Install firefox 3.5 on ubuntu using ubuntuzilla Ubuntuzilla can integrate the new version of Firefox into your system as well as undo its changes if you want to go back. All your extensions, bookmarks, plugins, and settings should transfer over to the new version. The only thing that didn’t transfer was my open tabs from my previous session. text/html 2010-05-26T08:31:25+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:create_encrypted_tar_files?rev=1274862685&do=diff Create encrypted tar backups and store them on the amazon S3 cloud  Amazon S3 provides unlimited storage at low prices, which makes it an ideal solution for storing backups. But to make use of it, you need a piece of software that can actually interact with Amazon S3: create buckets, list the contents of a bucket, upload and download files, etc. And aws, a simple command-line utility written in Perl, is the perfect tool for the job. text/html 2011-08-23T07:01:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:run_dd_with_progress_information?rev=1314082909&do=diff text/html 2011-07-03T05:44:28+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:configure_conky?rev=1309671868&do=diff Configure Conky Installing the Mail and Weather Forecast package for Conky We need to install additional package in order for Conky to display new mail and weather forecast on your desktop. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:conky-companions/ppa && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install conkyforecast conkyemail text/html 2010-06-15T13:28:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:blank_screen_with_maple_12_on_ubuntu_if_running_compiz?rev=1276608529&do=diff Blank screen with maple 12 on Ubuntu lucid if running compiz Maple 12 will display a blank screen if compiz (Desktop effects) are active. This is because the default java install (openjdk) causes trouble with the combination compiz+maple. Quick fix: Disable compiz Real fix, without losing compiz: text/html 2010-08-25T06:58:47+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:upgrade_debian_etch_to_lenny?rev=1282719527&do=diff Upgrade debian etch to lenny 1. Edit sources.list sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list and change all words etch to lenny, or stable to testing (vim: :s/etch/lenny/g) 2. Update and upgrade sudo aptitude update sudo aptitude install apt dpkg aptitude sudo aptitude full-upgrade text/html 2009-12-02T07:57:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:vim-latexsuite_on_ubuntu_9.10?rev=1259740660&do=diff vim-latexsuite on ubuntu 9.10 Here is how to get vim-latexsuite working on ubuntu * DON'T download the latex-suite file from <http://vim-latex.sourceforge.net/> and unzip into ~/.vim/. It just simply doesn't work because vim-addons cannot find it, even if ~/.vim/ is in the runtimepath of vim. I don't know why. text/html 2010-02-08T18:03:51+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:namebench_dns_benchmark?rev=1265652231&do=diff namebench dns benchmark NameBench is available for Windows and Mac systems, but most importantly it is Linux compatible. Prepare your system Install following package sudo apt-get install python-tk Now you need to download .tgz file from <http://namebench.googlecode.com/files/namebench-1.1.tgz> Now extract the file using the following command text/html 2010-06-23T06:08:00+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:securely_wipe_free_space_using_built-in_cypher_command?rev=1277273280&do=diff Securely wipe free space using built-in cypher command There's plenty of utilities to help you securely delete files so nobody can recover them, but did you know there's a built-in command-line utility that can do just that? Here's how to do it. As long as you're using the NTFS filesystem on a recent version of Windows, you should be able to use the cipher.exe utility from the command line to securely overwrite files—all you need to do is specify the /W switch and the file or folder you want t… text/html 2011-08-21T05:43:33+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:ubuntu_install_handbrake_from_ppa?rev=1313905413&do=diff Ubuntu Install handbrake from ppa sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-snapshots && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk Preferences: ~/.config/ghb ubuntu ubuntupostinstall ~~LINKBACK~~ text/html 2011-02-14T14:56:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:recenty_notify_app_for_ubuntu?rev=1297695378&do=diff Recenty notify app for ubuntu Install the Recent Notifications applet in Ubuntu Recent Notifications applet comes with a PPA for Ubuntu Karmic, Lucid and Maverick. Add the PPA and install Recent Notifications using the following commands: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jconti/recent-notifications sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install recent-notifications text/html 2012-01-26T09:42:00+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:thinkpad_middle_mouse_scrolling?rev=1327570920&do=diff Thinkpad middle mouse scrolling One of the best features of my laptop [Thinkpad t61] is these laptops have trackpoints which helps you to handle the keyboard and mouse without getting your hands of the keyboard, so that you handle your jobs faster. With ubuntu the trackpoints’ scrolling property does not work out of the box, but if you follow the steps under this post, you can have fully working trackpoint functionality. text/html 2010-10-20T07:34:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:vmware_tools_update_afer_ubuntu_kernel_update?rev=1287560088&do=diff vmware tools update after Ubuntu kernel update If the vmware module compile complains about missing linux headers for your kernel version: sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) If needed install the necessary built tools with sudo apt-get install build-essential sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` text/html 2010-09-10T07:10:00+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:configure_backuppc_with_a_non-root_account?rev=1284102600&do=diff Configure backuppc with a non-root account backuppc is an excellent automated backup tool. One flaw it has is that the default configuration requires an enabled ssh root login. This is easy to fix. Think of a backuppc username for all your client systems. In the following, i will use CLIENTUSER and CLIENT On the client systems text/html 2011-07-04T19:13:59+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:install_terminator_with_built-in_quake_mode?rev=1309806839&do=diff Install terminator with built-in quake mode Install Terminator with built-in “Quake mode” from BZR To make it easier to install the latest Terminator from BZR, I've uploaded it to the WebUpd8 Unstable PPA (since this is not a stable version) so you can install it using the commands below (available for Ubuntu 11.04, 10.10 and 10.04): text/html 2011-06-26T18:50:51+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:webcam_indicator_for_ubuntu?rev=1309114251&do=diff Webcam indicator for ubuntu sudo add-apt-repository ppa:phobosk/phobosk-ppa sudo apt-get update sudo aapt-get install cameramonitor Using Camera monitor * Launch cameramonitor on command line: cameramonitor * Or from GNOME menu: Applications -> Sound and video text/html 2014-04-24T07:41:23+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:synergy_protocol_version_woes?rev=1398325283&do=diff synergy protocol version woes Synergy is a great tool which lets you share a mouse and keyboard simply by moving the mouse pointer to the 'other' machine. After updating my laptop to Ubuntu Raring Ringtail (13.04), synergy no longer worked. I got the error message text/html 2009-06-14T07:10:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:excel_tipps?rev=1244963418&do=diff Excel tipps Customizations that really save time. Change the order in which you edit cells We all know that when you hit enter on a cell excel usually takes you to the next cell in that column for editing. But what if you need to go to next cell in that row? Of course you can use tab. But you can also customize the cell edit order when you are typing out that large list of entries so that you need not change your habits for the software. Just go to Menu > Tools > Options > Edit tab and set th… text/html 2011-07-01T14:00:59+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:backup_and_restore_package_selections?rev=1309528859&do=diff Debian backup and restore package selections It's a good idea to safe a list of all installed packages for a reinstall Safe a list of all selected packages sudo dpkg --get-selections > packages.txt To restore all the applications from your list, you must follow a three step process very carefully. text/html 2009-06-14T06:49:20+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:shutdown_windows_from_a_linux_box?rev=1244962160&do=diff Shut Down Your Windows PC Remotely From Linux By The How-To Geek If you've ever wanted to remotely reboot a Windows box from your Linux machine, the Command-Line Fu web site has you covered with the quick and easy command to use. In order to actually use this command, you'll need to make sure that you have the samba-common package installed for Ubuntu, or the corresponding package for your Linux distribution. The simple text/html 2009-09-09T07:38:24+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:unix_command_line_cheat?rev=1252481904&do=diff Unix command line cheat sheet File Commands ls - directory listing ls -a - directory listing with hidden files ls -al - formatted directory listing with hidden files cd dir - change directory to dir cd - change to home cd - - change back to previous directory pwd - show current directory mkdir dir - create a directory dir rm file - delete file rmdir dir - delete empty directory dir rm -r dir - recursively delete directory dir (use with caution) rm -f file - force remove file; no error output i… text/html 2009-05-21T08:48:53+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:crontab_howto?rev=1242895733&do=diff Crontab quick reference cron is a unix utility that allows tasks to be automatically run in the background at regular intervals by the cron daemon often termed as cron jobs. Crontab (CRON TABle) is a file which contains the schedule of cron entries to be run and at specified times. text/html 2024-09-29T10:59:01+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:debian_11_suspend_problems?rev=1727607541&do=diff Debian 11 Suspend problems My debian 11 with an nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER graphics card started to have suspend problem (when hitting the suspend button), automatic suspend continued to work. My current workaround is: Add this line to /etc/default/grub: text/html 2009-05-20T14:30:44+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:debian_setup_on_hexonet_virtual_servers?rev=1242829844&do=diff Debian setup on hexonet virtual servers Hexonet is a very nice ISP for resellers. I use them often, because of their good price, performance and ease of use. Also, they support (among others) debian on their virtual servers. * /etc/apt/sources.lst replace testing by edge text/html 2010-07-08T17:13:45+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:renew_license_key_of_bitdefender_for_linux_command_line_version?rev=1278609225&do=diff Renew license key of bitdefender for linux command line version * Request a new license key for personal use only (you have to buy one if you want to use Bitdefender in a commercial setting). * Locate the config file of bitdefender, for version 7.6 this is in text/html 2017-05-16T06:11:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:teamviewer_linux_without_permanently_running_daemon?rev=1494915070&do=diff Teamviewer linux without permanently running daemon Teamviewer Linux has the annoying property of installing a permanently running daemon. This not only consumes resources but also presents a security risk. You can disable the daemon startup, however then the teamviewer client does not work anymore. The following script handles things automatically: text/html 2011-08-30T16:28:08+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:ubunutu_natty_not_displaying_pdf_thumbnails_on_nfs_drives?rev=1314721688&do=diff Ubuntu natty not displaying PDF thumbnails on nfs drives Since natty, apparmor denies evince (nautilus thumbnailer) access to network drives. This results in long delays and PDF thumbnails not displaying. Edit /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.evince like this (insert the nameservice-line): text/html 2010-07-14T16:10:33+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:must_have_windows_software?rev=1279123833&do=diff Must have windows software * Total Commander. I can’t imagine working on a computer without Total Commander. Absolutely must-have software. Total Commander is what separates boys from men. Total Commander is probably the #1 reason why I don’t use other operating system on my desktop. Tabs, a great text/html 2009-06-28T14:07:04+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:convert_and_crop_humax_icord_hd_files?rev=1246198024&do=diff Convert and crop Humax iCord HD Files The Humax iCord HD is a Sat receiver and recorder with a nice feature set. It records digital video directly in .ts files. With newer software version, the iCord HD supports FTP access to its file system. If you copy a .ts file to your pc, you can play it using VLC. However, my favorite video cutting program, VideoRedo Plus does not support Humax .ts files directly. text/html 2009-06-14T07:52:27+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:install_fonts_on_linux?rev=1244965947&do=diff Install fonts on linux If you have binary encoded Type1 fonts (a .pfb and a .pfm file) here is how to create the afm files for then: Right clicking the .pfb file in KDE let's you install the font, but it doesn't show up in OpenOffice's font selector. KWord on the other hand let's you use it. text/html 2009-10-10T07:42:47+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:how_to_fix_font_rendering_of_firefox_3.5_under_ubuntu_9.04?rev=1255160567&do=diff How to fix font rendering of Firefox 3.5 under Ubuntu 9.04 The problem is that Firefox 3.5 doesn't seem to use font hinting and therefore looks ugly while the default version (3.0) is OK. After some googling I found out that 3.5 doesn't use GNOME font settings and relies on fontconfig. text/html 2011-03-11T06:57:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:set_rights_of_files_in_public_html?rev=1299826668&do=diff Set rights of files in public_html Set rights of user /home/*/public_html directors in a secure and useful way * all files/directories get chown user:www-data, so users own them and the webserver has group access * group www-data is added g+r for files (webserver can read all files) g+rsx for directories (webserver can read and change into all directories) text/html 2009-08-13T19:51:12+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:lightning_fast_command_line_use_in_linux?rev=1250193072&do=diff Lightning fast command line use in Linux You can use keyboard shortcuts and other command line tricks to make entering commands easier and faster. You might already know about the ‘tab’ key which completes partial commands and even file and directory names. text/html 2017-04-05T07:00:08+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:how_to_stop_systemd_spamming_syslog_with_messages?rev=1491375608&do=diff how to stop systemd spamming syslog with messages systemd has a bad habit of spanning the system log with messages every time a user logs in. This is especially annoying on busy systems and/or if using nagios for monitoring it. To get rid of the logspam: text/html 2010-09-17T06:47:22+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:command_line_tipps?rev=1284706042&do=diff Command line tipps Resizing images Unless you are doing some sort of cropping there is no reason to load up Photoshop or the Gimp. A simple command will usually suffice for almost all your image resizing needs. convert -resize 300 image.jpg image-small.jpg text/html 2009-07-29T16:12:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:tasks_that_are_best_done_on_the_command_line?rev=1248883960&do=diff Tasks that are best done on the command line Here are a few tasks that you might want to consider using the command line for. Resizing images Unless you are doing some sort of cropping there is no reason to load up Photoshop or the Gimp. A simple command will usually suffice for almost all your image resizing needs. text/html 2017-10-27T18:25:36+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:backuppc_script_archive_all_hosts?rev=1509128736&do=diff Backuppc: script archive all hosts BackupPC is a very powerful utility for central backup of servers and workstations. Since all backupc will reside on the backup servers disk, it's important to create archives and store them offline and at a remote site. text/html 2009-12-13T09:07:45+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:rip_dvds_into_multi_language_multi_subtitle_video_file?rev=1260695265&do=diff Rip DVDs into multi language multi subtitle video file Converting DVDs into the best quality files currently possible: MKV as the container, x264 codec for the video, dual audio, and with subtitles. This is short Howto so that I won’t forget how :-) text/html 2022-02-28T17:52:51+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:trust_citrix_server_sertificate?rev=1646070771&do=diff Trust citrix server certificate sudo ln -s /usr/share/ca-certificates/mozilla/* /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts Alternativ habe ich auch schon diese Anleitung von Citrix selbst benutzt, um einzelne Zertifikate manuell zu installieren: Download CA certificate in PEM format. Save the certificate with .crt file extension. Switch to root user and copy the .crt CA certificate file to /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts/ folder. Make sure the CA certificate file is owned by Root user… text/html 2010-02-06T04:04:15+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:using_rdesktop_to_run_windows_apps_on_linux_desktop?rev=1265429055&do=diff Using RDP+rdesktop to run remote windows apps on linux desktop Note: in the following machine-name is the network name of your windows box (either real or virtual). * Get rdesktop 1.5.0 or later from <http://www.rdesktop.org/>. I used 1.6 which is in the Ubuntu Karmic repository, so i just did text/html 2010-12-26T06:26:32+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:change_windows_desktop_background_for_day_and_night_using_batchfile?rev=1293344792&do=diff Change windows desktop background for day and night, using batchfile Having a bright, blue wallpaper for day use and a darker, reddish wallpaper for evening/night is useful stay in synch with the real time of day. So, i wanted my windows xp machine automatically switch to the day wallpaper from 7-20 and to night from 20-7 hours. The following batch script does this, without any add-on software. To use, copy-paste the file and store it to your scripts directory (e:\etc in my case). text/html 2012-01-19T06:30:33+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:ubuntu_11.04_vnc_access_screen_repaint_problem?rev=1326954633&do=diff Ubuntu 11.04 vnc access, screen repaint problem This has to do with compiz bug in 11.04. You can 'fix' it by setting xdamage off (effectively sending the whole screen on every update :/ ) gconf-editor Then navigate to: desktop / gnome / remote_access. Enable the text/html 2011-01-04T14:53:55+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:vim_replace_in_multiple_files?rev=1294152835&do=diff vim replace in multiple files vim *.cpp Start Vim, defining the argument list to contain all the C++ files. You are now in the first file. qq Start recording into the q register :%s/\<GetResp\>/GetAnswer/ge Do the replacements in the first file. :wnext Write this file and move to the next one. q Stop recording. @q Execute the q register. This will replay the substitution and ":wnext". You can verify that this doesn't produce an error message. 999@q Exe… text/html 2016-07-12T13:53:08+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:visio_2007_installer_starts_every_time?rev=1468331588&do=diff Visio 2007 installer starts every time Uninstalled KB2767916 update and the problem is now [SOLVED]. The Windows Configuration Installer no longer tries to run and VISIO opens lightning quick, no matter if executing a .vsd .vst or the VISIO.EXE, including the desktop shortcut. see the article below for a detailed description of this update. DO NOT INSTALL. text/html 2012-11-03T18:56:35+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:windows_installation_guide_with_must-have_programs?rev=1351968995&do=diff Windows installation guide with must-have programs Programs that belong on every windows PC i install. A good starting point for easily finding and installing great applications is <http://ninite.com/> Tools * Archiving: Winrar (7ZIP) * Remote control: RealVNC (TightVNC) text/html 2010-09-19T04:54:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:writing_custom_man_pages?rev=1284872077&do=diff Writing custom man pages Manuals Marc Vertes (mvertes@free.fr) has written an excellent GNU AWK script called txt2man, which can run on almost any UN*X-like system, and can convert a flat ASCII text file to the correct man page format. txt2man (currently version 1.5.5-1) is distributed by the Fedora Project and is available from the EPEL Repository. The authors home page is text/html 2020-08-04T13:43:25+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/wiki:dokuwiki?rev=1596548605&do=diff DokuWiki wiki:dokuwiki DokuWiki is a simple to use and highly versatile Open Source wiki software that doesn't require a database. It is loved by users for its clean and readable syntax. The ease of maintenance, backup and integration makes it an administrator's favorite. Built in text/html 2020-08-04T13:43:25+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/wiki:welcome?rev=1596548605&do=diff Welcome to your new DokuWiki Congratulations, your wiki is now up and running. Here are a few more tips to get you started. Enjoy your work with DokuWiki, -- the developers Create your first pages Your wiki needs to have a start page. As long as it doesn't exist, this link will be red: text/html 2012-01-16T10:30:41+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:find_ubuntu:debian_package_containing_a_given_file?rev=1326709841&do=diff Find ubuntu/debian package Simple way to look up what package contains a given file? apt-file search filename or apt-file search /path/to/file To install apt-file, use: apt-get install apt-file you will need to update its database before you can use it: text/html 2010-07-06T12:34:59+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:thunderbird_tags_with_dovecot_imap?rev=1278419699&do=diff Thunderbird tags with dovecot imap If Thunderbird tags (important, todo etc) are lost, when using thunderbird + imap + dovecot server: In dovecot.conf, uncomment and change to msgbox_lazy_write=no : #mbox_lazy_writes=yes to mbox_lazy_writes=no Ref: text/html 2010-04-14T07:51:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:copy_damaged_harddisk_to_a_file_for_recovery?rev=1271231499&do=diff Copy damaged harddisk to a file for recovery To duplicate an entire disk at disk0 (usually the internal) to another disk (disk1) using 64k block sizes and replacing bad block data with zeros: sudo dd bs=131072 if=/dev/rdisk0 of=/diskcopy conv=noerror,sync text/html 2011-08-24T06:03:27+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:things_to_set_in_ubuntu_after_installing?rev=1314165807&do=diff Things to set in ubuntu after installing Here are various tweaks i like to do on my ubuntu installations: * Turn off auto update popup, leaving the update notification icon intact: open gconf-editor, browse down to Apps -> Update Notifier, and uncheck the auto_launch option text/html 2011-08-31T12:36:17+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:convert_nero_nrg_to_iso_file?rev=1314794177&do=diff Convert nero nrg to iso file In case you need to convert Nero image file .nrg into regular ISO9660 .iso utility nrg2iso might be helpful then. It’s included into apt repositories of Debian and Ubuntu, so to install it execute: sudo apt-get install nrg2iso text/html 2011-10-17T08:25:25+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:download_rtmp_files_to_mp3_forma?rev=1318839925&do=diff Download rtmp streams to mp3 files Install rtmpdump, allows you to dump RTMP streams onto your hard drive. sudo apt-get install rtmpdump Start the program several times using “--resume” option, if there are any errors rtmpdump -r "rtmp://host.com/dir/file.flv" -o filename.flv --resume text/html 2010-12-04T06:07:35+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:fix_gnome_desktop_icons_disappeared_no_right_click?rev=1291442855&do=diff Fix Gnome desktop icons disappeared, no right click Re: Desktop Problems (no right-click menu) What is happening is that your configuration basically told nautilus not to draw the desktop. When Nautilus is set to do so, it draws the icons and takes care of right clicks. That last bit is damn stupid, but anyway text/html 2014-08-05T07:05:04+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:how_to_create_a_zotero_group_for_cooperation?rev=1407222304&do=diff text/html 2011-02-16T19:15:15+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:how_to_trap_interrupts_in_the_bash_shell?rev=1297883715&do=diff How to trap interrupts in the bash shell #!/bin/bash myCleanup() { rm -f /myapp/tmp/mylog return $? } myExit() { echo -en "\n*** Exiting ***\n" myCleanup exit $? } trap myExit SIGINT # main loop while true do echo -n "Enter your name: " read x echo "Hello $x" done text/html 2022-11-29T07:24:28+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:infiniality_installation_on_linux?rev=1669706668&do=diff Infiniality installation on linux OUTDATED; no longer needed * Clone the git repo git clone https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Debian-Packages.git cd Debian-Packages/ * Install the build dependencies. Run the following command and install the packages it lists using apt-get/synaptic/etc. text/html 2010-06-08T05:45:03+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:install_bitdefender_on_linux?rev=1275975903&do=diff Install bitdefender on linux 1. Add the BitDefender repository key to the list of apt trusted keys: wget http://download.bitdefender.com/repos/deb/bd.key.asc sudo apt-key add bd.key.asc 2. Add the following line to the /etc/apt/sources.list file: deb http://download.bitdefender.com/repos/deb/ bitdefender non-free text/html 2009-10-12T08:18:01+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:copy_a_filesystem_from_one_computer_to_another_using_tar_and_netcat?rev=1255335481&do=diff Copy a filesystem from one computer to another using tar and netcat If you need to transfer an entire filesystem from one machine to another, for example, when you get a new computer, do the following steps. * Boot both PCs with any Linux live CD (for example, Knoppix), and make sure they can access each other via the network. text/html 2014-04-24T08:38:07+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:converting_videos_for_embedding_in_powerpoint?rev=1398328687&do=diff Converting videos for embedding in Powerpoint Powerpoint is very finicky when it comes to videos, and has a really restricted support for videos. While I encode most of my videos in mkv containers, using the H.264 Video codec and multiple tracks (AAC and AC3 audio), these files will not play withing powerpoint. It's best to avoid embedding videos in powerpoint presentations if you can, because the files will get huge, and you never know if the presentation that you tested at home will work on t… text/html 2016-04-22T07:05:57+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:convert_otf_to_ttf?rev=1461308757&do=diff Convert OTF to TTF Create a TrueType font out of a OpenType one (e.g. because OpenOffice.org and VISIO doesn’t support .otf) by using FontForge: #!/usr/local/bin/fontforge # Quick and dirty hack: converts a font to truetype (.ttf) Print("Opening "+$1); Open($1); Print("Saving "+$1:r+".ttf"); Generate($1:r+".ttf"); Quit(0); text/html 2017-07-17T12:18:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:least_squares_regression_of_parabola?rev=1500293919&do=diff Least squares regression of parabola For a project I needed a really fast least squares regression of a second order polynomial ($f(x)=ax^2+bx+c$). Using GSL Gnu Scientific library contains solutions for a lot of numerical problems. Here is a solution using text/html 2014-04-24T08:40:26+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:the_ultimate_bash_prompt?rev=1398328826&do=diff The 'ultimate' bash prompt Of course, there is not one ultimate bash prompt that fits everyone, but I'm very happy with the following prompt. Features: * user/hostname color coded for differnt hosts. * If running in a superuser shell, the # sign is red text/html 2021-02-23T18:49:53+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:convert_microsoft_.msg_files_to_eml_for_opening_in_thunderbird?rev=1614106193&do=diff Convert Microsoft .msg files to eml for opening in thunderbird Some people send around saved messages in Microsoft .MSG format :/ To decode this sudo apt-get install libemail-outlook-message-perl libemail-sender-perlmsgconvert *.msg text/html 2011-05-02T10:31:09+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:convert_img_to_iso_image_file_under_linux?rev=1304332269&do=diff Convert img to iso image file under linux $ sudo aptitude install ccd2iso $ ccd2iso $img_file $iso_file linux img iso ~~LINKBACK~~ text/html 2016-07-30T08:37:17+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:linux_prevent_teamviewer_daemon_from_starting_up?rev=1469867837&do=diff Linux prevent teamviewer daemon from starting up If you install teamviewer on linux, the teamviewerd is installed for startup, which is taking up resources and presents a potential security risk. To prevent teamviewerd from starting up, open a terminal and issue: text/html 2021-01-14T13:51:07+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:parsing_long_and_short_command_line_options_in_bash?rev=1610632267&do=diff Parsing long and short command line options in bash parse_user_options() { local -r args=("${@}") local opts # The following code works perfectly for opts=$(getopt --options a:,f,h --long abc:,help,flag -- "${args[@]}" 2> /dev/null) || { usage die "error: parsing options" "${error_parsing_options}" } eval set -- "${opts}" while true; do case "${1}" in --abc) abc_option_flag=1 readonly abc_arg="${2}" shift shi… text/html 2011-04-17T14:46:13+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:print_files_from_any_device_using_dropbox?rev=1303051573&do=diff Print files from any device using Dropbox If you have a printer attached to a Linux machine, you can easily send print jobs to that printer from another remote computer using Dropbox (see similar solutions for Windows and Mac). #!/bin/bash user=brb PrintQueue="/home/$user/Dropbox/PrintQueue"; IFS=$'\n' for PrintFile in $(/bin/ls -1 ${PrintQueue}) do lpr -r ${PrintQueue}/${PrintFile}; done -- dropprint.sh --- text/html 2011-08-06T09:45:20+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:reinstall_grub_after_installing_windows_xp_or_windows_7?rev=1312623920&do=diff Reinstall grub after installing windows xp or windows 7 Start an ubuntu live system Locate your linux partition fdisk -l Lets assume that your linux installation is in /dev/sda1 and that you want to install grub into the master boot sector of /dev/sda text/html 2011-10-01T15:45:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:remote_debian_updates_using_apt-dater?rev=1317483910&do=diff Remote debian updates using apt-dater Apt-dater is a relatively new utility that allows easy package management of multiple Debian servers from a central control server. I wrote up the necessary steps below, as the existing instructions (<http://www.ibh.de/apt-dater/>) are slightly unclear on a couple of things. text/html 2010-10-20T09:49:45+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:reset_zarafa_outlook_users?rev=1287568185&do=diff Reset zarafa outlook users Without a valid registration number, the zarafa outlook connectivity is limited to 3 users. This is enough for home use, but it can be a problem that you can't connect using outlook because zarafa thinks that more users are active. To reset this do this as root: text/html 2017-04-03T15:09:44+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:copying_large_files_to_usb_device_blocks_system?rev=1491232184&do=diff Copying large files to USB Device blocks system When copying large amounts of data, e.g. digital images to an usb drive, I noticed laggy system behaviour, to the point that the mouse would not move. The problem seems to be cache queue bloat, which I could reduce by adding these settings to my local sysctl config file (/etc/sysctl.d/my-sysctl.conf>: text/html 2010-07-12T11:53:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://brb.epr.ch/blog/blog:restore_windows_mbr?rev=1278935598&do=diff Restore windows MBR Removing a linux installation and reinstalling windows often leads to problems, because the mbr (Master Boot Record) is not restored. Here are two methods to fix this: * Use Windows Install CD, start Emergency recovery console