====================================================================== IDENTIFYING UBUNTU VERSION - both numeric and codename: cat /etc/lsb-release This file does not exist in Debian 6.0 ====================================================================== IDENTIFYING DEBIAN/UBUNTU VERSION: - cat /etc/issue - for Ubuntu ... System > About Ubuntu System > System Monitor - for Debian ... Applications > System Tools > System Monitor ====================================================================== LS - Linux alias ls='ls --group-directories-first --time-style=long-iso' # modification time is apparently the default time displayed # creation time does not seem to be an option # long-iso seems to be the default time-style in US11.04, # but not in Mint13 -n, --numeric-uid-gid like -l, but list numeric user and group IDs -L, --dereference when showing file information for a symbolic link, show information for the file the link references rather than for the link itself ====================================================================== DEFAULT USERGROUP: To cause the main group of newly created users to be 'users' (GID 100) in file /etc/adduser.conf set USERGROUPS=no (a group with the same name as the user's login name is not then created) Also, in Debian 6, search for USERGROUPS_ENAB in /etc/login.defs ====================================================================== DEFAULT PERMISSIONS: To cause the default permissions of user-created files to be rw-rw-r-- in file /etc/profile set umask 002 if it appears, and is not commented out (the commonly-found setting of 022 causes permissions to be rw-r--r-- In Debian 6, search for UMASK in /etc/login.defs The following line in login.defs USERGROUPS_ENAB yes needs to be changed to USERGROUPS_ENAB no Also, in /etc/adduser.conf: # If DIR_MODE is set, directories will be created with the specified # mode. Otherwise the default mode 0755 will be used. Change DIR_MODE=0755 to DIR_MODE=0775 And change USERGROUPS=yes to USERGROUPS=no But see the following about pam_umask Despite all this, in Mint, it seems to be necessary for local logins to set umask in ~/.profile (not necessary for SSH logins). ====================================================================== LIBPAM-UMASK: Adding the following line to /etc/pam.d/login would set the user-specific umask at login: session optional pam_umask.so umask=002 However, adding this line to /etc/pam.d/common-session also covers ssh logins # apparently required (at least) for ssh logins - added by Adam session optional pam_umask.so umask=002 # update 2012-09-24 - fresh install of Xubuntu 12.04.1 # the following line exists in common-session: session optional pam_umask.so # " umask=002" needs to be appended If pam_umask is active, it would seem that /etc/profile is ignored, but /etc/login.defs is checked (though /etc/pam.d/login has priority) - actually, priority is not clear Documentation for pam_umask refers to "UMASK=" entry in /etc/default/login, but this file does not exist in Ubuntu or Debian ====================================================================== LOCALE: To check current settings, issue 'locale' To check available locales, issue 'locale -a' To check individual settings, issue e.g. 'locale -ck LC_PAPER' To alter locale setting, edit the file: - /etc/default/locale (Mint) - /etc/locale.conf (Arch) LC_COLLATE="C" # more rational collation of files/directories LC_TIME="en_DK.UTF-8" # short date iso-like Locales defined in /usr/share/i18n/locales (Mint13) Mint/Ubuntu: if a large file 'locale-archive' exists in /usr/lib/locale, locales have been generated in archive form. If locales have been generated only in archive form, the individual files can be generated by issuing, as root, the following command: 'locale-gen --purge --no-archive' ====================================================================== GRUB1: To alter default settings, edit the file /boot/grub/menu.lst then issue the command 'grub-install (device)' 'update-grub' will create or refresh menu.lst ====================================================================== GRUB2: To alter default settings, edit the file /etc/default/grub then issue the command 'update-grub' ====================================================================== UPDATE-NOTIFIER: gconftool -s --type bool /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch false ====================================================================== MICROSOFT TRUETYPE CORE FONTS Installer fails due to WGET failing to download one or more files from sourceforge - if any file fails, no fonts are extracted into the /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts directory Solution 1: As root, use rsync to copy font files from another computer - it may be necessary to update the font cache Solution 2: As root: dpkg-reconfigure ttf-mscorefonts-installer ====================================================================== Webserver: "Could not reliably determine the server's FQDN" Create file /etc/apache2/httpd.conf (if necessary) and add: ServerName localhost On Mint17, httpd.conf was not recognised. It was necessary to rename it to fqdn.conf and move it to conf-available, then issue the command: a2enconf fqdn.conf resulting in a prompt to issue the command: service apache2 reload This worked. ====================================================================== FIREFOX - save multiple tabs in Firefox 4+ In about:config browser.showQuitWarning should be changed to "true" - this seems to be the critical setting The following should also be checked as, or changed to, "true": browser.warnonQuit browser.warnonRestart On Mac OS: browser.showQuitWarning setting does not exist use: History Recently Closed Windows Restore All Windows this should also work on other platforms on which browser.showQuitWarning is set to "false" ====================================================================== bootlogd - logging shutdown as well as boot messages (LXF152) In /etc/default/bootlogd: Set BOOTLOGD_ENABLE=Yes To add bootlogd to the list of services started on boot: "Ubuntu 11.04 doesn't have a startup manager installed by default, so install bum (Boot-Up Manager)" and activate bootlogd. According to LXF, the log is kept in /var/log/boot ====================================================================== Desktop Background Colours #E6A027 emily - Ubuntu Studio #B06840 emily - Mint 13 -- also paula Ubuntu 10.04 #152233 Xubuntu #DA9833 shuttle - Ubuntu 10.04 #B76537 alina - Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Background Image emily - Mint 13 - JKHP_ubuntu800.jpg paula - Ubuntu - JKHP_ubuntu640.jpg alina - Ubuntu - JKHP_ubuntu640.jpg ====================================================================== NFS showmount -e # show NFS exports from exportfs # display current exports exportfs -v # display current exports with applied options exportfs -a # export or unexport defined file systems exportfs -r # re-export defined file systems exportfs -ar # should have the effect of re-initialising exports # all the above options act on exports defined in # /etc/exports and /etc/exports.d/ # nfs v4: the export with option fsid=0 becomes the root of the # exported filesystems; sub-directories may be created under this # root, which must be individually exported (each can have its own # options) - filesytems elsewhere on the system may be bound to these # export points; clients only need to mount the root export. ======================================================================