Rocky 8.x New laptop OS configuration
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OS installation
- Prepare bootable Rocky Linux 8 USB using:
- dd if=Rocky-8.7-x86_64-dvd1.iso of=/dev/sdd
- sync
-
- Assumes umount /dev/sdd* is done and that /dev/sdd does not has any critical data before itself.
- This can also be done using Rufus in Windows by using dd clone method while creating the USB
- Ideally boot using UEFI (F12) key so that Windows partition and boot manager are left untouched
- During installation select
- In Installation destination
- Select both 500 GB disks and custom partioning
- For partitioning dont format /boot/efi (100MB) and mount it on /boot/efi.
- Reformat (or Create new ) root (/) and swap and mount them as / (50GB) and swap (16 GB) respectively
- If there is existing /mnt/data1 then mount it on same path without reformat. Or create a lvm /mnt/data1 with all other remaining available space.
- Dont mount /mnt/cdrive yet. We may need to install ntfs-3g before we mount that. It is possible only when C-drive is not encrypted using bitlocker.
- In Software Selection go with "Server with GUI". Select as many as make sense to utilize most of 11GB DVD installer image
- Select Asia/Kolkata timezone and optional am/pm format, even if time is reported wrong. After installation correct time is automatically shown.
- Disable kdump and security profile
- On "Network & Host Name" set hostname as barjatiyarklp
- Set root and user accounts. Allow root ssh login with password. Make the user administrator.
- Begin installation
- In Installation destination
- Boot and login and skip tour
- Ensure that "Location services" are turned off
- Allow user to run sudo with password:
- visudo
- After installation prepare prequisites for nvidia official driver. However, these are not required as nouveau drivers seem to be working properly.
- dnf -y install epel-release
- dnf -y install kernel kernel-devel kernel-headers
- dnf -y install tar bzip2 make automake gcc gcc-c++ pciutils elfutils-libelf-devel libglvnd-opengl libglvnd-glx libglvnd-devel acpid pkgconfig dkms
- Reboot the machine and see if graphics display is coming properly
- Setup broadcom wireless using additional repositories:
- dnf -y install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/el/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-8.noarch.rpm
- dnf -y install broadcom-wl
- In "Screen Lock" Disable automatic screen lock and in "Power" set Blank Screen Delay to never.
- In Date time settings enable "Automatic Date and Time" and "Automatic Time Zone"
- Log out and login as "X11 Standard display" instead of Wayland to make screen sharing work more smoothly.
- Not that "X11 Classic display" is more classic (older), standard is better
Initial configuration
In terminal
- sudo su -
- visudo (Enable sudo access without password for wheel group)
- Disable SELinux (setenforce 0, /etc/sysconfig/selinux SELINUX=disabled)
- Edit /etc/hosts and add appropriate entries:
- 192.168.29.2 rekallcm1
- Other relevant /etc/hosts entries from other machines
- Configure history retention Storing date / time along with commands in history
- Configure alias for checking battery status CentOS 7.x check laptop battery information
- (Optionally) Edit /etc/yum.conf and configure keepcache=1
- Full update system using 'dnf -y update --skip-broken --nobest'
- dnf -y install epel-release
- dnf -y install byobu
- Optionally Start a byobu session for rest of the tasks
- CentOS 8.x gnome prevent grouping of similar windows with alt-tab
- Optionally go to settings -> Online accounts and add google account with 5TB storage
/mnt/data1 files
If it is a new laptop with empty /mnt/data1 then copy folloring from old machine to new:
- /mnt/data1/large_files/operating_systems
- /mnt/data1/plain_folders
- /mnt/data1/setup
- /mnt/data1/windows_setup
- /mnt/data1/workspace/ excluding owncloud folder
If existing laptop is formatted while keeping /mnt/data1 intact then perhaps we only need to empty the owncloud folder under /mnt/data1/workspace
Install and configure required packages
dnf based packages
dnf -y remove bind-chroot dnf -y install htop #Colorful command-line top dnf -y install gimp #Advanced image editor useful for editing pdf as images dnf -y install fdupes #Duplicate file detection dnf -y install p7zip #Support for 7zip dnf -y install expect #For shell automation. Includes mkpasswd utility dnf -y install bind bind-utils #For DNS related tasks dnf -y install git #Version control dnf -y install wireshark #Packet capturing dnf -y install libreoffice-writer libreoffice-calc libreoffice-impress #Libreoffice dnf -y install telnet nc #For TCP connection checking dnf -y install freerdp #For xfreerdp to Windows machines dnf -y install texlive #For latex dnf -y install brasero #For burning CD/DVD dnf -y install livecd-tools #For creating live USB dnf -y install minicom #For working with serial ports dnf -y install iw #For wireless iw command dnf -y install libguestfs-tools #For virt-sysprep dnf -y install ImageMagick #For image editing dnf -y install dia #For diagrams dnf -y install xsane #For scanning dnf -y install texlive-wrapfig texlive-capt-of texlive-ulem texlive-translator #For org-latex exports dnf -y install texlive-translator #For compiling beamer presentations using latex dnf -y install gparted #For partition management dnf -y install s-nail #Replacement for mailx dnf -y install python3-distro hplip #For HP printers, without python3-distro hp-setup, hp-plugin dont work properly dnf -y install erlang #Programming dnf -y install aria2 #For parallel download dnf -y install iotop #For iops monitoring dnf -y install lm_sensors #To get motherboard sensors reading dnf -y install bridge-utils #For brctl command dnf -y install kile okular okular-libs texlive-dvipng #Latex editor dnf -y install kolourpaint #Basic image editor dnf -y install kdiff3 #For versioning and comparing files
Install a few games:
dnf -y install nethack xrick zork dnf -y install blinken bomber bovo kanagram kapman katomic kblackbox kblocks kbounce kdiamond kfourinline kgoldrunner khangman kigo killbots kiriki kjumpingcube klines kmahjongg kmines knetwalk kolf kollision konquest kreversi kshisen ksirk ksnakeduel kspaceduel ktuberling kubrick lskat picmi trader
Install brave browser
sudo rpm --import https://brave-browser-rpm-release.s3.brave.com/brave-core.asc sudo dnf -y install dnf-utils sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://brave-browser-rpm-release.s3.brave.com/x86_64/ sudo dnf install brave-browser -y
Install Owncloud Desktop client
- Install as per CentOS 8.x Owncloud linux desktop client
- Configure owncloud based sync to appropriate folder. We can keep local data, if there is high confidence that sync will happen properly.
Install and configure emacs
- dnf -y install emacs
- Ensure /home/saurabh/.emacs and /home/saurabh/.emacs.d are symlink to appropriate folders of application-data
- Validate things are working by opening to-do.org file
- Configure nautilus to open .org file via emacs by default
Configure nautlius
- Open nautilus
- Create bookmarks for (Open folder and press Ctrl+D)
- /mnt/data1/workspace/gbb/owncloud/saurabh
- /mnt/data1
- /mnt/data1/plain_folders/documents/Desktop/rekall
- Configure nautilus to open .org file via emacs by default, if not done already
- vim ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs #As saurabh user
- Comment all except Desktop and Downloads
- vim /etc/xdg/user-dirs.defaults #As root user
- Comment all except Desktop and Downloads
- Logoff and login again
- Open nautilus and remove bookmarks for Documents, Music, Videos and Pictures
Refer:
Install vlc
- dnf -y install vlc
Refer:
Install skype
- Download skype rpm from https://www.skype.com/en/get-skype/download-skype-for-desktop/
- Install the rpm using:
- dnf -y localinstall <rpm-name>
Configure firefox
- Ensure that /home/saurabh/.mozilla is symlink to application-data folder
- Starting firefox and see that various profiles are appearing properly.
- Validate history and stored passwords are working as expected
Install and configure thunderbird
- dnf -y install thunderbird
- Create symbolic link
- ln -s /mnt/data1/workspace/application-data/thunderbird/ .thunderbird
- chown -h saurabh:saurabh .thunderbird
- Run thunderbird and validate email accounts are accessible
- Set date-format display using OpenSuse Leap 15 Change date-format displayed in Thunderbird
- Optionally set correct calendar response email ID using CentOS 8.x Thunderbird calendar invitation response email address
Configure SSH
- Symbolic link ssh from /mnt/data1
- cd /home/saurabh
- ln -s /mnt/data1/workspace/application-data/ssh .ssh
- chown -h saurabh:saurabh .ssh
- ssh root@rekallcm1
- Enter passphrase (4cs..) and enable automatic unlock during login
Install Google chrome
- Refer CentOS 7.x Installing Google chrome
- Start chrome
- Do not make chrome default browser and Disable submitting of usage information
- Test by opening www.google.com
- Follow CentOS 8.x chrome enable screen-sharing with wayland
Postfix and logwatch
- Configure postfix gmail relay using CentOS 8.x postfix send email through relay or smarthost with smtp authentication
- Edit /etc/aliases and add barjatiya.saurabh [at] gmail.com as alias for root.
- newaliases
- Install and configure logwatch
- systemctl restart postfix
- systemctl enable postfix
Install ntfs-3g and mount drives
- yum -y install ntfs-3g
- blkid | grep -i ntfs
- mkdir -p /mntcdrive
- Add /etc/fstab entries similar to
- UUID="E0722C3A722C17B4" /mnt/cdrive ntfs defaults 0 0
- mount -a
- df -h
Optionally Add Windows boot option
- CentOS 7.x Add Windows 7 boot option to grub2
- Reboot into Windows and check it is working
- We can also boot into Windows using UEFI boot option from BIOS
Install Teamviewer
- Get latest teamviewer setup from https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/linux/
- Install using 'dnf -y localinstall ./<file-name>'
Install and configure Anydesk
- Refer CentOS 8.x Install anydesk
- Restore backup of anydesk configuration:
- cd ~/.anydesk
- mv user.conf user-old.conf
- ln -s /mnt/data1/workspace/application-data/anydesk/anydesk-saurabh-user.conf user.conf
Install VMWare Remote Console (VMRC)
- Download latest VMWare Remote console from VMWare website
- chmod +x *.bundle
- ./<name>.bundle #as root user
Re-add various older VMs
- dnf -y install libvirt virt-manager
- Add VMs with "Import existing disk image" option
Install nomachine
Note that Noamchine works only in wayland. It is not working with X11 display.
Configure git
- Configure various git parameters:
git config --global user.name "Saurabh Barjatiya" git config --global user.email "saurabh [at] sbarjatiya.com" #Correct email address git config --global color.ui true git config --global color.status auto git config --global color.branch auto git config --global core.editor vim
- Configure to use simple push by default
- git config --global push.default simple
- Refer https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21839651/git-what-is-the-difference-between-push-default-matching-and-simple
Sync files from rekallcm1
cp /mnt/data1/plain_folders/documents/room-documents/documents/programs/shell_scripts/sync_files_from_rekallcm1.sh /root cd ssh-copy-id root@rekallcm1 ./sync_files_from_rekallcm1.sh
Install openvpn
Install and configure openvpn for older Sophos firewall using
dnf -y install openvpn cp /mnt/data1/plain_folders/documents/room-documents/documents/programs/shell_scripts/gbb{-,_}* /root/ #In another terminal test vpn openvpn --config <config-file>
Install and configure fail2ban
Configure lxc
Steps are not working, need to fix. Installation works but container creation gave error.
Setting up the GPG keyring ERROR: Unable to fetch GPG key from keyserver lxc-create: lxc1: lxccontainer.c: create_run_template: 1625 Failed to create container from template lxc-create: lxc1: tools/lxc_create.c: main: 331 Failed to create container lxc1
Install zoom
- Download latest installer for CentOS 7.0+ of Zoom from https://zoom.us/support/download
- Install using =dnf localinstall=
Install microsoft team
- Download latest teams app from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app
- Install using =dnf localinstall=
- Disable autostart in ~/.config/autostart/teams.desktop by doing
- X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
- sudo chattr +ia ~/.config/autostart/teams.desktop
Pending
Package based installations
- Unable to find below on Rocky 8
dnf -y install pandoc #For documentation generation dnf -y install encfs #For fuse encrypted filesystem yum -y install yaws #Erlang web server yum -y install unetbootin liveusb-creator livecd-tools #For creating live bootable USB from iso files
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