UbuntuHandbook

Automatically Create, Delete, Write to Files on Startup in Ubuntu

Last updated: October 6, 2024 — Leave a comment

This tutorial shows how to automatically create, delete files/folders, and/or write parameters into config files at startup in Ubuntu and other Linux using systemd.

This can be useful if some configuration do not persistent and reset to default on every boot, or you want to clean up something either on every boot or after every time period.

Advanced users can manually create a script, and run it via either crontab schedule task or custom systemd service. But, here I’m going to show you how to do the trick using tmpfile.d, a built-in configuration for creation, deletion and cleaning of volatile and temporary files.

In Howtos ubuntu 24.04

Install HandBrake Video Transcoder 1.9.0 in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: December 4, 2024 — 1 Comment

This is a step by step guide shows how to install the most recent Handbrake video transcoder 1.9.0 in Ubuntu 24.10, Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 22.04. There’s also an option for those who are stick to the old Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and Ubuntu 16.04.

Handbrake is a popular free open-source tool for converting video from nearly any format, including DVD video (disc or ISO image), Matroska MKV, AVI, MP4, TS, M2TS. It has presets to easily output to Android, Apple, Chromecast compatible, and various other devices. And, it supports hardware acceleration to speed up transcoding using Intel, NVIDIA, or AMD GPUs.

The most recent version so far is HandBrake 1.9.0, that features Intel QSV VVC hardware video decoding, lossless VP9 encoding, and some Linux fixes. See the release note page for details.

In Howtos handbrake

Set up Google Drive for Local Folder Sync in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: May 26, 2024 — 2 Comments

This simple tutorial shows how to set up Google Drive, so you can access and sync files between the cloud and local folder in Ubuntu 24.04.

Ubuntu with default GNOME desktop has built-in option to map Google Drive onto local folder. For other desktop environments, such as MATE, XFCE, and Unity, there’s also a graphical app can do the job easily!

In Howtos cloud file sync, file sharing

Enable Login & Log Out Sound in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: May 22, 2024 — Leave a comment

This is a step by step guide shows you how to enable the event sounds (system sound or custom sound) for login and log out actions in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

When booting Ubuntu 24.04 from a live USB, it plays a sound after logged into the desktop. The sound however does no longer play after installed the system on your disk. So, here I’m going to show you how to re-enable this feature.

NOTE: This tutorial is tested and works in my case in Ubuntu 24.04. It MAY also work in old Ubuntu releases and even other Linux, but for GNOME Desktop only.

In Howtos Audio, login sound

Install LibreOffice Office Suite in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: May 16, 2024 — Leave a comment

This is a beginner’s guide shows how to install (or Remove) the popular LibreOffice Office Suite in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

LibreOffice is a free open-source office suite, that works in Linux, Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, and ChromeOS. It includes a word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation, vector graphics editor, math app, and database management program. And, it uses Open Document Format (ODF) as default file format, though most other major office file formats are also supported, including Microsoft Office DOCX, XML, XLSX, PPTX, and more.

The office suite is so popular that most Linux use it as default, including Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian.

However, Ubuntu 24.04 does NOT have it out-of-the-box if you installed the system with “Default selection” mode. Meaning you need to manually install the office suite afterward, for handling your spreadsheet, presentation, etc files.

In Howtos LibreOffice

Enable Automatic Login in Ubuntu 24.04 & Flavors

Last updated: May 14, 2024 — 1 Comment

This simple tutorial shows how to automatically login a user account in Ubuntu 24.04 and its flavors, such as KUbuntu 24.04, XUbuntu 24.04, Ubuntu MATE 24.04, and Ubuntu Unity 24.04.

The auto login feature is handled by the display manager service in most Linux. It varies depends on your desktop environment and user configuration.

Here I’m going to show you how to enable this feature, either using graphical setting option or by editing config file from command line. Choose either one that you prefer.

In Howtos Automatic Login, ubuntu 24.04

Auto Reset User Account to Original State in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: May 13, 2024 — Leave a comment

This tutorial shows how to automatically reset a user account in Ubuntu after every reboot. All user files, extensions, personal app data, browsing history will be completely removed, so it just looks like it was when you created it.

It’s useful for computers for public use. Resetting user account, makes it always logs into Ubuntu with everything as default, without any leftover from last boot.

In Howtos ubuntu

How to Shrink, Move or Expand System Partition in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: May 10, 2024 — Leave a comment

This is a beginners guide shows how to decrease, move, and/or increase file/system partition in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Sometimes you need to shrink a partition to free up some un-allocated disk space for other use. Or Ubuntu system is a bit small, that you need to increase its size for long time use.

In my case, I want to shrink the Ubuntu 22.04 partition to free up some space, then use the free space to increase the dual-boot Ubuntu 24.04 partition that’s a bit small for me. There’s another partition (contains personal data) sits in between the 2 Ubuntu system, so I also need to move it before being able to expand the 24.04 system.

In Howtos file system

How to Encrypt Your Home Folder in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: July 23, 2024 — 1 Comment

This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to encrypt your home directory in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

As you may know, the new installer in Ubuntu 24.04 only supports encrypting the entire disk. If you want to dual boot Ubuntu with another OS in single disk, there’s no option so far to encrypt only the Ubuntu file-system partition.

In the case, you may choose to encrypt your home folder to keep personal data and files safe.

There’s NO visible difference after encrypted your home directory. You can login just like before, read and write files, run apps and play games. Because, it’s automatically decrypted using your password.

But, if you lost your computer/laptop, then no one can access your files in the home folder, without the login password or the encryption passphrase. Accessing from another operating system will show something like the screenshot below shows you:

Encrypted home is not accessible from other machine or OS

In Howtos security, ubuntu 24.04

How to Install Chromium (Deb Edition) in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04

Last updated: May 5, 2024 — 2 Comments

This tutorial shows how to install the most recent Chromium web browser as native .deb package in Ubuntu 24.04 and Ubuntu 22.04.

Like Firefox and Thunderbird, the popular Chromium web browser in Ubuntu repository is a Snap package that runs in sandbox environment.

For those who don’t like Flatpak and Snap packages, there are few other sources to install the Chromium browser via native Deb package.

Debian and Linux Mint repositories are the trustworthy repositories that I used to use, which however either has few different dependency libraries or lacks of arm64/armhf platform support.

So, in my opinion an Ubuntu PPA can be the better choice for beginners. It’s easy to install and maintain, though less trustworthy since Chromium does not have an official PPA.