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Timeshift Adds ‘Clone Ubuntu’ Option & BTRFS Filesystem Support

Last updated: December 10, 2022

TimeShift, Linux system restore application, now is at v1.6. The new release supports cloning your Ubuntu to another device. BTRFS filesystem support is also available in a fork release.

TimeShift is an open source application for Linux that provides functionality similar to the System Restore feature in Windows and the Time Machine tool in Mac OS.

The utility takes incremental snapshots of the system using rsync and hard-links. These snapshots can be restored at a later date to undo all changes that were made to the system after the snapshot was taken.

The latest Timeshift v1.6 was released recently with below new features:

A “Clone” button to clone your current system to another device. You can clone your Ubuntu install to a portable device and boot on another machine.
Improved First Snapshot Size Estimation
Backups can now be saved on LUKS-encrypted partitions.
The terminal output was cleaned up. Only important messages will be displayed

The developer has also announced Timeshift BTRFS, a fork release that supports for Linux system installed on BTRFS filesystem. It features:

Super-fast snapshot creation
Snapshots takes ZERO space initially
Super-fast restore

Install Timeshift in Ubuntu:

Both rsync (normal version) and BTRFS version are available in the developer’s PPA for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.10 and derivatives.

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, paste the commands below and run one by one to add the PPA and install Timeshift packages:

To install TimeShift:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:teejee2008/timeshift

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install timeshift

~~To install TimeShift BTRFS version:~~

sudo apt-add-repository -y ppa:teejee2008/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install timeshift-btrfs

Once properly installed, start it from Unity Dash, and you can receive future updates by running regular updates via Software Updater.

In Howtos system restore

Ubuntu 14.04 Tip: Remove Unwanted Players From Sound Menu

Last updated: October 2, 2014

Have tried multiple media players in Ubuntu and found that the sound menu is full of player controls? Well, below I’ll tell how to clean it up by removing unwanted players from the menu.

Remove unwanted players from sound menu

To get started, we need a simple tool called dconf-editor. If you don’t have it on your system, click the link below to bring up Ubuntu Software Center and click the install button.

Once you have it installed, open the tool from Unity dash or left launcher. When dconf-editor opens, navigate to com -> canonical -> indicator -> sound.

Double click the closed brackets next to ‘interested-media-players’ and remove the names of the players ended with .desktop.

For me, after removing ‘tomahawk.desktop’, ‘pragha.desktop’, ‘gnome-music.desktop’, ‘rhythmbox.desktop’, ‘pithos.desktop’, ‘nuvolaplayer.desktop’, only VLC media player is left under the sound menu.

If you later launch a player after you “removed” it, it will be added back to the sound menu automatically. To prevent this happens, add it into blacklisted-media-player.

In my case, pragha and gnome music player will be never listed in the sound menu, even you’re listening with one of them.

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos sound menu, Ubuntu 14.04

Install Pandora Radio Client ‘Pithos’ in Ubuntu 14.04 /14.10

Last updated: October 2, 2014

This tutorial shows how to install Pithos, a native Pandora Internet Radio client, in Ubuntu 14.04 or Ubuntu 14.10 via its PPA repository.

Pandora Radio is a music streaming and automated music recommendation service which is only available in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The service plays musical selections of a certain genre based on the user’s artist selection.

Pithos is an open source Pandora Radio client for Linux. It’s much more lightweight than the Pandora.com web client, and integrates with desktop features such as media keys, notifications, and the sound menu.

The client features:

Play / Pause / Next Song
Switching stations
Remembering user name and password
Cover Art
Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down / Tired of this song
Notification popup with song info
Launching pandora.com song info page and station page
Reconnecting when pandora session times out
Editing QuickMix
Creating stations
Media Key support
Proxy support
Last.fm scrobbling

The latest release has reached v1.0.1, you can get the detailed changes from the github page.

Install Pithos in Ubuntu 14.10 / 14.04:

The developers have created a PPA repository that provides the latest packages for Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04 and their derivatives such as Linux Mint 17.

To install the client, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, paste commands below and run one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pithos/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install pithos

If you don’t want to add the PPA, grab the .deb installer directly from the launchpad page.

In Howtos Pandora Radio Client, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10

How to Install Adobe Reader in Ubuntu 14.10

Last updated: October 2, 2014

Adobe Reader for Linux is no longer available for download from Adobe website. But we can still install it in Ubuntu through the old Canonical Partners repository.

Adobe has recently removed the Linux support from its official download page. Actually the latest “AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb” package is still available in the official repository, but it might be removed in near future.

If you still want this PDF reader, below is how to install Adobe Reader (Acroread) 9 in Ubuntu 14.10 from the Canonical Partners repository for Precise (12.04).

1. Open up terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, paste the command below and hit enter to add the repository:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ precise partner"

Type in your user password when it asks. Note that there’s no visual feed back when you typing a password.

2. After you added the repository, update package lists and install the acroread package by running below commands one by one:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install acroread

Once installed, you should be able to open it from Unity dash or Application menu.

3 After properly installed Adobe Reader, don’t forget to remove the Canonical Partners repository for Precise:

sudo add-apt-repository -r "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ precise partner"

sudo apt-get update

4. How to Set Adobe Reader as default PDF reader:

Run command below in terminal to edit the config file:

sudo gedit /etc/gnome/defaults.list

When the file opens, do:

Find out and change the line

application/pdf=evince.desktop

into:

application/pdf=acroread.desktop
Add below line into the end:

application/fdf=acroread.desktop
application/xdp=acroread.desktop
application/xfdf=acroread.desktop
application/pdx=acroread.desktop

Finally save the file and restart nautilus (run command nautilus -q in terminal) to apply changes.

In Howtos adobe reader, Ubuntu 14.10

Enable SSH in Ubuntu 14.10 Server / Desktop

Last updated: September 30, 2014

Secure Shell (SSH) is a protocol for securely accessing remote machine, it allows you to run command line and graphical programs, transfer files, and even create secure virtual private networks over the Internet.

Ubuntu does not provide the ssh service out-of-the-box. But you can easily enable it by installing the OpenSSH server package.

To enable SSH:

Search for and install the openssh-server package from Ubuntu Software Center. Or run command below in console if you’re on Ubuntu Server without GUI:

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

Once installed, the SSH service should be started automatically. If necessary, you can start (or stop, restart) the service manually via command:

sudo service ssh start

To edit settings:

To change the port, root login permission, you may edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file via:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

After you changed the configurations, press Ctrl+X followed by typing y and hitting enter to save the file.

Finally restart the SSH service to apply the changes:

sudo service ssh restart

Usage and Tips:

1. Normally, we can access remote machine through SSH via command:

ssh username@remote-ip

For the port that is not the default 22:

ssh username@remote-ip -p NUMBER

2. For desktop Ubuntu, root user need to be enabled first so that remote machines can SSH to it via root:

Run command below to set a password for root:

sudo passwd root

Then execute command to unlock the root account:

sudo passwd -u root

Edit the config file /etc/ssh/sshd_config, change the line

PermitRootLogin without-password

into:

PermitRootLogin yes

When done, restart the SSH service.

For more, read the community documents.

In Howtos ssh, Ubuntu 14.10

How to Install μTorrent (uTorrent) on Ubuntu 14.10

Last updated: September 30, 2014

µTorrent (or uTorrent) is a free, closed source, and most widely used BitTorrent client available in Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. The program was designed to use minimal computer resources while offering functionality comparable to larger BitTorrent clients such as Vuze or BitComet.

µTorrent for Linux is composed of a µTorrent server and a web based client. Below I will show you how to install it in Ubuntu step by step, tested in a fresh 64-bit Ubuntu 14.10 installation.

1. Download the official package from the link below:

You may first check out your OS type from shutdown menu (top-right gear button) -> About This Computer. Then select download “µTorrent Server for Ubuntu 13.04 – 32-bit or 64-bit”.

2. Once the downloading process finish, go to the Downloads folder in file browser and extract the package through its context menu.

Tip: If you want other users on the Ubuntu system to be able to use the uTorrent server, extract the package to /opt/ directory. To do so, open Archive Manager as root/admin by running sudo file-roller in terminal, then open and extract the package.

3. Navigate to the result folder and run utserver from its context menu:

That’s right you see nothing happens because the server is running as a background program.

Tip: If you don’t see the Run option in its right-click menu, do:

Go to Properties in its right-click menu, check the box where it says “Allow executing file as program” under Permissions tab.

4. Finally in your web browser go to http://localhost:8080/gui/. When it asks, type in:

username: admin
password: leave it empty.

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos Ubuntu 14.10, utorrent

Install Multimedia Codecs, Enable DVD Playback in Ubuntu 14.10

Last updated: September 29, 2014

Due to legal constraints in many countries, Ubuntu does not include multimedia codecs to play mp3, movies, and DVDs out-of-the-box.

This quick tutorial will show you how to manually install the multimedia codecs to enable playback audio, video, DVDs in Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic.

Install Multimedia Codecs:

There is a package “Ubuntu restricted extras” available in Ubuntu Software Center. Installing it will pull in support for MP3 playback and decoding, support for various other audio & video formats such as mp4, avi, rmvb, wmv and more, Microsoft fonts, Flash plugin, LAME (to create compressed audio files), and DVD playback.

To install the package, just click the link below to bring up Ubuntu Software Center and click the install button:

During the installing process, you will be asked to accept the EULA license terms.

Tip: If you get a warning dialog says “to install ubuntu restricted extras, these items must be removed”, just click the ignore because -extra versions of these libraries will be installed instead, to provide additional functionality.

Enable DVD Playback:

After installed the package above, you should be able to play normal DVDs. But for playing encrypted DVDs, libdvdread4 and libdvdcss2 are also required.

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, paste the commands below to install libdvdread4:

sudo apt-get install libdvdread4

The package provides a simple script to download & install libdvdcss2, to run the script:

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

If you can’t get the libdvdcss2 package from the script, download & install,

libdvdcss2_1.2.13-0_amd64.deb for 64-bit Ubuntu.
libdvdcss2_1.2.13-0_i386.deb for 32-bit ubuntu.

from the page: download.videolan.org/ubuntu/utopic

When done, you should be able to playback (and navigate DVD menus) in most video applications, including the default Totem and VLC media player..

In Howtos multimedia, play encrypted DVD, Ubuntu 14.10

Ubuntu 14.10: Remove Guest Session, White Dots From Login Screen

Last updated: September 28, 2014

This is a quick tutorial that shows you how to remove the Guest session and the white dots from Unity’s login screen in Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic.

1. To remove the Guest session:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, paste the command below and hit enter:

sudo gedit /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-ubuntu.conf

Type in your user password when it asks. Note that there’s no visual feed back when typing password.

As the picture shows, when the editor opens, add a new line into the end and save the file

allow-guest=false

That’s it. You won’t see the Guest next time Ubuntu boots up.

2. To Remove white dots:

There is a graphical tool dconf-editor which provides options to change the login screen background and remove the white dots (draw grid).

a.) To install dconf-editor, click the link below to bring up Ubuntu Software Center and click the install button:

b.) To configure Unity login screen, you need the lightdm user privilege to launcher dconf-editor. To do so:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal. When it opens, run commands to get root privilege:

sudo -i

Type in your user password when it asks.

Allow user lightdm to create a connection to the X server:

xhost +SI:localuser:lightdm

Switch to user lightdm in this terminal window:

su lightdm -s /bin/bash

Finally start dconf-editor:

dconf-editor

c.) When the dconf-editor opens, navigate to com –> canonical –> unity-greeter in left. Then disable the value for both draw-grid and draw-user-backgrounds.

Done. You’ll see the changes in next boot.

In Howtos remove guest session, remove white dots, Ubuntu 14.10

How to Install Oracle Java JDK 6, 7, or 8 in Ubuntu 14.10

Last updated: September 27, 2014

This quick tutorial shows you how to easily install Oracle Java JDK 6, JDK 7 and/or JDK 8 (includes JRE) in Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic via PPA.

Thanks to Webupd8 Team for providing the installer scripts in PPA that automatically downloads Oracle Java package from its official site and installs it on your system.

1. To add the PPA, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, paste the command below and hit enter.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java

Type in your user password when prompts. Note that there’s no visual feed back when typing your password.

2. After added the PPA, run commands below one by one to install Java (you may replace number 8 in the code with 6 or 7):

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-installer

If you have two or more Java versions installed on your system, run command below to set Oracle Java to default (you may replace number 8 with 6 or 7):

sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-set-default

Finally, check out java version via:

java -version

You’ll see something like this:

java version “1.8.0_20”
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_20-b26)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.20-b23, mixed mode)

In Howtos Install Oracle Java Ubuntu, Ubuntu 14.10

[Quick Tip] Disable Apport Error Reporting in Ubuntu 14.10

Last updated: September 26, 2014

This quick tutorial is going to show you how to turn off the Apport error reporting system in Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn.

Apport is a system which gathers potentially useful information about the crash and the OS environment. If any process in the system crashes, a dialog pops up and asks user to send error report to help fix the problem.