UbuntuHandbook | Tag Archive

Archives For November 30, 1999

Enable Flash for Chromium Browser in Ubuntu 14.10

Last updated: October 10, 2014

If you’re using a Chromium based web browser in Ubuntu, you may find that the Adobe Flash Player installed from Ubuntu Software Center does not work all the time.

Because ‘Aura’ for Linux, which replaces GTK+, lacks coded support for NPAPI plugins, the “old” Adobe plugin in Ubuntu repositories does no longer play Flash content in Chromium based web browser.

As a workaround, you can use the ‘Pepper Flash’ which is bundled with Google Chrome that provides the latest Adobe Flash Player for Linux.

Chromium with Lastest Adobe Flash

1. Click the link below to bring up Ubuntu Software Center and click the install button:

Click install Pepperflashplugin-nonfree

This will install the package “Pepperflashplugin-nonfree“, which will download Chrome from Google, unpack it and make the included Pepper Flash Player available for use with Chromium.

2. After that, relaunch Chromium browser and Flash should now work. If not, close the browser and run below command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to tell the plugin location:

sudo update-pepperflashplugin-nonfree --install

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos adobe flash, chromium browser, Ubuntu 14.10

How to Enable Flash for Firefox in Ubuntu 14.10

Last updated: October 10, 2014

Firefox browser does not play flash out-of-the-box in Ubuntu. We need to manually install the Adobe Flash Player and below is how.

As you may know, Adobe abandoned flash for Linux in 2012. For Flash Player releases after 11.2, the Flash Player browser plugin for Linux will only be available via the “Pepper” API as part of the Google Chrome browser. Adobe will provide security updates for Flash Player 11.2 for five years.

The Adobe Flash Player 11.2.x is still available in Ubuntu repositories and below is how to install it in Ubuntu 14.10.

Click the link below to bring up Ubuntu Software Center and click the install button:

click to install Adobe Flash

The package doesn’t contain the actual flash player, it’s only an installer that automatically downloads and installs the source tarball from the Canonical Partners repository.

If you have already enabled Canonical Partners repository, available in Software & Updates -> Other Software tab, you can directly install the Flash Player (the real package) package from Ubuntu Software Center:

Once installed, re-launch your Firefox browser and enjoy!

In Howtos adobe flash, Ubuntu 14.10

How to Install The Classic Gnome Application Menu in Ubuntu 14.10

Last updated: October 9, 2014

Prefer to launch a cascading menu rather than search application from Unity Dash? Well, here is how to install the classic Gnome Menu in Ubuntu 14.10.

ClassicMenu indicator is a notification area applet for the top panel of Ubuntu Unity that provides a simple way to get a classic GNOME-style application menu for those who prefer this over the Unity dash menu.

To install the applet:

The developer has built the indicator binary into PPA. You can download the .deb package from the link below:

Download classicmenu-indicator_xxx_all.deb

Once the download process finished, double-click the package in file browser to open it with Ubuntu Software Center and click the install button.

Or install it via command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/classicmenu-indicator_*.deb

When done, you can start the classic Gnome Menu from the Unity Dash, or let it open automatically at next log-in.

In Howtos Classic menu indicator, Ubuntu 14.10

Install The Latest Quassel IRC Client in Ubuntu via PPA

Last updated: October 4, 2014

This quick tutorial shows you how to install the latest release of Quassel IRC client in Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04 and derivatives via PPA.

Quassel is a modern, cross-platform, distributed KDE / Qt IRC client. One (or multiple) client(s) can attach to and detach from a central core. It’s much like the popular combination of screen and a text-based IRC client such as WeeChat, but graphical.

While Ubuntu 14.04 Software Center provides Quassel 0.10, the latest release has recently reached 0.11. See what’s new:

changes in v0.10.1:

Fix buffer hotlist sorting
Split CTCP messages if they’re too long
Make database problems more obvious
Fix backlog loading for QuasselDroid
Properly save the toolbar state on Mac OSX
Fix a crash with KDE’s network detection
Various other fixes

changes in v0.11.0:

New build requirements: C++11 capable compiler (gcc 4.7+, clang 3.3+, MSVC 2013+), cmake 2.8.9+
Full support for Qt 5.2+ in addition to Qt 4.6+
Completely revamp the build system, making use of “new” CMake features

Install Quassel IRC Clien via PPA:

Thanks to Michael Marley, a PPA repository has been created with the latest stable builds of Quassel packages for Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04 and derivatives.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mamarley/quassel

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

2. Then update and install the client:

For KDE build, run:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install quassel

For Qt build, run:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install quassel-qt4

Once installed, open the irc client from Unity dash or application menu and you can receive future updates by running regular update via Software Updater.

In Howtos IRC client, Quassel, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10

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:

Download uTorrent Server

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:

install ubuntu-restricted-extras

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:

Click install dconf-editor

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

Archives For November 30, 1999

Newsletter