Thunar is the file manager included in Xfce, a free and open source Desktop Environment which implements the traditional desktop metaphor, and has become the favorite of many users which switched to it when the GNOME project introduced the GNOME shell. Thunar is light on resources but doesn’t lack functionalities which can be extended further by creating custom actions.
Egidio Docile
How to retrieve hardware information with dmidecode on Linux
Dmidecode is a free and open source utility we can use to retrieve hardware information on Linux. The tool is available in the repositories of all the major Linux distributions, and is able to inspect and dump the content of the SMBIOS table.
How to perform unattended Linux installations with Kickstart
Kickstart is an automatic installation method natively available on those distributions which uses the Anaconda installer: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (and its clones) and Fedora. It can also be used to install Ubuntu, actually, but in that context it acts as a layer of compatibility to the debian-native preseeding method. With Kickstart we can perform unattended, customizable and reproducible installations.
How to install OnlyOffice Desktop Editors on Linux
OnlyOffice is an open source office suite compatible with both open and proprietary documents formats. The suite includes applications to create and edit text documents, spreadsheets and presentations. The “community” version of OnlyOffice is cost-free and can be installed both as a service, or in the form of classic desktop editors.
How to backup and restore an xfs filesystem using xfsdump and xfsrestore
XFS is a journaled filesystem originally developed by Silicon Graphics in 1993; it was released under the GPL license in the year 2000 and ported to the Linux kernel in 2001. Due to its high scalability and performances, XFS became the default filesystem in recent versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and its clones.
How to format data with Column in Linux
Column is a free and open source utility usually installed as part of the util-linux package in all the most common Linux distribution, and therefore included in even the most minimal installations. With this utility we can organize the content of files or the output of other commands in columns, creating pretty tables or even producing JSON formatted documents.
How to keep configuration files under version control with Etckeeper
On Linux-based operating system the /etc directory is used to hold global configuration files for applications and services. A good set of configurations is really important for a good working system, so being able to keep track of changes and quickly revert them, in case something go wrong, is crucial. Etckeeper helps us achieve this goal keeping configuration files under version control.
Curl command basics tutorial with examples
Curl is a free and open source software we can use to exchange data with servers using one of the many supported protocols, such as HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTP, SFTP. Since Curl is a command line tool, we can use it in our scripts, to automatize repetitive tasks, for example. There are many use-cases Curl can cover. In this tutorial, however, we see some of the most common ones.
How to integrate dialog boxes in shell scripts with Whiptail
The ability to create secure shell scripts is essential not only for system administrators, but also for users who wants to automate repetitive tasks. Sometimes, from our shell scripts, we need to provide the user with some kind of information, ask him/her to provide some input, choose from a set of alternatives, or just ask for his/her confirmation before performing a potentially dangerous operation. All those actions, can be performed from the command line, of course, but to make our scripts more user-friendly, we can use of Whiptail to customize and display textual widgets.
How to list and manage files attributes on Linux
When using Linux we have many ways to manage access to resources: the most basic one is by setting the appropriate UGO/RWX permissions on files and directories. In some occasions we may also want to make use of the setuid, the setgid and the sticky bit. Furthermore, we can use ACLs (Access Control List) in order to achieve an higher level of granularity or implement Mandatory Access Control security such those based SELinux or AppArmor.
In addition to the strategies mentioned above, on most filesystems we can manipulate a set of “attributes” in order, for example, to make a file immutable.
How to write Nautilus extensions with nautilus-python
Nautilus, also known as “Files”, is the default file manager of the GNOME desktop environment. In a previous tutorial we saw how to create and call custom scripts from the Nautilus context-menu: this feature can be really useful but is somehow limited. By installing the nautilus-python package in our favorite Linux distribution, and writing just few lines of Python code, we can overcome such limitations and create proper Nautilus extensions.
How to remove dangling and unused Docker images
Docker is a free and open source OS-level virtualization system which allows us to pack and deliver applications together with their dependencies in isolated and reproducible environments called containers. Docker containers are built on the base of Images, which can become “dangling” in certain situations.