How to configure Certificate Authority on Ubuntu/Debian

How to configure Certificate Authority on Ubuntu/Debian

A Certificate Authority plays a vital role in ensuring and verifying secure connections between clients and servers. When you try to connect to a remote server – let’s say a website, for example – how does your system know that it is connecting to the right place? After all, there is nothing stopping any rogue system from claiming itself as a website which it is actually not. This is where certificate authority servers come into play, by helping our client system verify that we are connecting to the intended server. This particular example is in the context of a website connection, so would involve the HTTPS protocol, but certificate authorities can also be used to authenticate other types of connections, such as VPN.

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Step-by-Step Guide: Adding Certificates to Ubuntu's Trusted Authorities

Step-by-Step Guide: Adding Certificates to Ubuntu’s Trusted Authorities

In today’s digital landscape, we must be careful to authenticate our network connections to remote servers. To help keep us secure, we use certificates that allow us to verify connections between clients and servers. A Certificate Authority is a crucial part of this process, as it is responsible for issuing the certificates to clients and servers, and verifying the devices that are trying to establish secure connections to each other.

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How to Check GPIO Status

How to check GPIO status

The GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) pins of the Raspberry Pi are how the device can interface with external hardware components. It is how things like sensors and actuators plug into the Raspberry Pi, and allow users to control such devices from the Raspberry Pi itself. Something as simple as turning an LED on or off will require setting the pin to which it is plugged in to either true or false, which changes the current status of that pin.

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Raspberry Pi as Music Streamer

Raspberry Pi as Music Streamer

Thanks to its small size and simple requirements, the Raspberry Pi can be transformed into a variety of different specialized devices. One such role that it can fill is that of a dedicated music streamer, or jukebox. Whether you have your own music files (MP3, FLAC, etc) already downloaded and want to stream them to speakers around the house, or you rely on streaming services like Spotify or Pandora, utilizing the Raspberry Pi as a music streamer is a great way to enjoy some tunes. In this tutorial, we will go over the step by step instructions to help you turn your Raspberry Pi into the ideal music streaming device.

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StartOS Linux In-Depth Review: A Comprehensive Look at Performance, User Experience, and Compatibility

StartOS Linux In-Depth Review: A Comprehensive Look at Performance, User Experience, and Compatibility

StartOS (formerly known as EmbassyOS) is a graphical, browser based Linux distribution for servers by Start9. It offers users the ability to install and host a variety of services with a single click. On traditional servers, hosting services usually requires some level of specialized knowledge, tinkering on the command line, and spending time with perusing documentation. StartOS aims to simplify this process by providing an intuitive menu with which you can manage every aspect of your server, as well as anything you have decided to host from it.

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How to change username on Linux

How to change username on Linux

Changing a Linux account’s username is one of those user management tasks that can seem confusing or tricky at first, as it is not something that we need to do every day. Since so many settings are tied directly to an account’s username, it is generally not recommended to ever change it. But, if we find ourselves in a situation where the the username of an account absolutely needs to be changed, then we are not completely out of options.

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Raspberry Pi as Minecraft Server

Raspberry Pi as Minecraft Server

A Raspberry Pi, especially the newer models, possesses all the necessary hardware power for running a dedicated Minecraft gaming server. While it is easy enough to host the game off your desktop computer while simultaneously playing, having a dedicated server allows you to host an uninterrupted Minecraft session that can stay up and running for longer periods of time. Rather than buying a robust rig to host your server, or paying a third party company to do the hosting for you, utilizing the Raspberry Pi becomes a cheap alternative. On top of that, you still have the ability to customize the server configuration to produce your ideal gaming environment.

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Customizing and Utilizing History in the Shell

Customizing and Utilizing History in the Shell

Every command that is typed into a Linux system’s terminal is typically stored in the history buffer for a period of time. This explains why pressing the up arrow in terminal will let you cycle through past commands that have been executed. This buffer of past commands can be customized according to an administrator’s needs, allowing us to vary the number of saved commands, clear the current history, or change other settings.

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Personalizing Keyboard Layouts in Linux

Personalizing Keyboard Layouts in Linux

A keyboard has to be the most essential peripheral of any computer system. In order to make sure it works as intended, the correct keyboard layout must be loaded on the Linux operating system, so that the keys on your keyboard will correspond to the letters or symbols that are being typed on screen. This is why it is so important to personalize the keyboard layout of your system to work with your keyboard model. In addition, we can configure custom keyboard settings which makes life a little easier.

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Working with RAM Disk Devices in Linux

Working with RAM Disk Devices in Linux

Linux users and system administrators alike are always trying to squeeze as much performance as possible out of their system. A big bottleneck for system performance frequently comes from file transfer speeds – that is, system read and write times. Although recent disk technology like SSDs (Solid State Drives) and NVMe (Non Volatile Memory Express) have sped up transfer times significantly over traditional hard drive disks, none can measure up to the speedy performance of a RAM disk.

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Reviving Retro Games: Using Raspberry Pi for Emulation

Reviving Retro Games: Using Raspberry Pi for Emulation

While a Raspberry Pi can serve many purposes, one role that it fills surprisingly well is that of a retro gaming console. The idea is to load up the Raspberry Pi with as many emulators and ROMs as possible, and then you have a portable, HDMI capable gaming machine in the palm of your hand. Plug it into any monitor or TV, and use your keyboard and mouse, or even USB or Bluetooth controller to play some retro titles.

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