Tag Archives: how to

How to Install a Web Server and More in Ubuntu Linux

Posted on by
5

I recently saw a comment on this blog, from Neville, where  he was having trouble getting FTP to operate as expected on his web server. Needless to say, this could be the result of several configuration issues. Suffice to say, I figured one thing I could do to help all of you reading this post, is simply to print out (below) the steps I took to install my last web dev/design Ubuntu box. Hopefully, there will be some goodies for most of you… I installed the following on Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS.

Here’s what I did to get everything working (on an local web server that is NOT available to the public – To make it a public server, more security issues would have to be addressed):

I want to get some extra multimedia packages: Continue reading →

More Useful Open Source Applications 2011

Posted on by
3

In 2008, I wrote the popular post “Top 100 of the Best (Useful) OpenSource Applications” http://ubuntulinuxhelp.com/top-100-of-the-best-useful-opensource-applications/ As of today, it has been viewed over 1.8 million times. Still, one of the more common questions I get asked by new Linux users, revolves around the subject “What application do I use for…”

Over the last couple of months, I’ve received more and more of these type of questions. I remember when I first started this blog, I think I was using Ubuntu 7.04 and had just reinstalled Ubuntu 8.04. Today I’m using Ubuntu 10.04, with the following hardware (also changed since I first started using a Linux based OS):

Asus VH242H 23.6 1920×1080 LCD
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Socket AM2 CPU
Kingston 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz
Seagate 750GB Serial ATA HD 7200/16MB/SATA-3G
Shuttle SA76G2 Socket AM2+ Barebone
LG 22X DVDRW SATA
ASUS VH242H 23.6in Wide 1920×1080 5ms LCD Monitor
SB Audigy 2ZS 24-Bit Surround 5.1*
Logitech Quickcam Fusion
Creative Inspire 5200 5.1 Speakers

*The Shuttle board already has integrated sound, but I preferred to use the Audigy soundcard that was on one of my old systems.

While this is by no means the most powerful desktop, it gets the job done for me. Needless to say, the following is a list of applications I use on this hardware. Because I do a lot of web and design work (as well as networking and technical support) the list leans towards such related applications (but I have included some “fun” ones).  Hopefully this resource will help new Ubuntu users. If I missed something you think should be included, please let me know in the comments below, thanks. I worked hard to put this post together, so if you like it, please bookmark it or link to it from your site, or social favourites, and let me know. – Thanks!

Here are the Applications:

OpenShot | apt:openshot | http://www.gimp.org/

Terminal:
sudo aptitude install openshot openshot-doc

I use it as a quick way to join video segments together, to create transitions and effects. It also allows me to slice out specific segments of existing video and Continue reading →

Installing ffmpeg-php on an Ubuntu 9.04 LAMP Server

Posted on by
2

“Chokri”  commented on the post “Installing an Ubuntu Linux Hardy 8.04 LAMP and FFMpeg Server With a GUI – LAMP installation with cgi-bin“, asking:

“…I have trouble while installing ffmpeg-php, I downloaded the tar file but while executing the make command, I obtain stop, what to do?…”

Well, it’s been a while since I played with fmpeg-php on Ubuntu 8.04, I’ve since (about a year ago, if I remember correctly) installed a 9.04 based Ubuntu LAMP server. I use that server as a local development server for WordPress based sites, video based sites (as well as traditional xhtml sites), etc.

Without too much further (verbose) discussion, here are the commands I used to get this server up and running (on Ubuntu 9.04). It’s still working today, and is a great WordPress and site development environment!

Install your base 9.04 server as is. DO NOT select LAMP server install.

Then start getting the tools and services you need installed…

Video sites will need the flvtool (Yamdi is a Meta Data injector for flv):

sudo aptitude install flvtool2 yamdi

Of course we’ll need a database:

sudo aptitude install mysql-server mysql-client libmysqlclient15-dev

Now we need a web server:

sudo aptitude install apache2 apache2-doc apache2-mpm-prefork apache2-utils libexpat1 ssl-cert

Let’s get some of the plugins we’ll need (ffmpeg-php, for example): Continue reading →

Upgrade Ubuntu Firefox to Version 3.6 – Reader Questions

Posted on by
2

Erica from Canada asks:

“… I’m using Ubuntu 9.04… the “Check for Updates” in Firefox is grayed out and apt-get does not upgrade Firefox… I’m stuck at 3.0.18, how can I get upgraded?…”

This is an issue, I’ve encountered before. The newest versions of Firefox are not yet in the repositories, and the “Check for Updates” is disabled on purpose. I tried upgrading Firefox via PPA’s on a couple occasions, butthe updates failed and I ended up with broken packages! In my opinion, the following steps might serve as a safer way to upgrade.

In your existing Firefox version (3.0.18), install the following extension manager, named FEBE, in case something happens to your extentions, you’ll be able to reinstall them:

FEBE: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2109

Use FEBE to backup your extensions.

Also, just in case something happens to your saved passwords, you can back those up as well with an extension named “Password Exporter”: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2848

Backup up your passwords.

Finally, don’t forget to backup your bookmarks in case something goes wrong.

In a Terminal, run the command:

which firefox

You should see this answer displayed:

/usr/bin/firefox

This guide is based on the pathing above. If the steps below are not followed properly, then this will not work! ALWAYS make sure you have BACKUPS of data you do not want to lose, in case something in your system goes terribly wrong.

Now, let’s use the Terminal to move into Ubuntu’s temporary (working) directory:

cd /tmp

Download  Firefox 3.6 for Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty):
wget “http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.6&os=linux&lang=en-US”

(The above is for the North American version, you can change that to meet your needs).

Extract the contents:
tar xvjf firefox-*.bz2

We are going to copy the new version of Firefox to a directory called “firefox-3.6″ (instead of “firefox”), this way we can  revert back to the original Firefox 3.0.18 is needed.
Continue reading →

Google Earth and Chrome – Reader Questions

Posted on by
1

Ruud emailed asking, “How do I install Chrome and Google Earth? I’ve tried using apt-get, but the packages are not found. I am using Ubuntu 8.04”

For Ubuntu 8.04 users, please try the instructions below. (I’m not in front of a Hardy, 8.04, box right now, so please comment below if you find I’ve made a mistake; and I will correct it – Thanks). If I recall correctly, these packages are not in the “regular” Ubuntu repositories. To get them installed, we can create the appropriate entries in our sources/list, add the GPG keys and then use Aptitude to complete the installation.

For Google Chrome, try the following steps.

Add the chromium-daily PPA to your sources list:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Append the following:

# Chrome Source
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu hardy main

Next add the GPG key with this command:

sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys 4E5E17B5

Update with this command:

sudo aptitude update

Then try to install Chrome withthe following command:

sudo aptitude install chromium-browser

As for Google Earth, I’m sure it’s in the Medibuntu repository. Here are the steps:
Continue reading →

Building a Business Network Using Ubuntu – Introduction

Posted on by
7

This post begins the first (an introduction) in a series of several posts, discussing the benefits that Ubuntu Linux provides to business owners. Naturally, by default, I’ll be touching on several open source applications and server packages throughout the series. Hopefully I can also dispel some of the myth and uncertainty, for business owners who have never used Ubuntu before.

The idea for this series was borne out of the excessive questions from clients in my work life. Some have made the switch to Ubuntu, many are interested and some don’t know enough, because they’ve never tried working with a Linux based operating system like Ubuntu.

The two Ubuntu versions I used (in my own business as well as suggest to clients) are:

Ubuntu Server Edition.
The server edition is where various business related packages are installed. Such as print servers, web servers, billing systems, firewalls, and so on.

Ubuntu Desktop Edition.
The desktop edition (also used on laptops) is where various applications are installed and used to access the resources on the server.

Note: The newest Ubuntu version “Lucid” 10.04 is scheduled for release in April of 2010 and will be an LTS (“Long Term Support”) version. At which time, I’d suggest this as the version to use.

For business owners not familiar with Ubuntu, please check Continue reading →

How to Wipe a Hard Drive – Reader Questions

Posted on by
2

Becky asked:

“…I am running Ubuntu Linux.  I want to wipe my hard drive.  How do i do that?…”

I’m assuming that you don’t have another computer you can plug that hard drive in? Additionally, you cannot wipe a hard drive if you have no OS to run the software. And finally, I assume by wiping, that you are referring to writing 0′s and 1′s via several passes over the hard drive.

I have come across an Open Source solution that does this, it’s called Darik’s Boot And Nuke.

Darik's Boot And Nuke

In general, you download the image from Continue reading →

How to Check MD5SUM of Downloads – Reader Questions

Posted on by
5

Steve emailed asking:

“…because all the DVDs I was burning were useless. Thanks for helping with that, only thing, how do I check the md5sum stuff? Should there be a separate file showing what it is? Where do I find what it’s supposed to be? Thanks for…”

This is a common occurrence, we download a CD or DVD, only to find that it’s not working properly. I learned the hard way, ALWAYS check the md5sum BEFORE burning the iso!

1) The MD5SUM of any downloads (from Ubuntu) can be seen in the directory you download from: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/

Using Steve’s example (he was downloading Ubuntu 9.04 AMD64 Bit version), he’d surf to: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04/release/ On that page will be a link to a file that says “MD5SUMS”. Clicking on that file (link) will display the following:

87babeda6724c3ea583534b53a9255c5 *ubuntu-9.04-dvd-amd64.iso
cca45d814048b5b322773561ad7c75d8 *ubuntu-9.04-dvd-i386.iso
60136ddda63d9e4c342013d5a71f4c9c *ubuntu-9.04-mid-lpia.img

So, the correct md5sum for the AMD64 iso is 87babeda6724c3ea583534b53a9255c5

That’s the first step.

2) To check the md5sum of the iso you just downloaded, open a Continue reading →

Adding a Terminal Hot Key Shortcut – Reader Questions

Posted on by
2

Janice emailed asking:

“…and lots of your posts show us how to do things in a terminal. Each time I have to go to Applications / Accessories / Terminal, isn’t there a faster way, like some key combination or something?…”

In Ubuntu (for that matter pretty much all Linux distros), you can set up “hot keys” to execute functions. In your case we’re going to set up a hot key for opening the Terminal in Ubuntu 8.04LTS. This way, you can access Terminal much faster!

Ubuntu already has a “Keyboard Shortcuts” tool. You can find it via Continue reading →

Faster Internet With an Old Laptop – Revisited

Posted on by
1

One of my earlier posts, Faster Internet With an Old Laptop – Ubuntu and Squid, discussed how to install Squid and Webmin on an old laptop. The premise being that having a proxy server on the network helped speed up web browsing (because of the caching capabilities), reduced external bandwidth usage, etc.

In that post, I was careful to install Squid3 first, so that Webmin would use it (in the management interface) instead of the older Squid 2.x; and that the installation would be smoother. One thing I noticed was that webmin was using an older version of squid:

“…I noticed that webmin (for some strange reason) thought squid 2.6 was installed…”

One of our readers (atass) provided a useful comment in that post:

“The reason is that you have also installed squid3 AND 2.6. 2.6 was installed via webmin because it is not configured by default to find squid3

I think you should correct this procedure so that you correctly configure webmin to use squid3 by going to module configuration and changing to squid3 paths. Avoid installing Squid via webmin cause it will install Squid 2.6 regardless if you have squid 3 installed”

So this needed fixing, here are the settings (below) I changed to get Squid3 going. Above all, remember to back up data or settings before changing anything. Continue reading →