Ubuntu GNOME Advanced Howto

Wiki Specific

1. Howto Get Involved with the Ubuntu GNOME Team.

2. Howto Get the Best out of the Ubuntu GNOME Wiki Area.

3. Howto Create a Wiki Page.

Device Management

Mount a USB flash drive via Terminal

Via the graphical user inteface of Ubuntu GNOME you can easily mount and then use a USB flash drive by plugging it in one of your computer's USB ports. In some special cases this task can be done throughout the command-line (via Terminal).

First of all, you need to create a mount point for the device (a directory where the device will be mounted). To create a new directory, run the following command:

• sudo mkdir /media/Label

  • mkdir man-pages

You can change Label with the name you want your mounted device to appear in the /media folder. It is recommended not to use spaces, because things get complicated. In order to separate words, spaces can be substituted with a underscore.

To mount the device, run the following command:

• sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /media/Label

  • mount man-pages

Where sdb1 stands for the plugged in the USB port device. But what does actually sdb1 mean?

• hda – the first installed IDE device (hard disk drive)

• hda1 – the first partition of the hda device

• hda2 – the second partition of the hda device, etc.

• hdb – the second installed IDE device (hard disk drive)

• hdb1 – the first partition of the hdb device, etc.

• sda – the first installed SCSI device (SATA hard disk drive or USB flash drive)

• sda1 – the first partition of the sda device, etc.

If you have only one SCSI device installed (SATA hard disk drive), its generated name is probably sda and your Ubuntu GNOME working partition is sda1. When you insert a USB flash drive in the USB port of your computer (e.g. it is another SCSI device), its name will be sdb and its working partition's name will be sdb1. If you add one more USB flash drive its names will be sdc for the device and sdc1 for its working partition respectively.

Unmount a USB flash drive via Terminal

To unmount a USB flash drive via Terminal, run the following command:

• sudo umount /dev/sdb1

  • umount man-pages

Format a USB flash drive via Terminal

Most USB flash drives are formatted under the FAT32 filesystem. To format a USB flash drive in FAT32 via Terminal run the following command:

• sudo mkdosfs -n 'Label' -I /dev/sdb1 -F 32

  • mkdosfs man-pages

File Management

Change file permissions

When you start compiling source code, or even downloading .JAR files that you want to execute, you will need to learn to change file permissions. File permissions simply tell your computer who is allowed to do what to a certain file or folder in the file system. To learn more about permissions have a read on Wikipedia.

Via the GUI

For most beginner users, changing permissions via the graphics user interface (GUI) is the easiest. To do this, simply right click on the file whose permissions you want to change, and switch to the Permissions tab. From here, you can change individual users', groups', and others' read and write permissions, as well as allow the execution of the file as a program.

Via Terminal

In order to proceed, you will need to have an adequate understanding of both symbolic and numeric permissions notations. There is an in depth but brief explanation of this on Wikipedia.

To change file permissions via Terminal, first navigate to your target by running:

• cd /path/to/your/file/

  • cd man-pages

Then,

• sudo chmod 0### yourfile.extension

  • (Where ### are replaced with the appropriate permissions for your needs.)

  • chmod man-pages

Networking

There are many ways to connect to the internet in UbuntuGNOME. In the Network Settings, you can connect to wireless and wired connections as well as VPN and proxy services.

Via the GUI

Wired

Most of the time wired internet connects automatically, but if it doesn't...

1. Click the network icon in the upper right-hand corner of the monitor.

2. Turn on the Wired switch.

Wireless

To connect to a wireless network...

1. Click on the network icon in the upper right-hand corner of the monitor.
2. Select the router you would like to connect to.

If the network you are on has stringent security measures, and you can't connect to your router as described above...

1. Select Network Setting.

2. Click the arrow to the right of the router you want to connect to.

3. Click Settings in the bottom right-hand corner.

This screen will allow you to change all settings so that they match the systems in use. If you don't know what settings to choose, and the defaults don't work, contact your network administrator.

VPN

To create a VPN connection...

1. Click on the network icon in the upper right-hand corner of the monitor and select Network Settings.

2. Click the + in the bottom left of the Network Settings window.

3. Select VPN from the drop-down list and click Create.

4. Select the protocol you wish to use.

5. Enter all the relevant settings for your VPN service. Use Advanced... button where necessary.

Proxy

To connect to a proxy server...

1. Click on the network icon in the upper right-hand corner of the monitor and select Network Settings.

2. Select Network Settings.

3. Select Network Proxy from the left-hand menu.

4. Configure your connection.

   • Select Automatic, and provide your Configuration URL.

   • Select Manual, and enter all your relevant information.

Partitioning

Partitioning can be daunting at first, but isn't all that complicated once you understand some basic concepts and requirements.

Mount Points

All non-swap partitions have a mountpoint. This is the folder that is mapped to it. All that needs to be done to give any folder on a system its own partition is to make a partition and assign it /folder/name as its mountpoint.

Required Partitions

All that's needed to have a functional Ubuntu GNOME installation is a / partition.

Common Optional Partitions

• /boot
  • Required size of 2GB
  • Holds files essential to booting Ubuntu GNOME.
• /root
  • Size is unimportant, but is usually 2GB+
• /home
  • Holds all users' data. Should be allocated liberally, and depending on how many data files you'll have.
• /bin
  • Holds all program files. Should be allocated liberally, and depending on how many programs you plan to install.

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