How To Install and Configure iTunes on Ubuntu

June 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Apple has not released or provided Linux/Unix version for iTunes yet. But using emulation software like PlayOnLinux , we can install iTunes software on Ubuntu Linux. PlayOnLinux is a graphical tool to run windows-based applications(specially games ) on a Linux platform. The system provides wrapper shell scripts with a .pol filename extension which specify the configuration of Wine needed in order to install and run a particular application. PlayonLinux is basically a graphical frontend for Wine.
LXer Linux News

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , ,

Install Nagios nrpe on XenServer

June 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

If you are using nagios in your hosting environment and need to install nrpe on your XenServer servers, here’s a good way to do it.
LXer Linux News

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , ,

Install The Latest VLC In Ubuntu Via PPA [Quick Tip]

June 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Quick tip: new VLC versions are released quite frequently and even though some don’t introduce any new features, there are important bug fixes in each release (you can find the VLC changelogs HERE). If you want to always have the latest stable VLC version in Ubuntu, here are some PPAs you can use.

Ubuntu 13.04: you can install the latest VLC media player (2.0.7 at the time I’m writing this article) by using Nate Muench’s VLC PPA which contains VLC backports from Debian Unstable / Experimental. To add the PPA and install the latest VLC in Ubuntu 13.04, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n-muench/vlc
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vlc

Ubuntu 12.04 and 12.10: Nate Muench mantains another PPA with the latest VLC media player backported from Debian, for Ubuntu 12.10 and 12.04. To add the PPA and install the latest stable VLC, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n-muench/vlc2
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vlc

Ubuntu 13.10, 13.04, 12.10 and 12.04: an alternative PPA you can use is the “VLC Daily build of stable branch” PPA. This PPA doesn’t have the latest stable VLC version but it provides builds from the stable branch, so you may occasionaly find some small bugs but if that happens, they should be fixed quickly. The advantage of this PPA over the other two mentioned above is that it has packages for more Ubuntu versions and also, it’s updated more frequently since it doesn’t depend on the packages being available in Debian before uploading them to the PPA. To add this PPA and install the latest VLC in Ubuntu, use the commands below:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/stable-daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vlc

Originally published at WebUpd8: Daily Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.


Web Upd8 – Ubuntu / Linux blog

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: Howtos Tagged With: , , ,

Install OpenJDK Patched With Font Fixes [Ubuntu PPA]

June 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
While working on the Infinality article, I’ve noticed that “slow“, who is behind the Infinality PPA for Ubuntu, maintains another PPA for OpenJDK7 which comes with a patch that improves the font rendering for Java / Swing applications in Linux.

Using this patched OpenJDK, the font rendering for Java / Swing applications should look almost native – take a look at these IntelliJ IDEA screenshots (make sure you check out the images in full size – 100% zoom -, or else they will look blurry):

Before installing the patched OpenJDK

After installing the patched OpenJDK
And another set of screenshots which use a dark background and different font (taken from the PPA description):

Before

After

Note: since this is for OpenJDK 7, it obviously doesn’t have any effect if you use Oracle Java or OpenJDK 6, so make sure your applications use OpenJDK 7 when trying this.

Install OpenJDK7 with font fixes in Ubuntu

Ubuntu 13.04 and 12.04 users can install this patched OpenJDK by using slow’s PPA. To add the PPA and upgrade to the patched OpenJDK / OpenJRE, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:no1wantdthisname/openjdk-fontfix
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Arch Linux users can install this via AUR.

For other Linux distributions, you can get the patch from HERE (altough that might be an older version of the patch – see THIS Infinality forum post for more info).

Revert the changes

To revert the changes and install the unpatched OpenJDK back in Ubuntu, use the following commands:
sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:no1wantdthisname/openjdk-fontfix
once again, thanks to “slow” for the PPA!

Originally published at WebUpd8: Daily Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.


Web Upd8 – Ubuntu / Linux blog

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: Howtos Tagged With: , , , , ,

How to install postgresql 9.2 on ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) Server

June 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system. It has more than 15 years of active development and a proven architecture that has earned it a strong reputation for reliability, data integrity, andcorrectness.
LXer Linux News

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Install and configure Monit on CentOS / RHEL / Ubuntu / Debian

June 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Monit is a free open source tool used to manage and monitor processes, programs, files, directories and filesystems on a local or remote LINUX/UNIX systems. Monit conducts automatic maintenance and repair and can execute meaningful causal actions in error situations.
LXer Linux News

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

File Sync App `SparkleShare` 1.1.0 Released, Install It In Ubuntu

June 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
SparkleShare, an open source file synchronization and collaboration tool similar to Dropbox, has been updated to version 1.1.0 recently, receiving many bug fixes and tweaks.

SparkleShare

SparkleShare is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OSX and it uses GIT version control under the hood so setting up a host is pretty easy. Besides using it on your own server, Sparkleshare supports some code hosting services out of the box, such as GitHub, Bitbucket or Gitorious.
The application comes with a recent changes window which displays what changed along with options to restore files to their previous versions or restore deleted files, it supports client-side encryption, conflict handling, notifications and it comes with an Ubuntu AppIndicator.

SparkleShare 1.1.0, released recently, includes the following bug fixes and tweaks:
  • new plugin for plan.io, a project management platform;
  • SparkleShare now works with host keys other than just RSA;
  • stricter permissions on the SparkleShare folder on Unix systems;
  • use large message tray icon on GNOME 3 (though due to packaging probably, the PPA builds don’t have this yet);
  • don’t show notifications for changes that you made yourself;
  • “%20″ and “_” in project names become spaces in folder names;
  • open folders in the event log by clicking project names;
  • allow spaces in passwords;
  • change invite scheme to sparkleshare://addProject/$ URL;
  • fixed retina Mac support;
  • don’t sync files with names that are problematic on Windows;
  • show Client ID (link code) in the status icon menu;
  • many other bug fixes and tweaks;

Install SparkleShare in Ubuntu

SparkleShare Ubuntu

Ubuntu users can install the latest SparkleShare by using a (unofficial) PPA. To install Sparkleshare in Ubuntu, firstly you must add the GIT PPA (the SparkleShare PPA depends on it):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:git-core/ppa

Then you can proceed to installing SparkleShare:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rebuntu16/sparkleshare+unofficial
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sparkleshare libmono-posix4.0-cil

Once installed, you can add a hosted project by selecting “Add hosted project” from the tray / appindicator menu, then select the service: Bitbucket, Github, Gitorious or Plan.io (plan.io is the last one in the list and shows up as Gitorious for some reason).
For how to use SparkleShare with your own server and more, see the application homepage.
Download SparkleShare for Linux (source), Windows and Mac OS X.

Originally published at WebUpd8: Daily Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.


Web Upd8 – Ubuntu / Linux blog

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: Howtos Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Make, Install, and Share Cairo Clock Themes

May 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment

On Linux, Cairo Clock is a very popular clock that many users love. Numerous developers have made a variety of looks for this clock called themes or skins. This article will provide information on making, downloading, installing, activating, deleting, and sharing Cairo Clock themes.
LXer Linux News

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , ,

How To Install MDM 1.2.5 From Linux Mint 15 In Ubuntu

May 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
MDM is the default Linux Mint display manager, forked from GDM 2.20, which means it supports the old GDM themes. Linux Mint 15 will ship with MDM 1.2.5 which has received support for HTML greeters (supports HTML5, CSS, Javascript and WebGL) and if you want to install it in Ubuntu, you can use a PPA to install both MDM 1.2.5 as well as the default MDM themes.

Since the previous stable release, MDM has also received many under-the-hood improvements and bug fixes. For a complete feature list and more info on MDM, see its GitHub page.
A MDM HTML theme

Because the default MDM themes are Linux Mint branded, I’ve tweaked some of them to integrate better with Ubuntu, and renamed the package to “ubuntu-mdm-themes”. But I’m no graphics designer so you may want to tweak them further – this can easily be done since the themes are mostly HTML / CSS, so look under /usr/share/mdm/themes/ for GDM themes and in /usr/share/mdm/html-themes/ for the new HTML themes and change them to suit your needs or create your own theme.

Here are some of the themes available by default in Linux Mint and in our PPA:

MDM themes
MDM HTML theme

MDM themes
MDM HTML theme

MDM themes
MDM GDM theme

MDM themes
MDM GDM theme

MDM themes
MDM GDM theme

The default themes include an animated WebGL theme called “Clouds (WebGL)” which looks great, but in my test, the animation was slow both in VirtualBox and on my laptop (running Nvidia Optimus) and I’ve read that it doesn’t work at all for some users, so be careful if you select this theme. There are some other non-WebGL animated HTML themes included by default, which you’ll discover for yourself once you install the latest MDM from Linux Mint 15, by using the instructions below.

Install MDM in Ubuntu

Important: installing MDM will remove GDM (and GNOME Shell, since it depends on GDM – but this is only for Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.04). That’s because there are some conflicts between MDM and GDM. So if you’re using GNOME Shell in Ubuntu 12.10 or 13.04, do not install MDM.

1. To install the latest MDM from Linux Mint 15 in Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 or 12.04, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mdm ubuntu-mdm-themes

During the installation, you’ll be prompted to select the default display manager:

mdm configuration

Select MDM here. Later on, if you want to switch to LightDM, GDM or some other display manager, see this article: How To Switch Between GDM, LightDM, MDM Or KDM In Ubuntu.

2. Once MDM has been installed, restart you computer. Until you restart the computer, MDM Setup (shows up as “Login Window” in Dash / the menu) won’t show up. After restarting the computer, the default (kind of ugly, I know) MDM theme will be loaded – very important: the first time MDM starts, no session is selected so make sure you select one from the drop-down indicated in the screenshot below:

MDM session list

3. Then you can log in, launch MDM Setup (look for “Login Window” in Dash / the menu) and select the theme you want. From the “Style” drop-down you can select what kind of themes you want to use: GDM themes, HTML themes or GTK (there is only one GTK greeter available by default):

Mint MDM setup

Select some theme and then log out to see it in action.

Originally published at WebUpd8: Daily Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.


Web Upd8 – Ubuntu / Linux blog

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: Howtos Tagged With: , , , , ,

How to Install Third-Party Apps in Arch Linux

May 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The following tutorial will teach Arch Linux users how to install third-party packages on their newly installed Arch Linux operating system. This is for Arch Linux beginners only, of course.
LXer Linux News

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , ,

How To Install Emerald In Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 Or 12.04 [PPA]

May 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Emerald Window Decorator development may have stopped and the package is no longer available in the Ubuntu repositories for a few releases, but there are users who want to continue using it, so to make it easier to install, I uploaded Emerald to the main WebUpd8 PPA, for Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 and 12.04.
Emerald is a window decorator for Compiz that allows full composite window decorations. There are many themes out there that come with frames, titlebars, buttons and so on that you won’t see in other window decorators, this being the main reason why Emerald was so popular a while back. Emerald is also highly customizable.

Because it requires Compiz, Emerald doesn’t work in GNOME Shell, but it should work with Unity (3D), GNOME Classic with Compiz or Xfce with Compiz for instance.

Here are a few of the many Emerald themes available on Gnome-Look, DeviantArt and so on:

HalfTime Emerald theme


Emerald themes
Divergence IV “A New Hope” Emerald theme
Emerald themes
Radial Emerald theme

Emerald themes
LittleGlass Emerald theme

Emerald Themes
Dark glass with Ambiance buttons Emerald theme

Emerald themes
Ordinary Emerald theme

The themes can be tweaked using Emerald Theme Manager, which allows you to change the borders size, shadows, titlebar font and alignment and so on. For instance, the LittleGlass theme above has some pretty large shadows so I’ve used the Emerald Theme Manager to change them – under Edit Themes > Frame/Shadows tab. You can also move the window buttons from/to left/right, as long as the theme aspect allows it – more about this, HERE.

Install Emerald Window Decorator in Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 or 12.04

Emerald is available in the main WebUpd8 PPA, which is a general PPA with some other packages as well. If you don’t like that, you can compile Emerald from source or add the PPA, install Emerald, then remove the PPA.

Also, please keep in mind that Emerald Window Decorator is no longer developed / supported and while I’ve tested it for about two days in Ubuntu 13.04 (as well as some brief testing under Ubuntu 12.10 and 12.04 in VirtualBox) and I didn’t encounter any issues, there might be bugs or it may not work at all.

That said, let’s proceed with the Emerald installation:

1. To add the main WebUpd8 PPA and install Emerald Window Decorator in Ubuntu 12.04, 12.10 or 13.04, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install emerald


2. Once installed, get some Emerald themes via Gnome Look, DeviantArt and so on and install them using Emerald Theme Manager: either select “Import” and browse for the .emerald file or simply double click an .emerald theme file and Emerald Theme Manager should install the theme. There are no Emerald themes installed by default so make sure you’ve installed at least one before proceeding with the next step.

3. Start Emerald (this will replace your current window decorations) by pressing ALT + F2 and entering: “emerald –replace” (without the quotes).


4. To continue using Emerald after a logout / restart, install CompizConfig Settings Manager:
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

Then open CompizConfig Settings Manager (CCSM), click the “Window Decoration” plugin and under “Command”, enter: “emerald” (without the quotes):

CCSM Emerald

That’s it!

Reverting the changes

If you want to go back to the default window decorator, open CompizConfig Settings Manager, click the “Window Decoration” plugin again and next to “Command”, click the reset button on the right:

CCSM Emerald reset window decoration
Then log out and log back in. You can also remove Emerald if you want, but make sure you don’t remove it before you reset the CCSM Window Decoration command as explained above:
sudo apt-get remove emerald

Originally published at WebUpd8: Daily Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.


Web Upd8 – Ubuntu / Linux blog

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: Howtos Tagged With: , , , , ,

Install Weather Indicator With New Location And Forecast Fixes In Ubuntu

May 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Weather Indicator used to be one of the most popular Ubuntu appindicators but unfortunately, it doesn’t work properly any more: it crashes when trying to add a new location and the weather forecast doesn’t work – because of this, it was even removed from the Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) official repositories.
Weather Indicator
However, if for whatever reason you don’t want to use My Weather Indicator, a pretty cool alternative by the way, you can now use Weather Indicator again thanks to Joshua, who has fixed the two issues mentioned above along with some other bugs and has created a PPA so you can easily install a working Weather Indicator in Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 and 12.04.

Weather Indicator features:

  • displays current temperature, humidity, wind, sunrise and sunset in the indicator menu and optionally, it can display the weather next to the indicator icon;
  • uses the Yahoo Weather API;
  • 4-day weather forecast;
  • multiple locations support;
  • optional notifications support for severe weather or on every weather condition change;
  • supports imperial and metric units.

Install the fixed Weather Indicator in Ubuntu

To install Weather Indicator, with fixes for adding new locations and for the weather forecast, in Ubuntu, use the following commands in a terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jtasker/weather-indicator
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-weather

Once installed, launch the appindicator from the Dash / menu, select “Set up weather” and you should be able to successfully add locations under the “Locations” tab.

 Important: by default, the indicator only displays an icon on the top panel and it doesn’t display the current temperature. If you want it to display the temperature on the panel, in the Weather Indicator preferences, on the “General” tab, enable “Show temperature near indicator”.

Originally published at WebUpd8: Daily Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.


Web Upd8 – Ubuntu / Linux blog

StumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmail
Filed Under: Howtos Tagged With: , , , , , ,