To find all available versions of a package in your repository, use the –showduplicates flag: dnf list –showduplicates kernel Or for other packages: dnf list –showduplicates <package-name> The output shows both installed and available versions with their release tags. For example: Installed Packages kernel.x86_64 6.8.1-1.fc39 @updates Available Packages kernel.x86_64 6.7.12-200.fc39 updates kernel.x86_64 6.6.25-1.fc39 updates kernel.x86_64…
Xen remains production-grade virtualization for specific use cases (AWS EC2, Citrix Hypervisor), but most Linux distributions default to KVM. This guide covers Xen DomU setup using modern tools and practices. For new deployments, evaluate KVM/libvirt or container solutions like Podman/Kubernetes first. Storage Setup Create a file-backed virtual block device (VBD) for your DomU. File-backed storage…
This post documents jailbreaking procedures for legacy iOS devices (iPod Touch, early iPhone) using Spirit—an untethered jailbreak tool from the late 2000s. Modern iOS devices (2010 and later) use entirely different security models and jailbreak methods. This information is preserved for historical reference only and has no practical application to current iOS versions. About Spirit…
When using KDE Plasma with GTK applications, you’ll notice the mouse cursor switches to a default style when moving from the desktop to applications like Firefox or GIMP. This happens because GTK and Qt use separate cursor theme configurations by default. Quick Fix The easiest solution is to explicitly configure GTK to use your chosen…
If you prefer booting to a minimal environment and starting your desktop manually, you can configure startx to launch KDE Plasma instead of your default desktop environment. Understanding startx and Desktop Selection The startx command reads configuration files to determine which desktop environment to start. On systemd-based distributions (Fedora, RHEL, Arch), the startup chain typically…
Modern Linux distributions typically auto-detect and load NVIDIA drivers without requiring manual xorg.conf configuration. However, if you’re using an older setup with an explicitly configured xorg.conf file, or if you need to customize NVIDIA driver behavior, you can disable the NVIDIA logo that displays during X server startup. Modern Approach (Wayland/Systemd) On current distros using…
MAC stands for Media Access Control — a six-byte identifier (usually written as twelve hexadecimal digits) that uniquely identifies a network interface on a LAN. The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) maps IP addresses to MAC addresses at layer 2. You might need to change your MAC address to: Bypass network access controls tied to MAC…
Understanding and managing system time is crucial for logging, cron jobs, SSL certificates, and system synchronization. Here’s how to handle it properly on modern Linux systems. Unix Time (POSIX Time) Unix time represents seconds elapsed since 00:00:00 UTC on January 1, 1970, excluding leap seconds. Get the current Unix timestamp: $ date +%s 1735689600 This…
MPlayer and mencoder are obsolete. FFmpeg and mpv (the actively maintained fork of MPlayer) are the standard tools for video manipulation on Linux systems today. While some MPlayer syntax still works in mpv, FFmpeg is more performant, better documented, and handles modern codecs reliably. This guide covers practical tasks using FFmpeg and mpv, with mpv…
You may need to prevent certain packages from being updated during system maintenance—the kernel on production servers, or specific library versions you’ve carefully tuned. When you run dnf update or yum update, you want those packages skipped entirely. The solution is straightforward: add an exclusion to DNF or YUM’s configuration file. Configuration Syntax Add this…
Port forwarding allows external hosts to reach services inside a private network by mapping traffic from a public address to an internal one. On Linux, this is implemented through iptables rules that modify packet headers as they traverse the kernel’s netfilter framework. Common use cases include exposing HTTP/HTTPS servers from a private LAN to the…
Compiling LaTeX documents with BibTeX involves multiple passes—typically three runs of latex followed by one bibtex run to resolve citations. This sequence is identical across most documents, making it perfect for automation with a Makefile. Basic Makefile Template Here’s a practical Makefile for LaTeX with BibTeX support: FILENAME = main LATEX = pdflatex BIBTEX =…
tmpfs delivers exceptional I/O performance since it lives entirely in RAM. Exporting it via NFS can be useful for temporary caches, build artifacts, or high-speed data sharing between systems on a trusted network. The catch: NFS needs additional configuration to export pseudo-filesystems like /dev/shm. Without the right settings, you’ll hit access denied errors or fsid…
On Fedora/RHEL-based systems: dnf install ecryptfs-utils On Debian/Ubuntu: apt-get install ecryptfs-utils Load the kernel module modprobe ecryptfs To ensure the module loads automatically on boot, add it to /etc/modules-load.d/: echo “ecryptfs” | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/ecryptfs.conf Create directories You’ll need two directories: one for encrypted storage (.private) and one as the mount point (private). The .private…
Google Apps accounts can connect to Google Talk through XMPP, and Pidgin handles this well. Here’s how to configure it properly. Adding the Account Open Pidgin and create a new account. You’ll configure it across two tabs. Basic Tab Settings: Setting Value Protocol XMPP Username eric (local part of your email) Domain example.com (your domain…
Firefox performance on Linux can be significantly improved through configuration tuning. Most of these settings apply across platforms, though this guide focuses on Linux-specific considerations. Network Pipelining HTTP pipelining allows Firefox to send multiple requests on a single connection before waiting for responses. Modern HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 handle multiplexing more efficiently, but pipelining can still…
Xen remains a production hypervisor for enterprise deployments (AWS EC2, Citrix Hypervisor), though KVM has become the default for most Linux distributions. If you’re deploying Xen in 2026, you’ll likely be working with recent stable releases rather than the legacy versions covered in older guides. This guide covers building a modern Xen Dom0 environment on…
rsync is a reliable choice for backing up your Linux home directory, especially when dealing with large files and incremental changes. Unlike git (which struggles with files >5GB), rsync efficiently handles large files and only transfers what’s changed on subsequent runs. Basic Backup Command The fundamental syntax is straightforward: rsync -avxP \ /path/to/directory/to/backup \ /path/to/directory/for/storing/backup…
The rpm and dnf commands let you inspect exactly which files a package installed and find the package that owns a specific file. These queries work on both the host system and inside containers like Toolbox or Distrobox. List Files from an Installed Package rpm -ql package-name This recursively lists all files and directories the…
This guide documents theme configuration for GNOME 2 and early KDE environments. If you’re running GNOME 40+, KDE Plasma 5, or later, refer to your desktop’s modern theming systems instead—most of these packages and configuration methods no longer apply. Historical Context The Shiki Colors theme paired with GNOME Colors icons represented a popular approach to…