How to

Linux & Systems Administration

Installing and Configuring BuddyPress Themes in WordPress
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

BuddyPress themes extend WordPress’s community features with member profiles, activity streams, and group functionality. While any modern WordPress theme technically works with BuddyPress, dedicated BuddyPress themes provide optimized templates and styling out of the box. Finding BuddyPress Themes Several repositories host BuddyPress-compatible themes: WordPress.org Theme Directory — Filter by the “buddypress” tag at wordpress.org/themes/ Third-party…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Running Legacy Applications in Different Windows Locales
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

Legacy non-Unicode applications often display garbled text when run on Windows systems with mismatched language settings. A program compiled for Chinese text encoding will show corruption on an English Windows installation. This guide covers practical solutions for 2026. Modern Approach: Using Windows Locale Emulation The most reliable method is to run the application with a…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Redirect HTTP to HTTPS Using Apache mod_rewrite
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

If you want to force HTTPS on your site, add this to your .htaccess file: RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301] The key parts: RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off — matches only HTTP requests ^(.*)$ — matches any request https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} — rebuilds the URL with HTTPS [L,R=301] — uses a permanent redirect (301) and…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Installing HP Printer Drivers on Linux Mint and Ubuntu
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 12, 2026

HP printers work reasonably well on Linux, though the setup process varies depending on whether you have a network printer or a USB-connected device. Here’s what you need to know. Install HPLIP HPLIP (HP Linux Imaging and Printing) is the main driver package for HP printers. Install it along with the GUI configuration tool: sudo…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Clone a Git Branch with Shallow History
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

When you need just the files from a specific branch without downloading the entire repository history, use shallow cloning. This is useful for large repositories where full history takes time to transfer, or when you only care about the current state of a particular branch. The core command is: git clone -b branch-name <repository-url> –depth…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Installing No-IP DUC on Linux
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 12, 2026

The No-IP Dynamic Update Client (DUC) keeps your dynamic DNS hostname pointing to your current IP address. Here’s how to install and configure the noip2 client on modern Linux distributions. Prerequisites Before you start, install the required build tools and development libraries: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install build-essential gcc libc6-dev If you’re on a…

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Linux & Systems Administration

How to Change Your Hostname on Linux Mint
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

The hostname identifies your system on the network. On Linux Mint, you can change it through the GUI or command line depending on your preference and situation. Using the GUI (Easiest Method) Open Settings from the application menu Go to Details or About Click the hostname field (you may need to click a pencil icon…

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Linux & Systems Administration

View a File at a Specific Git Commit
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 12, 2026

Sometimes you need to view a file as it existed at a specific commit in Git — without checking out that commit or modifying your working directory. Git provides several ways to do this. View a File at a Specific Commit # View file content at a specific commit git show commit_hash:path/to/file # Example git…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Configuring Mappers and Reducers in Hadoop: CLI and Code Approaches
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

To set the number of mappers and reducers when submitting a Hadoop job, use the -D flag with the appropriate property names. The correct properties depend on your Hadoop version. Hadoop 2.x and Later (YARN) Use the modern property names: hadoop jar -Dmapreduce.job.maps=5 -Dmapreduce.job.reduces=2 yourapp.jar The older mapred.map.tasks and mapred.reduce.tasks properties are deprecated in Hadoop…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Migrating a Git Repository from Google Code to GitHub
ByWeiwei Jia Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

Google Code was shut down in 2016, but you might still need to migrate legacy projects that were hosted there. If you have a local Git repository from Google Code or an archived mirror, here’s how to push it to GitHub while preserving all history. Prerequisites A GitHub account and a new empty repository created…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Expanding C: Drive Beyond Disk Management Limitations
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 12, 2026

Windows Disk Management has built-in limitations for resizing partitions — it often won’t let you extend the C: drive even when unallocated space exists on the disk. If you’ve hit that wall, third-party partition tools can handle the job more flexibly. Why Disk Management Falls Short Disk Management can only extend a volume into adjacent…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Why iOS 7.1.2 Jailbreaking Isn’t Worth Your Time Anymore
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

iOS 7.1.2 was released in 2014, and jailbreaking it today is neither practical nor recommended for active use. Why jailbreaking iOS 7.1.2 doesn’t make sense in 2026 Security vulnerabilities: iOS 7.1.2 reached end-of-life over a decade ago. It contains hundreds of unpatched security flaws that expose your device to malware, data theft, and network attacks….

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Linux & Systems Administration

GRUB Not Detecting Windows on UEFI Systems
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 12, 2026

When you install Fedora (or other Linux distributions) alongside Windows on a UEFI system, GRUB sometimes fails to generate a functional boot entry for Windows. The symptom is a missing or non-working “Windows Boot Manager” entry in the GRUB menu, or GRUB drops you to a shell prompt when you select it. Why This Happens…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Mapping LVM Logical Volumes to Physical Disks
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

When managing LVM storage, you need to know which physical disks support each logical volume — especially for risk assessment when hardware fails. This guide shows you how to trace those relationships. Using lvdisplay to map extents The lvdisplay command with the –maps flag shows how logical extents map to physical volumes: lvdisplay –maps This…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Download YouTube Videos with yt-dlp
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 12, 2026

The most reliable way to download YouTube videos is yt-dlp, a maintained fork of youtube-dl that handles modern YouTube changes and DRM protections. It works on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Installation Linux (Debian/Ubuntu): sudo apt install yt-dlp Linux (Fedora/RHEL): sudo dnf install yt-dlp macOS: brew install yt-dlp Windows or any system with Python 3.8+: pip…

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Linux & Systems Administration

How to Transfer Videos to iPhone on Linux
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 12, 2026

Getting video files from your Linux machine to an iPhone for offline viewing doesn’t require iTunes or complex workarounds. Here are the practical methods that actually work in 2026. Quick Upload via VLC’s WiFi Interface VLC for iOS remains the most straightforward approach for occasional transfers. It’s free, open-source, and handles virtually any codec you…

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Linux & Systems Administration

How to Erase and Partition USB Drives on Windows
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 12, 2026

When you need to completely wipe a USB drive on Windows, you have several reliable options. Choose based on your security requirements: Disk Management for quick reformatting, DiskPart for automation, or secure erasure tools if the drive contained sensitive data. Using Windows Disk Management The simplest built-in approach: Connect the USB drive Open Disk Management…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Replace Strings with Newlines in Emacs
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

To replace text containing newline characters in Emacs, you need to insert actual newline characters in the replacement string rather than literal \n sequences. Using C-q C-j for interactive replacement The standard approach uses quoted-insert to insert special characters literally: C-q invokes quoted-insert C-j inserts a literal newline (LF, ASCII 10) Open the find and…

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Linux & Systems Administration

Restore Cursor Position in Emacs with save-place-mode
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 13, 2026

Emacs doesn’t restore your cursor to the last editing position by default—Vim does this out of the box. Fortunately, save-place-mode is built into Emacs and requires minimal configuration to enable this behavior. Basic Setup Add this to your ~/.emacs.d/init.el: (save-place-mode 1) That’s all you need. The mode automatically saves your cursor position when you close…

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Linux & Systems Administration

VPN Over SSH: Using sshuttle and Alternatives
ByEric Ma Mar 24, 2018Apr 12, 2026

SSH tunneling and port forwarding work well for specific traffic, but they don’t give you a full VPN-like experience where all system traffic routes through the remote server. If you need transparent, system-wide traffic redirection over SSH, you have several solid options depending on your platform. sshuttle on Linux and macOS sshuttle is the standard…

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