Linux Archives - Page 3 of 15

How to Install KeePassX on CentOS 7

Linux, Security Comments Off

Sep 232018

Keepassx Even if you’re an Einstein, there’s no way you can remember all the user names and passwords for your Hotmail, Netflix, Gmail, multiple Bank accounts, Credit Card accounts, Dropbox and other sundry login details.

People without a password manager tend to write the user names and passwords on a piece of paper (not good because you can easily lose it) or, worse, use the same set of user names and passwords for multiple accounts (more dangerous because if one of your accounts is compromised the others will soon be too).

The biggest plus of a password manager is that you no longer have to remember multiple user names and passwords but just one master password that provides you with access to all the other user names and passwords.

If you’re not using a password manager, get one immediately. There are several password managers but a lot of them charge a monthly fee.

Since there are open source password managers of high quality, there’s no need to sign up for a fee-based service.

My personal favorite is KeePassX.

KeePassX Password Manager

KeePassX is a decent password manager for Linux and has been around for more than a decade.

I’ve used KeePassX on various flavors of Linux for a few years now and like that it’s free, local (i.e., not cloud-based), and comes with a secure password generator.

The latest version is KeePassX 2.0.2-1 on Ubuntu/Linux Mint repositories but the version for CentOS 7 or CentOS 6 is 0.4.4. The official KeePassX version is newer, 2.0.3.

Default security setting for the KeePassX database on version 0.4.4 of my CentOS 7 machine is AES (Rijndael) 256-bit encryption.

KeePassX has URL open (ctrl u) and auto-fill (ctrl v) capabilities but I must caution that once in a while the auto-fill does not work.

KeePassX also features Groups to let you keep all your user names and passwords for a certain category (say different e-mail accounts) into Groups. So you can have one group for E-mail, another for Entertainment (Netflix, Amazon Videos, etc.), a third for your bank and credit card accounts and so on.

Installing KeePassX

Installing KeePassX on CentOS 7 or CentOS 6 is a no-brainer.

[thomaspc@localhost ~]$ sudo yum install keepassx
[sudo] password for thomaspc: 
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, langpacks, product-id, search-disabled-repos, subscription-manager
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
epel/x86_64/metalink                                                                                                                                     |  14 kB  00:00:00     
 * base: mirror.datto.com
 * epel: mirror.umd.edu
 * extras: centos2.zswap.net
 * updates: mirror.atlanticmetro.net
base                                                                                                                                                     | 3.6 kB  00:00:00     
epel                                                                                                                                                     | 3.2 kB  00:00:00     
extras                                                                                                                                                   | 3.4 kB  00:00:00     
updates                                                                                                                                                  | 3.4 kB  00:00:00     
(1/2): epel/x86_64/updateinfo                                                                                                                            | 944 kB  00:00:00     
(2/2): epel/x86_64/primary                                                                                                                               | 3.6 MB  00:00:00     
epel                                                                                                                                                                12686/12686
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package keepassx.x86_64 0:0.4.4-1.el7 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================================================================================================================
 Package                                    Arch                                     Version                                       Repository                              Size
================================================================================================================================================================================
Installing:
 keepassx                                   x86_64                                   0.4.4-1.el7                                   epel                                   807 k

Transaction Summary
================================================================================================================================================================================
Install  1 Package

Total download size: 807 k
Installed size: 2.8 M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
Downloading packages:
keepassx-0.4.4-1.el7.x86_64.rpm                                                                                                                          | 807 kB  00:00:00     
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
  Installing : keepassx-0.4.4-1.el7.x86_64                                                                                                                                  1/1 
  Verifying  : keepassx-0.4.4-1.el7.x86_64                                                                                                                                  1/1 

Installed:
  keepassx.x86_64 0:0.4.4-1.el7                                                                                                                                                 

Complete!

Advantages & Disadvantages

Since every individual has unique needs, it’s hard to speak for everyone.

In my case, I prefer a password manager that’s local. So KeePassX is a plus for me.

But others may want a cloud-based password manager that they can access from any device anywhere.

KeePassX will not please such people because it lacks a cloud version. But you can keep a copy of the encrypted KeePassX database on Dropbox or similar online storage service and access the KeePassX database that way.

Overall, I’ve found KeePassX to be a reliable Password Manager on my CentOS 7 and Linux Mint 18 systems.

You can read more about KeePassX on the password manager’s web site KeePassX.org.

6 Ways to Check if a Package is Installed on a Linux Mint or Ubuntu PC

How To, Linux Comments Off

Sep 102018

This morning I was checking via the command line to see if MySQL Server was installed on my Linux Mint 18 (Sarah) system and fumbled around a bit about how to do it.

Presumably, there are many other Linux users who wish to install a package and unsure how to check it on the command line.

So I decided to do this blog post on the various ways to check if a particular package is installed on a Linux Mint or Ubuntu system.

For each unique method, I will illustrate with two examples (the first example for a package not installed and the second for a package that’s already installed).

1. apt-cache policy Method

Not Installed

$ apt-cache policy mysql-server
N: Unable to locate package mysql-server

apt-cache policy is a quick way to determine if a particular package is installed on a Ubuntu or Linux Mint system.

Already Installed

$ apt-cache policy grsync
grsync:
  Installed: 1.2.5-1
  Candidate: 1.2.5-1
  Version table:
 *** 1.2.5-1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

2. dpkg -l Method

Not Installed

$ dpkg -l | grep mysql-server

Since mysql-server is not on my system, I did not get any output when I ran the dpkg -l | grep mysql-server command.

Already Installed

$ dpkg -l | grep grsync
ii  grsync        1.2.5-1       amd64        GTK+ frontend for rsync

3. dpkg-query Method

Let’s now consider the dpkg-query way to see if a specific package is installed on Ubuntu or Linux Mint.

Not Installed

$ dpkg-query -s mysql-server
dpkg-query: package 'mysql-server' is not installed and no information is available
Use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files,
and dpkg --contents (= dpkg-deb --contents) to list their contents.

The above example clearly demonstrates that mysql-server is not installed on my Linux Mint 18 PC.

Already Installed

$ dpkg-query -s grsync
Package: grsync
Status: install ok installed
.....output truncated

4. dpkg -s Method

dpkg -s package_name is another quick way to determine if a package is installed on an Ubuntu system.

Not Installed

$ dpkg -s mysql-server | grep Status
dpkg-query: package 'mysql-server' is not installed and no information is available
Use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files,
and dpkg --contents (= dpkg-deb --contents) to list their contents.

Already Installed

$ dpkg -s cherrytree | grep Status
Status: install ok installed

5. apt list Method

Not Installed

$ apt list mysql-server
Listing... Done
mysql-server/xenial-updates,xenial-updates,xenial-security,xenial-security 5.7.23-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 all

Already Installed

$ apt list firefox
Listing... Done
firefox/sarah,now 61.0.1+linuxmint1+sylvia amd64 [installed]
N: There is 1 additional version. Please use the '-a' switch to see it

6. dpkg -l | grep package Method

Not Installed

$ dpkg -l | grep mysql-server

Since mysql-server is not installed on my Linux desktop, the above example did not produce any output.

Already Installed

$ dpkg -l | grep firefox
ii  firefox                     61.0.1+linuxmint1+sylvia            amd64        Safe and easy web browser from Mozilla
ii  firefox-locale-en           61.0.1+linuxmint1+sylvia            amd64        English language pack for Firefox

How to Create a File on Linux

Linux Comments Off

Aug 132018

As I say often, there are many ways to skin a Linux cat.

Here are a few ways to create a new file on a Linux system.

I have tested the following commands on CentOS 7 and Linux Mint 18.

Creating a New File

1. Touch method

$ touch file_name

Example:

$ touch jennifer

$ ls
Interview-Questions       Favorite-Beer.txt             REdHat-Release-Dates.odt               Ubuntu-Tips
jennifer

2. Echo method

$ echo -n > New_file

Example:

$ echo -n > sammy
$ ls
Desktop  Documents  Downloads  Music  Pictures  Public  sammy  Templates  Videos  VirtualBox VMs

3. Echo method with some content in file

$ echo jack and jill went up the hill > new_file

Example:

$ echo jack and jill went up the hill > donald_trump
$ ls
Desktop  Documents  donald_trump  Downloads  Music  Pictures  Public  sammy  Templates  Videos  VirtualBox VMs
$ ls
Desktop  Documents  donald_trump  Downloads  Music  Pictures  Public  sammy  Templates  Videos  VirtualBox VMs
$ cat donald_trump
jack and jill went up the hill

4. Quickie Method

$ > New_File

$ > Hillary_clinton
$ ls
$        Documents     Downloads        Music     Public  Templates  VirtualBox VMs
Desktop  donald_trump  Hillary_clinton  Pictures  sammy   Videos

5. Via Nano Text Editor

$ nano new_file

Once new_file is opened, hit ctr-o (i.e., the alphabet o and NOT zero).

You can also create a new file via the Vim text editor:

6. Use the Vim Text Editor

$ vi new_file

To save your new_file, hit Esc, then type :wq the file will then be saved and you will exit vim.

Linux Mint 19 Won’t Support Minimal Install Option

Linux Comments Off

Apr 302018

The bigwigs at Linux Mint have spoken.

The nice minimal install option available in the new Ubuntu 18.04 LTS distro will NOT be offered with the upcoming Linux Mint 19 aka Tara.

With Ubuntu 18.04’s minimal install, you only get the Firefox browser and a few basic utilities, not the fancy stuff like LibreOffice, etc.

Linux Mint did not provide any reason why such a cool feature as minimal install would not be made available in the next major version of the popular distribution.

Well, you can’t really question the wisdom of the Delphic oracles. Can you?

Although based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Linux Mint 19 will likely differ from its parent in another important way too.

Linux Mint developers are considering retaining support for home directory encryption, a feature stripped in the Ubuntu 18.04 installer. But a final decision has yet to be made in this matter.

No Minimal Install Support with Linux Mint 19 aka Tara

Tara – Other Features

Besides leveraging the various improvements in its upstream parent Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, the love-child (Tara) should also feature improvements in Mint tools, with the focus on Update Manager, Software Manager and Welcome Screen. Continue reading »

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS – My First Impressions

Linux Comments Off

Apr 262018

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS aka Bionic Beaver is out today (April 26, 2018) and you can download it here.

After downloading it, go to the folder and do a shasum check to ensure your download’s integrity.

Here’s how to do the shasum check:

$ sha256sum bionic-desktop-amd64.iso
adf9c1cbb2529cb06a67bbb16af881d8d918078e7e155a897ac30a9e0cf2bafa  bionic-desktop-amd64.iso

Since this is a LTS (long term support) version, users of Desktop, Server and Core editions will get support in terms of security and other updates for the next five years, i.e., until April 2023.

I’m not a stranger to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS since I had already downloaded beta 2 (desktop version) a few days back on a Dell Optiplex 780 PC and launched it via Virtualbox.

Here are my first impressions of the official release of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, which hews close to beta 2. Continue reading »

How to Check If an Application is Installed in Ubuntu

Linux Comments Off

Dec 012016

In this brief post, I’ll quickly show you how to check via the terminal if a particular program is installed on an Ubuntu Linux system.

For easy understanding, I will consider a program that is already installed (keepassx) on my computer and one that is not installed nmap.

On the terminal, there are two reliable ways to find out if a program is installed on an Ubuntu or Linux Mint system: Via apt-cache policy or by running dpkg. Continue reading »

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