Questions tagged [ubuntu]
Free, open-source operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux. Ubuntu questions are on topic here, but if you prefer an Ubuntu-only audience there is Ask Ubuntu (https://askubuntu.com/).
21,901
questions
411
votes
11
answers
537k
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How to check which apache modules are enabled/installed?
Which is the most elegant way to check which apache modules are enabled?
397
votes
7
answers
277k
views
Find what package a file belongs to in Ubuntu/Debian?
I frequently find myself missing a program, man page, or other file when working on my Ubuntu 8.04 system. Is there any simple way to look up what package contains a given file (whether it is ...
395
votes
21
answers
544k
views
How do I detach a process from Terminal, entirely?
I use Tilda (drop-down terminal) on Ubuntu as my "command central" - pretty much the way others might use GNOME Do, Quicksilver or Launchy.
However, I'm struggling with how to completely detach a ...
300
votes
10
answers
766k
views
How can I list all IPs in the connected network, through Terminal preferably?
Using Ubuntu 10.10 command line, how can I list all IPs connected to my home network?
Ideally, it needs to be a CLI command as I will be running it from C++.
290
votes
5
answers
233k
views
Zsh not hitting ~/.profile
I've just installed zsh on my Ubuntu system. It seems zsh isn't executing ~/.profile on init. To my best understanding, this should be an automatic behavior. What am I missing?
288
votes
8
answers
851k
views
How do you add a certificate authority (CA) to Ubuntu?
My work has decided to issue their own certificate authority (CA) to handle different aspects of our work securely without paying for certificates.
Cryptographically sign emails
Encrypt email ...
238
votes
5
answers
261k
views
What does the asterisk mean after a filename when you type `ls -l`?
I've done an ls -l inside a directory, and my files are displaying like this :
james@nevada:~/development/tools/android-sdk-linux_86/tools$ ll
total 9512
drwxr-xr-x 3 james james 4096 2010-05-07 ...
228
votes
2
answers
359k
views
How to reload /etc/environment without rebooting?
/etc/environment is officially the correct place for system wide environment variables. But how can I reload the assignments in this file without rebooting or relogging?
Interestingly enough google ...
199
votes
5
answers
483k
views
How to mount a HFS partition in Ubuntu as Read/Write?
I plugged in my external harddrive (which was formatted on my Mac into HFS+ journaled) to my Ubuntu desktop 9.04 64bit. I am not able to get the drive to mount with write capability, how do I do that?...
184
votes
6
answers
82k
views
How to tell from what Ubuntu or Debian repository a package comes?
On a Debian-based system, including Ubuntu, how can one tell which repository a package will be downloaded from, without actually beginning the download? aptitude show and apt-cache info will show the ...
176
votes
7
answers
302k
views
How to password protect gzip files on the command line?
I want to create some tar.gz (and possibly tar.bz2) files, using the tar command on Ubuntu 10.04.
I want to password protect the file.
What is the command to do this (I have Googled, but found ...
174
votes
16
answers
356k
views
How to wipe free disk space in Linux?
When a file is deleted, its contents may still be left in the filesystem, unless explicitly overwritten with something else. The wipe command can securely erase files, but does not seem to allow ...
165
votes
7
answers
227k
views
No USB devices available in VirtualBox
Oracle VirtualBox is unable to list/filter the USB devices attached to my system. As a result, the guest OS is not able to see any USB device either.
This is my configuration:
Host: VirtualBox 5.0.0 ...
160
votes
4
answers
132k
views
How can I launch the GNOME image viewer from the terminal?
It's the default image viewer for Ubuntu, and apparently it's called Eye of Gnome. I would like to be able to launch it from the command line, passing it a file name to open.
155
votes
3
answers
186k
views
What does the -p flag do in "mkdir -p"?
What does the -p flag do in mkdir -p?
153
votes
3
answers
330k
views
What does /dev/sda in Linux mean?
What does
/dev/sda
stand for? What does it mean?
I have both Fedora and Ubuntu installed and if I explore them using Ext2explore from Windows, I see these names:
/dev/sda6
/dev/sda9
Please ...
147
votes
9
answers
231k
views
How do I make Bash my default shell on Ubuntu?
I have a .bash_profile in my home directory, but it isn't getting run on login. If I do the following, then things seem to be as I expect:
ssh myhost
bash
source ~/.bash_profile
But normally that ...
145
votes
10
answers
31k
views
Ubuntu crashes on windows: 0x80040326 Wsl error
I have Ubuntu 22.04 app installed on top of Windows. It worked fine until one day it crashed and now all I get is this error code when I try to start Ubuntu on windows.
Error: 0x80040326
Error code: ...
145
votes
9
answers
75k
views
Running upstart jobs as unprivileged users
What's the canonical way to have an upstart job change its userid and run the script as an unprivileged user?
Obviously one can use su or sudo, but this seems hacky (and can generate needless log ...
142
votes
8
answers
344k
views
How can I monitor the CPU temperature under linux?
How do I monitor and display the CPU temperature using Linux?
140
votes
16
answers
207k
views
How to synchronize the home folder between multiple computers?
I have three computers at home, and would like to have the /home/ folder tree synchronized between the three.
Any files/folders (except those hidden) that are modified/added/removed in one of the ...
138
votes
7
answers
122k
views
Is there a way to show notification from bash script in Ubuntu?
Most of the application can show nicely formatted notification on events that appear on top right corner of the screen. I'm about to write a bash script that will do fairy long processing in the ...
137
votes
12
answers
471k
views
How to upload one file by FTP from command line?
I need to upload a single file to FTP server from Ubuntu. This operation should be done in a script (in non-interactive mode). What is the right syntax for ftp?
I'm trying this, to no avail:
$ ftp -...
136
votes
12
answers
48k
views
How to disable Ctrl+Shift+U?
Ctrl+Shift+U is a combined shortcut in Eclipse.
But when I press it, it shows up a u, just like input with an underline. I guess this shortcut has been declared by Ubuntu, so I can't use it.
I used to ...
135
votes
8
answers
211k
views
VirtualBox to use dual monitors
I am running Kubuntu Hardy Heron, with a dual monitor setup, and have VirtualBox on it running Windows XP in seamless mode.
My problem is, I can't get VirtualBox to extend to the second monitor.
How ...
134
votes
16
answers
364k
views
How do I move files and directories to the parent folder in Linux?
In Linux (Ubuntu), how do you move all the files and directories to the parent directory?
132
votes
1
answer
118k
views
Cannot decompress .tar.xz file, getting "xz: Cannot exec: No such file or directory" from tar
Per How do I uncompress a tarball that uses .xz?, I tried tar xf php-5.6.0RC4.tar.xz and tar -xJf php-5.6.0RC4.tar.xz and in both cases I get the following:
tar (child): xz: Cannot exec: No such file ...
130
votes
9
answers
208k
views
How do I add a user to multiple groups in Ubuntu?
What's the command line utility and the arguments it requires?
130
votes
6
answers
433k
views
How do I log out of `sudo su`?
I'm using sudo su to start mysql and do some homework with it.
When I finish with mysql (or any other command), then I'm still in sudo.
How do I "log out", so my prompt changes back from # to $?
129
votes
2
answers
120k
views
How to add a mp3 handler to sox?
I want to play music in the terminal with sox.
# install sox/lame
sudo apt-get install sox
sudo apt-get install lame
# play music
play music.mp3
# play FAIL formats: no handler for file extension `...
128
votes
12
answers
150k
views
Change default text editor for crontab to vim
I'm using ubuntu 9.10 and the default text editor is nano, which i hate. (doesn't everyone?)
Normally it's not a problem as i just vi or gedit everything but crontab -e is opening with nano. I ...
127
votes
11
answers
131k
views
Run VirtualBox in background, without a window?
I was wondering if it's possible to run an Ubuntu virtual machine using VirtualBox in background, I mean, without any window open.
The idea is to connect via SSH to the Linux host, that would be ...
118
votes
2
answers
72k
views
How to remove/reset Windows Subsystem for Linux on Windows Insider Build 14316
I installed the Windows Subsystem for Linux on Windows 10 Insider Preview build 14316. Now I would like to remove it or, better, revert to its factory defaults i.e. as it was when just installed.
I ...
114
votes
10
answers
307k
views
Play MP3 or WAV file via the Linux command line
I would like to make an alarm system backed by a Ubuntu (no graphical interface) box, which plays various announcement and alarm audio tracks (.mp3 or .wav) via the command line.
For example:
$ root&...
112
votes
3
answers
220k
views
How can I change shell in Ubuntu? [duplicate]
I have a Ubuntu Server VPS and I want to use /bin/bash/ as my shell. How can I change my shell? I have root access but I don't work as root. So dash is my default shell now.
I have read How do I make ...
109
votes
6
answers
163k
views
How can I recover the original file from a .swp file?
I tried opening the .swp file using vi and cat but it displays junk.
108
votes
9
answers
186k
views
Opening a .msg file in Ubuntu [closed]
Someone sent me a .msg file on Skype, and somehow I just can't open this in Ubuntu.
Is there any app in which I could open the .msg file?
108
votes
8
answers
279k
views
tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors
I have written a little script that tars and compresses a list of directories + files.
The script appears to run succesfully, in that a useable .tar.gz file is created after the script runs.
However,...
105
votes
4
answers
65k
views
Convert a PDF to greyscale on the command line in FLOSS?
I have a colour PDF file, and I'm going to print it out and then photocopy it in black and white. I'd like to know what it's like in B&W before photocopying it. Is it possible to 'greyscale' a PDF ...
103
votes
10
answers
974k
views
Updating Python on Ubuntu system
I want to update the Python build on my Linux box, but the only way I know how to do it is uninstalling the current version and installing the new one. My system is already up to date (I updated ...
101
votes
5
answers
380k
views
How to update Google chrome in Ubuntu?
How to update Google chrome in Ubuntu?
101
votes
8
answers
183k
views
How can I view results of my cron jobs?
I see so many guides on how to run crontab, but what I need right now is to learn how to
Find log files about cron jobs
Configure what gets logged
100
votes
3
answers
189k
views
How do I install the Sun/Oracle Java SDK on Ubuntu?
Since 11.10 Ubuntu does not provide the sun-java-jdk, how do I install it?
97
votes
7
answers
184k
views
How to update snap-store linux.. How to update this?
How to update snap-store .
I don't have Ubuntu advantage subscription.
97
votes
5
answers
55k
views
Aptitude vs. apt-get: Which is the recommended (aka the "right") tool to use?
Some time ago I read that aptitude is the preferred tool for installation on Debian-based systems. But when you search around on how to administer a Debian-based system, then aptitude is rarely ...
96
votes
2
answers
219k
views
How can I filter out unique results from grep output?
In linux, I can grep a string from a file using grep mySearchString myFile.txt.
How can I only get the result which are unique?
96
votes
4
answers
69k
views
How do I "identify with services" on IRC?
I am using irrsi as my irc cilent on ubuntu
I have entered "/join #android-dev" in my command window.
But I am getting this error message:
22:05 -!- #android-dev Cannot join channel (+r) - you need ...
95
votes
2
answers
153k
views
Rename user's group name
I just did usermod -l login-name old-name to change the username, but the group name is still the old one.
Any way of renaming the group name? I can't find any info to do so.
95
votes
5
answers
153k
views
How do I change the DNS settings for WSL2?
As far as I've been able to work out, the official process for changing which DNS server is used by WSL2 on Windows 10 is as detailed below. (WSL2 is the new release of the Windows Subsystem for Linux,...
94
votes
14
answers
226k
views
Mouse clicks suddenly stopped working in Ubuntu
This is a weird one. For some reason, last night my mouse partially stopped working. Movement is fine, but the mouse buttons don't work. Mainly it's the left button, but occasionally the right click ...