Launch VirtualBox VM with a .desktop file
Ubuntu .desktop files are easy to create with a simple text editor
2017-11-09 by rp
VirtualBox is a great, free, virtual machine engine. However, its multiple monitor capabilities are a little prickly. Launching the VM with one monitor when the settings are set for two monitors is sometimes troublesome. The problem is easy to fix: just change the VM settings to one or two monitors. But it's annoying to have to remember to do that. This post shows how to resolve this challenge with a couple of simple Ubuntu .desktop files.
Ubuntu 17.04 connects to network but not the Internet
I'm not sure what I did to fix it, but it works now!
2017-11-12 by rp
An Ubuntu 17.04 VirtualBox VM, (running from an Ubuntu 16.04 host) suddenly stopped connecting to the Internet. The last time it was running all was well; then one day, at boot-up, it couldn't connect to the Internet. Other Ubuntu VMs internet connections worked just fine. This wasn't a problem with the host, it appeared to be isolated to the one VM.
How to reset MariaDB's root user password
Don't freak out--this isn't a very challenging task
2017-11-13 by rp
It's late at night and you just need to do a little work with MariaDB (or MySQL) but you've completely forgotten the root
password. With a little command line effort, this is an easy problem to solve.
How to refresh a MySQL database on a remote server with SCP and SSH
Pushing a fresh copy of a MySQL or MariaDB database is snap with a simple Bash script
2017-12-09 by rp
When a project is in development you often need to copy a new instance of a MySQL refresh the server's database with the latest dev copy. This post provides a couple of Bash scripts to do that easily to and from the dev computer.
How to manually install an app on Ubuntu
Avoid conflicts and ensure you're getting the lastest version
2018-01-27 by rp
Installing an app manually on Ubuntu isn't hard, but it's fiddly. Especially for Ubuntu rookies. However, if you take your time and pay attention to the details it's quite doable. This example shows how to install Firefox Developer Edition manually, but the instructions work for other Ubuntu applications.
A Bash script to install Firefox Dev Edition
Although this script is specifically for installing Firefox Dev Edition, it could easily be modified for other apps.
2018-02-03 by rp
Another post on this blog explains how to install an Ubuntu app manually. While it's good to know what's going on with all those steps, this post puts all of that that article discusses into a reusable Bash script. This makes it very easy to keep an app like Firefox Dev Edition refreshed.
Using grep, curl, and tail to scrape data from a Web page
Use Linux utilities to automate the boring, and error-prone, things
2018-02-04 by rp
Linux includes a ton of great utilities that make Bash scripts better. This post looks at how to use Curl, Grep, and Tail to fetch the latest release number of Firefox Developer Edition to automate its installation.
How to install Ubuntu 17.10 on a VirtualBox VM from scratch
Draft
2018-04-02 by rp
Install Ubuntu 17.10 on a VirtualBox virtual machine from scratch
Mounting a secondary drive on Ubuntu at start up
Draft
2018-04-03 by rp
Mounting a secondary drive on Ubuntu at startup
Copying SSH keys to another PC
Draft
2018-04-05 by rp
Copying SSH keys (both public and private) from one PC to another simplifies SSH key management on Digital Ocean droplets.
Install Source Code Pro font on Ubuntu
2018-04-08 by rp
Source Code Pro is a great, free mono-spaced font. This article provides a Bash script for downloading and installing Source Code Pro on Ubuntu.
Using Yank to copy command output
Draft
2018-10-22 by rp
How to use Yank to copy command output to the clipboard.
How to set a directories default group and permissions
Draft
2018-11-16 by rp
Using Docker on Ubuntu sometimes imposes frustrations with directory default groups and permissions. Here's how to fix that.
How to customize Ubuntu's terminal tab titles
This simple change helps you manage multiple terminal tabs
2018-12-09 by rp
Ubuntu's default terminal title display is a little verbose. It includes the current user and machine name and the current directory name (which is chopped off of the right end of the directory name). This default title text is never any help!
Using XDebug in an Ubuntu Docker container
Love it or hate it, XDebug deserves a place in every PHP programmer's kitbag
Draft
2019-08-11 by rp
How to install and configure PHP's XDebug in an Ubuntu Docker container.