Xubuntu on Alienware 14 R2

don't need anything but linux on this guy.
deleted intel rst
modified bios
  • turned of raid, enabled ahci
  • turned on uefi boot
booted usb with xubuntu and installed os to conventional harddrive
left ssd empty

enabled alternate drivers


enable caching on the SSD

lvcreate -n CacheMetaLV -L 32M xubuntu-vg /dev/sdb
lvcreate -n temp -l 8 xubuntu-vg /dev/sdb
lvcreate -n CacheDataLV -l 100%FREE xubuntu-vg /dev/sdb
lvremove xubuntu-vg/temp
lvconvert --type cache-pool --poolmetadata xubuntu-vg/CacheMetaLV xubuntu-vg/CacheDataLV
lvconvert --type cache --cachepool xubuntu-vg/CacheDataLV xubuntu-vg/root
lvs -a xubuntu-vg

So it turns out that this works fine until you reboot then the rootfs can't be mounted because the init ramdisk lacks some modules
These are my reference links:

  1. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lvm2/+bug/1423796
  2. http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=119644
I deleted the cache and am going to try again.

Yep following those instructions made rebooting work well.

I was desperately trying to get my Dell P2415Q to work through the displayport for several days.   No matter what I dud the monitor was never detected.  I thought I had an Optimus problem, but no, after 3 days of beating my head against the wall, I power cycled my monitor and voila, 4k output with the Nvidia driver through the displayport.  Sadly I had reinstalled winblows because I thought it was something wrong with Linux on this laptop.
Well Xubuntu back on now, time to re-engage the lvmcache.....


fdisk /dev/sdb
# cvreate 1 partition of linux lvm type
pvcreate /dev/sdb1
vgextend -v xubuntu-vg /dev/sdb1
lvcreate -n CacheMetaLV -L 32M xubuntu-vg /dev/sdb1
lvcreate -n temp -l 8 xubuntu-vg /dev/sdb1
lvcreate -n CacheDataLV -l 100%FREE xubuntu-vg /dev/sdb1
lvremove xubuntu-vg/temp
lvconvert --type cache-pool --poolmetadata xubuntu-vg/CacheMetaLV xubuntu-vg/CacheDataLV
lvconvert --type cache --cachepool xubuntu-vg/CacheDataLV xubuntu-vg/root
lvs -a xubuntu-vg

echo "dm_cache" >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
echo "dm_cache_mq" >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
echo "dm_persistent_data" >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
echo "dm_bufio" >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules

cat > /etc/initramfs-tools/hooks/lvmcachechech.sh <<'EOF'
#!/bin/sh

PREREQ="lvm2"

prereqs()
{
    echo "$PREREQ"
}

case $1 in
prereqs)
    prereqs
    exit 0
    ;;
esac

if [ ! -x /usr/sbin/cache_check ]; then
    exit 0
fi

. /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hook-functions

copy_exec /usr/sbin/cache_check

manual_add_modules dm_cache dm_cache_mq

EOF

chmod 700 /etc/initramfs-tools/hooks/lvmcachechech.sh
apt-get install thin-provisioning-tools
update-initramfs -u -k all

Next step let's get google chrome on here as well as firefox
http://askubuntu.com/questions/510056/how-to-install-google-chrome

wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list'
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install google-chrome-beta


Apparently installing beta Google Chrome results in a second apt source being created. This causes an error when running `sudo apt-get update`. To fix `sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome-beta.list` and comment the deb repository.

sudo apt-get update



sudo apt-get install xscreensaver xscreensaver-data-extra vim xscreensaver-gl nedit xbacklight fonts-droid fonts-inconsolata fonts-ubuntu-font-family-console fonts-ubuntu-title fonts-wine-development ttf-ubuntu-font-family ttf-xfree86-nonfree xfonts-base curl rxvt-unicode-256color rxvt screen ctags xdaliclock fortune xfonts-100dpi xscreensaver-data openconnect network-manager-openconnect{,-gnome} openjdk-8-jdk libbonobo2-bin libgnomevfs2-bin libgnomevfs2-extra gnome-mime-data libice-doc libsm-doc libxcb-doc libxt-doc openjdk-8-demo ruby awscli xfce4-artwork xfce4-battery-plugin xfce4-cpufreq-plugin xfce4-datetime-plugin xfce4-diskperf-plugin xfce4-goodies xfce4-mixer xfce4-sensors-plugin seahorse rdesktop xfsprogs btrfs-tools openssh-server dump ttf-bitstream-vera ri ruby-dev bundler xsensors attr quota cifs-utils xfonts-terminus xfonts-terminus-oblique ntp devilspie2  dos2unix terminator
sudo fc-cache -f -v

Ok, now my work VPN solution is Cisco based. Luckily the Openconnect clients work just fine.

sudo apt-get install openconnect network-manager-openconnect{,-gnome}
Flash is way too insecure
sudo apt-get remove flashplugin-installer
Install rvm so I can have easy ruby management
/usr/bin/curl -sL https://get.rvm.io | bash
time rvm install ruby
gem install bundler
gem instal capistrano -v 2.15.7
gem install aws-sdk-v1
gem install aws-sdk:1.66.0
gem install pry-nav
gem install aws-sdk

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/env /bin/env   # fedora compatibility

Personalizations (highly customized so unlikely to be of use to others though I could share if interested)

  1. xfce desktop panels (includes launchers for different chrome profiles via different configuration directories)
  2. merged .bashrc
  3. custom ~/bin/ files

bind nameserver
sudo apt-get install bind9 bind9-doc
rsyslogd
sudo /etc/rsyslog.conf
# uncomment udp and tcp listeners

sudo service rsyslog restart
sudo apt-get install vnc4server
# install perforce
cd /usr/local
(umask 022; sudo tar zxvf /tmp/p4v.tgz)
export P4VER=p4v-2015.2.1315639

sudo mv /tmp/p4 /usr/local/${P4VER}/bin
sudo chmod 0755 /usr/local/${P4VER}/bin/p4
sudo chown -R bin:bin ${P4VER}
sudo mkdir -m 0755 -p /usr/share/icons/perforce
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/local/bin/p4 p4 /usr/local/${P4VER}/bin/p4 201502
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/local/bin/p4v p4v /usr/local/${P4VER}/bin/p4v 201502 \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Merge_96x96.png P4-Merge_96x96.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Merge_96x96.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-V_16x16.png P4-V_16x16.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-V_16x16.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Merge_32x32.png P4-Merge_32x32.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Merge_32x32.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Merge_16x16.png P4-Merge_16x16.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Merge_16x16.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Admin_96x96.png P4-Admin_96x96.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Admin_96x96.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Merge_48x48.png P4-Merge_48x48.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Merge_48x48.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Merge_24x24.png P4-Merge_24x24.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Merge_24x24.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Merge_48x48-badge.png P4-Merge_48x48-badge.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Merge_48x48-badge.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-V_96x96-badge.png P4-V_96x96-badge.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-V_96x96-badge.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Admin_48x48-badge.png P4-Admin_48x48-badge.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Admin_48x48-badge.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-V_48x48-badge.png P4-V_48x48-badge.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-V_48x48-badge.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Admin_32x32.png P4-Admin_32x32.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Admin_32x32.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Admin_24x24.png P4-Admin_24x24.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Admin_24x24.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-V_96x96.png P4-V_96x96.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-V_96x96.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-V_48x48.png P4-V_48x48.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-V_48x48.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Admin_16x16.png P4-Admin_16x16.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Admin_16x16.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-V_32x32.png P4-V_32x32.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-V_32x32.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Admin_48x48.png P4-Admin_48x48.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Admin_48x48.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Admin_96x96-badge.png P4-Admin_96x96-badge.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Admin_96x96-badge.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-Merge_96x96-badge.png P4-Merge_96x96-badge.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-Merge_96x96-badge.png \
  --slave /usr/share/icons/perforce/P4-V_24x24.png P4-V_24x24.png /usr/local/${P4VER}/lib/p4v/P4VResources/icons/P4-V_24x24.png

sudo apt-get  install iperf3

20160204 - update
Configuring postfix to relay mail through Gmail
https://easyengine.io/tutorials/linux/ubuntu-postfix-gmail-smtp/




Make new external encrypted drive for backups

cryptsetup --verbose --verify-passphrase luksFormat /dev/sdc
cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdc EXT1TB
mkfs.ext4 -L EXT1TB /dev/mapper/EXT1TB















































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