Modifiying the Source of a Package and Creating a New Deb Binary

In order to download the source code of an existing package, first install the prerequisites:

sudo apt-get install build-essential debhelper

To get the source code of a package, run the following command:

apt-get source {name_of_package_interested_in}

Make changes to the source using an editor like geany or via terminal through nano.  Edit the changelog file and add a record of your changes to build a new revision number.  After you have made the changes, run the following commands to build the package which should include your changes.

dpkg-source --commit
dpkg-buildpackage -b

The updated package has been built.  To install the package, simply use the below commands:

sudo dpkg --install {name_of_new_deb_file}

To remove the software:

sudo dpkg -r {name_of_package [NOT NAME OF DEB FILE]}

Now you can release it!

Install VSFTPD 3.0.2 on the ARM Platform for Raspbian or Debian

Download and install the arm compiled VSFTPD 3.0.2 deb package file and init script:

wget -N http://dinofly.com/files/linux/vsftpd_3.0.2_arm.tar.gz
tar -zxvf vsftpd_3.0.2_arm.tar.gz
if [ ! -e "/etc/init.d/vsftpd" ]; then
    sudo cp vsftpd /etc/init.d/
fi
sudo dpkg -i vsftpd_3.0.2-1_armhf.deb

Now, run these commands:

sudo useradd -d /var/ftp ftp
sudo mkdir -p /var/ftp
sudo chown root.root /var/ftp

Finally, start the VSFTPD service and set it to run on boot:

sudo service vsftpd restart
sudo update-rc.d vsftpd defaults

VSFTPD 3.0.2 should now be installed on your ARM device.

Anonymous VSFTPD Setup (Read Only)

Configuration:

In order to enable anonymous FTP connections to a particular directory while still supporting authentication for virtual users for their files via PAM isn't that difficult.  Install VSFTPD if you haven't done so already by running the following command:

sudo apt-get install vsftpd

Create a backup of your existing VSFTPD confiugration file (this guide assumes you have already installed vsftpd):

sudo cp /etc/vsftpd.conf /etc/vsftpd.conf.bak

Next, let's edit the file:

sudo nano /etc/vsftpd.conf

Add the following lines to your configuration file:

anonymous_enable=YES
anon_root={INSERT_PATH_TO_ANONYMOUS_DIRECTORY}
anon_mkdir_write_enable=NO
anon_upload_enable=NO

Adding these lines enables anonymous FTP to the specified directory where files can be read and downloaded only.  Anonymous users cannot write, delete, change, or modify files because of the anon_mkdir_write_enable=NO and the anon_upload_enable=NO configuration lines.  For your changes to take effect, restart vsftpd.

sudo service vsftpd restart

You're done!

PHP Beautifier Support for Geany

Geany is by far one of the best text editors I have come across that works on both Windows and Linux.  It is also one of the most aesthetically pleasing editors to look at right out of the box.  I do a lot of PHP scripting, and as such, it is nice to have a "beautifier" script that will automatically format my code for me so that it looks nice.  Geany can also call the php executable and check your script syntax. You can achieve both of these features by installing both PHP for Windows and the PHP Beautifier PEAR addon.   

Install PHP for Windows:

If you code your PHP scripts in Windows, you'll want to use syntax checking and the PHP_Beautifier script.  To do so, you must install the PHP5 Windows package, which includes the main PHP binaries.

To get the files, download the latest version of PHP 5.3.

Extract the contents of the archive to "C:\php5"

Go into C:\php5 and rename "php.ini-development" to "php.ini".

PHP BEAUTIFIER WILL NOT WORK ON ANY NEW VERSION OF PHP FROM 5.4.X and UP!

Install PEAR for Windows:

PHP_Beautifier relies on PEAR functionality.  To install pear, save this file using a browser and place it in the "C:\php5" directory.  

Start command prompt, change directory into "C:\php5", and run the phar script:

C:\
cd C:\php5
php go-pear.phar

Install everything and keep default options.

Install PHP_Beautifier:

Now, install PHP Beautifier by running the following commands:

pear install PHP_Beautifier

Integration in Geany:

For PHP Syntax Checking:

In Geany, click on "Edit" in the menu bar and choose "Preferences".

In the "General" and "Startup" tabs, under the "Paths" section, paste "C:\php5" (without the quotes) into the "Extra plugin path:" field.

For PHP Beautifier:

Start the Geany text editor program.  Open a PHP script file.

Select the code you want to format, right click on the selected text, and choose "Format" –> "Send Selection to" –> "Set Custom Commands".

For command, use the following:

php C:\\php5\\php_beautifier -s4 -l "ArrayNested() NewLines(before=T_COMMENT:for:switch:foreach:T_CLASS:function:T_CLOSE_TAG,after=T_ENDIF:T_CLOSE_TAG:T_OPEN_TAG:T_ENDSWITCH:T_ENDWHILE:T_ENDFOR:T_ENDFOREACH)"

For "Label", use "PHP Beautifier"

Hit OK.

Now, select the code you want to format, right click on the selected text, and choose "Format" –> "Send Selection to" –> and pick "PHP Beautifier".  The code should now be formatted using the options specified in the command line arguments above.

For more filter options and commandline parameters, please read this PHP_Beautifier document.

Turn on IPv4 Forwarding by running this script:

cd ~/Downloads
wget -N "http://dinofly.com/files/linux/ipv4_forward.tar.gz"
tar -zxvf ipv4_forward.tar.gz
sudo bash forwarding.sh

It should work on all versions of Linux but has been tested and works perfectly on Ubuntu.

Turn Off BIND9 Recursion

By default, BIND9 is configured to allow recursive DNS queries.  This allows others to use your DNS server to query other domains on your server's behalf.  Unfortunately, recursive DNS queries can be used to amplify a UDP flood DDOS attack.  As such, for a shared web hosting environment, it is best to disable recursive DNS queries.  You can disable BIND9 recursion easily by running the following script:

cd ~/Downloads
wget -N "http://dinofly.com/files/linux/disable_bind9_recursion.tar.gz"
tar -zxvf disable_bind9_recursion.tar.gz
sudo bash disable_bind9_recursion.sh

It should work on all versions of Linux but has been tested and works perfectly on Ubuntu.  You may need to change the path used for the BIND config file. 

Using mysqldump to Create SQL Backups with Only Insert Statements and Ignore Existing Records

mysqldump -u USER -p PASSWORD --skip-triggers --compact --no-create-info --insert-ignore DBNAME

Suppress Installation Package Prompts Completely or Preconfigure Installation Question Answers

Automating the installation of software via bash scripting on Linux can be difficult.  However, in debian and its related distributions such as Ubuntu, you can simplify the installation of packages by using a few tools.  One of these tools is called debconf-utils.  If installation packages such as MySQL or PHPMyAdmin ask configuration questions, you can provide a default set of answers without being prompted.  This is excellent for testing scripts or automating installation for users who may not know how to appropriately answer these questions.

Basically, with debconf-utils you can pre-answer these questions so that no prompts show up!

To install, run this command:

sudo apt-get install debconf-utils

To get a list of questions an installer might ask, first install the package on a test machine where you're writing the script normally.  For example, let's install phpmyadmin:

sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin

Now, to retrieve a set of questions phpmyadmin may ask, you can run this command:

sudo debconf-get-selections | grep phpmyadmin

In your bash script, you can now pre-answer certain questions by including your preconfigured answer commands before installing the package.  For example, when phpmyadmin installs, it asks for the MySQL root user password.  You can skip this prompt and define what the MySQL root password should be by using this command in your script:

echo 'phpmyadmin phpmyadmin/mysql/admin-pass password 1234' | debconf-set-selections

password defines the type and 1234 sets the password to 1234.
You can also suppress questions entirely by using the following command in front of your install command:

DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin

Default configuration will be used during the installation of the phpmyadmin package, which means it may not work after being installed because some configuration options should be answered.  So, use both combinations for various packages to fit your needs!

Make MATE or GNOME2 Look Like Windows XP Using the Luna Theme

If you want your Linux installation to look like the original theme used in Windows XP, you can do that! This guide will walk you through the process of easily making any MATE or GNOME2 Desktop Environment look like the Windows XP GUI. The Luna Theme can be downloaded here and installed using our simple installation script. If you already have MATE installed or are already running GNOME2, skip to the Luna Theme install instructions.

Install MATE on Ubuntu:

Run the below commands for your matching Ubuntu version in a terminal to install MATE.  To find out which version of Ubuntu you're running, use this command:

lsb_release -a

For Ubuntu 12.04:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu precise main"
sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get --yes --quiet --allow-unauthenticated install mate-archive-keyring 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y mate-desktop-environment

For Ubuntu 14.04:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/ppa
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/trusty-mate
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install -y mate-desktop-environment-extras

For Ubuntu 16.04:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/xenial-mate
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install -y mate-desktop-environment

For Other Distributions (Distros):

http://wiki.mate-desktop.org/download

Installing the Luna Theme:

Our version of the Luna theme has been converted and ported over to GTK3, so it should work with all newer flavors of Linux running MATE while still working on older Linux installs running GNOME2.To install the Luna Theme which will make Linux look like Windows XP, run the following commands. The theme files will be downloaded and saved in your Downloads directory.

cd ~/Downloads
wget -O linux_xp_luna_theme_install.tar.gz http://dinofly.com/files/linux_xp_luna_theme_install.tar.gz
mkdir Luna
tar -zxvf linux_xp_luna_theme_install.tar.gz -C Luna
cd Luna
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/themes/Luna
rm -rf ~/.themes/Luna
sudo bash install.sh

Next, Right Click on the Desktop, and choose "Change Desktop Background".  Click on the "Themes" tab.  Select "Luna".  Click on the "Background" tab.  If you want the default XP wallpaper set as your background, click on the "Add" button.   Select your "Pictures" folder.  Select "luna_background.jpg".  Click "Open".  Click on "Close" to change it. 

Now, MATE or GNOME2 looks like XP!  Enjoy!  This theme was copied from Ylmf OS 3.0.