Sunday, December 6, 2020

The Linux Desktop project

Since my work laptop is too restricted, i’m trying to set up Ubuntu on a USB stick and boot from there.
Actually, it has proven to be a very smooth experience so far. I’m impressed by the overall speed and battery performance.

Couple of things i must not forget.
WORK IN PROGRESS

Get some essentials:

sudo apt install curl ffmpeg keepassxc

Latest Google Chrome Browser: link
Latest Citrix Workspace (Receiver): link
Latest Citrix RTME (HDX for Skype): link

After installing the ica client:

sudo ln -s /usr/share/ca-certificates/mozilla/* /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts
cd /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts
sudo wget https://www.quovadisglobal.com/wp-content/files/media/quovadis_quovadisrootca2.pem
sudo /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/util/ctx_rehash

(for sectigo, go to https://support.sectigo.com/articles/Knowledge/Sectigo-Intermediate-Certificates, download the RSA OV bundle and do the same)

modify /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/config/wfclient.template before making the first connection (“~/Library/Application Support/Citrix Receiver/Config” on MacOS by the way)

MSLocaleNumber=0x00000413
KeyboardLayout=US-International

Also: modify /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/config/All_Regions.ini

MouseSendsControlV=False

If you use wayland and experience problems with special key-combo’s like alt-tab:

gsettings set org.gnome.mutter.wayland xwayland-grab-access-rules "['Wfica']"
gsettings set org.gnome.mutter.wayland xwayland-allow-grabs true

For other apps: if you don’t know which value to use: xprop WM_CLASS

Lastly:

sudo apt-get install --reinstall libcanberra-gtk-module
/opt/Citrix/ICAClient/util/configmgr (for mapping local drives)

Install Microsoft Teams:

sudo curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/ms-teams stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teams.list
apt update
apt install teams

Connecting to exchange web services (for calendar sync)

sudo apt install evolution-ews

Google drive support e.g. for keepass

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alessandro-strada/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install google-drive-ocamlfuse

edit ~/.gdfuse/default/config and set mv_keep_target=true

mkdir ~/Documents/GoogleDrive
google-drive-ocamlfuse ~/Documents/GoogleDrive

startup file for google drive mount and offline backup of keepass databases:

#!/bin/bash

google-drive-ocamlfuse ~/Documents/GoogleDrive
if [ ! -d ~/BACKUP/keepass/ ]; then mkdir -p ~/BACKUP/keepass/; fi
if [ -d ~/Documents/GoogleDrive/keepass/ ]; then cp -f ~/Documents/GoogleDrive/keepass/*.kdbx ~/BACKUP/keepass/; else echo Offline; fi

gedit json formatter:
Preferences - Plugins - enable External Tools
preferences - Manage external Tools
“+”, give name e.g. “Format Json”, shortcut key Ctrl+Alt+J, input=Current Document, output=Replace current document
code:

#! /usr/bin/env python
 
import json
import sys
 
j = json.load(sys.stdin)
print( json.dumps(j, sort_keys=True, indent=2) )

Kodi:

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install kodi

Youtube-dl:

sudo curl -L https://yt-dl.org/downloads/latest/youtube-dl -o /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/python