Setup Linux machine

Introduction

I have unified the articles regarding Ubuntu and Fedora setup since they’re very similar. The only difference is the package manager:

• apt for Ubuntu,
• dnf for Fedora.

Here is a comprehensive list of pieces of software and tools you need to getting started with an Ubuntu-based Linux machine. Ubuntu uses apt as package manager.

Here is a comprehensive list of pieces of software and tools you need to getting started with a Fedora-based Linux machine. Fedora uses dnf as package manager.

If you came from Ubuntu, take a look at APT vs. DNF commands.

Add user to sudo

It could happen that the current user has no root privileges. Every Linux machine has at least root user.

# login current terminal as root user ('sudo su' command could not work)
su - root

# add given user to sudo group
usermod -aG sudo <non-sudo-user>

# check which users have sudo permissions
getent group sudo

Run a Service at boot with systemctl

Running services at boot a common use of systemctl, especially in servers. You can tell a service to run at startup by typing:

sudo systemctl enable yourservice

If you need to disable a service:

sudo systemctl disable yourservice

If the service isn’t found, you may need to point to its direct file path with:

sudo systemctl enable /path/to/yourservice.service

However, this won’t work if the file isn’t on the root file system.

Tools

Balena Etcher

This tool allows you to write bootable SD card or USB drives starting from an .ISO file. It comes in help when working with Raspberry Pi or any Linux distributions.

Ubuntu

curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/balena/etcher/setup.deb.sh' | sudo -E bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install balena-etcher-electron

Fedora

Bash Terminal

# update the system
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

# (optional) install curl utility
sudo dnf install -y curl

# import the repository
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/balena/etcher/setup.rpm.sh' | sudo -E bash

# install balenaEtcher
sudo dnf install balena-etcher

Docker Engine

Follow the official documentation:

• install engine on Ubuntu
• install engine on Fedora

Ubuntu

Bash Terminal

# 1) set up the repository
# update the apt package index and install packages to allow apt to use a repository over HTTPS:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

# add Docker's official GPG key
# note that this command is specifically for Ubuntu
# replace "ubuntu" with "debian" in the string below to install the proper version
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
    $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# 2) install Docker Engine
sudo apt update # update the apt package index

# if receiving a GPG error when running apt-get update, the default umask may be incorrectly configured, preventing detection of the repository public key file
# try granting read permission for the Docker public key file before updating the package index
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo apt update

sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

Fedora

Bash Terminal

# 1) Uninstall old versions
sudo dnf remove docker docker-client  docker-client-latest  docker-common docker-latest docker-latest-logrotate docker-logrotate docker-selinux docker-engine-selinux docker-engine

# 2) Install using the repository
# 2.1) set up the repository
sudo dnf -y install dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager \
    --add-repo \
    https://download.docker.com/linux/fedora/docker-ce.repo

# 3) Install Docker Engine
sudo dnf install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Take care to follow Docker Engine post-installation steps to manage Docker as non-root user.

Start Docker on boot

Many modern Linux distributions use systemd to manage which services start when the system boots. To automatically start docker and containerd on boot, run the following commands:

sudo systemctl enable docker.service
sudo systemctl enable containerd.service

# disable the "start on boot" behaviour
sudo systemctl disable docker.service
sudo systemctl disable containerd.service

Manage Docker as a non-root user

Create the docker group and add your user:

sudo groupadd docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and log back in so that your group membership is re-evaluated. You can also run the following command to activate the changes to groups:

newgrp docker

git

git is a VCS (Version Control System) created by Linus Torvalds, the same software engineer who developed the Linux kernel!

Version control systems is used to track changes in a directory over the time. Nowadays, they’re used to maintaining the history of all the software products’ codes. To allow several developer to work on the same code, a VCS must rely on platform like GitHub or GitLab where the code is uploaded and versioned.

The key features that a VCS must provide are:

1. Maintain independent branches of code for team members
2. Ease of comparison of code across different branches
3. Merging of code from several branches of multiple team members
4. Annotate changes with the name of author and message in a version of the code
5. Simple comparison across versions
6. Revert changes made to the code to any state from its history

Ubuntu

Bash Terminal

# https://git-scm.com/download/linux
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:git-core/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git

# https://github.com/nvie/gitflow
sudo apt install -y git-flow

# Large File Support extension: https://git-lfs.github.com/
sudo apt install -y git-lfs

Fedora

Bash Terminal

# https://git-scm.com/download/linux
sudo dnf install -y git
# should be already installed

# https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/elegos/gitflow/
# enable the copr repository
sudo dnf copr enable elegos/gitflow

# install gitflow
sudo dnf install -y gitflow

# Large File Support extension: https://git-lfs.github.com/
sudo dnf install -y git-lfs

Configure global settings like email, name and commands colorization:

# set the email that will be attached to your commits
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

# set the username that will be attached to your commits
git config --global user.name "Your Name"

# enable helpful colorization for command line output
git config --global color.ui auto

# set merge as git pull default polic
git config --global pull.rebase false

# show the customized values
git config --global --list

Configure SSH client

It’s better to have a different pair of SSH keys foreach server (i.e. GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, self-hosted, …) you connect to.

Let’s start:

cd ~/.ssh/

# if the directory does not exist, then create it
mkdir ~/.ssh/

# generate a new key
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "I am the key label"

It will output:

# Generating public/private ed25519 key pair.
# Enter file in which to save the key (/home/$USER/.ssh/id_ed25519):

If you accept the default files location, their names will contain the encryption algorithm name. If you need to use multiple SSH key, it’s better to have the provider’s name inside file names.

Specify the new name after : sign of the line above.

# /home/$USER/.ssh/id_[PROVIDER]

# Example: add GitLab.com SSH key
/home/$USER/.ssh/id_gitlab

You can also rename the files later on. Remind to rename both the private and public keys:

# mv id_[ALGORITHM] id_[PROVIDER]
# mv id_[ALGORITHM].pub id_[PROVIDER].pub

Once you have both private and public keys, you’re read to start ssh-agent in background:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

# add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent
ssh-add id_gitlab
# ssh-add id_[PROVIDER]

# show the content to copy
cat id_gitlab.pub
# cat id_[PROVIDER].pub

Copy the public key and add in the right place inside the website of the server provider.

Here are the most used git providers’ guides:

• GitLab
• GitHub
• BitBucket

Create a configuration file foreach server provider you need, even the self-hosted ones.

nano config

My config file looks like

Host github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_github
  IdentitiesOnly yes

Host gitlab.com
  HostName gitlab.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_gitlab
  IdentitiesOnly yes

Host bitbucket.org
  HostName bitbucket.org
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_bitbucket
  IdentitiesOnly yes

Configure SSH remote access

By default, when Ubuntu is first installed, remote access via SSH is not allowed.

Ubuntu

Bash Terminal

sudo apt update -y

# install the package
sudo apt install -y openssh-server

# it should start automatically, check with:
sudo systemctl status ssh

# if the firewall is enabled, make sure to open the SSH port
sudo ufw allow ssh

# should see the port 22 open for a new incoming connections
sudo ss -lt

# connect to a SSH server
# ssh <username>@<ip_address>

Fedora

Bash Terminal

# it should already be installed
sudo dnf install -y openssh-server

# check the version
rpm -qa | grep openssh-server

# allow SSH daemon to start at boot
sudo systemctl enable sshd

# manually start SSH daemon to avoid rebooting the computer
sudo systemctl start sshd

# check the status of SSH
sudo systemctl status sshd

# should see the port 22 open for a new incoming connections
sudo ss -lt

# connect to a SSH server
# ssh <username>@<ip_address>

You can now move files or directories with rsync utility.

# rsync <file/directory> <username>@<ip_address>:<destination>
# for example
rsync my-file.log remote-pit@192.168.0.100:/home/remote-pit/Downloads

gcc

GCC stands for as GNU Compiler Collection. It includes front ends for C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran, Ada, Go, and D, as well as libraries for these languages.

GCC helps you write and execute programs in Linux.

Ubuntu

Bash Terminal

sudo apt install -y gcc

Fedora

Bash Terminal

sudo dnf install -y gcc

Node Package Manager

NPM is a must-have tool when developing Web applications.

Ubuntu

Bash Terminal

sudo apt install -y npm

# update Node.js to latest release
sudo apt-get remove nodejs
sudo apt install -y curl

# download Node.js v18.x:
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash -

# or, download Node.js LTS (Long Term Support)
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash -

# install Node.js
sudo apt-get install nodejs

Fedora

Bash Terminal

sudo dnf install -y nodejs

Java

Useful programming language to build cross-platform desktop application.

Ubuntu-only Bash terminal

# Java Development Kit
sudo apt install -y default-jdk

# Java Runtime Environment
sudo apt install -y default-jre

Java is already installed in Fedora.

In ARM-based linux devices, such as Raspberry Pi, you can download Java from Zulu Azul website.

Here is Java21 .tar.gz archive for ARM 64-bit.

# unpack the archive
tar -xvzf zulu21.46.19-ca-jdk21.0.9-linux_aarch64.tar.gz
# make sure JVM directory exists
sudo mkdir /usr/lib/jvm
# move to the correct path
sudo mv zulu21.46.19-ca-jdk21.0.9-linux_aarch64 /usr/lib/jvm/zulu-21-arm
# update-alternatives maintains symbolic links determining default commands
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/lib/jvm/zulu-21-arm/bin/java 1
# update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/zulu-21-arm/bin/java to provide /usr/bin/java (java) in auto mode
sudo update-alternatives --config java
# here, select the Java installation of your choice

Possible musl vs glibc mismatch: if .jar.gz file name contains musl word, it may not work. Most Raspberry Pi OS uses glibc package: musl builds will not run and java will fail silently (or not execute).

Test run executable manually:

/usr/lib/jvm/zulu-21-arm/bin/java -version

If java does not start in this way, you have installed the wrong java executable.

Postman

Postman is an API platform for building and using APIs. It simplifies each step of the API lifecycle and streamlines collaboration, so you can create better APIs faster.

Go to Download page and download the tar.gz file or use the following commands:

Ubuntu

Bash Terminal

sudo apt install -y wget tar
wget https://dl.pstmn.io/download/latest/linux64
tar -xvzf postman-linux-x64.tar.gz
sudo mv Postman /opt/
cd /opt/Postman/
./Postman

Fedora

Bash Terminal

# should already be installed
sudo dnf install -y wget tar

# download the archive
wget https://dl.pstmn.io/download/latest/linux_64

# I don't like the way it has installed the archive (need to investigate)
tar -xvzf linux_64 # will create a Postman directory

# move to the appropriate directory
sudo mv Postman /opt/
cd /opt/Postman/
./Postman

ZSH Shell & Oh-My-ZSH

Replace Bourne Shell with a more advanced shell, like ZSH:

sudo apt install -y zsh fonts-powerline fzf

zsh --version # check version
zsh 5.8.1 # (...)
echo $SHELL
/bin/bash

chsh -s $(which zsh)

Logout and login to let the change take effect.

echo $SHELL
/usr/bin/zsh

Install Oh-My-ZSH extension to have better code completions:

sh -c "$(wget -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Many themes require Powerline Font or Nerd Font. Take a closer look when choosing the shell theme.

Moreover, I suggest you to add the following plugins to .zshrc file:

plugins=(
  git
  emotty
  emoji
  zsh-interactive-cd
  zsh-autosuggestions
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
)

To enable the changes, run:

source ~/.zshrc

Please Note: If you get this error:

[oh-my-zsh] plugin 'zsh-autosuggestions' not found
[oh-my-zsh] plugin 'zsh-syntax-highlighting' not found

Run those commands:

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting
source ~/.zshrc

It’s also suggested to set a default bahaviour for oh-my-zsh update policy. I choose to update automatically without asking:

# Uncomment one of the following lines to change the auto-update behavior
# zstyle ':omz:update' mode disabled  # disable automatic updates
zstyle ':omz:update' mode auto      # update automatically without asking
# zstyle ':omz:update' mode reminder  # just remind me to update when it's time

IDEs

IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment. They’re tools that helps you while programming and allow you to be more productive, efficient and effective.

OpenPLC

Use the following links:

• Open PLC - web server
• Open PLC editor

You can setup your Arduino device to be a slave device by following this link: openplcproject on Arduino. Then, you can setup your Raspberry Pi board to be the master device by following this link: openplcproject on Raspberry Pi.

You can also use Docker or Podman to run Open PLC runtime environment:

Docker

docker pull openplc/openplc-runtime
docker run -p 8080:8080 openplc/openplc-runtime

Podman

podman run -d -p 8080:8080 --name openplc docker.io/openplc/openplc-runtime

# auto-restart (Podman systemd integration)
podman generate systemd --name openplc --files --new
sudo mv container-openplc.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl enable --now container-openplc.service

IntellijIDEA

• linuxARM download

Arduino IDE 1.x

Go to software section of official Arduino website. Download the version labelled Linux 32 bits (or 64 bits, if your machine supports it).

Ubuntu

Bash Terminal

sudo apt install -y xz-utils # install unzip utility
cd ~/Downloads # navigate to Downloads directory
tar -xvf arduino*.tar.xz # extract the archive contents
rm -rf arduino*.tar.xz # remove the archive
sudo mv arduino* /opt/arduino # move the extracted folder from $HOME/Downloads to /opt/
sudo /opt/arduino/install.sh # complete the installation

Fedora

Bash Terminal

# navigate to Downloads directory
cd ~/Downloads

# extract the archive contents
tar -xvf arduino*.tar.xz

# remove the archive
rm -rf arduino*.tar.xz

# move the extracted folder from $HOME/Downloads to /opt/
sudo mv arduino* /opt/arduino

# complete the installation
sudo /opt/arduino/install.sh

Moreover, you need to allow your current user to use the serial communication to communicate with the Arduino boards.

Add yourself to the dialout group:

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER

Please Note:

1. Logout and then log back in for the group changes to take effect (or just sudo restart the machine).
2. If you accidentally stop the sketch from uploading, you just need to double-click the reset button (reference).

Arduino IDE 2.x

Download the Arduino IDE 2.0 from the official software page.

Then, follow the steps below:

cd ~/Downloads # navigate to Downloads directory

# extract the archive contents to the right sub-directory in /opt/
sudo unzip arduino-ide_2*.zip -d /opt/arduino2

# remove the archive
rm -rf arduino*.zip

# run the IDE (mandatory without sudo)
/opt/arduino2/arduino-ide

# Hit Ctrl + C to stop the execution of the IDE

Depending on your shell type, open the configuration file (.bashrc, .zshrc, …) and add the following alias:

alias arduino2="/opt/arduino2/arduino-ide"

You can now run Arduino IDE 2.x by using the command:

arduino2

Obsidian.md

mkdir -p  ~/.local/bin
cd  ~/.local/bin
wget https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/releases/download/v1.8.10/Obsidian-1.8.10.AppImage
chmod +x Obsidian-1.8.10.AppImage
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/applications
nano ~/.local/share/applications/Obsidian.desktop

Then paste the following content:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Obsidian
Comment=Markdown Editor
GenericName=Text Editor
Exec=/home/<current-user>/.local/bin/Obsidian-1.8.10.AppImage
Icon=obsidian
Type=Application
StartupNotify=false
StartupWMClass=Obsidian
Categories=TextEditor;Development;IDE;
MimeType=application/x-code-workspace;
Actions=new-empty-window;
Keywords=obsidian

Please Note: replace <current-user> with the actual current user, e.g., rpi.

Then update the desktop database with:

sudo update-desktop-database

MATLAB & Simulink

MATLAB (abbreviation of “MATrix LABoratory”) is a proprietary multi-paradigm programming language and numeric computing environment developed by MathWorks. MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data. It allows algorithms’ implementation, creation of UIs and interfacing with programs written in other languages.

Simulink is a MATLAB-based graphical programming environment for modeling, simulating and analyzing multi-domain dynamical systems.

You need to have a MathWorks account to install MathWorks’ products. Go to Download page and download the .zip Linux installer.

cd ~/Downloads

# create a folder to extract files
mkdir matlab

# unzip the MATLAB file
unzip -qq matlab*.zip -d matlab
cd matlab

# launch installer with sudo permissions
sudo ./install

# if the graphical installer does not starts
xhost +SI:localuser:root && sudo ./install

Once the graphical installer starts, follow the steps below:

• Login with MathWorks Account
• Select the available License
• Select Matlab Products or Toolbox to install
• Select the Destination address
  

The default is:

/usr/local/MATLAB/R2023a/bin

Where R2023a refers to the release year and version (usually a and b).

Please Note: Set as username the actual name of the user logged-in in the computer. You can find you name by launching this command in a Terminal window:

echo $USER

Create MATLAB Symbolic link with:

sudo ln -s /usr/local/MATLAB/R2023a/bin/matlab /usr/local/bin/matlab

Create Matlab Desktop Shortcut Linux with:

nano ~/Desktop/Matlab.desktop

Edit the file as follows:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=MATLAB
Exec=/usr/local/MATLAB/R2023a/bin/matlab
Icon=/usr/local/MATLAB/R2023a/resources/coreui/matlab/splash.png
Terminal=false

Save the Desktop Shortcut file by pressing Ctr + X and the type Y followed by the Enter Key. Go to the Desktop, right-click on the created file and select the “Allow Launching” option for the desktop entity. You can now launch MATLAB by double-clicking the desktop icon.

Once the installation is complete, remind to clear the Downloads directory:

cd ~/Downloads

rm -rf matlab*.zip matlab

Install new toolboxes after installation

If you try to install new toolboxes using Add-Ons manager, it will throw errors since you have not write access to /usr/local/MATLAB/. If you launch MATLAB as root user, it will throw a License Manager Error -9 Your username does not match the username in the license file.

The correct solution is to set the permission for the current user:

sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/MATLAB/

Now the user has write access: use the Add-Ons manager carefully! After installing the desired toolboxes, revert the permission change for security reason:

sudo chown -R root /usr/local/MATLAB/

Typora

Typora is one of the most powerful Markdown and LaTeX editor I’ve ever seen.

Ubuntu

Bash Terminal

# sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys BA300B7755AFCFAE
wget -qO - https://typora.io/linux/public-key.asc | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/typora.asc

# add Typora's repository
sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://typora.io/linux ./'
sudo apt update

# install typora
sudo apt install -y typora

Fedora

Bash Terminal

wget https://download.typora.io/linux/Typora-linux-x64.tar.gz
# estract the archive
tar -zxvf Typora-linux-x64.tar.gz

# it will estract everything in a directory called bin/
# move its content in /opt/
sudo mv bin/Typora-linux-x64 /opt/typora

# remove unnecessary files
rm -rf Typora-linux-x64.tar.gz ./bin

# run Typora
/opt/typora/./Typora

You can also ad an alias to your configuration file. The alias below launches typora in the background and silenced. The terminal is detached, and you don’t have to open another one to work:

alias typora="/opt/typora/./Typora </dev/null &>/dev/null &"

You can also add the application entry for the App Menu:

# create the entry
cd ~/.local/share/applications/

# eventually, use '/usr/share/applications/' path
# to allow all machine users to see this desktop application

touch Typora.desktop

# change permission to file
chmod 744 Typora.desktop

Fill Typora.desktop file with:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Typora
Comment=Official Typora application
TryExec=/opt/typora/Typora
Exec=/opt/typora/Typora -- %u
Icon=/opt/typora/resources/assets/icon/icon_256x256.png
Terminal=false
StartupWMClass=Typora
Type=Application
Categories=Text;Qt;
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/tg;
Keywords=tdesktop;
Actions=quit;
SingleMainWindow=true
X-GNOME-UsesNotifications=true
X-GNOME-SingleWindow=true

Take a look at Theme Gallery and don’t forget to activate inline math support to start write LaTeX inside .md files!

Visual Studio Code

For Debian and Ubuntu based distributions, the easiest way to install Visual Studio Code is to download and install the .deb package (64-bit), either through the graphical software center if it’s available, or through the command line with:

Ubuntu

Bash Terminal

# download .deb file from https://code.visualstudio.com/
sudo apt install -y ./<file>.deb

Fedora

Bash Terminal

cd ~/Downloads

# use wget utility only for downloading a package at a specific version
# wget https://az764295.vo.msecnd.net/stable/6a995c4f4cc2ced6e3237749973982e751cb0bf9/code-1.78.1-1683194632.el7.x86_64.rpm

# install the package
sudo dnf install -y code*.rpm

# remove unnecessary file
rm code*.rpm

Note that other binaries are also available on the VS Code download page.

Conclusion

Documentation

Here is the list of guides and tutorials I used to write this article:

• freeCodeCamp - How to Manage Multiple SSH Keys
• Adding a new SSH key to your GitHub account
• GitLab and SSH keys
• Set up an SSH key
• Visual Studio Code on Linux
• Install ZSH
• Update Node.js
• How to install MATLAB in Ubuntu 22.04
• Beginner guite to systemctl
• Linux : Installing new toolboxes on an existing installation
• elegos/gitflow
• Nodejs fedoraproject.org