One Thirty Eight

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Tips

Copy Files with Rsync

To mirror a directory on a source drive onto a destination drive use the rsync command. 

	rsync -rtv --progress /source/directory/ /destination/directory

The -r option tells rsync to recurse into directories under the source directory, the -t to preserve times, the -v to be verbose, and the --progress to display transfer progress. The trailing slash on the source directory means copy the contents of the source directory not recreate the directory at the destination. This command does not preserve any attributes other than time. Use the -a option to operate in archive mode preserving all attributes. Add the --checksum or -c option will compare checksums for each file rather than the default of checking file size and modification time to determine changes to a file.

Xorg Keyboard Config

A Desktop Environment will usually have a built in keyboard configuration tool for choosing an alternate keyboard layout. If this tool is not supplied you can create a configuration file to set the layout in X.

The X Window System has a directory where configuration files can be placed to adjust settings. To change keyboard layout, create a file and name it keyboard-layout.conf and save it to the system xorg.conf.d directory. Consult the system manual pages for information on where this directory is located. 

	Section	"InputClass"
		Identifier	"KeyboardDefaults"
		MatchIsKeyboard	"on"
		Option		"XkbLayout" "us"
		Option		"XkbVariant" "variant"
	EndSection
Xorg Monitor Config

To set a monitor resolution manually when Xorg sets a default mode that is not working, create a configuration file to set the correct mode. Use xrandr to get the list of modes the video card supports. Choose the mode that works and enter it into the configuration file. Save the file to the system xorg.conf.d directory. Consult the system manual pages for information on where this directory is located. 

	Section "Screen"
		Identifier "Screen0"
		Device     "Card0"
		SubSection "Display"
			Modes      "1024x768"
		EndSubSection
	EndSection
Diff Command

Use the diff command to compare two files for their differences.

diff file1 file2

It is also possible to compare the contents of two directories for the differences.

diff directory1 directory2

If you want to compare subfolders and files too, use the -r option.

diff -r directory1 directory2

Restart Conky

Restart Conky when a click on the desktop hides it. This works on Linux and possibly other systems. Check their kill and ps man pages for details.

kill -s USR1 $(ps -C conky -o pid=)

I created an alias named restart-conky that executes this code.

FreeBSD Update

Keep the system up to date.

freebsd-update fetch checks for system updates.

freebsd-update install applies system updates.

pkg update checks for application updates.

pkg upgrade applies application updates.

Debian Update

Keep the system up to date.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

Plain apt seems to me to be faster.

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade

Instead of combining the commands I use them separately to review the packges that will be upgraded.

OpenBSD Update

Keep the system up to date.

doas syspatch - Apply errata issued since install.

doas pkg_add -u - Update installed packages.

doas sysupgrade - Upgrade system to a new release or a new snapshot.

FuguIta Tips

Command to save changes of running system to persistance area of the usb.

usbfadm -r

Set up the X11 desktop environment.

dtjsetup

Aspell

Check spelling in a text file when your text editor doesn't have an option to check spelling.

aspell check file.txt

Add the option -dont-backup to prevent ASpell from creating a backup file after checking the spelling.

The -mode= option can specify the data type the file contains to filter out text that won't be checked such as html tags or urls.

Bash Aliases

Simple text shortcuts for frequently used commands with common options applied to reduce typing. Multiple commands can exist on a line by separating them with a semicolon. To see defined aliases on the system type alias. It is possible to set temporary aliases on a system using alias name='string'. Use type alias-name before naming an alias to make sure you do not choose a word that is already defined as a command.

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