Regular maintenance best practices

eco_bach · 12-10-2016, 02:35 PM

Hi
Just finished a new ubuntu-mate install and have my nvidia drivers working.

What are some good 'maintenance' practices to follow?
Any special commands to know?

Since this is my 3rd attempt at getting things working properly (after also failing miserably with a CentOS7 install) I want to be as careful as possible about keeping things working (no failed boots, display glitches, random crashes, etc)

Thanks for any feedback!

Habitual · 12-10-2016, 03:15 PM

Document it.
Document every thing.

Start with Your installled OS and version:

Code:

lsb_release -dc && uname -r

So, short version, did you download drivers for your card or use the "additional drivers" widget first?

feedback
https://help.ubuntu.com/

AwesomeMachine · 12-10-2016, 04:05 PM

I use deborphan periodically like so:

Code:

$ deborphan | xargs sudo dpkg --purge $1

which rids the system of unnecessary programs. Apt-clean is also good to do periodically. Bleachbit gets rid of unnecessary files connected to a large number of programs. Fslint to find empty directories, duplicate files, broken links. Clamav to find malware.

eco_bach · 12-10-2016, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual

Document it.
Document every thing.

Start with Your installled OS and version:

Code:

lsb_release -dc && uname -r

So, short version, did you download drivers for your card or use the "additional drivers" widget first?

feedback
https://help.ubuntu.com/

additional drivers window only, but added a 2nd PPA first to get the very latest driver 375.20
http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu

eco_bach · 12-10-2016, 05:45 PM

AwesomeMachine
great tips. When you say 'periodically' does that mean daily, monthly,?

c0wb0y · 12-10-2016, 06:25 PM

Code:

apt-get auto{remove,clean}

AwesomeMachine · 12-10-2016, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eco_bach

AwesomeMachine
great tips. When you say 'periodically' does that mean daily, monthly,?

I'll usually notice something wrong, like a weird error, or excessive space used on a disk. /var/cache/apt/archives can get pretty full. Mine is 1.7 GB right now. So, when I'm done writing this I'll run apt-clean to get rid of the old package files.

Some users like to keep the old files, but I maintain a local mirror.

Other times I'm just cleaning up redundant files, which can really take quite a bit of disk space. So, there's no hard ands fast schedule for cleanup. But once a month is great plenty.

It doesn't pay to be "too" neat and tidy. Also, be careful with apt-get autoremove, because it sometimes makes serious mistakes. Read through what it is removing. I don't use autoremove.

Fixit7 · 12-10-2016, 09:29 PM

Do you have a 2nd drive ?

If so, use a backup script to save important documents, etc.
And make sure your distro in iso form is also on another drive.

Here is an example.

Code:

#!/bin/bash
# 07.16.2016 21:17:42
#  Backup script customized for AMD system
gxmessage -fg red -font  'sans 20' -timeout 2 ' BACKING UP FILES FOR UBUNTU_MATE 64-BIT'
cd /home/andy/.mozilla/seamonkey/v23gi2p8.default/
cp -u -f bookmarks.html /media/andy/MAXTOR_SDB1/Linux_Files
zip -u ~/Documents/Ubuntu_Documents.zip *.html
#
cd ~/Documents
zip -u Ubuntu_Documents.zip *.txt *.doc *.rtf *.html *.png *.pdf *.odt *.ods *.odg
cp -u -f Ubuntu_Documents.zip /media/andy/MAXTOR_SDB1/Linux_Files
#
cd ~/Scripts
zip -u Ubuntu_Scripts.zip *.sh 
cp -u -f Ubuntu_Scripts.zip /media/andy/MAXTOR_SDB1/Linux_Files
#
cd /home/andy/Icons
zip -u Ubuntu_Icons.zip *.png
cp -u -f Ubuntu_Icons.zip /media/andy/MAXTOR_SDB1/Linux_Files
gxmessage -fg blue -font  'sans 20' -timeout 2 'BACKUP TO SDB1 COMPLETE. :-)'
#
cd /home/andy/Music
zip -u MUSIC2_MP3.zip *.mp3
cp -u -f MUSIC2_MP3.zip /media/andy/MAXTOR_SDB1/Linux_Files
vol 50
#vlc --play-and-exit /usr/share/Audio/Short_doorbell.wav

I also recommend redobackup-livecd-1.0.2.iso which makes a image of your hard drive.

frankbell · 12-10-2016, 09:40 PM

Keep your system updated (check updates every week or so).

Configure your iptables firewall to close any unnecessary outgoing ports (I recommend gufw as nice GUI interface to iptables). (ALso close unnecessary outgoing ports in your router.)

I second c0wb0y's advice. Learn how to use apt-get. Crucial commands are

Code:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade  <--you can run these as two separate commands, but running them together is more efficient
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get autoremove
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

See man apt-get for more.

If you really want to get down to Linux basics, give root a password and use su instead of sudo. The sudo fetish is very much a *buntu thing and I have yet to see a reasonable rationale for it.

Learn how to use rsync to back up your data to external media. If it's not on external media, it's not a backup; it's a replication.

Learn how to use man pages and, especially, the apropos command to find relevant man pages.

Learn how to use grep to filter search results on the command line. For example

Code:

$ ps -A | grep smb   <--filtering for results relevant to the Samba file-sharing daemon
 1714 ?        00:00:00 smbd
 1716 ?        00:00:00 smbd-notifyd

Just a few thoughts.

Afterthought:

Something you don't have to concern yourself with: Defragmentation. Linux file systems manage defragmentation on their own.

You generally do not have to run an AV program, but you do need to practice safe browsing habits and beware of social engineering snares. (Just for kicks, I once clicked on one of those "scan your drive" web links. The scan started. It was faster than any real scan could have been and it told me it was scanning my C:\ drive. I was using Linux. I didn't have a C:\ drive.) "Social engineering" is platform independent.

jamison20000e · 12-11-2016, 05:58 AM

Just keep your junk backed-up plus update regularly... if you keep having issues try a lighter and more free distro. Eg: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ml#post5640434