Daniel TechTips: March 2023

Mar 31, 2023

Linux : Install Ubuntu Server v.22.04.1

How to install Ubuntu Server v.22.04.1

A video speaks a thousands words, enjoy the video.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Mar 30, 2023

ProFTP Server : Installation in Ubuntu Server v.22.04.2

ProFTP Server is another FTP server for Ubuntu, installation and configuration is simple.

You need to have the following information ready :-

A domain name (eg. ftp.abc.com)

1. Install ProFTP Server, it may take some times.

sudo apt install proftpd -y

2. Configure the ProFTP config file.

sudo nano /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf

Locate the following lines and modify accordingly:

ServerName “ftp.abc.com”

PassivePorts 49152 65534

DefaultRoot /var/www/ftp.abc.com [Username]

3. Now ensure UFW is enabled and allow the appropriate ports.

sudo ufw allow 20/tcp

sudo ufw allow 21/tcp

sudo ufw allow 49152:65534/tcp

4. Restart ProFTP services to the changes to take effect.

sudo systemctl restart proftpd

5. Next use any compatible FTP Client, try to login and access the virtual folder.

Edit, 31-Mar-2023: Added new video on the installation steps.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Mar 24, 2023

Apache 2 Server : Installation in Ubuntu Server v.22.04.2

Apache 2 Server Installation in Ubuntu Server v.22.04.2

1. Ensure Ubuntu repository is up-to-date.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install Apache 2 server.

sudo apt install apache2 -y

3. Double check UFW settings and configure to allow. Below is to list all "Allow" apps:-

sudo ufw app list

This is to show UFW status.

sudo ufw status

This command is to add "Apache2" into allow list

sudo ufw allow ‘Apache’

4. Create a virtual directory for Apache 2 server. Replace [Domain Name] with your actual domain name (eg. intranet.company.com)

sudo mkdir /var/www/[Domain Name]

5. Change the ownership of that folder.

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/[Domain Name]

6. Change the mode of that folder.

sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/[Domain Name]

7. Now create a temporary "index.html" file for testing of the new virtual directory.

sudo nano /var/www/[Domain Name]/index.html

Copy the below code as an example then Save and Exit.

<html>

<head>

<title>WELCOME TO [DOMAIN NAME] !</title>

</head>

<body>

<h1>SUCCESS ! THE [DOMAIN NAME] VIRTUAL HOST IS WORKING !</h1>

</body>

</html>

8. Create a configuration for your virtual host.

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/[Domain Name].conf

Copy the following code and then Save and Exit.

ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost

ServerName [Domain Name]

ServerAlias www. [Domain Name]

DocumentRoot /var/www/[Domain Name]

ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log

CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

9. Enable the newly created site.

sudo a2ensite [Domain Name].conf

10. Disable the "Default" site.

sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

11. Now test the configuration of the new site.

sudo apache2ctl configtest

It should return --> "Syntax OK" message.

12. Restart the Apache service to take effect.

sudo systemctl restart apache2

13. Now open any browser and browse to the new site (eg. http://[Domain Name])

Edit: Added video for easy references.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Webmin : Installation in Ubuntu Server v.22.04.2

Webmin as a Web GUI for Linux (https://webmin.com/) and have tons of functions and features, this is especially useful for Beginners IT Admin personnel.

Still it is recommended to use SSH to manage any Linux servers instead of GUI.

1. Ensure Ubuntu repository is up-to-date.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install the following pre-requisites.

sudo apt install wget curl nano net-tools gnupg1 -y

3. Next is to add Webmin's custom repository into Ubuntu's Apt Sources.

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following at the last line of the file and then Save and Exit.

deb http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib

4. Then download and add Webmin's GPG key into sources.

sudo curl -o setup-repos.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/webmin/webmin/master/setup-repos.sh

Run the script to update GPG key.

sudo sh setup-repos.sh

5. Run apt update again.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

6. Now you are ready to install Webmin.

sudo apt install webmin -y

7. Once installation completed, use any internet browser and open the following link. Replacing [Your IP Address] to match your server configurations.

https://[You IP Address]:10000

8. If you have UFW installed, you may need to add exceptions.

sudo ufw allow 10000

9. Do a server restart (optional) to ensure everything is loaded automatically at start.

sudo reboot

10. The Username and Password is the same you use to login to the server via SSH or Console.

More information and documentation is available at (http://doxfer.webmin.com/Webmin/Main_Page).

EDIT: 10-Apr-2023, Added video.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Mar 17, 2023

Android : Restore Original Firmware

One of my old phone have suddenly been bricked and kept on looping at reboot (boot loop) and yes its a Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 phone. The root caused was the firmware file corruptions during Android update. To fix this I need to manually download the original firmware version and to restore it as all other methods such as "Wipe Cache Partition" and "Wipe Data & Factory Reset" have all failed.

(A) BOOT INTO "DOWNLOAD" MODE.

1. Ensure the phone's battery have at least 50% of charge.

2. Standby the original Micro USB cable (must be data type cable).

3. Download the flash utility called ODIN (https://www.getdroidtips.com/odin-download-latest-odin-software/)

4. Download Samsung KIES software, this is only required if you haven't install the Samsung USB Drivers yet (https://www.samsung.com/my/support/kies/).

5. Download the latest firmware and search for your corresponding model (mine is J510GN, Malaysia), its the same source (https://updato.com/). You will need to register an account in order to download.

6. Ensure the phone is Power-Off.

7. Press --> HOME + VOLUME DOWN + POWER simultaneously and hold it for a few seconds.

8. When prompted, press --> VOLUME UP to proceed to download mode.

(B) CONNECT PHONE TO COMPUTER.

1. Ensure that Samsung KIES or Samsung USB drivers is already installed in the computer.

2. Once the phone is connected to the computer, wait for a few seconds for it to auto-detect and configure.

3. Now open ODIN tools.

4. Once ODIN is loaded, you should see the status "ADDED" and your phone is recognized.

(C) START FLASHING THE PHONE.

1. Extract the downloaded firmware, you can use any compression tools such as 7Zip.

2. In ODIN screen, click --> AP button and search for the downloaded firmware.

3. Now press --> START button to start uploading the firmware into phone. This may take some times so be patience with and don't disconnect or power-off the phone.

4. Once everything is completed, your phone will auto-restart itself. You can now disconnect it from the computer.

5. The first initialization will be very slow and the updating is also very slow, leave it run automatically and at times it may seems to be freeze (but it wasn't), also it will auto-restart several times thus please be very patience during this process.

6. Finally, you will be able to see the "Samsung" logo at boot and will eventually displayed the "Home" screen. That's simple.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Mar 15, 2023

Android : Install Termux Terminal Apps

Termux is a "Terminal Emulator" but due to its functions its been banned by Google Play Store and thus was no longer available for download.

But there is another way to do this via another store apps called "F-Droid" and can be easily done.

1) Open any web browser and type-in the following link (https://f-droid.org/en/).

2) At main page (shown below), click on the --> Download F-Droid button.

3) Your mobile or Android may display some warning messages, proceed to Allow the download.

4) Once download completed, it will try to auto-install but another warning message will be displayed. Just allow the installation or Enabled --> Allow installation from unknown source.

5) Once "F-Droid" have completed the installation, on your home screen or more apps screen the "F-Droid" icon will be shown. Now tap to Open the apps.

6) At the first start, there will nothing to display but don't be alarmed as the apps is now "Updating Repositories" and may take while to complete. Just leave as it until everything is updated.

7) Once the repositories is updated, the screen will shows you some popular apps. Tap on the "Search" icon and type-in --> Termux

8) There are many apps named "Termux" but look for the descriptions that says "Terminal....", select that apps and proceed to download and install.

9) As usual, your phone will prompt you some warning, proceed to Allow download and install as usual.

10) Once everything completed, you will now have "Termux" installed and the icon will be displayed at the Home screen or inside More Apps screen.

Edited : 18-May-2023, add video link.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Mar 13, 2023

CloneZilla : Restore Disk Image to Smaller Disk Size

CloneZilla restoring a "Disk Image" that are captured in larger disk size capacity to a smaller disk size must be done via another procedures.

Example : The original disk image captured size is a HDD 500GB capacity, the Destination/Target is a SSD 256GB.

You need to ensure that the captured disk albeit is 500GB, but the total usage doesn't exceed 256GB after partitioning, then the restore will be successful.

As usual, boot-up CloneZilla accordingly and follow below instructions accordingly :-

1. Select --> Device-Image

2. Select --> Local-Device

3. Select --> [The external drive that contains the captured image]

4. Select --> [Mount folder, if any]

5. Select --> Expert Mode

6. Select --> Restore-Partition

7. Select --> [Disk Image Name]

8. Select --> [All Partitions available in the Image]

9. Ignore the error message displayed, Press --> [ENTER]

10. In Advanced Page, Select --> -icds (skip checking destination disk size before creating partition table)

11. Select --> Create Partition table proportionally

12. Select --> Skip Checking image before restoring

13. Select --> Shutdown

14. Just press --> [ENTER] to all prompted messages

15. Continue to by Pressing --> [Y] to all prompted messages

Upon completion, CloneZilla will auto shutdown the computer, proceed to unplug all external devices and continue to power-on the computer. Windows wizard will automatically setup the computer with OOBE (depending on your captured image).

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Mar 9, 2023

Hardware : RAID (Redundant Array Independent Disk)

Recently a friend of mine inquired about RAID (Redundant Array Independent Disk) technology, something just pops into my mind that I should write about RAID for a better understanding and maybe useful in future as references too.

There are many articles about RAID in the internet but I will try to explain this in a simple to understand summary of it.

Note: This is NOT FOR BEGINNERS.

I'm not going to do a full explanation, instead I will just focuses on the most common RAID Level that are available today (as of writing).

(A) RAID 0 - Striping.

RAID Level 0, or commonly known as "Striping" is a performance oriented without any parity drive. There are no overhead and both Read & Write operations is very fast. This is usually configured into high performance Workstation such as Video Editing, Photography etc. and doesn't required any redundancy. With SSD in place, the performance is greatly increased.

Minimum required HDD = 2 units of the same capacity.

Data are written into the Array by splitting it and then saved into both HDDs hence the word striping. But RAID 0 doesn't have parity nor redundant, if 1 of the drive failed then data loss eminent and data recovery will be a hassles.

(B) RAID 1 - Mirroring.

RAID Level 1 or commonly called "Mirroring" is usually found on more advanced computer but nowdays even a consumer computer have such capability. This is most basic level of redundancy and usually used in small server or storing important data such as accounting database.

The data is replicated and saved into both HDDs thus making it redundant.

Minimum required HDD = 2 units of the same capacity.

RAID 1 have relatively good Read and Write speed (the same performance of a single HDD).

(C) RAID 5 - Striping with Parity.

RAID Level 5 is usually found in medium to big size server configuration. Data are written as striped block to all HDDs and 1 HDD will be as a parity checksum.

With parity drive, computer can re-calculate the data of one HDD and re-build the array without any data loss and with accuracy. RAID 5 can only withstand a single drive failure and mostly used together with an Array Controller with built-in cache memory to increase the Write speed.

Minimum required HDD = 3 units of the same capacity.

Maximum supported HDD = 16 units only.

And just to remind... RAID IS NOT BACKUP !!!

The purpose of RAID is make data reliable, redundant and accurate (with exception of RAID 0). It is not backup, a backup should on another storage (eg. External HDD or Tape) and preferably on another location with multiple generations too.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Mar 6, 2023

WinSCP : Transfer File between Windows PC & Ubuntu Server

WinSCP : Transfer File between Windows PC & Ubuntu Server.

Did you know that you can transfer file between a Windows PC with Ubuntu without additional steps ?

It's very easy, just download and install WinSCP software for Windows at (https://winscp.net/eng/download.php).

Once WinSCP is installed, ensure Ubuntu have SSH enabled. You can install it --> sudo apt install openssh-server -y
At your PC, open WinSCP program. Select --> SCP
Key-in the Ubuntu's IP Address, Username and Password accordingly.
Once connected, select the file(s) or folder(s) you want to transfer and press --> Upload.
When upload is completed, you can just close the WinSCP program.

That's it ! It's very simple !

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Crypto : Monero Coin Mining on Ubuntu

Monero Coin (XMR) is another type of crypto mining but only uses CPU performance. If you happens to have old Desktop or Laptop laying around, it is a good place to start.

You will need to first create a Monero Wallet at (https://www.getmonero.org/downloads/#gui), you can install the Monero GUI Wallet.

Take note of the "MNEMONIC SEED" information and the "Wallet Account" information. These informations is very IMPORTANT during the configuration of the mining client later on.

(A) INSTALL UBUNTU SERVER v.22.04.1 64-bit.

Follow the on-screen instructions to install Ubuntu.
When prompted, Select --> OpenSSH
Set your Username, Password and Hostname accordingly.

At the terminal, type the following commands :-

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install wget git nano net-tools -y
sudo reboot
sudo wget https://github.com/xmrig/xmrig/releases/download/v6.16.2/xmrig-6.16.2-focal-x64.tar.gz (as of time of writing)
sudo tar xvzf xmrig-6.16.2-focal-x64.tar.gz
cd xmrig-6.16.2
rm config.json
sudo nano config.json

Now create a new "config.json" file with below information, replace the information according to your account and save & exit when completed :-

{
"autosave": true,
"cpu": true,
"opencl": false,
"cuda": false,
"pools": [
{
"coin": "monero",
"algo": "rx/0",
"url": "[Pool Address]",
"user": "[Your Account Address]",
"pass": "[Your Password]",
"rig-id": "[Hostname]",
"tls": false,
"keepalive": true,
"nicehash": false
}
]
}

(B) START MONERO MINING.

Before starting, below are some shortcuts for references :-

hashrate
pause
resume
results
connection

Now to start mining, just type --> ./xmrig

NOTE : Latest xmrig-6.19.0-focal-x64.tar.gz are NOT COMPATIBLE with MoneroOcean Pool, must use back older version xmrig-6.16.2-focal-x64.tar.gz to function properly.

UPDATE, 7-March-2023 : After a day run, the computer will becomes very hot (I do mean super hot until it burns your hand), ventilation or cooling of the computer is A MUST ! to keep it operating at efficient temperature.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Mar 5, 2023

Crypto : Duino Coin Mining on Android

Mining Duino Coin (DUCO) on your old Android Smartphone devices. Please ensure you register a Duino Wallet before proceeding at (https://wallet.duinocoin.com/).

Take note that this methods which was tested on my devices, that includes :-

Samsung Galaxy J7+
HuaWei Nova 7 SE
Samsung Galaxy A02s
Samsung Galaxy J5 (2006)

As for other devices brand & model, you have to try your luck. I might update the list of tested devices from time-to-time but do keep in mind that these devices are owned by myself & no longer in use. At certain times you may need to "ROOT" your device in order to have the latest or most recent Android version.

(A) Install F-DROID Store.

Just open any browser and search for --> F-DROID
At the main page, click/tap on the "Download" button.
You may be prompted some questions, just allow the installation (eg. "Allow from unknown source"), depending on your device, the syntax/wording maybe different so don't follow blindly.
Once installed, open the "F-Droid" app and wait for it to update the repositories (it may a while depending on your device and internet speed).
Once done, search for --> TERMUX (Terminal Emulator).
Proceed to download and install. Additional prompt maybe displayed, just as usual allow it.

(B) In TERMUX Terminal.

pkg update
pkg upgrade -y
pkg install wget proot git nano net-tools -y
termux-setup-storage
git clone https://github.com/MFDGaming/ubuntu-in-termux.git
cd ubuntu-in-termux
chmod +x ubuntu.sh
./ubuntu.sh
Wait for the installation to complete.
./startubuntu.sh

(C) In Ubuntu Terminal.

apt update && apt upgrade -y
apt install wget proot git nano net-tools -y
apt install python3 python3-pip python3-dev -y
git clone https://github.com/revoxhere/duino-coin.git
cd duino-coin
pip3 install requests
python3 PC_Miner.py
The wizard will prompt you for your Duino Wallet information, proceed to key-in accordingly.

Note: You might want to adjust the Intensity=80/90 instead of 95.

Note: You might want to adjust the Cores=6/7 instead of full Cores use.

Once all completed, the system will start mining and about 1-2 minutes (maybe more) the miner information will be available in your Duino Wallet Dashboard.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!

Mar 3, 2023

Asus ExpertBook : Essential Information

Asus ExpertBook 14 (B1400C)

Model : B1400CEAEY

1) To enter into BIOS --> Press --> [F2]

2) Once inside BIOS, to disable the "Secure Boot" function --> Press --> Advanced Mode [F7]

3) At Advanced Mode page, browse to --> Security --> Secure Boot --> Select --> Disabled

4) To Save & Exit --> Press --> [F10]

5) Press [F2] again at next restart, to select boot device --> Press --> Boot Menu [F8]

6) Select your boot device and press --> [ENTER]

A) Special Functions only available for Asus ExpertBook model is the "Calculator Mode" at the TouchPad, to enable this, the Asus TouchPad drivers must be installed. And to enabled the calculator mode display, just double-tap on the top-right corner.

B) To only enable direct "Fn" keys at keyboard (eg. [F1] to [F12] keys), just need to press --> [Fn] + [ESC] keys together once, then the "Fn" key will works directly.

C) To disable built-in touchpad when an external mouse is connected, under Windows --> Start --> Settings --> Devices --> Touchpad --> Disabled/Untick = Leave touchpad on when mouse is connected.

!!! HAPPY COMPUTING !!!