Most Popular
1500 questions
724
votes
10 answers
How do I find the package that provides a file?
Simple enough question: is there some shell command (or GUI method) I can use that, given the path to a file on my system, tells me what package put it there? Assuming the file did in fact come from a package, that is.
Bonus question: what if it's a…
David Z
- 9,921
- 5
- 27
- 22
717
votes
16 answers
How to check Internet Speed via Terminal?
Instead of going to sites like speedtest.net, I want to check my current Internet speed from the terminal on Ubuntu. How can I do it?
kernel_panic
- 11,522
- 17
- 47
- 82
708
votes
21 answers
694
votes
9 answers
What does "sudo apt-get update" do?
I am wondering what sudo apt-get update does?
What does it update?
Elysium
- 10,912
- 24
- 56
- 81
685
votes
8 answers
How to make 'python' program command execute Python 3?
The python program command executes Python 2. Python 3 can be executed using the python3 command. How can Python 3 be executed using the python command?
Giri
- 6,993
- 3
- 13
- 9
673
votes
14 answers
How do I install a .tar.gz (or .tar.bz2) file?
I have downloaded tar.gz files. But I don't know how to install it. How do I install this kind of file?
Silambarasan
- 7,795
- 8
- 25
- 26
663
votes
14 answers
How do I resolve unmet dependencies after adding a PPA?
Occasionally, when I'm installing stuff, I get an error like the following:
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages…
jrg
- 60,101
- 54
- 172
- 246
638
votes
23 answers
How do I free up more space in /boot?
My /boot partition is nearly full and I get a warning every time I reboot my system. I already deleted old kernel packages (linux-headers...), actually I did that to install a newer kernel version that came with the automatic updates.
After…
user6722
- 6,655
- 3
- 16
- 13
638
votes
28 answers
How can I record my screen?
How can I record my screen on Ubuntu?
The app I'm looking for has ideally all of these features:
Can record in a format that can be played back easily on any platform and/or accepted by YouTube or another popular video site
Can record just a…
Riccardo Murri
- 16,327
- 8
- 53
- 51
636
votes
8 answers
How do I set up a Cron job?
I want to schedule a task to run on a regular basis and have heard that Cron is the way to do this.
How do I add Cron jobs in Ubuntu?
Gabriel Solomon
- 6,955
- 5
- 25
- 22
632
votes
47 answers
Why crontab scripts are not working?
Often, crontab scripts are not executed on schedule or as expected. There are numerous reasons for that:
wrong crontab notation
permissions problem
environment variables
This community wiki aims to aggregate the top reasons for crontab scripts not…
Adam Matan
- 12,289
- 24
- 71
- 90
628
votes
9 answers
How do I check which shell I am using?
I read that terminal is nothing but shell, and Unix provides different flavors of shells:
Bourne shell (sh)
C shell (csh)
TC shell (tcsh)
Korn shell (ksh)
Bourne Again shell (bash)
Questions:
When I open a terminal window, which shell is opened…
GMudide
- 6,455
- 3
- 14
- 7
627
votes
8 answers
How do I add environment variables?
I'm running Ubuntu 11.04. I use the terminal to start a bash session, and I want to add an environment variable:
$r@hajt:~$ env THEVAR=/example
But it's not working. It shows all the variables with THEVAR being the last one, but another call to env…
huff
- 6,370
- 3
- 15
- 8
626
votes
8 answers
How to create a soft or symbolic link?
I am installing p4v in /opt, but /usr/bin is on my path. Is it possible to create a soft or symbolic link for p4v from /opt to /usr/bin, so I can just type "p4v" since /usr/bin is in my path?
coffee
- 6,483
- 4
- 16
- 6
626
votes
8 answers
How can I decode a base64 string from the command line?
I would like to write a bash script to decode a base64 string. For example I type decode QWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuIHNlc2FtZQ== and it prints Aladdin:open sesame and returns to the prompt.
So far I have tried a simple bash file containing python -m base64 -d…
lofidevops
- 20,414
- 30
- 103
- 166