Linux box setup

Hello!

Are you setting up a new Linux box? Then follow my setup instructions below.

Note: Never store sensitive data like credentials, etc. in this project!

Table of Contents

• Create bootable USB drive
• Install Linux
• First steps after a fresh Linux installation
• Backup / Restore
• Setup apps, more settings/configurations

Create bootable USB drive

Download a Linux ISO image (e.g. EndeavourOS or Ubuntu) and burn it to a USB drive:

# Return the device (e.g. /dev/sda) of the inserted USB drive:
ls -l /dev/disk/by-id | grep usb

# Replace /dev/??? with the corresponding device and burn image to USB drive:
sudo dd if=endeavouros.iso of=/dev/??? bs=1M oflag=sync status=progress

Install Linux

Boot from the USB drive and follow the installation steps.

First steps after a fresh Linux installation

1. Perform a full system upgrade (e.g. via yay or apt).
2. Reboot.
3. Log in to your Bitwarden vault via browser using email address, password, and your 2FA device (i.e. via the Bitwarden Authenticator app on your mobile phone).
   • There is a password hint.
   • In the event that you can no longer use your normal two-step login provider (e.g. because you have lost your mobile device), your recovery code allows you to access your Bitwarden account. You can find your Bitwarden two-step login recovery code in your secret location.
   • If you ever need to restore your Bitwarden vault, import the backed-up encrypted JSON export from your Google Drive's Backups folder. The password is your Bitwarden password.
4. Restore backup (see Restore backup section below).
5. Run the setup script:

   ~/mydata/projects/private/shell-tools/setup_linux_box/setup_linux_box.sh

6. Continue with further setups and settings (see Setup apps section below).

Backup / Restore

Restore backup

Follow the instructions at https://github.com/tztz/backup.

Note: You can download the needed .backup.env file from your Google Drive's __INSTALL__ folder. If you wish you can also download the backup_restore.sh file from there but it's recommended to use the version from the GitHub repository.

Important: Make sure that the downloaded file starts with a dot. It must be named .backup.env not backup.env.

Create backup

After restoring the backup and running setup_linux_box.sh, new backups can be created by executing backup_create.sh (it's in the PATH).

Setup apps, more settings/configurations

Bitwarden browser plugin

• Log in
• Set vault timeout to 15 minutes
• Enable "Unlock with PIN" (PIN is stored in Bitwarden)
• Enable "Clear clipboard after 1 minute"

vscode

• Log in to sync settings

IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate

• Log in to JetBrains account
• Activate license

VPN

The VPN configs are created during setup. After setup, add your credentials via the network manager settings UI (e.g. GNOME Settings → Network → VPN).

Work

Have a look at the bin-private folder. There you find the *_vpn_connect.sh file.