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Missing /var/log/cron.log on Linux? Here’s Where cron logs are actually stored

Friday, July 10th, 2026

If you've tried to troubleshoot a scheduled cron job or task and discovered that /var/log/cron.log doesn't exist, don't panic. Contrary to what used to be the normal for GNU / Linux distributions few years ago and especially before systemd came on scene, this file is not present on every Linux distribution anymore.

The location of cron logs depends on your Linux distribution, the logging service in use, and how system is configured.

In this guide, we'll explain why /var/log/cron.log may be missing and show you where to find your cron logs instead.

Why is /var/log/cron.log Missing?

There isn't a universal standard for cron logging across Linux distributions.

Some systems write cron events to a dedicated log file, while others store them in the system journal or the general system log. Modern Linux distributions increasingly rely on systemd-journald, which means traditional log files may not exist at all.

Ubuntu and Debian (deb based distros)

On Ubuntu and Debian, cron messages are typically written to the system log instead of a dedicated cron log.

To search for cron entries, run:

# grep CRON /var/log/syslog

Or use systemd's journal:

# journalctl -u cron

If /var/log/cron.log is missing, this is usually expected behavior.

RHEL, CentOS 7 and Similar Distributions

Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS 7 usually maintain a dedicated cron log:

/var/log/cron

View its contents with:

# cat /var/log/cron

Or monitor it in real time:

# tail -f /var/log/cron

Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, Fedora, and other newer RHEL based (RPM distro) Versions

Newer enterprise distributions commonly use the systemd journal.

To view cron service logs:

# journalctl -u crond

Or filter by the CROND by systlog identifier:

# journalctl SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER=CROND

Check that the Cron service is running

Before investigating log files, make sure the cron service is active.

On Ubuntu and Debian:

# systemctl status cron

On RHEL-based systems:

# systemctl status crond

If the service isn't running, scheduled jobs won't execute regardless of where logs are stored.

On systems using systemd-journald

Many modern Linux distributions no longer create separate log files for services.

Instead, use the journal:

# journalctl -xe | grep -i cron

Or view only cron-related messages:

# journalctl -u cron

Depending on your distribution, the service may be named cron or crond.

Check Your rsyslog Configuration

If you specifically want a /var/log/cron.log file, verify whether your logging configuration creates one.

Search the configuration:

# grep cron /etc/rsyslog.conf # grep cron /etc/rsyslog.d/*

Some systems include a rule such as:

cron.* /var/log/cron.log

If this rule doesn't exist, cron messages may be redirected to /var/log/syslog or handled entirely by systemd-journald.

After making changes, restart rsyslog:

# systemctl restart rsyslog

Verify That Cron Jobs Are Running

If you're unsure whether cron is functioning, create a simple test job like below.

Add to crontab:

* * * * * echo "cron works $(date)" >> /tmp/cron-test.log

Wait one minute, then check the file:

# cat /tmp/cron-test.log

If new entries appear, cron is working correctly even if a dedicated cron log file is absent.

Summary

The absence of /var/log/cron.log is usually not a problem – it simply reflects how your Linux distribution handles logging.

So to rephrase it:

Modern systemd-based systems: Use journalctl instead of expecting separate log files.

Ubuntu/Debian: /var/log/syslog or journalctl -u cron
CentOS/RHEL 7: /var/log/cron
Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, Fedora, RHEL 8+: journalctl -u crond

When troubleshooting cron jobs, always verify that the cron service is running as process ( ps -ef | grep cron ), confirm where your distribution stores logs and check cron execution runs / logs fine in /var/log/cron.

Tags: cron jobs, journalctl, logging, logs, Missing, modern Linux, real time, Search, Ubuntu Debian, use, var
Posted in Debian, Everyday Life, Linux, RedHat, System Administration, Various | 1 Comment »

How to tell yum to pick up a missing package from a local directory when updating

Wednesday, May 20th, 2026

When maintaining older RHEL, CentOS, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux OS (legacy) installs, or HA cluster systems, you may (and will perhaps) occasionally hit RPM dependency problems during updates because a required package is missing from the currently enabled repositories.

One common scenario you mighty face is when the required missing RPM exists in another repository or on local storage, but YUM/DNF does not automatically pick it up, due to mismanaged central repositories, broken proxies or even OS package release bugs.

In this article shows how to solve these dependency issues by using local RPM directories and temporary repositories.

Here is a typical Error example:

# yum update

Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Unable to read consumer identity
This system is not registered with an entitlement server.
You can use subscription-manager to register.

The Error faced is:

# yum update
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:20 ago on Tue 19 May 2026 11:15:32 AM CEST.
Problem: cannot install the best update candidate for package corosync-3.1.8-1.el8.x86_64
– nothing provides corosynclib(x86-64) = 3.1.8-1.el8_10.1 needed by corosync-3.1.8-1.el8_10.1.x86_64 from rhel-8-rhsm-ha
(try to add '–skip-broken' to skip uninstallable packages or '–nobest' to use not only best candidate packages)

Here as you can read from the error:

corosync update is available but the currently enabled repositories do not provide it, as the required package corosynclib exists elsewhere.

This often happens for reasons like

Partially mirrored REPO systems,
Network disconnected environments,
On expired RHEL OS subscription,
or migrated CentOS / RHEL (physical systems on another network or migrated VMs to another DC),
Custom (old) EOL HA cluster setups.
etc.

The missing RPM packages work around

There areat least 4 ways to fix YUM / DNF missing RPM packages:

Install the RPM directly
Create a temporary local repository
Add another repository dynamically
Use –repofrompath / Use –nobest as a fallback workaround (Not recommended)

1. Install the missing RPM directly from local file copy

If you already have the required package downloaded:

# yum install /root/packages/corosynclib-3.1.8-1.el8_10.1.x86_64.rpm

Try update retry:

# yum check-update
# yum update

YUM will now resolve dependencies successfully.

2. Create a Local Repository and put the missing package in

This is the cleanest solution if you maintain multiple RPMs.

a) Create Directory

# mkdir -p /root/localrepo

b) Copy RPMs to localrepo

# cp corosynclib-*.rpm /root/localrepo/

c) Install createrepo

# yum install createrepo

d) Generate repo Metadata

This is done with createrepo command the command is provided by a package RPM package “createrepo_c” so if you have it missing you will have to install it (note in older RPM distros the cmd was provided by createrepo)

# createrepo /root/localrepo

Add Repository Definition

Create local.repo :

# vim /etc/yum.repos.d/local.repo

Add:

[local]
name=Local Repository
baseurl=file:///root/localrepo
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0

e. Rebuild Cache and retry update again

# yum clean all
# yum makecache

Retry the update:

# yum update

YUM / DNF will automatically pull corosynclib from the local repository.

3. Use a temporary repository With –repofrompath

If you do not want permanent configuration files:

# yum –repofrompath=local,file:///root/localrepo \
–enablerepo=local \
update

This method is excellent for:

one-time fixes, for mass automation (fix wrong dependency on multiple servers), inside a rescue shells or if having to fix something offline on systems, that can’t be connected to the Internet.

4. Use another existing repository to pull the package from

If corosynclib exists in another disabled repository:

Check available repositories:

# yum repolist all

Then enable the required repository temporarily:

# yum –enablerepo=repo-name-corosync update

Or install directly:

# yum –enablerepo=repo-name-corosync install corosynclib

Then rerun the update.

Using –nobest yum option (not recommended) as cluster might break

Sometimes the newest package version has unresolved dependencies, while an older compatible package is still installable.

Try:

# yum update –nobest

This tells YUM/DNF not to insist on the newest possible package candidate.

This is often enough for partially synced repositories. But still this work around is not desirable as the HA cluster might break.

Note ! –skip-broken should not be used (a wrongly suggested “fix”)

The error message suggests:

# yum update –skip-broken

But this only skips the problematic package entirely.

!! Meaning it will most lilkely make corosync outdated, cluster nodes may become inconsistent, dependency issues remain unresolved.

Note ! For HA clusters and production systems, fixing the dependency properly is the right safe way to go.

On RHEL 8+, AlmaLinux 8+, Rocky Linux 8+, and Fedora having the package downloaded manually from a repo and using dnf is enough to have it installed:

# dnf install /root/packages/corosynclib*.rpm

or (if you have created a localrepo)

# dnf –repofrompath=local,file:///root/localrepo update

Closing Summary

Dependency resolution failures are often caused by repository inconsistencies rather than broken packages themselves. Trying work arounds without providing for the package manager the missing package will certainly lead to issues so try to abstain it at all costs.
If the missing RPM exists elsewhere, YUM and DNF can usually be guided to it by using the good old direct RPM install, using a temporary repository containing the package by enabling additional repo, using –repofrompath or taking a minute to prepare yourself a local repository and placing the missing package/s that should be enough to fix it.

Tags: AlmaLinux, broken dependencies, CentOS, cluster maintenance, corosync, corosynclib, createrepo, dependency, disconnected environments, dnf, dnf dependency issues, dnf install local rpm, dnf update, enable yum repository, Enterprise Linux, error message, fedora, HA cluster, high availability cluster, How to, installed, legacy Linux systems, linux system administration, Linux troubleshooting, Linux update errors, local directory, local package install, local repository, local RPM directory, local yum repo, missing rpm package, offline repository, offline yum update, package dependency fix, package management, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, repofrompath, repository inconsistency, repository management, Retry, rhel, Rocky Linux, rpm, rpm dependency, RPM packages, tell, temporary repository, yum, yum clean all, yum dependency resolution, yum install local rpm, yum makecache, yum nobest, yum repofrompath, yum repolist, yum skip-broken, yum update
Posted in Linux, Linux Package Management, OS Update, RedHat, System Administration, Various | No Comments »

Speed up Linux shell use keyboard command alias shortcuts to effiently work like a hacker

Friday, May 1st, 2026

If you want to get truly fast in the Linux Bash shell, stop thinking in commands alone and start doing trivial command tasks by thinking it in keystrokes !
The biggest productivity gains don’t come only by learning new tools, they come from navigating and reusing what is embedded as default functionality, like editing commands , searching through them and shortcuts to run and reuse instantly without need to type again and again.

At the center of this approach is one habit, to try to never type the same command twice.

1. The Allmighty, Reverse Search ( `Ctrl + R` )

If you learn only one shortcut for a begginning say hello to the King of all bash shortcut commands CTRL + R.

Press:

 
Ctrl + R

Then start typing part of a previous command. Bash will search your history in real time and show the most recent match.

Example:

(reverse-i-search)`ssh': ssh user@server

Press:
To cycle further one command match back:

Ctrl + R

again

Edit before running use:

→ (right arrow)

To run found cmd simply press Enter.

This is dramatically faster than scrolling through history or retyping long commands. Over time, your shell history becomes a searchable command database.

2. Stop annoying re-typing: navigate the Line instantly

When editing a command, don’t hold arrow keys—jump instead:

Go to the beginning of line

Ctrl + A

Move to the end of command string:

Ctrl + E

Jump back one word

Alt + B

Jump forward one word ahead

Alt + F

These shortcuts let you fix mistakes or modify long commands in seconds.

3. Precise Delete strings

Precise deletion is just as important as movement:

Delete everything before cursor position:

Ctrl + U

Delete everything after cursor position:

Ctrl + K

Delete previous word from cmd string:

Ctrl + W

Delete next word in command string

Alt + D

Instead of holding backspace, you surgically remove chunks of text.

4. Reuse arguments without rewriting

Bash has built-in shortcuts for reusing parts of previous commands:

Repeat last command, type in shell

!!

Last argument of previous command

!$

Add all arguments from previous command to a command

!*

For example on use last argument from previous command:

mkdir project
cd !$

This jumps into the directory you just created without retyping its name.

hipo@jeremiah:/usr/local/bin$ find . /usr/local/bin/ /bin/ /usr/bin -iname 'ls'
/bin/ls
/usr/bin/ls
hipo@jeremiah:/usr/local/bin$ echo !*
echo . /usr/local/bin/ /bin/ /usr/bin -iname 'ls'

To only get the file name of

5. Fix Mistakes Instantly hack

Made a typo? You don’t need to retype the whole command.

Use the shortcut:

^old^new

Example:

hipo@jeremiah: ~$ ls -al /bin/sl
ls: cannot access '/bin/sl': No such file or directory
hipo@jeremiah: ~$ ^sl^ls
ls -al /bin/ls
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 151344 Sep 20  2022 /bin/ls

Bash reruns the previous command with the correction applied.

6. Use history without running history cmd

The quick access to last and previous commands, is perhaps known by most but for novice people starting will shell it is worthy mention:

Scroll through commands:

Keyboard Arrow Up / Down keys ↑ / ↓

run command number n from history !n :

To re-run cmd from history line 10

$ !10

To lets say you want to get last 10 commands from history:

$ history 10

Instead of getting full comand history with

$ history

Use the Ctrl + R which is faster shortcut to arrow keys and walking through history.

7. Use Auto-Complete

The good old well known Tab key is well known one by almost all sysadmins, but I’ll mention it anyways.

Auto-complete file / command
Single Tab press

Show all matches
Press Tab twice

This reduces typing and prevents errors – especially with long file paths.

8. Edit the previous command straight in editor

For complex commands, use:

Ctrl + X, Ctrl + E

This opens your last command in your default editor. You can comfortably edit multi-line or complicated commands, then save and execute.

9. Clear and Reset Quickly

Clear the screen (same as clear ):

Ctrl + L

Cancel current command:

Ctrl + C

Exit shell:

Ctrl + D

These keep your terminal clean and under control.

10. Background and Foreground Control

You can manage running processes with the keyboard too:

Pause (suspend) active running process on cmd line:

Ctrl + Z

Resume process in background:

$ bg

Bring back to foreground:

$ fg

This is especially useful when you accidentally start something in the foreground.

11. Memorize shortcuts / improve shell habits

When these shortcuts become automatic, habit for you will soon reap the benefits.

You will then no longer need to, constantly retype long command lines, you will not loose time to point with the mouse, you save time on editing your command line:

Of course getting it as habit will take few hours to a day.

Start with just building two habits:

Use Ctrl + R instead of retyping
Use Ctrl + A / Ctrl + E instead of arrow keys

Once those stick, layer in the others.

12. Start using fzf fuzzy finder command utility

To get even better command line search and easier manage things with command line binds use fzf.

# apt install –yes fzf
$ source /usr/share/doc/fzf/examples/key-bindings.bash

The fzf command-line tool enhances Linux terminal productivity by replacing the standard, rigid Ctrl+R history search with interactive, real-time fuzzy matching.
It offers a visual interface for searching command history, file paths via Ctrl+T , and directories using Alt+C [Source]. Installing fzf enables a highly efficient workflow, allowing users to find and execute commands faster.

For a complete use cases check GitHub fzf page.

Final Thought

Efficient command line use in Bash is not only about doing less typing, it is about doing more work with less effort, so you can have more time for the important stuff.
The keyboard shortcuts are already there for long time and computer hackers (i mean old school system programmers) has been using them for ages not only in bash but in ksh, zsh, csh and waiting to remove friction from everything you do.
Master them, and the shell stops being a place where you type in like a secretary, but a enjoyable more fun place to spend time on.

Tags: alias, arrow keys, Cancel, command, computer hackers, Delete, last, Linux Bash, movement, Repeat, Start, Stop
Posted in Linux, Linux and FreeBSD Desktop, Programming, System Administration, System Optimization, Various | 1 Comment »

How to Recreate a Corrupted Windows User Profile to Solve Windows Signing In / Signing Out Loops

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026

A corrupted Windows user Profile can cause serious frustration, especially if your PC / notebook running Windows 10 / Windows / 11 etc. in a Windows Domain or not becomes inaccessible for no obvious reason, even though last day you shut down the PC and everything has been working perfectly fine.

The Corruption of User Profile is a rare problem but for a Domain users it is something you'll likely face at least once in a life time or more. Windows Professionals / Sys Admins shold face it frequently when administering, large domains with multiple joined Windows PCs inside the domain so Windows Pro users should be little known for most common Win users.

Corruption usually happens after improper shutdown / a recent update, due to some recent installation / removal of new software or even for absolutely no reason. You might hit a strange issue, you used your Windows work PC or home laptop for years and suddenly out of nothing you cannot login to the account anymore …
The gamma of issues testifying of broken profiles is wide.

You may experience temporary profile logins, missing files, broken settings, constant errors, or extremely slow performance. Logging in to the account Giving you a Signining In -> Welcome -> Signing Out Login Loop or sometimes Windows even displays the message:

“You have been signed in with a temporary profile.”

If this happens, don’t panic. In most cases, you can safely recreate your Windows profile without losing personal data.

Signs Your User Profile Is Corrupted :

Temporary profile message
Desktop resets after reboot
Missing files
Apps not saving settings
Start menu not working
Extremely slow login

This guide should work for both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

What Causes a Corrupted Windows Profile?

Common causes include:

Improper shutdowns
Failed Windows updates
Disk errors or bad sectors
Antivirus interference
Registry corruption
Power outages

When the profile registry entry or user folder becomes damaged, Windows cannot properly load your account.

Windows drops you into Temporary Profile ?

Often if you try to recover your profile, if you have attempted to recover your profile manually or something happened with ntuser.dat file or other profile settings in Registry.

If that's the case Windows logs you into a temporary profile, it usually looks like you have a fresh profile (desktop empty, files missing), even though your original profile still exists. This happens when Windows can’t load your original user profile properly.

Here’s what’s happening and why Windows drops you into this temporary profile (which by the way is recreated every time creating its own Directory like C:\Users\TEMP.AD1 , C:\Users\TEMP.AD2 TEMP.AD3 on each and every windows restart .

Why Windows Uses a Temporary Profile

Corrupted user profile

Critical files in your original profile (like NTUSER.DAT) may be corrupted.

Permissions issues

If Windows can’t access your profile folder due to permissions errors.

Profile in use or locked

If the profile was not closed properly or still in use.

Disk errors

File system problems can prevent profile loading.

Registry errors

Windows keeps profile info in the registry (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList). If it’s misconfigured, the system may create a temporary profile.

Symptoms of a Temporary Profile

Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and other files appear empty.
Changes made during the session are lost after logout.
Windows may show a notification like:

“You have been logged on with a temporary profile. Changes you make will be lost when you log off.”

Before You Start (have Administrator access)

You’ll need:

Administrator access to the PC
A backup of important files (if accessible)
About 15–30 minutes

If you can’t log in normally, boot into Safe Mode / Safe Mode with Networking / Safe Mode with Command Prompt or have some kind of recovery console.

1. Create a New User Profile (Best and Recommended approach)

I know you will feel bad that you will loose all your customizations of the Profile, but having empty hopes and loosing times with empty hopes does not make things better either, so better accept that the probability to have your Profile restored by restoring from backup ntuser.dat file or doing Windows System Restore or running whatever of Auto recovery and diagnostics tools in safe in most of the cases won't solve it. So face the reality and move on.

Create a New User Profile is the safest and most reliable fix.

1.1. Create a New Local Administrator Account

Open Settings
Go to Accounts → Family & other users
Click Add account
Choose I don’t have this person’s sign-in information
Select Add a user without a Microsoft account
Create a new username and password
After creation, click the account → Change account type
Set it to Administrator

Restart your PC and log into the new account.

1.2. Copy Data from the Old Profile

Open Win File Explorer

Go to:

C:\Users

Open your old corrupted profile folder (dir)

Copy important folders:

Desktop
Documents
Downloads
Pictures
Favorites
Music
Videos

Do NOT copy (as this files contains actually the Data for the Profile itself they need to be automatically generated on new Profile creation time):

NTUSER.DAT
NTUSER.DAT.LOG
NTUSER.INI

Paste the data into your new profile folder.

1.3. Delete the Corrupted Profile

Press Win + R

Inside prompt Type:

C:\Windows> sysdm.cpl

Go to Advanced → User Profiles → Settings

Select the corrupted profile

Click Delete

Then remove the old folder from C:\Users if it still exists.

2. Fix the Profile via Registry (Advanced approach)

2.1. Create Windows registry backup (Manual backup)

a) Backup Windows registry Using Registry Editor GUI tool (Manual Backup)

Open Registry Editor:

Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
If prompted by User Account Control (UAC), click Yes.

Backup the Entire Registry:

In the Registry Editor, click File → Export.

In the Export Registry File dialog:

Make sure Export range is set to All.

Name the file something descriptive like RegistryBackup_MMDDYY.

Choose a location to save the backup (e.g., Desktop or external drive). Click Save.

This creates a .reg file containing a full backup of your registry.

Backup Specific Keys (Optional):

Navigate to the key you want to backup.
Right-click it and select Export.
Save it as a .reg file for later restoration.

b) Create Windows registry Full backup with Command Prompt reg command

Open Command Prompt as administrator.

To backup the registry, use the reg command:

C:\Windows> reg export HKLM\Software C:\Backup\SoftwareBackup.reg

Replace HKLM\Software with the key you want to backup.
Replace C:\Backup\SoftwareBackup.reg with your desired file path.Press Enter to create the backup.

Run the Full Registry Backup Command

You’ll need to export the root keys individually, because reg export doesn’t allow exporting the entire registry in one command. Here’s the full set:

reg export HKCR C:\Backup\HKCR.reg /y
reg export HKCU C:\Backup\HKCU.reg /y
reg export HKLM C:\Backup\HKLM.reg /y
reg export HKU C:\Backup\HKU.reg /y
reg export HKCC C:\Backup\HKCC.reg /y

HKCR → HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
HKCU → HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKLM → HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
HKU → HKEY_USERS
HKCC → HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIGC:\Backup\ → Folder where backups are saved (make sure the folder exists).
/y → Automatically overwrite existing files if they

After running these commands, you’ll have a full backup of the registry in separate .reg files.

Restoring the registry Backup (if later needed)

To restore:

reg import C:\Backup\HKCR.reg
reg import C:\Backup\HKCU.reg
reg import C:\Backup\HKLM.reg
reg import C:\Backup\HKU.reg
reg import C:\Backup\HKCC.reg

2.1. Open Registry Editor

Press Win + R, type:

C:\Windows> regedit

Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

2.2. Look for Duplicate SID Entries

You may see two similar profile keys:

One ending in .bak
One without

If this happens:

Rename the normal one (add .old)
Remove .bak from the correct profile key
Make sure RefCount and State are set to 0

Restart your PC.

If this doesn’t work, use Method 1 instead.

2.3. Check Disk for Errors

Disk corruption can damage profiles.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:

C:\Windows> chkdsk C: /f /r

You’ll be asked to schedule the scan on restart. Type Y and reboot.

2.4. Run System File Repair

Corrupted system files can also cause profile issues.

Run:

C:\Windows> sfc /scannow

Then:

C:\Windows> DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Restart after completion.

If multiple system errors occur, a full Windows repair installation may be necessary.

When to Consider an In-Place Repair

If profile recreation fails:

Download the latest Windows ISO
Mount it
Run setup.exe
Choose Keep personal files and apps

This repairs Windows without deleting data.

3. Restore (Copy) Application Data / Settings from Old Profile to New Profile

3.1. Copy Appdata Directory Application Settings

AppData Directory contains application settings. It has three subfolders:

C:\Users\OldProfile\AppData\Local C:\Users\OldProfile\AppData\LocalLow C:\Users\OldProfile\AppData\Roaming

Safe practice: Only copy folders/files for specific applications (like Chrome, Outlook, VSCode, etc.):

Examples:

N! B! Avoid copying the entire Local or Roaming folder blindly—it may bring back the corruption.

Roaming\Google\Chrome\User DataChrome:
Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\ProfilesFirefox:
Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook or Local\Microsoft\OutlookOutlook:
VSCode: Roaming\Code\User

Copy Settings and Files

Log into the new profile.
Copy documents, pictures, and other personal files to their new locations.
For AppData:

Copy only specific app folders (like Chrome, Firefox, etc.).
Always overwrite carefully, don’t replace the entire profile folders.

If moving registry settings, double-check each .reg file before importing.

! Note !

3.2. Some Apps might be necessery to Reinstall or Reconfigure

Some apps store settings in the registry or protected locations; sometimes it’s safer to reinstall them in the new profile rather than copy files blindly.

Closing Summary

Recreating a corrupted Windows profile is usually faster and safer than trying to repair it.In most cases, creating a new administrator account and transferring your data solves the problem completely. In certain circumstances this might be a pain in the ass especially if you have a bitlocker enabled and for some reason you have forgotten or lost the Bitlocker encryption Key ! Beware not to !
If you have a company PC you should perhaps then contact your IT support team to provide you with the bitlocker data encryption key and with it hopefully you should be able to run Safe mode or recovery console.

If the issue keeps returning once you have recreated the Profile, then use BIOS / UEFI to check your disk health and rest of PC hardware is reporting okay and then ensure Windows Updates are installing correctly.

That's it hopefully your new Profile should be fine. Next step of course is to restore your old profile settings to be on the new profile.

Tags: bad sectors, cause, Click Delete, Copy Appdata Directory Application Settings, Corrupted Profile, create, Entire Registry, errors, HKCC, HKCR, HKCU, HKLM, HKU, installation, issues, Key Beware, logins, message, Navigate, New Local Administrator Account, new software, NTUSER, Open Registry Editor, Open Settings, Pc, personal data, profile settings, reg files, Restart, Run System File Repair, Temporary Profile, times, uac, Videos, working
Posted in Educational, OS Update, System Administration, Various, Windows | No Comments »

How to Install and Use Kibana for Log Visualization

Wednesday, February 18th, 2026

I saw Kibana in my professional career and I find it a very interesting tool for sysadmins, so I thought it might be helpful to someone out there to write a small article on how to install and use to to visualize data inside some elasticsearch software.

Kibana is an open-source data visualization and exploration tool used to analyze large volumes of data, especially logs. It is part of the ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana), and is commonly used for centralized log management, security monitoring, and observability.

Kibana is often used in the so-called ELK pipeline for log file collection, analysis and visualization:

Elasticsearch is for searching, analyzing, and storing your data
Logstash (and Beats) is for collecting and transforming data, from any source, in any format
Kibana is a portal for visualizing the data and to navigate within the elastic stack

In this article, you'll learn how to:

Install Kibana
Connect it to Elasticsearch
Visualize log data
Use its basic features

Prerequisites

Before installing Kibana, make sure you have the following:

A Linux server running (Ubuntu / Debian / CentOS / RHEL)
Elasticsearch installed and running
Root or sudo access

Install Kibana

I. On Debian/Ubuntu

Import the Elastic GPG key:

# wget -qO – https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch | sudo apt-key add –

Add the repository:

# echo "deb https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/8.x/apt stable main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/elastic-8.x.list

Update and install:

# apt update
# apt install kibana

II. On RHEL/CentOS Linux

Create repo file:

# tee /etc/yum.repos.d/elastic.repo <<EOF
[elastic-8.x]
name=Elastic repository for 8.x packages
baseurl=https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/8.x/yum
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch
enabled=1
autorefresh=1
type=rpm-md
EOF

Install Kibana:

# yum install kibana

2. Configure Kibana

The configuration file is located at:

/etc/kibana/kibana.yml

Edit the file:

# vim /etc/kibana/kibana.yml

Update or add the following:

# Server settings
server.port: 5601
server.host: "0.0.0.0"
# Elasticsearch connection
elasticsearch.hosts: [“http://localhost:9200”]
# Logging
logging.level: info
# Security (only if Elasticsearch security is enabled)
# elasticsearch.username: "kibana_system"
# elasticsearch.password: "your_password_here"

Optional: Set basic auth or SSL settings if needed.

3. Start and Enable Kibana

# systemctl enable kibana
# systemctl start kibana

Check status:

# systemctl status kibana
…

4. Access Kibana Web Interface

Open your browser and go to:

http://<your-server-ip>:5601

You’ll be welcomed with the Kibana dashboard.

5. Import and Visualize Logs

Option A: Use Filebeat to Send Logs

Install Filebeat on the server with logs and configure it to send data to Elasticsearch. Kibana will then be able to visualize it.

# apt install filebeat
# filebeat modules enable system
# filebeat setup
# systemctl start filebeat

Option B: Ingest Logs via Logstash or Elasticsearch API

If you already have data in Elasticsearch, Kibana will automatically detect indices.

6. Create Index Pattern

In Kibana, go to Stack Management -> Index Patterns
Click Create Index Pattern
Enter the name (e.g., filebeat-*)
Select the timestamp field (usually @timestamp)
Save

Now Kibana knows how to query and visualize your data.

7. Create Visualizations and Dashboards

Go to Visualize -> Create visualization
Choose a type (bar, pie, line, etc.)
Select an index pattern
Configure metrics and buckets

You can then save visualizations and add them to dashboards.

8. Secure Kibana

Configure TLS/SSL for Kibana / ElasticSearch (such as Logstash)
Use additional Elastic Security features like RBAC (Role Based Access Control, SSO (Single Sign On)
Secure Kibana with a reverse proxy (e.g., Nginx + Basic Auth or Apache / Haproxy infront)

Example Nginx config simple snippet:

location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:5601;
auth_basic "Restricted";
auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
}

What is Kibana used for and what it can do for you?

Use Case	Description
Log Monitoring	Visualize system and application logs in real time
Security Analytics	Detect anomalies, failed logins, suspicious activity
DevOps Dashboards	Track uptime, error rates, and system performance
SIEM	Use Elastic Security for threat detection

Once Kibana is installed on a server, you typically use it to visualize and explore data stored in Elasticsearch. Here’s a practical guide with sample usage scenarios:

Access Kibana

After installation, Kibana usually runs on port 5601 by default.

http://<your-server-ip>:5601

Open this URL in a browser.
You should see the Kibana dashboard.

Connect to Elasticsearch

Kibana automatically connects to your Elasticsearch instance if installed locally.
You can verify the connection:

GET /_cluster/health

Go to Dev Tools → Console in Kibana.
Run the above query to check cluster status.

Visualize Data

Kibana allows multiple types of visualizations:

Bar/line chart: trends over time.
Pie chart: distribution of values.
Data table: top IP addresses or most visited URLs.
Maps: geolocation of IP addresses.

Create Dashboards

Combine multiple visualizations in a Dashboard.
Useful for monitoring logs, metrics, or application performance.
Example: Create a dashboard with:
- Requests per URL (bar chart)
- Requests over time (line chart)
- Top client IPs (data table)
- Errors by type (pie chart)

Search & Query Logs

Use Discover to search logs interactively.
Example KQL query:

status:500 AND url:"/login"

This finds all failed login requests.

Set Alerts (Optional)

Kibana’s Alerts and Actions can trigger notifications (email, Slack, etc.) when certain thresholds are crossed.
Example: alert if error responses exceed 100 in 5 minutes.

Once Kibana is installed on a server, you typically use it to visualize and explore data stored in Elasticsearch. Here’s a practical guide with sample usage scenarios:

Access Kibana

After installation, Kibana usually runs on port 5601 by default.

http://<your-server-ip>:5601

Open this URL in a browser.
You should see the Kibana dashboard.

Connect to Elasticsearch

Kibana automatically connects to your Elasticsearch instance if installed locally.
You can verify the connection:

GET /_cluster/health

Go to Dev Tools → Console in Kibana.
Run the above query to check cluster status.

Visualize Data

Kibana allows multiple types of visualizations:

Bar/line chart: trends over time.
Pie chart: distribution of values.
Data table: top IP addresses or most visited URLs.
Maps: geolocation of IP addresses.

Create Dashboards

Combine multiple visualizations in a Dashboard.
Useful for monitoring logs, metrics, or application performance.
Example: Create a dashboard with:
- Requests per URL (bar chart)
- Requests over time (line chart)
- Top client IPs (data table)
- Errors by type (pie chart)

Search & Query Logs

Use Discover to search logs interactively.
Example KQL query:

status:500 AND url:"/login"

This finds all failed login requests.

Set Alerts (Optional)

Kibana’s Alerts and Actions can trigger notifications (email, Slack, etc.) when certain thresholds are crossed.
Example: alert if error responses exceed 100 in 5 minutes.

Once Kibana is installed on a server, you typically use it to visualize and explore data stored in Elasticsearch. Here’s a practical guide with sample usage scenarios:

Access Kibana

After installation, Kibana usually runs on port 5601 by default.

http://your-server-ip:5601

Open this URL in a browser.
You should see the Kibana dashboard.

Connect to Elasticsearch

Kibana automatically connects to your Elasticsearch instance if installed locally.
You can verify the connection:

GET /_cluster/health

Go to Dev Tools → Console in Kibana.
Run the above query to check cluster status.

Visualize Data

Kibana allows multiple types of visualizations:

Bar/line chart: trends over time.
Pie chart: distribution of values.
Data table: top IP addresses or most visited URLs.
Maps: geolocation of IP addresses.

Create Dashboards

Combine multiple visualizations in a Dashboard.
Useful for monitoring logs, metrics, or application performance.
Example: Create a dashboard with:
- Requests per URL (bar chart)
- Requests over time (line chart)
- Top client IPs (data table)
- Errors by type (pie chart)

Search & Query Logs

Use Discover to search logs interactively.
Example KQL query:

status:500 AND url:"/login"

This finds all failed login requests.

Set Alerts (Optional)

Kibana’s Alerts and Actions can trigger notifications (email, Slack, etc.) when certain thresholds are crossed.
Example: alert if error responses exceed 100 in 5 minutes.

Sample Kibana dashboard

Kibana with connected servers to find out Geo Location

Summary closing words (what we did)

Step	Action
1	Install Kibana from Elastic repo
2	Configure to connect to Elasticsearch
3	Start and enable the service
4	Access it via http://<ip>:5601
5	Ingest log data
6	Define index pattern
7	Create dashboards and visualizations

The idea of this article was just to introduce you to the existence of Elasticsearch / kibana and filebeat and logstack and not to give you a fully fine tuned install guide. The usual way to deploy Kibana on multiple servers of course is using a dockerized container version of it. There is plenty to learned on how to use kibana to do a monitoring of your machines. But most simple use is to directly access the locally visible kibana on a server and check the status of processes on the host instead of logging via SSH. Kibana can do pretty much

Some further useful Reading Resources

Kibana Docs: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/index.html
Filebeat Docs: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/index.html
Logstash Docs: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/index.html

Tags: Access Kibana Web Interface, alert, Common Kibana Use Cases, data, Detect, Edit, ELK, hosts, htpasswd, info, Ingest Logs, linux?, Open, repository, scenarios, server, SSO, sudo, systemctl, update, Useful, www
Posted in Linux, Monitoring, Various | No Comments »

Check and Fix: “w32tm /query /source – The service has not been started” (Windows Time Service Error)

Thursday, February 12th, 2026

Some people are still forced to run Windows 10 due to hardware limitations on Legacy desktop PCs and Laptops as Windows 11 does not support all hardware. Hence the Windows Automatic Time Synchronization service might not have been started properly (is failing) and due to that the system clock might be slowing down or up from the actual time. This is a rare issue you might encounter but if you're physically situated on a place with very slow internet connection and / or on an 10 years+ old Gamer PC with Windows 10 you might encounter it under some specific unlucky circumstances combination, like very slow internet or using some kind of damaged windows due to failed Windows updates or due to running some unlicensed copy of Windows (which you should not!) etc.
Perhaps Windows time synchronization issues miight be caused due to BIOS / UEFI time setting misconfiguration causing the PC clock to be back in time with minutes / hours or in future mis-synchronized.
This perhaps could could happen even on more modern 356 Domain connected PCs / notebooks running on modern Windows 11?

In this article I'll give you an easy way how to resolve Windows Clock (Timing) issues by running few standard Windows commands in
Windows Administrator Prompt (elevated) cmd.exe line:

Run cmd.exe as Administartor: and try to get information on the configured time server:

sc query w32time

Usually that won't produce a good result if your clock is not properly synching with Windows Time server via the w32time service, to further debug run cmd:

w32tm /query /source

If you run the command:

and receive the error:

The following error occurred: 
The service has not been started. (0x80070426)

it means the Windows Time (W32Time) service is not running on your system.

This service is responsible for synchronizing your computer’s clock with an internet time server or domain controller. Without it, time sync will not work properly.

Why This Error Happens

The error usually appears when:

The Windows Time service is disabled
The service was stopped manually
System policies disabled time synchronization
The PC was recently restored or cloned

Below is how to fix it quickly.

Solution 1 : Start the Windows Time Service

Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:

net start w32time

After it starts successfully, verify the time source:

 
w32tm /query /source

Solution 2: Set the Service to Start Automatically

If the problem keeps happening after reboot, set the service startup type to Automatic:

sc config w32time start= auto
net start w32time

Note: There must be a space after start= .

Solution 3: Re-register the Windows Time Service

If the service fails to start, try re-registering it:

w32tm /unregister
w32tm /register
net start w32time

Then force time synchronization:

w32tm /resync

Solution 4: Configure an NTP Server Manually

If no time source is configured, set one manually:

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:"time.windows.com,0x8" \
/syncfromflags:manual /update
net stop w32time
net start w32time
w32tm /resync

You can also use other NTP servers such as for example:

pool.ntp.org
time.google.com

Alternative: Start the Service via Services Console services.msc

Press Win + R
Type services.msc
Find Windows Time
Set Startup type to Automatic
Click Start

Finally Check time server syncs fine

After fixing the issue, confirm everything works:

 w32tm /query /status 
w32tm /query /source

If a valid NTP server or domain controller is displayed, the issue is resolved.

Tags: Below, com, configured, domain controller, due, example, Find Windows Time, fixing, internet connection, internet time server, issue, ntp, occurred, properly, running, Services Console, system clock, time synchronization
Posted in System Administration, Various, Windows | No Comments »

Installing Freedoom, Freedoom Phase 2, and Other DOOMs on GNU / Linux

Thursday, January 29th, 2026

freedoom-game-on-linux-shot-killed-monster
You think good old DOOM game is Dead ? Think again.

From graphing calculators and printers to ATMs, traffic signs, refrigerators, and even experimental brain-computer interfaces, DOOM has proven itself less a game and more a force of nature. For decades, developers and hackers have ported it onto devices never meant for fast-paced demon slaying, simply because they could. This strange tradition says as much about DOOM’s elegant design as it does about the creativity – and stubbornness – of the open-source community. Perhaps as a mean of extension people from the free realm decide to create a a playable and free remake of it.

If you want classic DOOM action game to have fun on Linux without proprietary game data, Freedoom is the answer.
It’s free, open source, and designed to be fully compatible with the original DOOM engine ,while still delivering you a monsters to kill, shotguns, and extremely questionable life choices.

This article walks you through installing Freedoom, Phase1 Freedoom Phase 2, and running them with popular DOOM source ports on Linux such as gzdoom and chocolate-doom and freedm.

What Is Freedoom (and Why Should You Care)?

Freedoom is a free replacement for the original DOOM game data (WAD files).

Freedoom comes in two main flavors:

Freedoom (Phase 1) – Doom-compatible (monsters, maps, weapons)
Freedoom Phase 2 – Doom II – compatible (bigger maps, more enemies, more chaos)

Think of them as DOOM and DOOM II, but liberated from copyright hell.

1. Install Freedoom on Linux

On most Linux distributions, Freedoom is available directly from the package manager.

Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint

# apt install freedoom

This installs:

freedoom1.wad (Phase 1)
freedoom2.wad (Phase 2)

You now officially own free DOOM. Congratulations.

$ freedoom1

$ freedoom2

2. Choose a DOOM Engine (a.k.a. Source Port)

Freedoom doesn’t run by itself- you need a DOOM engine to play it. Luckily, Linux has lots of excellent options.

2.1. Chocolate Doom (Classic Experience)

Chocolate Doom aims to recreate exactly how DOOM felt in the 1990s. Same physics, same limits, same pixelated glory.

Doom engines closely-compatible with Vanilla Doom

Chocolate Doom aims to accurately reproduce the original DOS version of

Doom and other games based on the Doom engine in a form that can be

run on modern computers. Unlike most modern Doom engines, Chocolate Doom

is not derived from the Boom source port and does not inherit its

features (or bugs).

chocolate-doom package contains:

* Chocolate Doom, a port of Id Software's "Doom" (1993)

* Chocolate Heretic, a port of Raven Software's "Heretic" (1994)

* Chocolate Hexen, a port of Raven Software's "Hexen" (1995)

* Chocolate Strife, a recreation of Rogue Entertainment's "Strife" (1996)

These games are designed to behave as similar to the original DOS version as

is possible.

Chocolate Doom supports all flavors of Doom, including The Ultimate Doom, Doom

2 and Final Doom as well as Chex(R) Quest, HacX, Freedoom: Phase 1 and Phase 2

and FreeDM.

All Chocolate game engines require game data to play. For Chocolate Doom,

free game data is available in the freedoom package. Commercial game data for

all four engines can be packaged using "game-data-packager".

To install it simply run:

# apt install chocolate-doom

Run Freedoom:

$ chocolate-doom -iwad /usr/share/games/doom/freedoom1.wad

Or Doom II–style:

$ chocolate-doom -iwad /usr/share/games/doom/freedoom2.wad

2.2. PrBoom+ (Classic but Smoother)

PrBoom+ keeps the old-school feel but adds:

Better performance
Higher resolutions
Fewer headaches

To install it:

# apt install dsda-doom

Run dsda-doom:

$ dsda-doom -iwad freedoom2.wad

Best for:

Vanilla gameplay with modern comfort
Speedrunners
People who want fewer crashes than 1993 allowed

2.3. GZDoom (Modern, Fancy, Wild)

GZDoom is DOOM after drinking several energy drinks:

Hardware acceleration
Mouse look
Mods, lighting, shaders, chaos

Add necessery repository:

$ rm –f /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/drdteam.gpg $ rm –f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/drdteam.list
# wget -P /etc/apt/sources.list.d https://debian.drdteam.org/drdteam-$(dpkg –print-architecture).sources
# apt update # apt install gzdoom

Run Original Doom WAD:

$ gzdoom -iwad /var/www/files/doom2.wad

If you need the original doom wads check out my earlier article DOOM 1, DOOM 2, DOOM 3 game wad files for download / Playing Doom on Debian Linux via FreeDoom open source doom engine
Run Freedoom WAD:

$ gzdoom -iwad freedoom2.wad

Best for:

Mods
Modern controls
Turning DOOM into something unrecognizable (but fun)

**3. Installing Other DOOM Engines**

Once you have an engine, you can play nearly any DOOM-compatible game by pointing it at a WAD file.

Popular options include:

FreeDM – A free deathmatch-focused DOOM experience
Heretic / Hexen – Fantasy DOOM (if you own the WADs)
User-made megawads – Thousands exist, ranging from brilliant to unhinged

Most engines let you load extra content like this:

$ gzdoom -iwad freedoom2.wad -file coolmap.wad

freedoom-exit-screen-cool-doom-text-ascii 3.1. Installing FreeDM Port

Install it with:

# apt install freedm
$ freedm

freedm-doom-linux-shot

3.2. Where Are the WAD Files located ?

Typically they are installed to:

/usr/share/games/doom/

Common files:

freedoom1.wad
freedoom2.wad
freedm.wad

You can copy them anywhere if you prefer a custom setup.

3.3. Keyboard, Mouse, and Sanity Settings

After launching:

Open Options → Controls
Enable mouse look (if using GZDoom)
Rebind keys (your pinky deserves mercy)
Increase resolution unless you’re feeling retro

Final Thoughts, DOOM A Forever Classic

Freedoom proves that DOOM isn’t just a game—it’s a platform, a culture, and for those born in the mid and beginning of 90s a travel back machine.

On Linux, you get:

Free game data
Multiple engines
Infinite mods
Zero DRM
Maximum demon destruction 🙂

Whether you want authentic 1993 vibes or modernized mayhem, Freedoom and Linux are a perfect match.
For old school fans and maniacs as well as IT tech guys with nostalgia or hard core angry system administrators this game is a real bliss
as it can be a true anti-stressor and a perfect for as a mean of anger management 🙂

Enjoy the Blast ! Happy Doom-Ing!

Tags: about, action, after, again, aims, ALL, allowed, and, angry, Chocolate Doom, data, Debian Ubuntu Linux Mint, Freedoom Phase, list, Open Options Controls, package, ports, running, these games, without
Posted in Entertainment, Games, Games Linux, Various | No Comments »

How to add Bulgarian language to GCompris Kids education software on Debian 12 GNU / Linux installing gcompris via flatpak next generation package distribution tool

Monday, January 26th, 2026

As I have a small currently 5.5 years old Kid Dimitar at home and i'm doing my best to make him learn new things and advance in different areas of life and knowledge.

Today Decided to introduce him to Linux4Kids gcompris a KDE educational set of games for small children.
Once installed with simple

# apt install gcompris-qt

It works fine and default version installable from default Debian distribution is fine, except it does not support Bulgarian.

That is again not a nice suprise, as even some pseudo languages like Belarusian are there to set but Bulgarian missing on the default installable pack:

# dpkg -l |grep -i gcompris
ii gcompris-qt 3.1-2 amd64 educational games for small children
ii gcompris-qt-data 3.1-2 all data files for gcompris-qt

After some tampering and unable to find a native .deb port of the latest release and my undesire to move from debian 12 (bookworm) Desktop Linux laptop at the moment to Debian 13 Trixie, i've finally found a way to install it via flatpak:

For those who never used snap package ecosystem or flatpak, here is a shortly synthesis on it:

Flatpak is an open-source, next-generation framework for building, distributing, and running sandboxed desktop applications on Linux.
It enables developers to package apps once and run them on any Linux distribution by including all necessary dependencies.
Flatpak improves security by isolating applications from the host system.

Flatpaks are containerized applications. They require more space because the bring along their own versions of their dependencies instead of relying on system versions.

While a single application will have greater space requirements, the base images [and potentially overlays] will get shared between them and each successive flatpak will potentially require less overhead.

The pros to using them is that flatpaks are often more current than their distribution packaged versions and they are somewhat isolated from the base system. The cons are that they're not managed with the rest of your system packages, can have slower start times, occasionally have permissions issues, and take up more space.

In some cases, flatpak is a better choice. Sometimes, it's not, and there's no way we can really determine that for you.

Tried up to my best to install the newest version of gcompris which as of time of writting this blog post is gcompris 25.1

# apt info flatpak|grep -i 'descr' -A8 -B8
WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.
Recommends: ca-certificates, default-dbus-system-bus | dbus-system-bus, desktop-file-utils, hicolor-icon-theme, gtk-update-icon-cache, libpam-systemd, p11-kit, polkitd | policykit-1, shared-mime-info, xdg-desktop-portal (>= 1.6), xdg-desktop-portal-gtk (>= 1.6) | xdg-desktop-portal-backend, xdg-user-dirs
Suggests: avahi-daemon, malcontent-gui
Conflicts: xdg-app
Replaces: xdg-app
Homepage: https://flatpak.org/
Download-Size: 1,400 kB
APT-Manual-Installed: yes
APT-Sources: http://ftp.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 Packages
Description: Application deployment framework for desktop apps
Flatpak installs, manages and runs sandboxed desktop application bundles.
Application bundles run partially isolated from the wider system, using
containerization techniques such as namespaces to prevent direct access
to system resources. Resources from outside the sandbox can be accessed
via "portal" services, which are responsible for access control; for
example, the Documents portal displays an "Open" dialog outside the
sandbox, then allows the application to access only the selected file.

# apt install flatpak

# flatpak remote-add –if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
# flatpak install flathub org.kde.gcompris
# flatpak run org.kde.gcompris

If you have sound glitches of gcompris on Older laptops install all necessery for pipewire run it like that:

# apt install pipewire pipewire-audio-client-libraries pipewire-pulse

Try to run it manually with:

# env PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=60 ; flatpak run org.kde.gcompris

If still sound glithches are present a workaround is to tune PipeWire buffer/quantum size:

PipeWire buffer/quantum size too aggressive?

Many crackling issues come from too small quantum. Create ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/99-custom.conf
# vim ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/99-custom.conf
and add:textcontext.properties = {
default.clock.rate = 48000
default.clock.quantum = 1024
default.clock.min-quantum = 512
default.clock.max-quantum = 2048
}
#systemctl –user restart pipewire pipewire-pulse

Create a new wrapper script to run you gcompris easily

# vim /usr/local/bin/gcompris.sh
#!/bin/bash
# little hack script to make music streamed via pulseaudio to not have severe glitches when running gcompris latest release on debian 12
# through flatpak
# if not working run cmd
# systemctl –user restart pipewire
LANG=bg_BG.UTF-8
SDL_AUDIODRIVER=pulseaudio
#flatpak run –device=all –socket=pulseaudio org.kde.gcompris
flatpak override –user –env=SDL_AUDIODRIVER=pulseaudio org.kde.gcompris
flatpak override –user –filesystem=~/.config/pipewire:ro org.kde.gcompris
LANG=bg_BG.UTF-8 flatpak run –socket=pulseaudio org.kde.gcompris
# chmod +x /usr/local/bin/gcompris.sh

Hence I run the wrapper script and let the kid enjoy the nice educational stuff while I enjoyed the nice kiddish peaceful music !

# /usr/local/bin/gcompris.sh

P.S. ! If you get issues with pipewire (if you're using one instead of pulseaudio as I do with my Mate desktop environment you can restart it and relaunch the gcompris nice addition to tux4kids (see my previous article Tux for Kids (Tux Math, Tux Paint, Tux Typing) 3 games to develop your children Intellect):

# systemctl –user restart pipewire

Enjoy Gcompris !

Tags: access, after, again, ALL, allows, amd64, Bulgarian, clock, config, Debian, default, Description Application, gcompris, How to, kde, org, scripts, small, software, system resources
Posted in Educational, Games Linux, Linux, Various | No Comments »

How to Easily Integrate AI Into Bash on Linux with ollama

Monday, January 12th, 2026

AI is more and more entering the Computer scene and so is also in the realm of Computer / Network management. Many proficient admins already start to get advantage to it.
AI doesn’t need a GUI, or a special cloud dashboard or fancy IDE so for console geeks Sysadmins / System engineers and Dev Ops it can be straightly integrated into the bash / zsh etc. and used to easify a bit your daily sys admin tasks.

If you live in the terminal, the most powerful place to add AI is Bash itself. With a few tools and a couple of lines of shell code, you can turn your terminal into an AI-powered assistant that writes commands, explains errors, and helps automate everyday Linux tasks.

No magic. No bloat. Just Unix philosophy with a brain.

1. AI as a Command-Line Tool

Instead of treating AI like a chatbot, treat it like any other CLI utility:

stdin → prompt
stdout → response
pipes → integration

Hardware Requirements of Ollama Server

2. Minimum VM (It runs, but you’ll hate it)

Only use this to test that things work.

vCPU: 2
RAM: 4 GB
Disk: 20 GB (SSD mandatory)
Storage type: ( HDD / network storage = bad )
Models: phi3, tinyllama

Expect:

Very slow pulls
Long startup times
Laggy responses

a. Recommended VM (Actually usable)

This is the sweet spot for Bash integration and daily CLI use.

vCPU: 4–6 (modern host CPU)
RAM: 8–12 GB
Disk: 30–50 GB local SSD
CPU type: host-passthrough (important!)
NUMA: off (for small VMs)

Models that feel okay:

phi3
mistral
llama3:8b (slow but tolerable)

b. “Feels Good” VM (CPU-only but not painful)

If you want it to feel responsive.

vCPU: 8
RAM: 16 GB
Disk: NVMe-backed storage
CPU flags: AVX2 enabled
Hugepages: optional but nice

Models:

llama3:8b
codellama:7b
mixtral (slow, but usable)

Hypervisor-Specific Advice (Important)

c. KVM / Proxmox (Best choice)

CPU type: host
Enable AES-NI, AVX, AVX2
Use virtio-scsi
Cache: writeback
IO thread: enabled

d. If running VM on VMware platform

Enable Expose hardware-assisted virtualization
Use paravirtual SCSI
Reserve memory if possible

e. VirtualBox (Not recommended)

Poor CPU feature exposure
Weak IO performance

Avoid if you can

f. Local AI With Ollama (Recommended)

If you want privacy, low latency, and no API keys, Ollama is currently the easiest way to run LLMs locally on Linux.

3. Install Ollama

# curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

Start the service:

# ollama serve

Pull a model (lightweight and fast):

# ollama pull llama3

Test it:

ollama run llama3 "Explain what the ls command does"

If that works, you’re ready to integrate.

To check whether all is properly setup after installed llama3:

root@haproxy2:~# ollama list
NAME ID SIZE MODIFIED
llama3:latest 365c0bd3c000 4.7 GB About an hour ago

root@haproxy2:~# systemctl status ollama
● ollama.service – Ollama Service
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ollama.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Mon 2026-01-12 16:43:30 EET; 15min ago
Main PID: 37436 (ollama)
Tasks: 16 (limit: 6999)
Memory: 5.0G
CPU: 13min 5.264s
CGroup: /system.slice/ollama.service
├─37436 /usr/local/bin/ollama serve
└─37472 /usr/local/bin/ollama runner –model /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models/blobs/sha256-6a0746a1ec1aef3e7ec53>
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: llama_context: Flash Attention was auto, set to enabled
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: llama_context: CPU compute buffer size = 258.50 MiB
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: llama_context: graph nodes = 999
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: llama_context: graph splits = 1
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: time=2026-01-12T16:45:34.959+02:00 level=INFO source=server.go:1376 msg="llama runner>
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: time=2026-01-12T16:45:34.989+02:00 level=INFO source=sched.go:517 msg="loaded runners>
яну 12 16:45:35 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: time=2026-01-12T16:45:35.000+02:00 level=INFO source=server.go:1338 msg="waiting for >
яну 12 16:45:35 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: time=2026-01-12T16:45:35.001+02:00 level=INFO source=server.go:1376 msg="llama runner>
яну 12 16:55:58 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: [GIN] 2026/01/12 – 16:55:58 | 200 | 3.669915ms | 127.0.0.1 | HEAD "/"
яну 12 16:55:58 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: [GIN] 2026/01/12 – 16:55:58 | 200 | 42.244006ms | 127.0.0.1 | GET "/api/>
root@haproxy2:~#

4. Turning AI Into a Bash Command

Let’s create a simple AI helper command called ai.

Add this to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_aliases:

ai() {
ollama run llama3 "$*"
}

Reload your shell:

$ source ~/.bashrc

Now you can do things like:

$ ai "Write a bash command to find large files"

$ ai "Explain this error: permission denied"
$ ai "Convert this sed command to awk"

At this point, AI is already a first-class CLI tool.

5. Using AI to Generate Bash Commands

One of the most useful patterns is asking AI to output only shell commands.

Example:

$ ai "Give me a bash command to recursively find .log files larger than 100MB. Output only the command."

Copy, paste, done.

You can even enforce this behavior with a wrapper:

aicmd() {
ollama run llama3 "Output ONLY a valid bash command. No explanation. Task: $*"
}

Now:

$ aicmd "list running processes using more than 1GB RAM"

Danger note: always read commands before running them. AI is smart, not trustworthy.

6. AI for Explaining Commands and Logs

This is where AI shines.

Pipe output directly into it:

$ dmesg | tail -n 50 | ai "Explain what is happening here"

Or errors:

$ make 2>&1 | ai "Explain this error and suggest a fix"

You’ve just built a terminal-native debugger.

7. Smarter Bash History Search

You can even use AI to interpret your intent instead of remembering exact commands:

aih() {
history | ai "From this bash history, find the best command for: $*"
}

Example:

$ aih "compress a directory into tar.gz"

It’s like Ctrl+R, but semantic.

8. Using AI With Shell Scripts

AI can help generate scripts inline:

$ ai "Write a bash script that monitors disk usage and sends a notification when it exceeds 90%"

You’re not replacing scripting skills – you’re accelerating them.

Think of AI as:

a junior sysadmin
a documentation search engine
a rubber duck that talks back

9. Where Ollama Stores Its Data

Depending on how it runs:

System service (most common)

Models live here:

/usr/share/ollama/.ollama/

Inside:

models/
blobs/

User-only install

~/.ollama/

Since you installed as root + systemd, use the first path.

See What’s Taking Space

# du -sh /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/*

Typical output:

models/ → metadata
blobs/ → the big files (GBs)

10. Remove Unused Models (Safe Way)

List models Ollama knows about:

# ollama list

Remove a model properly:

# ollama rm llama3

This removes metadata and unreferenced blobs.

Always try this first.

11. Full Manual Cleanup (Hard Reset)

If things are broken, stuck, or you want a clean slate:

Stop Ollama

# systemctl stop ollama

Delete all local models and cache

# rm -rf /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models
# rm -rf /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/blobs

(Optional but safe)

# rm -rf /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/tmp

Start Ollama again

# systemctl start ollama

Ollama will recreate everything automatically.

Verify Cleanup Worked

# du -sh /usr/share/ollama/.ollama
# ollama list

You should see:

Very small disk usage
Empty model list

Prevent Disk Bloat (Highly Recommended)

Only pull small models on VMs

Stick to:

phi3
mistral
tinyllama

Remove models you don’t use

# ollama rm modelname

Set a custom data directory (optional)

If /usr is small, move Ollama data:

# systemctl stop ollama
# mkdir -p /opt/ollama-data
# chown -R ollama:ollama /opt/ollama-data

Edit service:

# systemctl edit ollama

Add:

[Service]
Environment=OLLAMA_HOME=/opt/ollama-data

Then:

# systemctl daemon-reload
# systemctl start ollama

Quick “Nuke It” One-Liner (Use With Care)

Deletes everything Ollama-related:

# systemctl stop ollama && rm -rf /usr/share/ollama/.ollama && systemctl start ollama
API-Based Option (Cloud Models)

If you prefer cloud models (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.), the pattern is identical:

Use curl
Pass prompt
Parse output

Once AI returns text to stdout, Bash doesn’t care where it came from.

12. Best Practices how to use shell AI to not overload machine

Before you go wild:

Don’t auto-execute AI output
Don’t run AI as root
Treat responses as suggestions
Version-control important scripts
Keep prompts specific

AI is powerful — but Linux still assumes you know what you’re doing.

Sum it up

Adding AI to Bash isn’t about replacing skills.
It’s about removing friction.

When AI gets easy to use from the command line it is a great convenience for those who don't want to switch to browser all the time and copy / paste like crazy.
AI as a command-line tool fits perfectly into the Linux console:

composable
scriptable
optional
powerful

Once you’ve used AI from inside your shell for a few hours, going back to browser-based AI chat stuff like querying ChatGPT feels… slow and inefficient.
However keep in mind that ollama is away from perfect and has a lot of downsides and ChatGPT / Grok / DeepSeek often might give you better results, however as ollama is really isolated and non-depend on external sources your private quries will not get into a public AI historic database and you won't be tracked.
So everything has its Pros and Cons. I'm pretty sure that this tool and free AI tools like those will certainly have a good future and will be heavily used by system admins and
programmers in the coming future.
The terminal just got smarter. And it didn’t need a GUI to do it.

Tags: bashrc, brain, buffer size, copy paste, Delete, Edit, find, Flash Attention, Generate Bash Commands, graph, identical, linux?, Output, running processes, Smarter Bash History Search, Start, terminal, time, times, wrapper
Posted in AI on Linux, Automation, Educational, System Administration, Various | No Comments »

How to Optimize Debian Linux on old Computers to Get improved overall Speed, Performance and Stability

Tuesday, December 30th, 2025

How to optimize Debian version 12.12 Linux OS to work responsive on Old ThinkPad laptops like from year 2008 Thinkpad R61 with Window Maker, zram, SSD etc.

Old computers aren’t obsolete but most worthy if you dont want to spend on extra hardware.

With the right setup, Debian Linux can run smoothly on hardware that’s more than a decade old. This article walks through a real-world, proven configuration using a classic ThinkPad R61 (Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM, SSD), but the principles apply to many older PCs as well.

Why use Debian Linux on old hardware?

Debian Stable is ideal for old hardware because it offers:

Low baseline resource usage
Long-term stability
Minimal background activity
Excellent support for lightweight desktops
Flexible and well organized and relatively easy to tune

Paired with a minimal window manager, Debian easily outperforms many “lightweight” distros that still ship heavy defaults.

Hardware Baseline PC setup

Test system:

Laptop: ThinkPad R61
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo
RAM: 4 GB
Storage: SATA SSD
Graphics: Intel X3100 / NVIDIA NVS 140M
Desktop: Window Maker

This is a common configuration for late-2000s business laptops.

1. Desktop Environment: Keep It Simple

Heavy desktop environments is the main factor to slow down an old PC.
Where possible dont use the Desktop environment at all and stick to console.

Recommended:

Window Maker (used by myself)
Openbox
Fluxbox
IceWM

Avoid:

GNOME
KDE Plasma
Cinnamon

Window Maker is especially effective: no compositing, no animations, minimal memory usage.

2. Terminal Choice Matters

For console-based applications (games, tools, system utilities), use a terminal that correctly reports its size. Lets say you use xterm:

$ xterm

You can force a usable terminal size like this:

$ xterm -geometry 80×32 &

This avoids common issues with console applications failing due to incorrect terminal dimensions.

Install urxvt (best choice for terminal productivity)

Open a terminal and run:

# apt update
# apt install rxvt-unicode

Optional (if you want tabbed terminal use suckless):

# sudo apt install suckless-tools

rxvt-unicode-256color → main terminal (n/a in debian) have to install third party
rxvt-unicode-256color-perl → Perl extensions (tabs, URL click, etc.) (n/a in debian, installable via third party)
suckless-tools → includes tabbed, can be used as an alternative for tabs

a. Configure .Xresources

Create or edit ~/.Xresources:

$ vim~/.Xresources

Example for beautiful setup with tabs, transparency, and fonts:

! Basic appearance
! URxvt.font: xft:FiraCode Nerd Font Mono:size=12
URxvt.background: [90]#1c1c1c
URxvt.foreground: #c0c0c0
! URxvt.cursorColor: #ff5555
! URxvt.saveLines: 10000
! URxvt.scrollBar: false
! URxvt.borderLess: true
! Enable tabs using built-in tabbed extension
URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,tabbed
! Tab colors
URxvt.tabbed.tabbar-fg: 15
URxvt.tabbed.tabbar-bg: 0
URxvt.tabbed.tab-fg: 2
URxvt.tabbed.tab-bg: 8
! Keybindings for tabs
! Ctrl+Shift+N → new tab
URxvt.keysym.Control-Shift-N: perl:tabbed:new_tab
! Ctrl+Shift+W → close tab
URxvt.keysym.Control-Shift-W: perl:tabbed:close_tab
! Ctrl+Tab → next tab
URxvt.keysym.Control-Tab: perl:tabbed:next_tab
! Ctrl+Shift+Tab → previous tab
URxvt.keysym.Control-Shift-Tab: perl:tabbed:prev_tab
! Tabs keybindings
URxvt.keysym.Control-N: perl:tabbed:new_tab
URxvt.keysym.Control-W: perl:tabbed:close_tab

b. Apply .Xresources changes

Run:

$ xrdb ~/.Xresources

Then launch urxvt:

$ rxvt

Ctrl+Shift+T → new tab
Ctrl+Shift+W → close tab

c. Optional: Make it even cooler

Install powerline fonts or Nerd Fonts (for fancy prompt icons):

# apt install fonts-firacode

Enable URL clicking and clipboard (already enabled above)
Combine with tmux for extra tabs/panes, session management, and more shortcuts.

3. Retain only last 500MB from journald

Retain only the past 500 MB:

# journalctl –vacuum-size=500M

This is exteremely useful as sometimes failing services might generate ton of unnecessery logs and might flood up the old machine hard disk.

4. Reduce journal memory footprint

# vim /etc/systemd/journald.conf

Set Storage=volatile
Set RuntimeMaxUse=50M

# systemctl restart systemd-journald

5. Trim services boot times

# systemd-analyze blame
# systemd-analyze critical-chain

This tells you which services slow down your boot the most.

6. Disable Unnecessary Services

Old systems benefit massively from disabling unused background services.

Check what’s enabled:

# systemctl list-unit-files –state=enabled

Common candidates to disable (if not needed):

# systemctl disable bluetooth
# systemctl disable cups
#systemctl disable avahi-daemon
#systemctl disable ModemManager

Each disabled service saves RAM and CPU cycles.

7. Dirty Page Tuning (Reduces Freezes)

Defaults favor servers, not laptops.

Edit:

# vim /etc/sysctl.conf

Add:

vm.dirty_background_ratio=5
vm.dirty_ratio=10

This forces writeback earlier, preventing sudden stalls.

8. Memory Tuning: zram Done Right

Does zram make sense with 4 GB RAM and an SSD?

Yes it could, but only in moderation.

zram compresses memory in RAM and acts as fast swap. On a Core 2 Duo, compression overhead is small and the benefit is smoother multitasking.

Recommended zram configuration

Install zram-tools deb package:

# apt install zram-tools

Edit:

# vim /etc/default/zramswap

Set:

PERCENT=15

This creates ~600 MB of compressed swap — enough to absorb memory spikes without wasting RAM.

9. Keep Disk Swap (But Small)

Even with zram, disk swap is useful as a fallback.

Recommended:

1–2 GB swap on SSD
zram should have higher priority than disk swap

Check:

# swapon –show

10. Swappiness and Cache Pressure

Tune the kernel to prefer RAM and zram first:

# vim /etc/sysctl.conf

Add:

vm.swappiness=10
vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50

Apply:

# sysctl -p

This prevents early swapping and keeps the system responsive.

11. CPU Governor: A Hidden Performance Win

Older ThinkPads often run conservative CPU governors.

Install tools:

# apt install cpufrequtils

Set a balanced governor:

# echo 'GOVERNOR="ondemand"' | sudo tee /etc/default/cpufrequtils

# systemctl restart cpufrequtils

This allows the CPU to ramp up quickly when needed.

12. Power and Thermal Management (ThinkPad-Specific)

Install TLP:

# apt install tlp
# systemctl enable tlp
# systemctl start tlp

TLP improves:

Battery life
Thermal behavior
SSD longevity

Defaults are usually perfect – no heavy tuning required.

13. Disable Watchdogs (If You Don’t Debug Kernels)

Watchdogs waste cycles on old CPUs.

Check:

# lsmod | grep watchdog

Disable:

# vim /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Add:

blacklist iTCO_wdt
blacklist iTCO_vendor_support

Reboot.

14. Reduce systemd Noise

systemd logs aggressively by default.

Edit:

#vim/etc/systemd/journald.conf

Set:

Storage=volatile
RuntimeMaxUse=50M

Then:

#systemctl restart systemd-journald

Less disk I/O, faster boots.

15. Use tmpfs for caching and Volatile Junk

Put garbage in RAM, not SSD.

Edit:

# vim /etc/fstab

Add:

tmpfs /tmp tmpfs noatime,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777,size=256M 0 0

Optional:

tmpfs /var/tmp tmpfs noatime,nosuid,nodev,size=128M 0 0
# mount -a

16. IRQ Balance: Disable It (might slow down machine)

On single-socket old laptops, irqbalance can hurt.

Disable:

# systemctl disable irqbalance

Test performance; re-enable if needed.

17. Reduce systemd Timeout Delays

Old laptops often wait forever on dead hardware.

Edit:

# vim /etc/systemd/system.conf

Set:

DefaultTimeoutStartSec=10s
DefaultTimeoutStopSec=10s

18. Strip Kernel Modules You Don’t Use

If you don’t use:

FireWire
Bluetooth
Webcam

Blacklist them:

# vim /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-extra.conf

Example:

blacklist firewire_ohci
blacklist firewire_core
blacklist uvcvideo
blacklist bluetooth

Faster boot, fewer interrupts.

19. X11 Performance Tweaks (Intel Graphics)

Create:

# vim/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf

Add:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Graphics"
Driver "intel"
Option "TearFree" "false"
Option "AccelMethod" "sna"
EndSection

20. Disable IPv6 (if not used)

Saves a little RAM and startup time.

Edit:

# vim/etc/sysctl.conf

Add:

net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1

21.Lower Kernel Log Level verbosity

Stop kernel spam.

# dmesg -n 3

Make permanent:

# vim/etc/sysctl.conf

Add:

kernel.printk=3 4 1 3

22.Scheduler Latency (Advanced)

For desktop interactivity:

# vim/etc/sysctl.conf

Add:

kernel.sched_autogroup_enabled=1

Helps UI responsiveness under load.

23.Kill Browser Bloat (Biggest Win)

For Firefox ESR:

Disable telemetry
Enable tab unloading

browser.sessionstore.interval = 300000

No kernel tweak beats this.

a. Enable tab unloading (automatic tab discard)

Open Firefox ESR
Type
about:config
in the address bar.
Accept the warning: “This might void your warranty.”
Search for the following preference:

browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory

Default: false
Set to: true

This enables Firefox to unload inactive tabs automatically when memory is low.

b. Optional tuning

Some other preferences you can tweak:

Preference	Description	Suggested value
browser.tabs.maxSuspendedTabs	Maximum number of tabs that can be suspended	10–20
browser.tabs.autoHide	Auto-hide tabs while suspended (older ESR versions)	true
browser.tabs.loadInBackground	Background tabs load in suspended state	true
browser.sessionstore.interval	How often session is saved (ms)	15000

These may vary slightly depending on ESR version.

24. Graphics Considerations

ThinkPad R61 models typically have:

Intel X3100 → works well out of the box
NVIDIA NVS 140M → use nouveau driver

Recommendations:

Avoid proprietary legacy NVIDIA drivers
No compositing
Simple themes only

25. Extremely for Geeks, Build a Custom Kernel (Optional)

Only if you have plenty of time and you have a developers background and maniacal tendencies 🙂

Benefits:

Smaller kernel
Faster boot
Fewer interrupts

Cost:

Maintenance burden

26. Application Choices Matter More Than Tweaks

Keep in mind the application choices matter more than tweeks.
Even the best-tuned system can be ruined by heavy applications.

Recommended software:

Browser: Firefox ESR
File manager: PCManFM
Terminal: xterm, rxvt
Editor: nano, geany

Limit browser tabs and disable unnecessary extensions.

27. Things Not to Do

Avoid:

Huge zram sizes (50%+)
Do not Disable swap entirely
Beware of Aggressive kernel “performance hacks”
Disable any Heavy desktop effects if choosing to run MATE or alike GUI environment

Stability beats micro-optimizations.

Final Recommended Configuration

For a ThinkPad R61 with 4 GB RAM and SSD perhaps the best Linux configuration would be:

Debian Stable
Window Maker
zram: 15%
SSD swap: 1–2 GB
swappiness: 10
TLP enabled
No compositor

This setup would deliver:

Smooth multitasking
No UI lag
Minimal CPU overhead
Long-term stability

Conclusion

Old PCs don’t need to be fast necessery, but can be made work slightly faster, though the limits if used in a proper way with the right software and without out the eye candy nonse of today, they be still fully functionally used.

With Debian, a lightweight window manager, and sensible memory tuning, even 15-year-old + old hardware remains useful today for common daily tasks, and makes it not only useful but fun and different especially if you are a sysadmin or a developer who needs mostly console and a browser.

It gives you another perspective on how to do your computing in a simplier and more minimalistic way.

Of course do not expect the Old Hardware PC to be the perfect station for youtube maniacs, heavy gamers or complete newbies, who dont honor the old PC limited resources and don't want to have a bit of experimental approach to the PC.

Anyways by implementing before mentioned tweaks, they will reward you with reliability and simplicity – something modern over complicated OS and Apps often lack.

Enjoy and Happy Christmas 2025 and Happy New Year 2026 soon ! 🙂

Tags: browser, Cache Pressure, debian linux, Debian performance tweaks, Desktop Window Maker, desktops, Disable Unnecessary Services, Done Right, Enjoy, Final Recommended Configuration, Graphics Considerations, How to, Install, Lightweight Linux, Linux for old hardware, Linux performance tips, Linux system optimization, Linux terminal tabs, Low RAM Linux, nano, Noise, Old PC optimization, SSD optimization, systemctl, Systemd tuning, SysVinit vs systemd, tabs, Terminal Choice Matters, thinkpad r61, Timeout Delays, times, vim, Volatile Junk, Window Maker, xterm, zram
Posted in Linux, Linux Audio & Video, Linux on Laptops, System Administration, System Optimization, Various | No Comments »

Archive for the ‘Various’ Category

Why is /var/log/cron.log Missing?

Ubuntu and Debian (deb based distros)

RHEL, CentOS 7 and Similar Distributions

Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, Fedora, and other newer RHEL based (RPM distro) Versions

Check that the Cron service is running

On systems using systemd-journald

Check Your rsyslog Configuration

Verify That Cron Jobs Are Running

Summary

The missing RPM packages work around

1. Install the missing RPM directly from local file copy

2. Create a Local Repository and put the missing package in

a) Create Directory

b) Copy RPMs to localrepo

c) Install createrepo

d) Generate repo Metadata

e. Rebuild Cache and retry update again

3. Use a temporary repository With –repofrompath

4. Use another existing repository to pull the package from

Note ! For HA clusters and production systems, fixing the dependency properly is the right safe way to go.

Closing Summary

1. The Allmighty, Reverse Search ( Ctrl + R )

2. Stop annoying re-typing: navigate the Line instantly

3. Precise Delete strings

4. Reuse arguments without rewriting

5. Fix Mistakes Instantly hack

6. Use history without running history cmd

7. Use Auto-Complete

8. Edit the previous command straight in editor

9. Clear and Reset Quickly

10. Background and Foreground Control

11. Memorize shortcuts / improve shell habits

Once those stick, layer in the others.

Final Thought

Signs Your User Profile Is Corrupted :

What Causes a Corrupted Windows Profile?

Windows drops you into Temporary Profile ?

Symptoms of a Temporary Profile

Before You Start (have Administrator access)

1. Create a New User Profile (Best and Recommended approach)

1.1. Create a New Local Administrator Account

1.2. Copy Data from the Old Profile

1.3. Delete the Corrupted Profile

2. Fix the Profile via Registry (Advanced approach)

Run the Full Registry Backup Command

2.1. Open Registry Editor

2.2. Look for Duplicate SID Entries

2.3. Check Disk for Errors

2.4. Run System File Repair

3. Restore (Copy) Application Data / Settings from Old Profile to New Profile

3.1. Copy Appdata Directory Application Settings

3.2. Some Apps might be necessery to Reinstall or Reconfigure

Closing Summary

Prerequisites

Install Kibana

I. On Debian/Ubuntu

Import the Elastic GPG key:

Add the repository:

Update and install:

II. On RHEL/CentOS Linux

Create repo file:

Install Kibana:

2. Configure Kibana

3. Start and Enable Kibana

4. Access Kibana Web Interface

5. Import and Visualize Logs

Option A: Use Filebeat to Send Logs

Option B: Ingest Logs via Logstash or Elasticsearch API

6. Create Index Pattern

7. Create Visualizations and Dashboards

8. Secure Kibana

What is Kibana used for and what it can do for you?

Access Kibana

Visualize Data

Search & Query Logs

Set Alerts (Optional)

Access Kibana

Visualize Data

Create Dashboards

1. The Allmighty, Reverse Search ( `Ctrl + R` )

**3. Installing Other DOOM Engines**