Applications August 15, 2026 · 10:00 Kumaran Kumarathurai

Ubuntu

Productivity

Coding

Video and graphics

System and file repair

sudo fsck -f /dev/sdXN
sudo apt --fix-broken install
sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo kill -9 $(pgrep program)

fsck must run on an unmounted partition, never on the active root filesystem while the system is running.

Drivers and hardware

ubuntu-drivers devices
sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall
sudo lshw -short

Network and connectivity

sudo resolvectl flush-caches
sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager
ping google.com

System information

hostnamectl
lsb_release -a
sudo dmidecode -s system-serial-number

Ubuntu Server basics

adduser username
usermod -aG sudo username
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname server-name
sudo timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Copenhagen
sudo apt install unattended-upgrades
sudo dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low unattended-upgrades

Create a sudo user and log in with it first — never keep working as root over SSH once the server is set up.

Server hardening and security

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config → set PasswordAuthentication no
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config → set PermitRootLogin no
sudo systemctl restart ssh
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status verbose
sudo apt install fail2ban
sudo systemctl enable --now fail2ban

Confirm your SSH key still logs you in from a second, separate session before disabling password authentication — locking yourself out of a remote server usually means a rescue console or reinstall.

Advanced tools

sudo apt autoremove && sudo apt clean
sudo do-release-upgrade
journalctl -p 3 -xb
sudo reboot

Application administration

Clear terminal history

cat /dev/null > ~/.bash_history && history -c && exit

Clear APT and Snap caches

sudo apt clean
sudo rm -rf /var/cache/apt/archives/*
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt full-upgrade
snap refresh
sudo snap set system refresh.retain=2
for pkg in $(snap list --all | awk '/disabled/{print $1, $3}'); do sudo snap remove $pkg; done

History

2004
Mark Shuttleworth founds Canonical Ltd. and, on 20 October, releases Ubuntu 4.10 "Warty Warthog", built on top of Debian's package base.
2005
Shuttleworth establishes the Ubuntu Foundation with $10 million in funding and commits to a predictable six-month release cycle; Kubuntu and Edubuntu variants follow.
2006
Ubuntu 6.06 "Dapper Drake" introduces the Long Term Support (LTS) model, guaranteeing years of updates for chosen releases.
2011
Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" replaces GNOME 2 with Canonical's own Unity desktop as the default interface.
2014
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" becomes a de facto standard for cloud and server deployments, cementing Ubuntu's role in enterprise infrastructure.
2017
Canonical discontinues Unity and the Ubuntu Phone/convergence effort; from Ubuntu 17.10 onward, GNOME returns as the default desktop.
Today
Ubuntu remains one of the most widely used Linux distributions, maintained by Canonical with LTS releases every two years, still following its alliterative animal codename tradition.