best things to do in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty

Posted in Linux distributions - Ubuntu. The final release of Ubuntu Natty Narwhal is out. After you actually get done with the installation, there would likely exist a heap of things you still need to take care of. This post will share some interesting insight and ideas about what you can and should do after a successful installation.

If you have already a previous release of Ubuntu installed and you want to upgrade, then follow our step by step guide to upgrade to ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

Create a MySQL User Account via the Terminal

First, Login to MySQL as an administrator account with:

mysql -u root -p

You will be prompted for your root password before being granted access to the MySQL

Now to check available user accounts on the system. type this command:

SELECT USER,host FROM mysql.USER;

If the user account that you wish to create doesn’t appear in that list
To create a new user account type this command:

CREATE USER 'new-username'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password-for-new-account';

this user isn’t linked to any databases yet, but this is simple to rectify with a:

GRANT ALL ON mydatabase.* TO useraccount@localhost

that will grant all rights for the user account to everything held in the mydatabase database.

Nice themes for ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)

We have already posted some time ago about Nice Ubuntu themes for karmic Users and this is updated for Lucid Lynx users now.

Install bisigi themes in Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid)


Open the terminal and run the following commands

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bisigi
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install bisigi-themes

or click on apt://bisigi-themes
If you want to install each theme separately use the following commands

• AquaDreams:                      sudo aptitude install aquadreams-theme
• Ubuntu Sunrise:                  sudo aptitude install  ubuntu-sunrise-theme
• Bamboo-Zen:                      sudo aptitude install bamboo-zen-theme
• Step into Freedom:              sudo aptitude install step-into-freedom-theme
• Tropical:                             sudo aptitude install tropical-theme
• Exotic:                                sudo aptitude install exotic-theme
• Balanzan:                            sudo aptitude install balanzan-theme
• Wild Shine:                         sudo aptitude install wild-shine-theme
• Infinity:                               sudo aptitude install infinity-theme
• Showtime:                           sudo aptitude install showtime-theme
• Orange:                               sudo aptitude install orange-theme
• Ellanna:                               sudo aptitude install ellanna-theme
• AirLines:                             sudo aptitude install airlines-theme

access virtualbox shared folders from Ubuntu-guest

First confirm your Ubuntu-guest is not running from CD and its installed on harddisk of virtualbox.

Than you have to make sure that have install Guest Additions. From the VirtualBox's menu go to Devices → Install Guest Additions . This will Download and mount a virtual CD on your /media/cdrom. Normally this folder's window will show up. As root run the program autorun.sh. When the program completes reboot your VirtualBox.

With Guest Additions installed you may now go ahead and define the shared folder(s). From the VirtualBox's menu go to Devices → Shared Folders. A dialog will show up. In this dialog you can specify which folder from your Windows system you want to share with your Ubuntu. Press the button with the + symbol to add a new shared folder in the list. You will have to specify a Folder Name for each folder you add. Make sure you memorize that name because you will need it very soon.

When done with you shared folder(s) specification, you may now go ahead and actually mount these folders from Ubuntu. First you have to run a command to make it show up. Now, create a mount point, and then use the special mount syntax to actually "map" the folder to the shared VirtualBox folder.

sudo mkdir /media/windows-share

Of course you may choose an alternative path for your mountpoint. With your mountpoint created you can now mount the shared folder, like this:

sudo mount -t vboxsf folder-name /media/windows-share

Where folder-name will be the name you assigned for this folder when you were adding it in the shared folders list.

LAMP Ubuntu Server On VirtualBox (Vbox)

This tutorial is to help you set up a LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) Ubuntu virtual machine server running on VirtualBox. VirtualBox is free for you to use, and supports Linux guest additions whereas the new version of Microsoft's Virtual PC for Windows 7 does not. Guest additions allow for better integration of desktop resolutions and mouse control. Folders can be shared between the host and guest machine allowing you to simply save the file you are working on and refresh your browser, there's no need to upload via FTP/SFTP to test your changes. Other advantages include upgrading or testing software like Drupal or Wordpress; you can test new modules or customisations before adding them to your live website.
This tutorial is based on setting up the virtual machine with your host as Windows 7, this will most likely work the same on other versions of Windows, or even other operating systems but some parts may differ slightly.

• Setting up VirtualBox & Ubuntu
  • Install VirtualBox
  • Starting Your Virtual Machine & Installing Ubuntu
  • First Run & Update Ubuntu
  • Install Guest Additions
  • VirtualBox Snapshots
• Install & Configure LAMP
  • Install Apache Server
  • Install PHP 5
  • Install MySQL
  • Install phpMyAdmin
• Accessing Your Server
  • Viewing Your Server On Host Machine
  • Setting The Server To Use A Static IP

Setting up VirtualBox & Ubuntu
First of all you need to download VirtualBox. For this tutorial we will want the VirtualBox 3.2.6 for Windows hosts.
Then you will want to download the Desktop Edition of Ubuntu. For this tutorial the 32bit version is fine.
Now it's best to use the included 'Virtual Media Manager' for mounting image files like the Ubuntu setup iso. This can be accessed from the File menu in VirtualBox. You could always burn the image onto a CD or DVD and run the install that way if you prefer, it's entirely up to you.

Access Network Places

Desktop User Guide Working with Files Navigating Remote Servers If your system is configured to access places on a network, you can use the file manager to access the network places.

To access network places, open the file manager and choose Places ▸ Network Servers. A window opens that displays the network places that you can access.

Double-click on the network that you want to access. To access UNIX shares, double-click on the Unix Network (NFS) object.

 A list of the UNIX shares available to you is displayed in the file manager window. To access Windows shares, double-click on the Windows Network (SMB) object. A list of the Windows shares available to you is displayed in the file manager window.