TrueOS-Cheatsheet

TrueOS Forum Tips, Tricks, and FAQ
==================================

This is a public FAQ for users to post their most used tips or frequently asked questions.
Please note that this is not a discussion thread.
Please create new topics for any discussion.

Post Formatting
---------------

1. One tip or FAQ per post, please.
2. Write a title that summarizes the contents of the post.
3. Try to include both graphical configuration changes and command-line changes to accomplish the same task.

Please let a moderator know if a tip becomes obsolete so it can be removed.

Quick Links for references:

1. TrueOS Handbook
2. Lumina Desktop Handbook
 
Resyncing System Clock
----------------------

If the system time gets out of date, it can be resynced by restarting the “openntpd” service:

* [Command Line]
  
  ```
  sudo service openntpd restart
  ```

* [Graphical]

  Go to the Control Panel -> System Management -> Services.
  Select the “openntpd” service and click the restart button in the lower-left corner.
 
What is the difference between the STABLE and UNSTABLE branches?
----------------------------------------------------------------

**STABLE:**

This is the static release branch of TrueOS and has a 6-month lifetime between updates.
It has a higher level of testing and quality-assurance checks to ensure a higher level of reliability for its 6-month lifespan.
IMPORTANT NOTE: applications and utilities do not receive updates to newer versions during the 6-month period.

**UNSTABLE:**

This is the rolling-release branch of TrueOS. Updates are regularly pushed out every week or two, or even sometimes multiple times a week.
It typically has less manual testing, especially for 3rd-party applications and packages.
However, it does ensures that newer versions of FreeBSD and 3rd-party applications are always available.

Switching between branches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* [Command Line]

  `sudo edit /usr/local/etc/trueos.conf`
  Change `PACKAGE_SET:` to either `STABLE` or `UNSTABLE`.
  `pc-updatemanager syncconf` automatically pushes any changes to your other package config settings.
  `pc-updatemanager pkgupdate` begins downloading and staging any updates.
  `pc-updatemanager startupdate` restarts the system and performs the update when staging is complete.

* [Graphical]

  Go to the Control Panel -> Update Manager.
  Click the "Settings” tab and select the branch to use for system updates.
  Click “Save Settings” to apply the change.
  Click the “Updates” tab and search for and stage any updates.
  After updates are finished staging, follow the prompt to restart the system and apply the updates.
 

4:  Customizing the List of Favourite Applications and Folders in Lumina’s Main Menu
    • Command Line
        1. Open the ~/.config/lumina-desktop/favorites.list file with your preferred editor.
        2. Add /remove lines according to the existing ones.
        3. Example:
To add the favourite folder ~/.config to the list, add the line:
.config::::dir::::/usr/home/{user}/.config
        4. Irrespective of the sequence within the favorites.list the main menu is sorted alphabetically.
    • Graphical
        1. Removing Items
Open the Main Menu and right click on the item to remove and choose “Remove from Favorites”.
        2. Adding Applications
Open the Main Menu and Browse Applications. Right click on the application to add and choose “Add to Favorites”.
 
5:  Where is the Recycle Bin on the Lumina Desktop?
(The entity which allows you to trash a file without deleting it from the system at once.)
    • Lumina doesn’t have and doesn’t need a recycle bin.
Lumina does not use the “Trash” specifications from freedesktop.org 7 (formerly known as the X Desktop Group (XDG)). This is because Lumina was written with the idea that it would be used on systems utilizing the open ZFS* file system and logical volume manager. ZFS snapshots are the “right” way to manage/recover files rather than the “fake” way through the trash specifications.
(*ZFS formerly known as Zettabyte File System is no longer considered an abbreviation but just a designation.)
 
6:  How to make text console(Ctrl-Alt-F2) functional on Nvidia cards
Edit your /boot/loader.conf to include:
hw.vga.textmode=1
Note: This will disable the TrueOS logo you see early in the boot process.
 
7:  How to install VirtualBox
Install the virtualbox-ose from AppCafe.
After this you need to do the following steps, the source will be provided in a link at the end:
Add the following line to /boot/loader.conf:
vboxdrv_load=“YES”
Add the following line to /etc/rc.conf:
vboxnet_enable=“YES”
Add yourself to the vboxusers group:
pw groupmod vboxusers -m yourusername
Add these lines to /etc/devfs.conf:
own vboxnetctl root:vboxusers
perm vboxnetctl 0660
Reboot the computer and everything should be good for you to run:
VirtualBox
As the link shows, a reboot isn’t required if you do the extra steps. Here is the link(21.6.1):
https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/virtualization-host-virtualbox.html 21
 
8:  Using telegram desktop on TrueOS
TrueOS repositories contain a package that provides the Linux binaries for the Telegram Desktop client. Install it using
pkg install linux-telegram-desktop
Calls do not work. Everything else works.
Potential problems
The following are things I encountered while installing/running telegram-desktop
Issues during linux-c7 installation
This package has linux-c7 as its dependency. If the package installation of linux-c7 fails and complains about being unable to remove existing files in /compat/linux, remove the contents of /compat/linux manually and reboot. Then continue installation.
When you do a manual removal, be careful , since the following are symlinks. Only remove these symlink files, not the directories they point to.
/compat/linux/bin
/compat/linux/lib
/compat/linux/lib64
/compat/linux/run
/compat/linux/sbin
Running telegram-desktop
The command to run Telegram Desktop client is
telegram-desktop
This may not work or might crash. In some cases it will ask you to login every time you start the app. If you trust the packagers and the telegram desktop code, run it with sudo.
sudo telegram-desktop
If all of this is too bothersome, just wait till TrueOS syncs its ports tree with FreeBSD’s. There is a native build in the ports tree now.
 
9:  IPFW Rules for NFS server
Add the following to /etc/ipfw.custom. If you want to allow from “any” replace the IP address with the word “any”, if you want to allow a single IP, replace with yours.
Then either restart the firewall or simply sh /etc/ipfw.custom as root.
# Set rules command prefix
cmd="ipfw -q add"
 
# Allow NFS from 192.168.254.43
# NFS needs 2049 for nfsd
# rpcbind at 111
# unfortunately statd/mountd anything below 1024
# Openport rules are added at 10000, default deny at 64000,
# so lets put these at 63000
$cmd 63000 allow tcp from 192.168.237.73 to me dst-port 111-1024 in keep-state :default
$cmd 63001 allow udp from 192.168.237.73 to me dst-port 111-1024 in keep-state :default
$cmd 63002 allow udp from 192.168.237.73 to me dst-port 2049 in keep-state :default
$cmd 63003 allow tcp from 192.168.237.73 to me dst-port 2049 in keep-state :default
 
10: Postgresql 10 server on TrueOS
Install via pkg (as root or sudo )
pkg install postgresql10-server
Running it through FreeBSD init system (rc)
Since there are no open-rc scripts for it, you can run it via the RC script like so.
sudo /usr/local/etc/rc.d/postgresql start
Running postgresql through open-rc
I hacked up an init script. Copy the following code snippet into /usr/local/etc/init.d/postgresql
and make sure it has the same permissions and ownerships as other files in /usr/local/etc/init.d/
#!/sbin/openrc-run
 
name=postgresql
 
# set defaults
postgresql_enable=${postgresql_enable:-"NO"}
postgresql_flags=${postgresql_flags:-"-w -s -m fast"}
postgresql_user=${postgresql_user:-"postgres"}
eval postgresql_data=${postgresql_data:-"~${postgresql_user}/data10"}
postgresql_class=${postgresql_class:-"default"}
postgresql_initdb_flags=${postgresql_initdb_flags:-"--encoding=utf-8 --lc-collate=C"}
extra_commands="initdb reload"
 
# Command
command=/usr/local/bin/pg_ctl
command_args="-D ${postgresql_data} ${postgresql_flags}"
 
 
postgresql_initdb()
{
    su -l -c ${postgresql_class} ${postgresql_user} -c "exec /usr/local/bin/initdb ${postgresql_initdb_flags} -D ${postgresql_data} -U ${postgresql_user}"
}
 
get_config() {
[ -f ${postgresql_data%/}/postgresql.conf ] || return 1
eval echo $(sed -e 's:#.*::' ${postgresql_data%/}/postgresql.conf \
    | awk '$1 == "'$1'" { print ($2 == "=" ? $3 : $2) }')
}
 
depend() {
    use net
    provide postgresql
 
    if [ "$(get_config log_destination)" = "syslog" ]; then
        use logger
    fi
}
 
checkconfig() {
 
# Check that postgresql_data directory exists
if [ ! -d ${postgresql_data} ] ; then
    eerror "Directory not found: ${postgresql_data}"
    eerror "HINT: Ensure that postgresql_data points to the right path."
    return 1
fi
 
# Check for the existence of PostgreSQL's config files, and set the
# proper mode and ownership.
# Only three files should be checked as potentially other files
# may be in PGDATA that should not be touched.
local file
for file in postgresql pg_hba pg_ident ; do
    file="${postgresql_data%/}/${file}.conf"
    if [ -f ${file} ] ; then
        checkpath -f -m 0600 -o postgres:postgres ${file}
    else
        eerror "${file} not found"
        return 1
    fi
done
 
}
 
start_pre(){
    checkconfig || return 1
    ebegin "Starting Postgresql10"
    rm -f ${postgresql_data%/}/postmaster.pid
}
 
start() {
    su -l ${postgresql_user} -c "exec ${command} ${command_args} start"
}
 
Now you can start postgresql service normally
service postgresql start
You can run the following to have it start up with the system by default.
rc-update add postgres
I read rabbitmq’s init file, the postgres rc.d init file and Gentoo’s open-rc file to come up with the script. No unicorns were harmed in its making.
stop() {
    ebegin "Stopping Postgresql10"
    su -l ${postgresql_user} -c "exec ${command} ${command_args} stop"
}
 
initdb(){
  postgresql_initdb
}
 
status(){
  su -l ${postgresql_user} -c "exec ${command} ${command_args} status"
}
 
reload() {
    ebegin "Reloading Postgres10 config data"
    su -l ${postgresql_user} -c "exec ${command} ${command_args} reload"
}
 
11: Meltdown, Spectre -FreeBSD first response
Was advised FreeBSD has made their first micro-code update available. Use at your own risk
https://www.freshports.org/sysutils/devcpu-data/ 18
pkg-message:
Installing this port will allow host startup to update the CPU microcode on
a FreeBSD system automatically. In order to enable this feature, add the
following to the system’s /etc/rc.conf:
microcode_update_enable=“YES”
To ensure the update is applied, reboot the system or start the microcode update
service via:
service microcode_update start
If the CPU requires a microcode update, a console message such as the following
will appear:
Updating CPU Microcode…
/usr/local/share/cpucontrol/m32306c3_00000022.fw: updating cpu /dev/cpuctl0 from rev 0x17 to rev 0x22… done.
/usr/local/share/cpucontrol/m32306c3_00000022.fw: updating cpu /dev/cpuctl2 from rev 0x17 to rev 0x22… done.
/usr/local/share/cpucontrol/m32306c3_00000022.fw: updating cpu /dev/cpuctl4 from rev 0x17 to rev 0x22… done.
/usr/local/share/cpucontrol/m32306c3_00000022.fw: updating cpu /dev/cpuctl6 from rev 0x17 to rev 0x22… done.
Done.
Master Sites:
There is no master site for this port.
 
12: Open-RC scripting and how to write
    https://www.trueos.org/blog/openrc-update-simplifying-openrc-scripts/
 
13: Settings in /etc/periodic.conf
I like to override some of the defaults for the periodic scripts. Don’t email to root, keep output in a file. Don’t do DNS lookups, clean /tmp, add ZFS, NTP and SMART status in the daily log. Here’s how I do it:
# periodic.conf overrides
# output to file
daily_output="/var/log/daily.log"
daily_status_security_output="/var/log/dailysecurity.log"
daily_status_network_usedns="NO"
daily_status_named_usedns="NO"
daily_clean_tmps_enable="YES"
daily_status_ntpd_enable="NO"
daily_status_zfs_enable="YES"
daily_scrub_zfs_enable="NO"    # set to YES for autoscrubbing at threshold days
daily_scrub_zfs_default_threshold="45"          # days between scrubs
daily_status_smart_enable="YES"
daily_status_smart_devices="/dev/ada0 /dev/ada1 /dev/ada2"
daily_queuerun_enable="NO"
weekly_output="/var/log/weekly.log"
weekly_status_security_output="/var/log/weeklysecurity.log"
monthly_output="/var/log/monthly.log"
monthly_status_security_output="/var/log/monthlysecurity.log"
 
14: Cleaning Linux partitions in TrueOS and w/o Linux distro
    https://discourse.trueos.org/t/tip-and-tricks-cleaning-linux-partitions-in-trueos-and-w-o-linux-distro/2400?source_topic_id=2081
 
15: ZFS and how to access missing pools:
    https://discourse.trueos.org/t/zfs-and-how-to-access-missing-pools/2476/4
 
16: USB-Audio as default audio device (HOWTO):
A) Read man-page:
 
% man snd | grep -A 17 hw.snd.verbose
     hw.snd.verbose
             Level of verbosity for the /dev/sndstat device.  Higher values include
             more output and the highest level, four, should be used when reporting
             problems.  Other options include:
 
             0   Installed devices and their allocated bus resources.
 
             1   The number of playback, record, virtual channels, and flags per
                 device.
 
             2   Channel information per device including the channel's current
                 format, speed, and pseudo device statistics such as buffer
                 overruns and buffer underruns.
 
             3   File names and versions of the currently loaded sound modules.
 
             4   Various messages intended for debugging.
 
B) Set settings accordingly:
 
% cat /boot/loader.conf.local | grep snd
snd_uaudio_load="YES"
hw.snd.verbose="3"
 
C) Reboot
 
D) Check /dev/sndstat:
 
% cat /dev/sndstat  | grep snd_uaudio
pcm4: <USB audio> at ? kld snd_uaudio (1p:1v/1r:1v) default
 
E) Set settings accordingly:
 
% cat /boot/loader.conf.local | grep 'snd.default_unit'
hw.snd.default_unit="4"
 
F) Reboot
 
17: A rough overview of using Nvidia Optimus on FreeBSD.
https://wiki.freebsd.org/Graphics/OptimusVideoSupport 34
 
18: iPhone Hotspot USB tethering to TrueOS Laptop
Look at this link --> iPhone Hotspot USB tethering to TrueOS Laptop 20
 
19: FreeBSD USB Disk and ZVOL Encryption with GELI
https://antranigv.am/weblog_en/posts/freebsd-geli-encryption-usb-and-zvol/ 17
 
20: How to change boot-up delay and root password.
To change the timing of boot-up delay go to:
/boot/defaults/loader.conf
Edit the last line in the loader.conf file to desired delay at:
Speed up boot time
autoboot_delay="02"   <-- indicates delay in seconds
To change root password
During system boot-up, enter a single user mode
Then type:
mount -uw /
Next type:
passwd
Enter your new password for root
Next type:
exit
Now, you can login with your new root’s password
 
21: man loader.conf:
FILES
     /boot/defaults/loader.conf  default settings -- do not change this file.
     /boot/loader.4th            defines the commands used by loader to read and
                                 process loader.conf.
     /boot/loader.conf           user defined settings.
     /boot/loader.conf.local     machine-specific settings for sites with a common
                                 loader.conf.
22: #UEFI graphics screw up
    https://github.com/trueos/trueos/wiki/UEFI-Resolution
 
23: A quick Life Preserver howto - Thank you @michael.ger
https://discourse.trueos.org/t/freenas-remote-replication-with-life-preserver/3057/7
 
24: Some Lenovo, and probably other computers with UEFI video garbage
UEFI Resolution
Kris Moore edited this page on Jun 6 · 1 revision 1
On some systems when booted via UEFI you may end up in a console resolution that isn’t supported, resulting in a corrupt display. To work-around this issue you can do the following:
At the boot-loader menu, drop to the Command-Prompt (Under Advanced). Run the command ‘gop set 0’, replacing 0 with 1/2/3/4 until you find a resolution that seems to work with your system.
Once you’ve come up with a working resolution you can hard-code it by putting the 'gop set ’ command in /boot/loader.rc.local.
original link --> UEFI Resolution
https://github.com/trueos/trueos/wiki/UEFI-Resolution

25: Install Dev Packages:
pkg install llvm70
pkg install -g "OS-*-development"

may also need: 
sudo pkg install autoconf autogen automake autotools autoconf autogen automake autotools mercurial