Top 10 Task to do after Installing Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

The most awaited Debian based Operating system Ubuntu 16.04 LTS has been released recently. Below are the top 10 task that one should do after the installation of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS to make the system more usable.

1. Update the system & Package repositories.

The first important task is to update the ubuntu package repositories. Open the terminal and run the beneath command:

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt update

Now update your system using below apt command, When we  update the system it generally fix the bugs and apply security patches.

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt upgrade

2  Install Desktop environment – Gnome Classic / Cinnamon

Unity is the default desktop environment for Ubuntu 16.04, in case you are the big fan of Gnome Classic and Cinnamon Desktop. Refer the below steps to install Desktop environment like Gnome and Cinnamon.

Steps to Install Gnome Classic in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS :

Open the terminal and execute the follwing command :

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install gnome-session-flashback

Once the installation is completed, log out & select Gnome Desktop and then login.

Refer the following  to Install Cinnamon Desktop in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

3. Synaptic Package Manager

Synaptic Package manager is the graphical user interface through which we can install, update and remove packages. To install it use the following  apt command from terminal.

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install synaptic

Once the installation is completed, access the synaptic

4. Install Adobe Flash Player

Adobe flash player in Ubuntu 16.04 can be installed either from command line or from Synaptic.

Installation from Command Line :

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install flashplugin-installer

Installation from Synaptic Package Manager

Search ‘flashplugin’ and mark for installation and then click on apply.

5. Ubuntu Tweak

Ubuntu tweak is a tool which allows us to config Ubuntu desktop as per our requirement. It can be installed using following commands:

Install Tweak Tool for Gnome Desktop

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install gnome-tweak-tool

Install Tweak Tool for Unity Desktop

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install unity-tweak-tool

6. Install multimedia Player – VLC & MPlayer

Install VLC and Mplayer in Ubuntu 16.04 to play your favorite multimedia files. VLC and MPlayer are the most commonly used media player in Windows and Linux Like Operating System.

Install VLC player from Command Line :

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install vlc browser-plugin-vlc

Install MPlayer from command line :

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install gnome-mplayer

7. Install Chromium Web browser

Firefox is the default web browser in Ubuntu 16.04, in case you want to install chrome web browser then in Ubuntu Linux Chromium is the web browser which is similar to Google Chrome, its package are also listed in the default repository.

Run the following command from the terminal to install chromium.

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install chromium-browser

8. Install Skype Software

As we know Skype software allow the users to chat and also presents the power of voice calling and video calling. Skype package is not indexed in the Ubuntu repositories.

Run the following commands from the terminal to install latest version of Skype in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ wget http://download.skype.com/linux/skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo dpkg -i skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install -f

Note : While executing the 2nd command above we will get dependency error message, so to resolve the dependency issue execute the 3rd command.

9. Install dropbox to access cloud storage

If you are using Dropbox cloud storage and want to access it in Ubuntu 16.04. Refer the following commands to install dropbox .

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ wget https://linux.dropbox.com/packages/ubuntu/dropbox_2015.10.28_amd64.deb
linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo dpkg -i dropbox_2015.10.28_amd64.deb
linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install -f

10. Disable Guest account

Whenever we install Ubuntu Linux a guest account is created by default.

We can disable this guest account using the following commands.

Create a directory ‘lightdm.conf.d’ under ‘/etc/loghtdm’

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo mkdir /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d
linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ cd /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d

create a file ‘51-no-guest.conf’ under  the directory ‘/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d’

linuxtechi@cloudera:/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d$ sudo vi 51-no-guest.conf
[SeatDefaults]
allow-guest=false

Save and exit the file.

Restart the lightdm service using below command :

linuxtechi@cloudera:/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d$ sudo systemctl restart lightdm.service

Now log-out of the current session and see whether guest account is disabled or not

Note : To re-enable the guest account delete the file ‘51-no-guest.conf’ and restart the lightdm service.