devel-tester-wiki

In Progress

Say hello to Wily Werewolf! wily2.png

Wiki Upgrade Note

This site is currently under construction. It will deal with Ubuntu development release and some how to's with crash recovery methods and techiques.

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Disclaimer

The author of this wiki is not responsible for udpating the wiki data in some of the links that are provided here in devel-testers-wiki. The Mir, SystemD , Unity8 and Wayland wikis and the accuracy of the information therein is the responsiblity of the developers of those projects, however, time permitting, I may append and update outdated information in those areas.

Introduction

Say hello to Wily Werewolf, the next cycle of the most secure operating system on the planet, Ubuntu! Wily will deal with parsing down and cutting away floss and fancy yet still be punchy, snappy and attractive with increased effervescence and even more easy to work with on the desktop and mobile environment.More work on Mir, SystemD, Unity8 and convergence will continue in earnest. Ubuntu, with it's nearly impervious monolithic kernel, will do away with the need for clunky antimalware/virus programs and superfluous firewall systems that munch and hack away at vital resources on all the various different form factors that are available today. Ubuntu does away with nonsense and provides an environment where work can actually be done more efficiently than ever before. But working with Ubuntu is not all an arduous task that requires expert diligence to test and explore. Ubuntu injects a high level of fun and community where all can be involved and testing can actually be a very fulfilling experience. And now , with increased and intense development of Mir and Unity8 the Desktop Experience will be more exciting that ever before.

New Beta Testers Warnings

Wily Werewolf is the codename for the new development cycle. If you are a new Beta tester and want to upgrade your repositories to the new development cycle then you must be advised that there are certain risks of breakage that could take place on your system(s). it is always advised that you have an extra system (hardware) or an extra harddrive to experiment with. If you are not familiar with experimenting with computer hardware or software then U+1 is not the forum for you, however, if you are willing to be on the cutting edge of Ubuntu release and understand that there could be breakage and want to contribute then the Ubuntu community welcomes you and your valued contributions.

New Notes About the Release Schedule

Notes and Links to be forthcoming when they are made available.

Launchpad link for WW

UbuntuForums Release Schedule Sticky and Common Helper

Note about Ubuntu.info file. Make sure to edit Ubuntu.info file after upgrading to next cycle. See here:

Make sure to edit Ubuntu.info file

Special note about Main Server

Make sure you choose Main Server from Other Software after you change your sources list.Other Software

New stable method of flashing USBs with .ISOs

Startup Disk Creator has been having problems with reliability. Below is a link where Ubuntu developers/testers found a more stable method to make startup disks on USB flash drives.

New method to make bootable start-up disks.

Download ISO

Wily Werewolf Daily Image ISOs

Xubuntu Wily Werewolf Daily Image ISOs

Lubuntu Wily Werewolf Daily Image ISOs

Kubuntu Wily Werewolf Daily Live Image ISOs

Edubuntu Wily Werewolf Daily Live ISOs

Wily Werewolf Daily Live Image ISOs

Ubuntu Desktop-Next Wily Daily Image ISOs

Ubuntu Mate Wily Daily Image ISOs

Ubuntu-Gnome Wily Daily Image ISOs

Ubuntu Core Wily Daily Image gz

Some sudo Command Definitions

sudo basically means superusers-do. It is the basic command that gives access to administrative files that may need root authentication. There is a large database on sudo and sudoers definitions and uses in the following links. SudoUbuntuManuals and SudoersUbuntuManual

Sudo code quick grabber is an online index that can be used as a tool to copy and paste sudo code recovery commands to the GNOME terminal. The list of recovery codes and other command operations are voluminous, therefore the Sudo Quickgrabber only covers a few very basic commands for those who are testing development releases or alpha/beta releases of Ubuntu software. This particular tool is under development and will be updated as promptly as possible.

Here are some common codes of interest to help with Utopic recovery in the event of a crash.

How to find your sources.list - this list is used to set repositories and can be done manually. It is also informative to have on hand if you decide to do a transitional upgrade from Oneiric Ocelot to Precise Pangolin or upcoming Trusty Tahr, now Utopic Unicorn.

gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Here is a list of commonly used Ubuntu/Linux terminal Codes (not necessarily in order and open to interpretation) of WW Crash Recovery Codes -To be updated:

1. This command is used to auto edit the sources.list file on an install of Saucy Salamander or Raring Ringtail  and could be considered as a first step to converting to Utopic Unicorn, Vivid Vervet and wily Werewolf. However this and other commands may be moot after Alpha .iso are released. You can still play it safe and test the kernels but breakage may occur nonetheless. it is also a good idea to make sure your server is set to MAIN. You can change this in 'Other Software' options. sudo sed -i 's/vivid/wily/g' /etc/apt/sources.list

2. This command will update your repositories to WW. sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

3.This command is inclusive in #2. but is always good to run after removing or purging unwanted or residual programs. sudo apt-get update

4.This command is also included in #2. and upgrades any new files that are set in the repositories. sudo apt-get upgrade

4.(a)Update-manager is a fairly important component of the Ubuntu distribution. As we are supposed to be testing during the development phase, this application would be helped by testing and bug reporting as well.You can always make a judgement call as to whether the changes proposed by update-manager seem safe or not. If in doubt I think the best way to proceed is with aptitudeThis alleviates the concern when packages/dependencies may not be fully synced in the repos. They will be held back until dependencies are satisfied. aptitude update && aptitude safe-upgrade

5.This command is an essential command if you are a elementary beta tester as it will upgrade the GRUB bootloader after changes to the system using other commands, are made (like upgrading a kernel). If you have tried to carry out a procedure and wonder why it had not taken effect on the next boot, it is likely that you did not sudo update-grub. sudo update-grub

6.This command will give you simple information about your system, most commonly used to discover your video adapter. lspci

7.This command will display more detailed information about your systems' hardware and some of the drivers being used by it. lshw

8.This command will display version information of the kernel you are using. uname -a

9.This command will tell you what Version of Ubuntu you are using. It will help validate and document that the prior commands have worked properly. lsb_release -a

10.This command will continue to install packages that may have been broken during download or if your download unexpectedly terminated or if you have had a power-failure. sudo dpkg -i --configure -a

11.These two commands can be used separately if you are at the terminal prompt from startup. You can get to the terminal (if you have no desktop) by pressing the keys <Crtl+Alt+F1> It makes booting and restarting quicker and more efficient than if you were in a desktop shell. sudo reboot sudo poweroff

12.One that I have found helpful for fixing broken packages is . sudo apt-get -f install

13.Will install any packages necessary to fix the broken package if they are available . If some necessary packages are not available you can use this to remove the broken one . sudo apt-get -f remove

14.Just tried installing Precise for the first time today, using Alpha 1. I have an nvidia gs7600 card.Installation went fine but on reboot the system repeatedly hung without booting to the Desktop. The 'nomodeset' option did not help.Updating the packages from the recovery mode terminal didn't work either, nor did trying to start lightdm after a terminal log in.What finally allowed booting to the Desktop was removing all nvidia packages and then reinstalling nvidia-current (which also installed nvidia-settings). sudo apt-get purge nvidia*, sudo apt-get install nvidia-current

15.Sometimes there have been problems in the past with the lightdm and unity greeter. The solution has been to start GDM ,Gnome Desktop Manager, when certain video&graphic startup problems persist on a new install. First, it is always good to stop lightdm. sudo service lightdm stop

16.To start the Gnome Desktop Manager enter the following commands. sudo service gdm start

Instructional Development

Ubiquity Installer

There has been a lot of hot debate topic at Ubuntuforums about the Ubiquity Installer, UEFI and some suggestions at possible changes that can be made. The Ubiquity "greeter" is the first GUI program that is loaded after the Plymouth logo. It presents two options after you boot from your DVD or USB flash drive. First, to 'Try Ubuntu' in the 'live' session. That means that a live session of the version of Ubuntu you are running will load into memory and you can run basic programs and even your internet browser to give Ubuntu a trial run. Secondly, there is the "Install Ubuntu" option which will install Ubuntu to your hdd (hard drive).If you have another operating system on your hard drive, (hdd for short), the Ubuntu Installer will detect it and will then guide you through an easy installation process. You can also "Install Ubuntu" from the "live" session by double clicking the "Install Ubuntu" icon. Ubiquity is designed mostly to work in an automated fashion for STANDARD machines.

A STANDARD machine is usually a laptop or desktop that was originally configured with a Windows Operating System in a factory. That Operating System could be ME, Win 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 etc.. A STANDARD machine is most often configured with ONE hard drive! If there is more than one hard drive or if there is another operating system installed alongside the Windows operating system it becomes a CUSTOM install.

Ubiquity, during the installation process and configuration of the hard drive, will give you options to install ubuntu alongside, upgrade or erase and remove. It will also give you an option of <something else> which I will discuss soon. The SOMETHING ELSE option can be used for both STANDARD and CUSTOM systems but should be used exclusivley if you are building or working with a CUSTOM system that has more than one hard drive or a RAID array.

All in all the installation process can be very easy , or, in many cases, very complex. The best possible way to help others understand is to present hot-links in this section. That would mean active links from Ubuntuforums Development Version and other partners and sources in the Ubuntu community infrastructure. This way all the bases can be covered and possibly make for a smoother transition from obsoleted Windows operating systems to upgraded Ubuntu versions that may be able to utilize your existing desktop or laptop in a more efficient manner. Links will be forthcomming. I apologize for taking such a long period of time to get this section updated. Regards .. Ventrical

UbuntuForums Installer Tutorial

UbuntuForums Ubiquity Discussion

+UbuntuForums Ubiquity Discussion

Animated Terminal Instructions for Update/Upgrade

  • term2.gif

    A sudo command that upgrades your system from terminal. This will require your password.The _sudo apt-get update_ command is used first followed by the _sudo apt-get dist-upgrade_ command. These two commands are used mostly by testers in development series and is also extremely stable for general purpose use.

Alternative Boot Method with SystemD

How to purge and remove ppas

Sudo command link to remove ppas

pkexec testing

Much debate has taken place over using sudo, gksu or pkexec. You will have to decide for yourself which is most secure.

Mir Testing

If you are interested in installing Mir to test during this cycle then you can use the following links. Note that the Mir wiki has only had minimal updating and so it is not entirely current. It may be better to use the Manually use Sudo Commands link to install Mir and it's components.

Here is an UbuntuForum thread where some of us have been doing some preliminary testing.

Unity8 Testing

this is just a test my avatar just trying some experiments

Todo

Ideas:

  • We should use MoinMoin Syntax Parsers (http://moinmo.in/HelpOnParsers) where commands/code are presented. Parsers ensure code/commands are not converted to smileys and other MoinMoin stuff, therefore presented without errors.

  • We had some amazing threads, specially since the OO cycle, which maybe we could use here;
  • The stickies at Ubuntu+1 have some information that can probably be summarized / simplified here - investigate;
  • Add a "What is a development cycle" section: How Ubuntu is developed, by who, where, how, when and where it is released (Alphas, Betas, RCs, etc), who tests it, how it is tested, where bugs are reported, how to report bugs properly, who manages bugs reports, etc. A basic vision of how Ubuntu development works."
  • Log files: A lot of people don't know they exist, where they are stored, the type of information available in each log file, how to open them, how to search them easily for valuable information. EDIT:I'll contribute to this portion - I already have something written, as well as log searching scripts posted at Ubuntu+1 threads (posted by Effenberg0x0)

(1) (2) (3) Cleaned!

devel-tester-wiki (last edited 2015-05-12 03:53:18 by dale-f-beaudoin)