Ubuntu Multimedia Center is a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with community and professional support.It is also a live cd that is ubuntu derived and also free. This system was inspired by the fact that ubuntu didn’t have much of a multimedia center.Because users would have to manually download the codecs for playing mp3’s and what not.The mail objective of this project is multimedia related programs available to users as easy as possible.
Ubuntu Multimedia center Installation
First you need to download Ubuntu Multimedia version from here after that you create a CD and start booting with the CD Once it starts booting you should see the following screen in this you need to select second option “Install to the Hard disk Option” and press enter
Now you can see Ubuntu Multimedia center starts booting
Once it comple loading you can see the desktop with the following screen here you need to click on install to start the installation.
Here you need to select your installation language and click on forward.
Select a city in your country and time zone.In this example i am using london city and uk as country and click on forward.
Select your keyboad layout and in this example i am using British English and click on forward
You need to enter username,password and computer name here and click on forward
It will start the partitioner here you need to select how do you want to partition the disk and select which option is suitable for you in this example i am selecting “manually edit partition table” and click on forward
Now you can See the following screen with the disks available in your machine here you need to create partitions for this you need to select the available free space and in this example you can see the 8GB of space for this installation here i am going create a partitions for this right click and click on new.
Once you select new you should see the following screen asking for creating disklable and by default gparted will create msdos disklabel and click on create
Confirm msdos label on disk here by clicking on create
Once you create the lable on the disk your disk is ready for creating partitions you can do this by clicking on new
Once you click on New you can see the following screen here you can select new size,partition type and click on add.Inthis example i am entering size as 100 mb and partition type as ext3 and tick the check box next to round the cylinder option.
In the same way i have entered remaining available space and click on add
Here you can see the two created partitions and click on forward
Confirm the pending operations by clicking on apply
Applying pending operations in progress
Here you need to create a mount points by selecting mount point and partition and click on forward
Here is the all the list of information for available for installation here you need to click on install to start the installation.
Installation in progress and it shows the copying files percentage.
Installation Completed Succesfully and you need to restart the system by clicking “Restart Now”
Ubuntu Multimedia center Screenshots
If you want to see some of the screenshots tour for ubuntu multi media center you can click on the image for complete gallery
Ubuntu Multimedia Center Gallery
If you want more about Ubuntu Multimedia Center check their wiki here
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Set Up Ubuntu-Server 6.10 As A Firewall/Gateway For Your Small Business Environment
Includes: Shorewall, NAT, Caching NameServer, DHCP Server, VPN Server, Webmin, Munin, Apache (SSL enabled), Squirrelmail, Postfix setup with virtual domains, courier imap imaps pop3 pop3s, sasl authentication for road warriors, MailScanner as a wrapper for SpamAssassin, Razor, ClamAv, etc. Samba installed, not configured.
Needs very little maintenance and is extendable beyond your wildest imagination. All depending on the hardware used, of course.
This is a COPY&PASTE howto. For info use the net. I did... However, contributions and suggestions are allways welcome! I know this can be done better, so feel free.
If anyone of you can find the time to add a good install and config for snort AND snortsam, including a comprehensive controll panel, I would be very greathfull.
Scope: creating a firewall/(mail)gateway for a small network (say 10 to 15 users or so on a PIII 450MHz, 512 MB ram and two identical network interface cards, broadband connection, fully featured, for a bussines environment. Better specs of your hardware (notably the amount of ram) will improve the performance of your server significantly. The specs mentioned ar a bare minimum for not so demanding customers, yust to indicate that if you really want, it can be done indeed (need to do some tweaking afterwards though).
Expected audience: (beginning) sysop.
This tuto leads towards a solid 'ready to go' sytem. The fun part, I think, (tweaking and tuning etc.) starts when you are done. You may wish to inspect your logs to find clues as to where the tuning should start. Munin might tell you a lot as well.
Have Fun!
First, do a clean install using Ubuntu-Server 6.10. During installation, proper settings for eth0 will be detected automatically. If this fails, change your network cables and try again. There is a very small chance that your ISP does not run a DHCP server (never seen that happen), or it just might be down (seen that quite a few times, also they may screw up their DNS every now and then), in which case you are on your one, best to wait till they are done fixing it.
So we start out with a DHCP assigned address for eth0. This is just an easy way to figure out which NIC is actually eth0. If you already know which is which you better start out with a static address for eth0. If your ISP isn't crappy, you have the proper settings for it.
Now proceed and accept all defaults (but you may want to do your own partitioning) At the end of the process you will be asked if you want to install extra packages. Select "LAMP" and finish.
Now login as the new user you just made and do:
sudo passwd
Now enter your password again. Next enter the new password for user "root" and confirm. So we dropped the nasty sudo experience (bit strange on a server, isn’t it?) Now logout and login again as root with the new root password.
Do:
apt-get install vim
Using vim (or your favorite editor) edit /etc/apt/sources.list Comment out the cd repository. Next add "universe" (without the quotes) to all lines that aren't commented out. Save the file.
Now do:
apt-get update
apt-get install openssh-server
Edit /etc/network/interfaces and add the following at the bottom:
auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address192.168.1.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast192.168.1.255
network192.168.1.0
Note that the rest of this tuto assumes that you actually make the settings for eth1 as shown.
My full/etc/network/interfaces looks like this:
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address192.168.1.1
netmask255.255.255.0
broadcast192.168.1.255
network192.168.1.0
As you can see my eth0 gets its settings using DHCP.
Save the file. Next do:
/etc/init.d/networking restart
You can do the rest of this tuto from your workstation, either linux or the other one (must have putty), so you can actually copy and paste. Just login to 192.168.1.1 as root and get on with it.
Make sure that the network settings of your workstation match the settings of your server's eth1
If you are confused here, first configure and start your DHCP server as shown in this article (page 9), and let your workstation detect the proper settings automatically.
Other info available here: http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu6.10_firewall_gateway
Needs very little maintenance and is extendable beyond your wildest imagination. All depending on the hardware used, of course.
This is a COPY&PASTE howto. For info use the net. I did... However, contributions and suggestions are allways welcome! I know this can be done better, so feel free.
If anyone of you can find the time to add a good install and config for snort AND snortsam, including a comprehensive controll panel, I would be very greathfull.
Scope: creating a firewall/(mail)gateway for a small network (say 10 to 15 users or so on a PIII 450MHz, 512 MB ram and two identical network interface cards, broadband connection, fully featured, for a bussines environment. Better specs of your hardware (notably the amount of ram) will improve the performance of your server significantly. The specs mentioned ar a bare minimum for not so demanding customers, yust to indicate that if you really want, it can be done indeed (need to do some tweaking afterwards though).
Expected audience: (beginning) sysop.
This tuto leads towards a solid 'ready to go' sytem. The fun part, I think, (tweaking and tuning etc.) starts when you are done. You may wish to inspect your logs to find clues as to where the tuning should start. Munin might tell you a lot as well.
Have Fun!
First, do a clean install using Ubuntu-Server 6.10. During installation, proper settings for eth0 will be detected automatically. If this fails, change your network cables and try again. There is a very small chance that your ISP does not run a DHCP server (never seen that happen), or it just might be down (seen that quite a few times, also they may screw up their DNS every now and then), in which case you are on your one, best to wait till they are done fixing it.
So we start out with a DHCP assigned address for eth0. This is just an easy way to figure out which NIC is actually eth0. If you already know which is which you better start out with a static address for eth0. If your ISP isn't crappy, you have the proper settings for it.
Now proceed and accept all defaults (but you may want to do your own partitioning) At the end of the process you will be asked if you want to install extra packages. Select "LAMP" and finish.
Now login as the new user you just made and do:
sudo passwd
Now enter your password again. Next enter the new password for user "root" and confirm. So we dropped the nasty sudo experience (bit strange on a server, isn’t it?) Now logout and login again as root with the new root password.
Do:
apt-get install vim
Using vim (or your favorite editor) edit /etc/apt/sources.list Comment out the cd repository. Next add "universe" (without the quotes) to all lines that aren't commented out. Save the file.
Now do:
apt-get update
apt-get install openssh-server
Edit /etc/network/interfaces and add the following at the bottom:
auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address192.168.1.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast192.168.1.255
network192.168.1.0
Note that the rest of this tuto assumes that you actually make the settings for eth1 as shown.
My full/etc/network/interfaces looks like this:
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address192.168.1.1
netmask255.255.255.0
broadcast192.168.1.255
network192.168.1.0
As you can see my eth0 gets its settings using DHCP.
Save the file. Next do:
/etc/init.d/networking restart
You can do the rest of this tuto from your workstation, either linux or the other one (must have putty), so you can actually copy and paste. Just login to 192.168.1.1 as root and get on with it.
Make sure that the network settings of your workstation match the settings of your server's eth1
If you are confused here, first configure and start your DHCP server as shown in this article (page 9), and let your workstation detect the proper settings automatically.
Other info available here: http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu6.10_firewall_gateway
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Ubuntu for your parents, uncles and aunts. No tech support anymore!
During my visit to India last month, I promised myself that I would accomplish one important task. I would do everything in my power to eliminate the tech support role that I was playing to my parents. You see, my parents had inherited (ah, sweet pun) a desktop computer from me and in my absence had taken the help of local young men who gleefully installed Microsoft Windows software (pirated, of course). Pirated software, you must realize, is like getting a new pair of shoes with godawful bugs in them. They bite and you can't ask for help from the seller or go to a qualified doctor. My parents, like many parents whose wards have ridden the software wave, aren't so bad off. They've got free tech support. I intensely dislike having to support crappy software. I was determined to solve this problem.
Windows or Ubuntu?
You don't need more than two brain cells to realize that for most computer users in India, like my parents, the IT needs are very few. Use a Voice chat application, be able to see photos, send and receive emails with attachments and do the odd browsing. An OS (Operating Susyem) is an overkill for these uses. What we need are appliances - like TVs and phones that have a few buttons on them and can do specific things and do them well. At the moment I am not aware of any enlightened product makers in the market who have deep enough pockets to sustain an socially transformational business effort. What we do have is a choice of Operating Systems. The two contenders are Windows OS from Microsoft and Linux distributions from many opensource efforts.
While Windows is not so bad, it is really not a software that was made with my parents in mind. Whatever flavor of Windows I buy and install for my parents, it would still keep me tied to the tech support role I loath. I've used Windows professionally for too long to trust it. Linux, the free alternative for Windows, was like a mechanics toolbox till recent times. If I had to have my parents use it, I must work very hard to hide the internals from them.That's a lot of work and I simply do not have the expertise. Fortunately things have improved in the Linux world lately. The leading light in user friendliness is a Linux distribution called Ubuntu.
Connecting it up
So, Ubuntu it is, I decided. My parents already had broadband at home provided by BSNL, the Indian monopoly (atleast in small towns like Namakkal). BSNL, unsurprisingly enough, had given a USB DSL router that would only work with Windows. This was probably because many of the computers at Indian homes do not have a ethernet card but have a USB port in them. The computer my parents had (the one inherited from me) had no ethernet card. So, even if they had tried Linux earlier it would not have worked.
USB modems are a pain to get working on Linux. You had to compile the code yourself, stand on your toes and do a waltz and repeatedly flog yourself with the router cables for it to work. This, I was not prepared to do. Luckily, there was a simple solution. It was to buy a LAN Card (Network Card or Ethernet Card, costs Rs.300 ) for the computer and connect your router via the ethernet port to the computer. This worked like a charm. Pure magic.
What to Install
The connectivity sorted out, it was time for me to look at the software applications. I had a list of them. I was going to install the software on my list and lock down the system from any further changes. To do this, I created a user id for my parents use which had no administrative previleges.
The list of software and my customizations:-
1. Skype for voice chat
Installed. Created a user, added all the usual suspects and customized the menu for ease of use.
2. Firefox
Already part of Ubuntu. Installed Macromedia Flash needed for viewing Flickr photos. Customized the bookmarks for all the favorites - flickr being the important one.
3. Evolution email client
Already part of Ubuntu. Created a gmail account for my parents. Added the account to evolution. Added all the people into contacts.
4. Picassa for Photos
Installed it. Checked if it detects and grabs all the photos from the Digital Camera. Worked flawlessly.
This done, I added these to the System menu and customized the Ubuntu Menu using the very handy menu editor, removing all other software other than the ones above. I was going to leave no room for error for my parents. It is an appliance they need and an appliance they shall get.
I then installed Tamil font support and switched Ubuntu to use Tamil locale. All the menus now appeared in tamil - more meaningful for my parents. Alright. We are done with the system. Now, to the training sessions.
Training
It took two sessions one hour each to get my parents use the system comfortably. Piece of cake, they said. I did one more session for a local internet center people (entrepreneurial local youth who run an internet browsing center, assemble and sell computers, fix computers and install pirated software). This, I hoped, would be useful as these folks could now install Ubuntu on the systems they build for people in Namakkal.
I am back in UK and no longer do tech support. It's pure bliss. The expense to setup all the above was zero if we discount the cost of the network card I bought for 300 rupees. Thanks to Ubuntu, domestic peace is now restored in my home.
So there you have it. The above is only a broad overview of what I did. There's a lot of technical details I did not go into. If you are thinking of using Ubuntu, go for it, the problems are easily solved. I repeated the same for my brother-in-laws parents and they are happily using Ubuntu now. Some useful links below.
Ubuntu Linux Website: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Help on Ubuntu problems: Ubuntu Forums
Windows or Ubuntu?
You don't need more than two brain cells to realize that for most computer users in India, like my parents, the IT needs are very few. Use a Voice chat application, be able to see photos, send and receive emails with attachments and do the odd browsing. An OS (Operating Susyem) is an overkill for these uses. What we need are appliances - like TVs and phones that have a few buttons on them and can do specific things and do them well. At the moment I am not aware of any enlightened product makers in the market who have deep enough pockets to sustain an socially transformational business effort. What we do have is a choice of Operating Systems. The two contenders are Windows OS from Microsoft and Linux distributions from many opensource efforts.
While Windows is not so bad, it is really not a software that was made with my parents in mind. Whatever flavor of Windows I buy and install for my parents, it would still keep me tied to the tech support role I loath. I've used Windows professionally for too long to trust it. Linux, the free alternative for Windows, was like a mechanics toolbox till recent times. If I had to have my parents use it, I must work very hard to hide the internals from them.That's a lot of work and I simply do not have the expertise. Fortunately things have improved in the Linux world lately. The leading light in user friendliness is a Linux distribution called Ubuntu.
Connecting it up
So, Ubuntu it is, I decided. My parents already had broadband at home provided by BSNL, the Indian monopoly (atleast in small towns like Namakkal). BSNL, unsurprisingly enough, had given a USB DSL router that would only work with Windows. This was probably because many of the computers at Indian homes do not have a ethernet card but have a USB port in them. The computer my parents had (the one inherited from me) had no ethernet card. So, even if they had tried Linux earlier it would not have worked.
USB modems are a pain to get working on Linux. You had to compile the code yourself, stand on your toes and do a waltz and repeatedly flog yourself with the router cables for it to work. This, I was not prepared to do. Luckily, there was a simple solution. It was to buy a LAN Card (Network Card or Ethernet Card, costs Rs.300 ) for the computer and connect your router via the ethernet port to the computer. This worked like a charm. Pure magic.
What to Install
The connectivity sorted out, it was time for me to look at the software applications. I had a list of them. I was going to install the software on my list and lock down the system from any further changes. To do this, I created a user id for my parents use which had no administrative previleges.
The list of software and my customizations:-
1. Skype for voice chat
Installed. Created a user, added all the usual suspects and customized the menu for ease of use.
2. Firefox
Already part of Ubuntu. Installed Macromedia Flash needed for viewing Flickr photos. Customized the bookmarks for all the favorites - flickr being the important one.
3. Evolution email client
Already part of Ubuntu. Created a gmail account for my parents. Added the account to evolution. Added all the people into contacts.
4. Picassa for Photos
Installed it. Checked if it detects and grabs all the photos from the Digital Camera. Worked flawlessly.
This done, I added these to the System menu and customized the Ubuntu Menu using the very handy menu editor, removing all other software other than the ones above. I was going to leave no room for error for my parents. It is an appliance they need and an appliance they shall get.
I then installed Tamil font support and switched Ubuntu to use Tamil locale. All the menus now appeared in tamil - more meaningful for my parents. Alright. We are done with the system. Now, to the training sessions.
Training
It took two sessions one hour each to get my parents use the system comfortably. Piece of cake, they said. I did one more session for a local internet center people (entrepreneurial local youth who run an internet browsing center, assemble and sell computers, fix computers and install pirated software). This, I hoped, would be useful as these folks could now install Ubuntu on the systems they build for people in Namakkal.
I am back in UK and no longer do tech support. It's pure bliss. The expense to setup all the above was zero if we discount the cost of the network card I bought for 300 rupees. Thanks to Ubuntu, domestic peace is now restored in my home.
So there you have it. The above is only a broad overview of what I did. There's a lot of technical details I did not go into. If you are thinking of using Ubuntu, go for it, the problems are easily solved. I repeated the same for my brother-in-laws parents and they are happily using Ubuntu now. Some useful links below.
Ubuntu Linux Website: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Help on Ubuntu problems: Ubuntu Forums
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