Debian on Adur

Installing Debian and ParrotOS with Dual Boot on a LUKS-encrypted Partition with LVM Volumes and rEFInd

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This post covers installing and configuring a dual boot setup with multiple GNU/Linux distributions (Debian and ParrotOS) using rEFInd. If you use GRUB to boot multiple distributions and have never heard of rEFInd, then this post is for you. We followed the instructions from this article.

Important note: the installation described below was performed on a clean storage disk. If you have data you want to keep, it is strongly recommended to back up all data before installing on the disk.

Requirements

Clean storage disk.
USB flashed with Debian and later with Parrot
Review the basic concepts

Basic Concepts

Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, developed by thousands of volunteers from around the world who collaborate via the Internet.

Debian’s dedication to free software, its volunteer base, its non-commercial nature, and its open development model distinguish it from other GNU operating system distributions¹.

LVM is an implementation of a logical volume manager for the Linux kernel. LVM includes many of the features expected from a volume manager, including:

Resizing of logical groups
Resizing of logical volumes
Read-only snapshots (LVM2 offers read and write)
RAID0 of logical volumes. LVM does not implement RAID1 or RAID5, so it is recommended to use dedicated RAID software for these operations, placing the LVs on top of the RAID².

RAID will not be used in this configuration.

LUKS is a disk encryption specification created by Clemens Fruhwirth, originally intended for Linux. While most disk encryption software implements different and incompatible undocumented formats, LUKS specifies a standard on-disk format, platform-independent, for use with various tools. This not only facilitates compatibility and interoperability between different programs, but also ensures that they all implement password management in a secure and documented manner. The reference implementation runs on Linux and is based on an enhanced version of cryptsetup, using dm-crypt as the disk encryption interface³.

A boot loader loads an operating system kernel into memory and executes it. A boot manager hands over control to another boot program. GRUB is both a boot loader and a boot manager. rEFInd is only a boot manager.

Another fundamental concept is understanding the difference between EFI/UEFI and BIOS.

LVM is an implementation of a logical volume manager for the Linux kernel. LVM includes many of the features expected from a volume manager, including:

Resizing of logical groups
Resizing of logical volumes
Read-only snapshots (LVM2 offers read and write)
RAID0 of logical volumes. LVM does not implement RAID1 or RAID5, so it is recommended to use dedicated RAID software for these operations, placing the LVs on top of the RAID².

RAID will not be used in this configuration.

In the Partition Table, the ext4 format is used for partitions because it improves I/O speed and uses less CPU than the ext3 and ext2 formats. The following minimum values are recommended:

Partition	Recommended Size	Debian Allocation	Custom Allocation	Contains
/	>= 750MB	22GB	64GB	/etc, /bin, /sbin, /lib, /dev, /usr
/usr	>= 4-6GB	0	0	User programs, libs and docs
/var	>= 2-3GB	32GB	112GB	Variable data such as emails
/tmp	>= 100MB	16GB	32GB	Web pages, package cache, temporary data
/home	>= 100MB	200GB	288GB	Directory with Documents, Downloads, …
/boot	>= 256MB	500MB	512GB	Primary Partition, ext4 or ext2, encryption not recommended
/boot/efi	>= 100MB	250MB	0	Encryption not recommended and bootable flag: on
/swap	>= 8GB	16GB	16GB	Swap area

GParted

Using GParted from a live USB, delete all partitions and create a new GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition table. GPT is a format used by EFI systems and is a modern alternative to the MBR (Master Boot Record) format used by BIOS systems.

UEFI requires that each boot disk have a special partition called the EFI System Partition (ESP). The ESP is a simple FAT16 or FAT32 partition with the boot and esp partition flags. The ESP stores EFI executable files; although they are smaller than 100MB, some operating systems require the partition to have a capacity of 500MB. Therefore, create a 550MB primary partition, fat32 format, with the label ESP and efi as the partition name. Apply the changes and in the manage flags option, select boot and esp.

The next step is to create two ext4 partitions for the Debian and ParrotOS operating systems. For example, you can allocate 250GB to Debian, 150GB to Parrot, and the rest can be a shared data partition. It is recommended to assign a corresponding label to each partition.

Debian Installation

Access the expert installation mode with the graphical interface and proceed to disk and partition detection. Create the following partitions:

500MB for a shared EFI partition.
500MB for the Debian boot partition.
500MB for the ParrotOS boot partition.
The remainder in a partition where the different operating systems will reside.

First, create an encrypted volume on the partition labeled all-Operative-Systems, specifying that the partition should not be formatted or erased. Then create an LVM volume group and the following logical volumes:

Debian Volumes:

8GB for SWAP.
250GB for root.
100GB for home.

ParrotOS Volumes:

8GB for SWAP.
250GB for root.
100GB for home.

Shared Data Volumes:

The remainder for shared data.

Assign the corresponding mount point to each Debian logical volume and finish the installation by choosing your preferred desktop environment.

ParrotOS Installation

Since ParrotOS is a Debian-based distribution, the installation is the same as in the previous section. Access the expert graphical installation mode and proceed to the disk detection step. Since the operating systems partition is encrypted, you need to decrypt it and detect the LVM volume group. To do this, exit the disk detection section and go to the section for opening a terminal or shell. First, decrypt the encrypted partition with:

Note: the /dev/sdaX partition must correspond to the encrypted one, and the name must be the one assigned as the label.

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cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdaX all-Operative-Systems

Then detect the LVM volume group with:

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vgchange -a y

Note: the following steps may not work on the first attempt and may need to be completed with the next section. You could skip the end of this section and install GRUB directly.

Once the above commands have been executed, continue with the installation until the GRUB installation. Open a terminal again and identify the UUID of the encrypted partition with:

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blkid /dev/sdaX

Next, edit the /etc/crypttab file:

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nano /etc/crypttab

Add the following content, where the UUID is the one obtained from the blkid command:

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all-Operative-Systems UUID=524c1ad6-fabe-4f32-9bb0-c8db1286b262 none luks

Finish the installation and reboot the operating system. If everything works correctly, you are done. Most commonly, when trying to boot the operating system, it will not be able to open the encrypted partition or the encrypted volumes. In that case, it will drop to an initramfs terminal and you will need to follow the steps below.

The Encrypted Partition Does Not Open and an initramfs Terminal Appears

If you get an initramfs terminal, you will need to repeat the steps to decrypt the partition and open the encrypted volume group as described above.

Open the encrypted partition with:

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cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdaX all-Operative-Systems

Then detect the LVM volume group with:

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vgchange -a y

To boot the system, simply use the following command:

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exit

This will take you to the login screen; enter the credentials created during installation. Once the operating system has started, open a terminal and detect the UUID of the encrypted partition. The X in sdaX corresponds to the number of the encrypted partition; if you do not know it, simply use the blkid command.

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blkid /dev/sdaX

Edit the /etc/crypttab file with nano:

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sudo nano /etc/crypttab

Add the following:

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all-Operative-Systems UUID=524c1ad6-fabe-4f32-9bb0-c8db1286b262 none luks

Once finished, use the following command to update initramfs:

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sudo update-initramfs -u

Reboot the operating system with:

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sudo reboot

rEFInd Installation

Install rEFInd with the following command:

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sudo apt install refind

Plymouth Configuration

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 13:21:56 +0100

This post describes the steps to configure Plymouth on Debian when all partitions are encrypted with LUKS, except for the /boot partition. The plymouth-themes repository is used as a reference.

What is Plymouth?

Plymouth is an application that starts very early in the boot process (even before the filesystem is mounted) and provides a graphical boot animation while the startup process runs in the background.

It is designed to work on systems that have DRM modesetting drivers. The idea is that very early in the boot process, native modesetting is configured, and Plymouth uses this mode. This mode must be maintained throughout the entire boot process, even after starting the X graphical server. The main purpose is to avoid flickering during the startup process ¹.

Plymouth Installation

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sudo apt install plymouth

GRUB Modification

Edit the default GRUB configuration file:

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sudo nano /etc/default/grub

Modify line 9 by adding splash:

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GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

Plymouth Themes

Clone the themes repository:

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git clone https://github.com/adi1090x/plymouth-themes.git

Navigate into one of the directories named pack_X, for example pack_3:

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cd plymouth-themes/pack_3

Select the theme you want, for example lone:

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sudo cp -r lone /usr/share/plymouth/themes/

Plymouth - Debian ↩︎

Debian Configuration

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This post covers the configuration of the Debian operating system.

What is Debian?

Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, developed by thousands of volunteers from around the world who collaborate via the Internet.

Debian’s dedication to free software, its volunteer base, its non-commercial nature, and its open development model distinguish it from other GNU operating system distributions¹.

Add Wi-Fi and NVIDIA Drivers

Running the following commands will log in as root and add the repositories needed to install drivers not included in the fully free repositories:

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# Log in as root
su -

# Install vim
apt install -y vim

# Add contrib and non-free reopositories
## Edit /etc/apt/sources.list
vim /etc/apt/sources.list

## Add contrib and non-free at the end
deb http://mirror.librelabucm.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free

deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main contrib non-free

deb http://mirror.librelabucm.org/debian/ buster-updates main contrib non-free

# Add non-free drivers for WiFi
apt install -y firmware-iwlwifi firmware-atheros firmware-misc-nonfree firmware-intelwimax firmware-realtek firmware-linux firmware-linux-nonfree

Verify that the packages have been installed:

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sudo apt list --installed | grep firmware

Add a User to the Sudo Group

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su -
usermod -aG sudo username

Verify Sudo Group Membership

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getent group sudo

Log In with the Sudo Group User

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su - username

Install git and wget

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sudo apt install git wget -y

Install zsh and Oh My Zsh²

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sudo apt install zsh
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Install Powerlevel10k

Download and place the 4 .ttf fonts from Meslo Nerd in /usr/local/share/fonts. They must have permissions 644 (-rw-r–r–).³

Create the /usr/local/share/fonts directory:

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sudo mkdir /usr/local/share/fonts
cd /usr/local/share/fonts

Download the fonts:

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sudo wget https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k-media/raw/master/MesloLGS%20NF%20Regular.ttf https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k-media/raw/master/MesloLGS%20NF%20Bold.ttf https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k-media/raw/master/MesloLGS%20NF%20Italic.ttf https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k-media/raw/master/MesloLGS%20NF%20Bold%20Italic.ttf

Clone the powerlevel10k project:

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git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k

Replace the following value in ~/.zshrc:

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ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

Configure to your liking and reload the ~/.zshrc file:

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source ~/.zshrc

Use the following command to emulate the applications in /etc/profile within zsh.

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emulate sh -c 'source /etc/profile'

Recommended Software Installation

Snapd

Installation

Install the snapd and core packages:

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sudo apt install snapd
sudo snap install core

Add Snap Executables Path to bash and Zsh PATH

Add the snap executables path to the PATH:

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echo "export PATH=$PATH:/snap/bin" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
echo "export PATH=$PATH:/snap/bin" >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Verify that the path has been added correctly:

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echo $PATH

Create a symbolic link from the directory that stores snap launchers (/var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications) to the system applications directory (usr/share/applications/)

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sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications /usr/share/applications/snapd

Flatpak

Installation

From the official Flatpak documentation, follow these steps:

Install Flatpak

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sudo apt install flatpak -y

Add the Flatpak repository

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flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Reboot the system to apply the changes.

Create a symbolic link from the directory that stores flatpak launchers (/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share/applications/) to the system applications directory (usr/share/applications/)

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sudo ln -s /var/lib/flatpak/exports/share/applications/ /usr/share/applications/flatpak

Aptitude

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sudo apt install aptitude

Nextcloud Sync Client

Download the AppImage file from Nextcloud, grant execution permissions to the user, and run it with:

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chmod u+x Nextcloud-3.3.5-x86_64.AppImage
./Nextcloud-3.3.5-x86_64.AppImage

Sync the folders.

KeePassXC

Note: installed via Snap because the official repositories have an outdated version.

Install via snap:

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sudo snap install keepassxc

Download the browser extension.
Configure the browser extension using an official KeePassXC script. Save the script and run:

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wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/keepassxreboot/keepassxc/master/utils/keepassxc-snap-helper.sh
zsh keepassxc-snap-helper.sh

If you get the error Could not find keepassxc.proxy! Ensure the keepassxc snap is installed properly., this is because the snap executables path needs to be added to the PATH:

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echo "export PATH=$PATH:/snap/bin" >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
echo "export PATH=$PATH:/snap/bin" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Run the script again:

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bash keepassxc-snap-helper.sh

VSCodium ⁴

Add the repository GPG key:

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wget -qO - https://gitlab.com/paulcarroty/vscodium-deb-rpm-repo/raw/master/pub.gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo dd of=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/vscodium.gpg

Add the repository:

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echo 'deb
 [ signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/vscodium-archive-keyring.gpg ]
https://paulcarroty.gitlab.io/vscodium-deb-rpm-repo/debs vscodium main'
 | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscodium.list

Update repositories and install VSCodium:

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sudo apt update && sudo apt install codium

Using LaTeX with VSCodium

In settings, search for word wrap and enable it so that lines do not extend infinitely.
Install the LaTeX distribution Texlive (recommended by the VSCodium LaTeX Workshop extension), ChkTex for LaTeX semantic checking, and texlive-extra-utils for extensions like latexindent.

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apt-get install -y texlive texlive-latex-extra texlive-extra-utils chktex latexmk texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-fonts-extra texlive-science texlive-latex-base-doc

Add the path

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echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/share' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/share' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.bashrc
source ~/.zshrc

Inkscape

Install via the Flatpak repositories.

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flatpak install org.inkscape.Inkscape

Mattermost-Desktop

According to the official Mattermost documentation, for Debian-based operating systems, the steps to follow are:

Download the latest version of Mattermost (use the official documentation page): 64-bit systems mattermost-desktop-4.6.2-linux-amd64.deb

Zotero

The reference steps are from the Debian wiki for installing Zotero.

Install Zotero via Flatpak:

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flatpak install flathub org.zotero.Zotero

Add Zotero to the PATH:

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echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/bin' >> ~/.bashrc

Run Zotero:

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flatpak run org.zotero.Zotero

Sync the library and install the BetterBibTex plugin. To install the BetterBibTex plugin, follow its documentation.

Once installed, add the following script to include the keywords when exporting with

OwnCloud

Follow the installation guide for Debian.

Once installed, sync the folders.

Thunderbird

Copy and paste the .thunderbird folder for a complete migration. Install with:

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sudo apt install thunderbird

Pip

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sudo apt install python3-pip

Node and npm

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sudo curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Kubernetes

kubectl

Install using native package management

HDMI Audio Configuration

According to this post, add the following to /etc/pulse/default.pa:

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load-module module-alsa-sink device=hdmi:0
load-module module-combine-sink sink_name=combined
set-default-sink combined

XFCE Customization on Debian

Theme

Download themes from xfce-look, filtering by rating. Some recommended ones are Qogir-dark, Ultimate-dark, or Nordic. Extract them and copy them to the .themes folder, located at /home/username/.themes.

Go to Appearance -> Themes -> Qogir-dark.

Icons

Add the Qogir-dark icons. Download them from xfce-look, extract them, and copy them to the .icons folder located at /home/username/.icons.

Go to Appearance -> Icons -> Qogir-dark

Dock

Install Plank:

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sudo apt-get install plank

Window Manager

Install emerald:

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sudo apt install emerald

Run the emerald-theme-manager program and choose a theme:

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emerald-theme-manager

Run in the background:

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emerald --replace &

Plymouth

Steps followed from the official Debian wiki.

i3wm Window Manager

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sudo apt install i3 i3status

Installing Debian with LUKS-encrypted LVM Volumes

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This post covers installing and configuring the Debian operating system with LUKS-encrypted LVM volumes.

What is Debian?

Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, developed by thousands of volunteers from around the world who collaborate via the Internet.

Debian’s dedication to free software, its volunteer base, its non-commercial nature, and its open development model distinguish it from other GNU operating system distributions¹.

What is LVM (Logical Volume Manager)?

LVM is an implementation of a logical volume manager for the Linux kernel. LVM includes many of the features expected from a volume manager, including:

Resizing of logical groups
Resizing of logical volumes
Read-only snapshots (LVM2 offers read and write)
RAID0 of logical volumes. LVM does not implement RAID1 or RAID5, so it is recommended to use dedicated RAID software for these operations, placing the LVs on top of the RAID².

RAID will not be used in this configuration.

What is LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup)?

Partition Table

The ext4 format is used for partitions because it improves I/O speed and uses less CPU than the ext3 and ext2 formats. The following minimum values are recommended:

Partition	Recommended Size	Debian Allocation	Custom Allocation	Contains
/	>= 750MB	22GB	64GB	/etc, /bin, /sbin, /lib, /dev, /usr
/usr	>= 4-6GB	0	0	User programs, libs and docs
/var	>= 2-3GB	32GB	112GB	Variable data such as emails
/tmp	>= 100MB	16GB	32GB	Web pages, package cache, temporary data
/home	>= 100MB	200GB	288GB	Directory with Documents, Downloads, …
/boot	>= 256MB	500MB	512GB	Primary Partition, ext4 or ext2, encryption not recommended
/boot/efi	>= 100MB	250MB	0	Encryption not recommended and bootable flag: on
/swap	>= 8GB	16GB	16GB	Swap area

Steps Followed

It is recommended to connect the machine via ethernet so the system updates during installation.

Configure the language, region, keyboard, etc.
(Skip this step) Create manual partitions, specifically 3: one for /boot, another for /boot/efi, and another for the remaining partitions which will be encrypted with LUKS.
Encrypt with LUKS and choose a password of more than 20 characters.
Create an LVM volume and then create the logical volume partitions for each partition.
Assign the labels and finish configuring the partitions.
Set a hostname and create the root user and a non-privileged user.

Recommended References

Permissions in GNU/Linux

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Create a group

Create the shared group:

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sudo groupadd shared

Add a user

Add user devops to the shared group:

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sudo usermod -a -G shared devops

For the changes to take effect, you need to log out and log back in as the devops user. You can verify with the command:

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groups

Change the group of a directory and its files

Change the group of the wiki directory to shared:

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sudo chgrp -R shared wiki

Add write permissions for a group on a directory and its files

Add write w permissions for the user group on the wiki directory.

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sudo chmod -R g+w wiki

Debian on Adur

Installing Debian and ParrotOS with Dual Boot on a LUKS-encrypted Partition with LVM Volumes and rEFInd

Requirements

Basic Concepts

GParted

Debian Installation

Debian Volumes:

ParrotOS Volumes:

Shared Data Volumes:

ParrotOS Installation

The Encrypted Partition Does Not Open and an initramfs Terminal Appears

rEFInd Installation

Plymouth Configuration

What is Plymouth?

Plymouth Installation

GRUB Modification

Plymouth Themes

Debian Configuration

What is Debian?

Add Wi-Fi and NVIDIA Drivers

Add a User to the Sudo Group

Verify Sudo Group Membership

Log In with the Sudo Group User

Install git and wget

Install zsh and Oh My Zsh2

Install Powerlevel10k

Add Launchers to the Menu

Recommended Software Installation

Snapd

Installation

Add Snap Executables Path to bash and Zsh PATH

Add Launchers to the Application Menu

Flatpak

Installation

Add Launchers to the Menu

Aptitude

Nextcloud Sync Client

KeePassXC

VSCodium 4

Using LaTeX with VSCodium

Inkscape

Mattermost-Desktop

Zotero

OwnCloud

Thunderbird

Pip

Node and npm

Kubernetes

kubectl

HDMI Audio Configuration

XFCE Customization on Debian

Theme

Icons

Dock

Window Manager

Plymouth

i3wm Window Manager

Installing Debian with LUKS-encrypted LVM Volumes

What is Debian?

What is LVM (Logical Volume Manager)?

What is LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup)?

Partition Table

Steps Followed

Recommended References

Permissions in GNU/Linux

Create a group

Add a user

Change the group of a directory and its files

Add write permissions for a group on a directory and its files

Install zsh and Oh My Zsh²

VSCodium ⁴