Exciting tips

How to set up the ProtonMail Bridge on Linux

The ProtonMail Bridge allows Linux users to use their ProtonMail account with traditional email accounts. Even ones that do not support ProtonMail, or it’s sophisticated encryption features by default.

Setting up the ProtonMail Bridge on Linux is tricky for new Linux users, but not impossible. If you’re a fan of ProtonMail and want to use your account on your favorite Linux email app, follow along with this guide to get it running!

Note: using the ProtonMail bridge requires a paid account. To upgrade your account, click here.

Installing the ProtonMail Bridge app on Linux

On the official ProtonMail website, it states that there is a version for Microsoft Windows, Apple MacOS, and Linux. However, the Linux button is greyed out and unclickable. When you hover over it, it says to “email for details,” and it’s marked as a beta application.

While it’s true that the developers of ProtonMail Bridge do not make it easy to download the app from their website, there’s no need to contact ProtonMail to get your hands on the latest version of the Bridge app. Why? Someone has placed the program in the Flatpak app store, and it works quite well!

Note: if you do not like Flatpak and would prefer another way to install and use the ProtonMail Bridge application on your system, your best bet is to contact ProtonMail. Ask them about participating in the Linux beta! The contact information is located on this page.

To start the installation of the ProtonMail Bridge application on your Linux PC, start by launching a terminal window on the Linux desktop. Press Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard.

Once the terminal window is open, install the “flatpak” package on your Linux system with your computer’s package manager. Or, follow our guide to learn how to install it on various Linux distributions.

When the “flatpak” package is installed, the Flatpak runtime is ready to go. The next step is to add the Flathub app store to your Linux PC. To do that, use the flatpak remote-add command down below.

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

After adding the Flathub app store to your Linux PC, use the flatpak install command below to install the ProtonMail Bridge program. Keep in mind that when you run this command, the Flatpak runtime will also install various dependencies and tools that the app needs to function correctly.

flatpak install flathub ch.protonmail.protonmail-bridge

Assuming the flatpak install command runs successfully, you will have the latest version of the ProtonMail Bridge app set up on your Linux PC. Now, open it up by searching for “ProtonMail Bridge” in the app menu, or by running the following flatpak run command down below in a terminal window.

flatpak run ch.protonmail.protonmail-bridge

Set up the ProtonMail Bridge

Start the ProtonMail Bridge setup process by launching the app (if you haven’t already.) When the program is open, follow the step-by-step instructions outlined below to get it working.

how to set up the protonmail bridge on How to set up the ProtonMail Bridge on Linux

Step 1: The first step in setting up ProtonMail is installing a compatible email account. As of now, the best email app that works with ProtonMail Bridge is Mozilla Thunderbird. Follow this tutorial to install the latest Thunderbird if you do not already have it installed.

Step 2: Go to the ProtonMail Bridge and log in with your account and password. Then, locate the “Mailbox configuration” button and click it. It will provide you with the correct configurations for Thunderbird.

how to set up the protonmail bridge on linux 1 How to set up the ProtonMail Bridge on Linux

Step 3: Launch Thunderbird on your PC. When it starts up, the new account wizard will appear. Enter your ProtonMail email address into the “Email address” box.

Step 4: Locate the “Password” box and copy the password from the ProtonMail Bridge mailbox configuration window. Be sure to check the box next to “Remember password” so that you do not have to re-enter the password each time Thunderbird is opened.

Step 5: Find the “Manual config” button and click on it. Selecting this button will reveal advanced configuration options for Thunderbird.

how to set up the protonmail bridge on linux 2 How to set up the ProtonMail Bridge on Linux

Fill out all of the text boxes in the Thunderbird with the information from both the IMAP and SMTP settings in the ProtonMail Bridge mailbox configuration window. All passwords must be set to “Normal password.”

Step 6: Find the “re-test” button at the bottom of the account creation window and click it. It will test the connection settings you have added to Thunderbird and assess if the information is acceptable.

Step 7: Locate the “Advanced config” button at the bottom-left section of the account creation window and click on it. Selecting the “Advanced config” button will force Thunderbird to accept ProtonMail Bridge’s unique account settings.

Step 8: When the “Advanced config” window appears, do not change anything, as your information is already entered. Instead, select the “OK” button to confirm the account information is correct to add your ProtonMail account information to Thunderbird.

how to set up the protonmail bridge on linux 3 How to set up the ProtonMail Bridge on Linux

Step 9: Upon adding your ProtonMail account to Thunderbird, you will see a pop-up window appear. This pop-up window says, “Add Security Exception.”  Select the “Confirm Security Exception” button.

how to set up the protonmail bridge on linux 4 How to set up the ProtonMail Bridge on Linux

Please note that there is no actual security concern. The address in Thunderbird (127.0.0.1) is the localhost, which is your computer, running the encrypted ProtonMail Bridge app.

You will need to confirm a security exception twice. One for 127.0.0.1, and one for 127.0.0.1:1025. Keep in mind that the 127.0.0.1:1025 security exception prompt may not appear until you attempt to send an email.

how to set up the protonmail bridge on linux 5 How to set up the ProtonMail Bridge on Linux

After confirming both security exceptions, your ProtonMail messages will load into Thunderbird. Enjoy!

How to install the Cloudy GTK theme on Linux

The Cloudy GTK theme is a modification of the famous Arc theme. The design is that of material design, and it is stylish. It offers up a unique, bluish theme that reminds users of a cloudy sky.

The Cloudy theme comes in a variety of different colors, including light grey, soft grey, dark grey, light blue, dark blue, and soft blue. If you’re a fan of blues and greys and love material design, follow along to get the Cloudy GTK theme working on your system!

Downloading the Cloudy GTK theme

how to install the cloudy gtk theme on How to install the Cloudy GTK theme on Linux

The Cloudy GTK theme is meant for both GTK3 and GTK2 desktop environments so that it will work on everything from Gnome Shell, to Cinnamon, Budgie, to more traditional desktop environments like Mate or XFCE 4. However, before we talk about setting up the theme, we must download it.

Cloudy is hosted on Gnome-look.org, a popular Gnome GTK theme website. On the site, they have several different download options available. Take a look around for the “Files” tab, and select it.

Upon selecting the “Files” tab, you will notice several different TarXZ archives available for download. Follow the instructions below to learn how to download these archives.

Note: in addition to being available on Gnome-look.org as TarXZ archives, the theme is readily available for download on GitHub. However, be warned that if you want to download the theme files from GitHub, you must install the Git package on your Linux PC, as it does not come standard on all operating systems.

Light Grey

To get your hands on the light grey version of the Cloudy GTK theme, find the Cloudy-Light-Grey.tar.xz file in the “Files” tab, and click on the blue button to download.

Dark Grey

Want to use the dark grey version of Cloudy GTK on your Linux PC? Locate the Cloudy-Dark-Grey.tar.xz file in the “Files” tab, and click on the blue button to start the download.

Light Blue

Interested in using Cloudy GTK’s light blue variation? Sort through the “Files” list available on Gnome-look.org and find the Cloudy-Light-Blue.tar.xz file in the list. Once you’ve found it, click on the blue download button to get your hands on it.

Dark Blue

Looking to use the dark blue version of the Cloudy GTK theme on your Linux PC? Look through the list of files in the “Files” tab on Gnome-look.org. From there, click on the blue download button next to Cloudy-Dark-Blue.tar.xz to get it.

Soft Blue

Want to use the soft blue version of the Cloudy GTK theme on your Linux computer? Here’s how to download it. First, look at the “Files” tab on Gnome-look.org for Cloudy-SoftBlue-Dark.tar.xz. Then, find the blue download button next to it and click on it with the mouse to start the download.

Soft Grey Dark

To use the soft grey dark variation of the Cloudy GTK theme on your Linux PC, do the following. First, go to the Gnome-look.org page for Cloudy GTK. After that, find Cloudy-SoftGrey-Dark.tar.xz on the list. Then, click on the blue download button next to it to start the download.

Soft Grey Light

Need to download the soft grey light variation of the Cloudy GTK theme to your Linux PC? Sort through the “Files” tab on Cloudy GTK’s Gnome-look.org page and locate Cloudy-SoftGrey-Light.tar.xz. After that, click on the blue download button next to it to get your hands on it.

Extracting the Cloudy GTK theme

As the Cloudy GTK theme files come in a TarXZ format, we must extract it using the command-line. To start the extraction process, press Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard to open up a terminal window. Then, use the CD command to move into the “Downloads” directory.

cd ~/Downloads

Once inside of the “Downloads” directory with your Linux terminal session, use the tar command to extract the contents of the Cloudy GTK TarXZ theme files.

tar xvf Cloudy-*.tar.xz

When the files are extracted, the Cloudy GTK theme files will appear in your “Downloads” directory.

Installing the Cloudy GTK theme

Installing GTK themes on Linux can go one of two ways. The first way is installing it as a single-user, which means that only the user that installs it has access to the theme. The second way is system-wide, which allows every user on the system access to the theme. In this guide, we will demonstrate how to set up Cloudy GTK in both ways.

Single-user

Installing Cloudy GTK as a single-user is best done if you’re the only one using your Linux PC. To start the installation, open up a terminal window and use the mkdir command to create a new “.themes” folder in the home directory (~).

mkdir -p ~/.themes

Next, use the CD command to move the terminal window into the “Downloads” folder (if your terminal isn’t already there.)

cd ~/Downloads

From the “Downloads” folder, use the mv command to place the theme files into the “.themes” directory.

mv Cloudy-*/ ~/.themes/

System-wide

If more than one person is planning on using Cloudy GTK, system-wide installation is the way to go. To start the installation, move the terminal window into the “Downloads” directory (if it’s not there already.)

cd ~/Downloads

Once inside of the “Downloads” directory, make use of the sudo -s command to elevate the terminal window to root privileges.

sudo -s

Finally, install the Cloudy GTK theme files to the /usr/share/themes/ directory in the root file system.

mv Cloudy-*/ /usr/share/themes/

Enabling the Cloudy GTK theme

how to install the cloudy gtk theme on linux 1 How to install the Cloudy GTK theme on Linux

You’ve set up the Cloudy GTK theme on your Linux PC, but installing it is not enough. You must enable the theme on your desktop environment if you want to begin using it.

To enable the theme, open up “Settings” and click on the “Appearance” or “Theme” settings. Then, change the default theme to Cloudy GTK. Or, if you’re having issues getting it working, follow one of the links below!

How to access the Raspberry Pi with Teamviewer on Linux

Do you have a Raspberry Pi device on your network that you want access to over the internet? Want to access it with Teamviewer on your Linux PC? If so, you’ll need to install the Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi on it. Here’s how to do it.

Note: using Teamviewer on Raspberry Pi requires a Raspberry Pi 2 or newer. Additionally, it must be running Raspbian, as the official Teamviewer for Pi package is a DEB.

Installing Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi on Raspbian

The Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi app is distributed via the official Teamviewer website as a downloadable DEB package. It is primarily targeted at Rasbian users, though it will work on any Raspbian-based distribution.

To start the installation, open up a terminal and log into your Raspberry Pi over SSH with the command below.

Note: don’t have an SSH setup on your Raspberry Pi? It is essential for this guide. To learn how to configure SSH on Raspbian, check out the official documentation on the Raspberry Pi website.

ssh raspberrypiuser@rpidevice

After logging into the Raspberry Pi over SSH, use the wget command to download the DEB release of Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi.

wget https://download.teamviewer.com/download/linux/teamviewer-host_armhf.deb

The download of the DEB package will be quick, as it is only a few megabytes. When the process is complete, run the ls command to confirm that the file is there.

ls | grep teamviewer-host_armhf.deb

Once you’ve confirmed that the DEB package is there, the installation can begin. Using the dpkg command, set up teamviewer-host_armhf.deb.

sudo dpkg -i teamviewer-host_armhf.deb

When the installation is complete, the terminal will print out errors on the screen. These errors are dependency issues, and they must be fixed for the app to function correctly. To correct the dependency errors, use the apt-get install -f command below.

sudo apt-get install -f

As soon as all dependencies are installed via the apt-get app, the Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi app will be up and running.

Configuring Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi

Installing the Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi application does not automatically configure it. Instead, you must run the setup tool that comes with it, or the app will not be accessible with Teamviewer clients on other computers. To configure Teamviewer on Raspberry Pi, follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Step 1: In the Raspberry Pi SSH session, run the sudo teamviewer setup command. This command will bring you through the initial setup process, and allow you to connect your Teamviewer account to the Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi program.

how to access the raspberry pi with teamviewer on How to access the Raspberry Pi with Teamviewer on Linux

sudo teamviewer setup

Step 2: Upon running the sudo teamviewer setup command, you will see a message that says, “Do you want to assign this device to your account?”

Press the button on the keyboard to tell Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi that you wish to connect the app to your account.

Step 3: After selecting “Y” (AKA yes) in the setup tool, you will see “Please enter your e-mail/username.” Enter your Teamviewer account e-mail address.

If you do not have a Teamviewer account, click on this link here to create one. It is required to use Teamviewer for Raspberry Pi, as the app will add your Pi device to the “Computers” section of the Teamviewer client on PC.

Step 4: When you’ve entered your e-mail account into the setup application, you will be prompted to enter the password associated with the account.

In the text field, enter your password and press the Enter key to log in.

Assuming the sign-in is successful, you will see, “You have successfully added this computer to your Computers & Contacts.”

Accessing Raspberry Pi with Teamviewer

To access your Raspberry Pi with Teamviewer, your Linux PC must have the official client installed. To install the latest Teamviewer on Linux, do the following.

First, head over to the official website, find the “Download” button and click on it to head over to the downloads area. Then, on the downloads page, click on the Linux option, and download the release that is compatible with your Linux PC.

Note: having issues setting up the official Teamviewer client on your Linux PC? Don’t worry! We’ve got your back! Head over to our official guide on how to install Teamviewer on Linux to get it working!

Once the Teamviewer client is set up on Linux, launch it by searching for “Teamviewer” in your app menu. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to access your Raspberry Pi.

Step 1: Locate the “Sign in” button and click on it. Then, log into your Teamviewer account.

how to access the raspberry pi with teamviewer on linux 1 How to access the Raspberry Pi with Teamviewer on Linux

Step 2: After signing in, find the “Computers & Contacts” section on the left-hand side, and click on it with the mouse to access the computers attached to your Teamviewer account.

Step 3: Look through “Computers & Contacts” for “My computers,” and click on it with the mouse.

how to access the raspberry pi with teamviewer on linux 2 How to access the Raspberry Pi with Teamviewer on Linux

Step 4: In the Teamviewer app, double-click on your Raspberry Pi inside of the “My computers” area. Selecting it will instantly connect to it with Teamviewer.

how to access the raspberry pi with teamviewer on linux 3 How to access the Raspberry Pi with Teamviewer on Linux

With Teamviewer connected to the Raspberry Pi, you will be able to interact with it and control it as if you were sitting in front of it. If you’d like to close the connection, close the window.

How to download Steam games to USB on Linux

Steam games are downloaded to the Steam library. You can move the Steam library anywhere you want however, the games will always download to it. This is a problem if you’re short on disk space and have a lot of large games that you want to play, or you’d like them to be portable and playable on more than one system. In that case, you can download Steam games to a USB. Here’s how you can do that on Linux.

Download Steam games to USB

To download Steam games directly to USB,  you must make a new “Steam Library.” A “Steam Library” is a folder that Steam can create, which can be used to specify during installation time.

Create Steam library

Creating a Steam library is quite easy thanks to Steam’s straightforward user-interface. To start, launch Steam and follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Step 1: Find the “Steam” button at the top-left section of the app, and click on it with the mouse to reveal its options.

Step 2: Inside of the “Steam” menu in the Steam app, locate the “Settings” option and click on it with the mouse to launch the app’s settings area.

Step 3: In Steam’s settings area, you will see several options in the left-hand side-bar. Locate the “Downloads” option and click on it with the mouse.

how to download steam games to usb on How to download Steam games to USB on Linux

Step 4: Once you’ve clicked on the “Downloads” option, locate the “Content Libraries” area. When you’ve found “Content Libraries,” click on the “STEAM LIBRARY FOLDERS” button.

Step 5: Plug in your USB hard drive or USB flash drive into the Linux computer, and allow it to mount automatically. If the device does not automatically mount, open up the Linux file manager, locate the “Device” area, and double-click on the USB device to mount it to the system.

Step 6: Using the Linux file manager, access the USB device. Take note of its location on the file-system. On many Linux distributions, desktop environments will automatically mount USB flash drives in the “media” or “run” directories.

If you need help finding the exact location of your USB device, open up a terminal window and run sudo fdisk -l. This command will print out all connected storage devices.

Look through the list and locate your flash drive. You’ll be able to find it by looking at the “Disk model” section, as it will print out brand info about your USB device.

In the Fdisk output, find what /dev/ the USB device has. For example, your USB flash drive might be /dev/sdd. Take note of it. Then, run the lsblk command.

how to download steam games to usb on linux 1 How to download Steam games to USB on Linux

Upon running the lsblk command, look through the output for your USB device’s block id (/dev/ followed by d and another letter). It will display the exact location the USB device is mounted to under the “MOUNTPOINT” column.

Step 7: When you’ve figured out exactly where your USB device is mounted on the Linux computer, go back to the Linux file manager and create a new folder called “SteamLibrary.”

Step 8: Go back to the Steam Library Folders window, and click on the “ADD LIBRARY FOLDER” button.

Use the Steam file browser to select the exact folder that your USB device is mounted to, and click the “Select” button to create a new Steam library.

how to download steam games to usb on linux 2 How to download Steam games to USB on Linux

Step 9: Close all open Steam setting windows and return to the “Library” section. Then, find a game you’d like to download and click the “Download” button.

Step 10: Upon clicking the “Download” button, you will see an “Install” window appear on-screen. In the window, locate “Choose location for install,” and use the drop-down menu to set it to the new Steam library created on your USB device.

Step 11: Click “Next” to start the download. When everything is done, your playable Steam game will be saved onto USB.

Select the “Play” button on the game saved to USB to start the game.

Moving already downloaded Steam games to USB

Do you have some Steam games already installed on your Linux PC? Want to move them from the internal hard drive to a USB device? Here’s what to do.

Step 1: Follow Steps 1 – 8 in the previous section of this article to set up a new “Steam Library” on your USB hard drive or USB flash drive.

Step 2: Click on “Library” in the Steam app to go to your Steam game collection.

Step 3: Look through installed games in the “Library” section, and find the video game you’d like to move to the USB device. Then, right-click on it with the mouse to access the right-click menu.

Step 4: Inside of the right-click menu, find the “Properties” option and click on it with the mouse.

how to download steam games to usb on linux 3 How to download Steam games to USB on Linux

Selecting “Properties” in the right-click menu will give you access to the game’s settings in Steam.

Step 5: In “Properties,” make your way to the “Local Files” tab. Then, locate the “Move Install Folder” button, and click it with the mouse.

Step 6: Upon selecting the “Move Install Folder” button, a box will pop-up on the screen. In this box, you will see a message that says, “Select Steam library folder to move files to.”

how to download steam games to usb on linux 4 How to download Steam games to USB on Linux

Use the drop-down menu to select the new Steam Library you created on your USB device. Then, click the “Move Folder” button to move your video game to the new library.

When the installation folder is moved to the new Steam Library on the USB device, your game will be playable from USB.

How to install FileZilla on Linux

While many people on Linux scoff at the use of FTP, as it is ancient, it still has its uses, like quick file transfers over SSH, moving large amounts of data over a LAN, or for emergency server backups.

There are many great FTP clients available on Linux, but none of them hold a candle to FileZilla. Why? It supports many different file-transfer protocols, like FTP, SFTP, and many others. Additionally, it’s still getting new features, and it is easy to get working on any Linux distribution. Here’s how to get FileZilla working on your system.

Ubuntu installation instructions

how to install filezilla on How to install FileZilla on Linux

The FileZilla FTP client is available for Ubuntu Linux users in the “Universe” software repository. However, not every Ubuntu installation supports the “Universe” repo out of the box, so we must demonstrate how to set it up.

First, launch a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, with the terminal window open, use the add-apt-repository command below to add the “Universe” repo to your software sources.

sudo add-apt-repository universe

After adding the “Universe” software repository to your software sources on Ubuntu, the next step is to run the update command, as it will tell the system about the changes made with the add-apt-repository command.

sudo apt update

Following the running of the update command, your Ubuntu PC will have access to the “Universe” software repository. Now, it is time to install the FileZilla app. To do that, use the apt install command below.

sudo apt install filezilla

Debian installation instructions

As the FileZilla FTP client is open-source, the people behind Debian Linux have no issues distributing it on the “Main” software repository. If you’re a Debian user, you will be able to install the software by doing the following.

First, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, use the apt-get install command below to get FileZilla.

sudo apt-get install filezilla

Keep in mind that when you install the FileZilla app from the Debian “Main” software repository that you are not getting the absolute latest release of the software. For many Debian users, this isn’t a problem. However, if you’re the type of person that needs the newest features, going the apt-get route isn’t a good idea. Instead, consider setting up FileZilla as a Snap package or Flatpak installation instructions below, as they offer up newer releases.

Arch Linux installation instructions

how to install filezilla on linux 1 How to install FileZilla on Linux

On Arch Linux, it is possible to install the FileZilla FTP client through the “Community” software repository. However, before we go over how to do that, we must talk about how to enable the “Community” repo, as not every Arch Linux user has it set up.

To enable the “Community” software repository, launch a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, open up the Pacman.conf file in the Nano text editor with the command below.

sudo nano -w /etc/pacman.conf

Inside of the Pacman configuration file in Nano, use the Down Arrow key on the keyboard to make your way to the bottom, till you find “Community” in the file. Then, use the Backspace key to remove the “#” symbol from in front of “Community,” along with the lines directly below it.

After getting rid of the “#” symbols in the Pacman configuration file, press Ctrl + O to save the changes, and Ctrl + X to close the editor. When out of the Nano text editor, use pacman to re-sync your computer to the official servers.

sudo pacman -Syyuu

Once your computer is re-synced with the official servers, use the pacman command below to install the latest version of FileZilla.

sudo pacman -S filezilla

Fedora installation instructions

Fedora Linux has FileZilla available for Fedora version 29, 30, 31, and Rawhide. The program is in the primary software sources, so no need to enable RPM Fusion. To install, open up a terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, use the dnf install command below.

sudo dnf install filezilla

OpenSUSE installation instructions

OpenSUSE Linux has a version of the FileZilla FTP app ready for installation on each of its current releases (15.1, 15.0, and Tumbleweed). To start the installation of FileZilla on your OpenSUSE Linux PC, launch a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T  on the keyboard. Then, use the zypper install command below.

sudo zypper install filezilla

Keep in mind that specific versions of the OpenSUSE Linux operating system do not offer up the absolute latest pieces of software, for stability reasons. If you’re uncomfortable with using an out-of-date release of FileZilla, please follow the Snap or Flatpak installation instructions instead.

Flatpak installation instructions

how to install filezilla on linux 2 How to install FileZilla on Linux

The FileZilla FTP client is in the Flathub app store as a Flatpak package, which is good news, as 99% of Linux operating systems support Flatpak. To get FileZilla working via Flatpak, do the following.

First, follow our guide to get the Flatpak runtime up and running. Then, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard and enter the commands below.

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

Once the two commands above have run, you will have FileZilla installed on your Linux PC as a Flatpak package.

Snap package installation instructions

FileZilla is available to Linux users as a Snap package! To set up the app, you must be running a Linux distribution that has support for Snap packages. For more information on support, read the Snap website.

Once you’ve determined if your Linux PC supports Snap packages, follow our guide to learn how to enable the Snapd runtime. Then, use the snap install command below to get FileZilla installed.

sudo snap install filezilla --beta

How to install the Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer on Linux

The Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer app is used to easily and comfortably manage your Azure storage resources from a Microsoft Windows PC, an Apple Mac, or a Linux PC.

Azure Storage Explorer has a lot to love for fans of the Microsoft Azure service, including the ability to upload, download, manage Azure blobs, manipulate files, access tables, as well as easy access to VMs, and databases. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get it working on Linux.

Snap package

how to install the microsoft azure storage explorer on How to install the Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer on Linux

Microsoft is a huge fan of sending out their latest software offerings in the form of Snap packages. It’s not hard to see why they’re such huge fans of Snaps though, as the technology is incredibly easy to set up on 75% of Linux computers and can work with anything from complex webserver apps for production, to small little tools like Discord or Telegram.

If you’d like to get Azure Storage Explorer up and running, you must be using a Linux PC that has support for Snaps. As of now, Snaps are supported on Ubuntu Linux, Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Arch Linux, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Gentoo, Solus, and others.

Note: not running a Linux OS that has support for Snap packages but need to get the latest version of Azure Storage Explorer working? Consider switching to Ubuntu. It has Snap packages pre-configured, and no setup is required.

Installing Azure Storage Explorer via Snap

Getting the Snap version 0f Azure Storage Explorer working requires the Snapd runtime working. To enable the Snapd runtime, install the “snapd” package on your Linux computer. Then, enable the snapd.socket service with the systemd init system.

Having issues getting the Snapd runtime working on your Linux PC? Don’t understand how the systemd init system works? We can help! Follow along with this in-depth guide on how to enable the Snapd runtime on your Linux PC.

Once Snapd is up and running, use the snap install command to install the latest stable version of the Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer.

sudo snap install storage-explorer

Alternatively, if you like living on the edge, install the unstable version of the Azure Storage Explorer from the Snap Store by using the following snap install command.

sudo snap install storage-explorer --edge

Finally, when the Azure Storage Explorer app is done installing on your Linux PC, the process is not complete. You must finish up the process by connecting Azure Storage Explorer to the Gnome Keyring using the snap connect command.

 snap connect storage-explorer:password-manager-service :password-manager-service

When the snap connect command finishes, Azure Storage Explorer is connected to Gnome Keyring and will be able to run on your Linux PC.

Arch Linux

Microsoft has not released the Azure Storage Explorer on Arch Linux. However, people in the community have taken it upon themselves to create an unofficial AUR package to make the app work on Arch Linux. Here’s how to install it.

To start, use the Pacman command to install both the “Base-devel” and “Git” packages, which are required to interact with the AUR.

sudo pacman -S git base-devel

Following installing the “Git” and “Base-devel” packages, use the git clone command to download the Trizen AUR helper. It will make setting up the Azure Storage Explorer much easier.

git clone https://github.com/trizen/trizen

Install the Trizen AUR helper with the commands below.

cd trizen
makepkg -sri

Finally, with the Trizen AUR helper set up, use it to install the Azure Storage Explorer.

trizen -S azure-storage-explorer

Generic Linux installation

how to install the microsoft azure storage explorer on linux 1 How to install the Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer on Linux

Aside from a Snap, Microsoft has released the Azure Storage Explorer as a generic, downloadable TarGZ archive. Here’s how to install it on your system.

First, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T. Then, with the terminal window open and ready to go, use the wget command to download the latest release of Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer from the internet.

Note: don’t want to download the Azure Storage Explorer archive from the terminal? Head over to Microsoft’s website, and download it there.

wget https://download.microsoft.com/download/A/E/3/AE32C485-B62B-4437-92F7-8B6B2C48CB40/StorageExplorer-linux-x64.tar.gz -O ~/Downloads/StorageExplorer-linux-x64.tar.gz

After downloading the TarGZ release of Azure Storage Explorer, use the CD command to move into the “Downloads” directory.

cd ~/Downloads

Using the mkdir command, create a folder with the label of “azure-storage-explorer” in the home directory (~).

mkdir -p ~/azure-storage-explorer

Use the tar command to extract the contents of the archive in the “Downloads” directory to the “azure-storage-explorer” in your home folder (~).

tar xvf StorageExplorer-linux-x64.tar.gz -C ~/azure-storage-explorer

With the files extracted, use the CD command to move your terminal window into the “azure-storage-explorer” directory.

cd ~/azure-storage-explorer

Once inside of the “azure-storage-explorer” directory, you will be able to launch the app with:

./StorageExplorer

How to install the BaZik GTK theme on Linux

The BaZik GTK theme is a Mac-like take on the ever-popular Material Design look made by Google. The theme is white, with Apple-style window controls and six different color variants, like yellow, orange, purple, pink, green, and red. BaZik makes an excellent theme for those who are a fan of Material Design and want a fresh take on the concept. Here’s how to get it working on your system.

Downloading BaZik

BaZik is a theme pack and comes with many different variations and colors. Colors include dark blue, dark green, dark magenta, dark orange, dark red, dark yellow. It also has many different light themes, like light blue, light red, etc.

To get your hands on the many different BaZik themes available, head over to Gnome-look.org, click on the “Files” tab and follow the instructions below.

Dark Blue

Want the Dark Blue BaZik theme? Download Bazik_Dark_Blue.tar.xz.

Dark Green

To get the Dark Green BaZik theme, download Bazik_Dark_Green.tar.xz.

Dark Magenta

For the Dark Magenta BaZik theme, grab the Bazik_Dark_Magenta.tar.xz archive from the Gnome-look page.

Dark Orange

For the Dark Orange theme, you will need to download the Bazik_Dark_Orange.tar.xz archive.

Dark Red

Like Dark Red? Grab Bazik_Dark_Red.tar.xz.

Dark Yellow

A fan of Dark Yellow? Download Bazik_Dark_Yellow.tar.xz.

Light Blue

Looking forward to Light Blue? Grab Bazik_Light_Blue.tar.xz.

Light Green

Love Light Green? Download Bazik_Light_Green.tar.xz to your computer.

Light Magenta 

To experience the Light Magenta version of BaZik, you must download Bazik_Light_Magenta.tar.xz.

Light Orange

Thinking about Light Orange? Go to the Files section and download Bazik_Light_Orange.tar.xz.

Light Red

Light Red sounding good on your Linux desktop? Download Bazik_Light_Red.tar.xz.

Light Yellow

To get the Light Yellow theme, you must download Bazik_Light_Yellow.tar.xz.

Extracting BaZik

Now that you’ve downloaded one of the many BaZik theme archives available on Gnome-look.org, it is time to start the extraction process, as it is not possible to install GTK themes on Linux without extracting them.

Thankfully, to extract XZ archives on Linux, no additional software needs to be installed, as Tar is a heavily used tool on many Linux operating systems. To start the extraction process, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T.

With the terminal window open, use the CD command to move from the home directory (~) into the “Downloads” directory where your BaZik theme archive file is.

cd ~/Downloads

Once inside of the “Downloads” directory, use the tar command to extract the contents of the XZ archive file.

tar xvf tar xvf Bazik_*.tar.xz

No matter if you’ve downloaded a BaZik Dark or BaZik Light theme, the command above will extract it thanks to the wildcard function (*). When the extraction is complete, it will create a folder in your downloads directory with either Bazik_Dark_COLOR or Bazik_Light_COLOR.

Please understand that “COLOR” stands for the theme color in the filename. For example, if you downloaded BaZik Dark Red, the folder name would be Bazik_Dark_Red, etc.

Installing BaZik

Now that the BaZik XZ archive file is fully extracted, the installation can begin. In this guide, we will go over two installation methods: System-wide, which makes the theme fully available to all Linux users and single-user, which only allows one user access. To start the installation, follow the instructions below.

System-wide

To install the BaZik theme as a system-wide theme, start by moving the terminal to the “Downloads” directory with the CD command.

cd ~/Downloads

Inside of the “Downloads” directory, elevate the terminal to the root account using the sudo -s command.

sudo -s

With the terminal set to root, use the mv command to place the BaZik theme files into the /usr/share/themes/ directory.

mv Bazik_* /usr/share/themes/

Single-user

Installing BaZik as a single-user is generally a good idea if nobody else uses your Linux PC. All theme files are placed in the home folder, and no system-level folders are touched.

To start the installation process as a single-user, you must create a directory called .themes. Using the mkdir command, make the folder.

mkdir -p ~/.themes

Once you’ve created the .themes folder, use the CD command to move the terminal window to the “Downloads” directory.

cd ~/Downloads

With the terminal window inside of the “Downloads” folder, it is time to install the BaZik theme files to the .themes folder. Use the mv command to move the theme files into place.

mv Bazik_* ~/.themes

Enabling BaZik

how to install the bazik gtk theme on How to install the BaZik GTK theme on Linux

The BaZik GTK theme is now installed on your Linux PC, but the setup process is not complete. Merely installing the GTK theme will not automatically switch your Linux desktop to it. Instead, you must manually activate it by accessing it in the system settings.

how to install the bazik gtk theme on linux 1 How to install the BaZik GTK theme on Linux

To access the theme settings, open up the “Settings” window. Once in the “Settings” window, find “Themes” and change the default GTK theme to one of the BaZik color themes installed on your Linux PC.

How to mute/unmute the mic with a keyboard shortcut on Windows 10

Keyboards have a dedicated key to mute sound from speakers. Keyboards that do not come with special keys still have the function(fn) row of keys which double as controls for managing media. One of those keys will be able to mute the speakers. A similar key does not exist for muting the mic. This is generally because the mic isn’t always on. It only turns on when an app accesses it and in that case, users are expected to use the mute button within the app which works but it’s not quick. You likely have to click the button with the mouse and that’s not as fast as a keyboard shortcut. Here’s how you can mute/unmute the mic with a keyboard shortcut on Windows 10.

Need to mute/unmute the mic with a keyboard shortcut on macOS? We’ve got the perfect solution.

Mute/unmute the mic with a keyboard shortcut

To mute/unmute the mic with a keyboard shortcut, we’re going to use a free app called MicMute. Download and install it. The app runs in the system tray and adds a mic icon to it. You can access the app’s settings and configure the keyboard shortcut from this icon, and it will also show you the current state of the mic. Black means the mic is Off, and red means it is On.

The app has some useful features e.g., it can mute the mic immediately when it starts, it can list the detected audio input devices, and it has a ‘Push to talk’ mode where the mic only works if a button is held down.

how to mute unmute the mic with a keyboard shortcut on windows 10 How to mute/unmute the mic with a keyboard shortcut on Windows 10

To configure the shortcut to mute/unmute the mic, right-click the app’s icon in the system tray and select ‘Setup shortcut’. A small window will open. Click inside it and tap the key or keys you want to use to mute/unmute the mic. The app can detect ordinary keys on a keyboard, and it can also work with special keys on the keyboard. I was able to bind the speaker mute/unmute button on my keyboard to this app and when I tap it, it now mutes and unmutes the speakers and the mic at the same time.

Each time the mic is muted or unmuted, you get a desktop alert. If you don’t want to get the alerts, you can disable them from the app’s settings. If you like the app, you should probably set it to run at startup.

how to mute unmute the mic with a keyboard shortcut on windows 10 1 How to mute/unmute the mic with a keyboard shortcut on Windows 10

This app has not been updated since 2015 but it works flawlessly on Windows 10 1909.

Windows 10 shows a mic icon in the system tray when an app is accessing the mic and the icon could have been more functional. If you click it, it doesn’t mute the mic. Instead, it opens the Settings app to the mic settings which, while useful, could have been best left as a context menu function.

How to check if a process is running as administrator on Windows 10

All accounts on Windows 10 are not created equal; there are ordinary user accounts, and there is the admin account. The admin account has far more rights and privileges than an ordinary user account and you need it to make certain changes to the OS e.g., installing a new app, uninstalling an app, or editing the Windows registry.

If you’re running an app with admin rights, or you think you are and you need to confirm it, the process is fairly simple and all you need is the Task Manager.

Check app privileges

Open task manager and go to the Details tab. Right-click the header of any one of the columns on this tab and select ‘Select Columns’. A small window will open listing various columns that you can enable on the Details tab. Look for and enable the ‘Elevated’ column (column names are not sorted alphabetically).

how to check if a process is running as administrator on windows 10 How to check if a process is running as administrator on Windows 10

Once the Elevated column has been added, look through the list of items that are running and check their corresponding value in the Elevated column.

For apps that are running with administrator rights, the Elevated column will read ‘Yes’. For apps that are running with normal user rights, the Elevated column will read ‘No’.

how to check if a process is running as administrator on windows 10 1 How to check if a process is running as administrator on Windows 10

Generally speaking, you cannot change how an app or process is running unless you restart it. If you have an app open with normal user rights, and you need to give it admin rights, you’re going to have to close it first and run it again, and this goes both ways. An app running with admin rights cannot be downgraded to normal user rights without first closing it.

For many users, this is a problem because closing the app means there will be a stop in the workflow. If the app is busy with a task, it will have to be interrupted and started again. It is inconvenient but that’s how the system works and there isn’t anything that can be done to change it at its core.

If you often need a certain app to always run with admin rights, but you’re in the habit of just double-clicking it to open it, you can set it to always, automatically run as an administrator. To do that, right-click the app’s EXE and select Properties. On the Properties window, go to the Compatibility tab and enable the ‘Run this program as an administrator’ option. Click Apply, and that will do the trick.

how to check if a process is running as administrator on windows 10 2 How to check if a process is running as administrator on Windows 10

This option may not be present for all apps in which case, you’re going to have to remember to run it as an administrator.

voicetaglab.com

How to install Minetest on Linux

Minetest is an open-source, Minecraft-inspired video game for Linux, as well as other platforms. It is not specifically a “clone” of the Minecraft game. It has many differences compared to the famous building game. However, it is often suggested to users looking for an alternative to Minecraft. In this tutorial, we will show you how you can get the Minetest app up and running on your Linux PC. Let’s get started!

Ubuntu installation instructions

how to install minetest on How to install Minetest on Linux

On Ubuntu Linux, users can easily install the Minetest video game through the Ubuntu Software Center. To get it working on your system, follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Step 1: Launch Ubuntu Software Center on your Ubuntu desktop. Then, when the Ubuntu Software Center is open, find the search box and click it with the mouse.

Step 2: Inside of the search box, type “Minetest,” and press the Enter key. Pressing this button will start a search in the Software Center.

Step 3: Look through the search for the “Minetest” result, and click on it with the mouse to access the Minetest software page.

Step 4: On the software page, find the “Install” button, and click it to start the installation.

In addition to installing Minetest through the Ubuntu Software Center, it is also possible to install it via a terminal window.

sudo apt install minetest

Debian installation instructions

Minetest is available to all Debian Linux users with one condition: due to how the project distributes software updates, you may not get the most recent version of the game.

To install the Minetest video game on your Debian Linux PC, start by launching a terminal window. To launch a terminal window press Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard.

Once the terminal window is open and ready to go, use the Apt-get command below to load up Minetest on your system.

sudo apt-get install minetest

As stated before, Debian’s version of Minetest is severely out of date. Thankfully, it’s not a big deal. If you want a more recent release of the game, skip the Debian instructions and follow the Snap or Flatpak installation instructions instead!

Arch Linux installation instructions

The Minetest video game is available to Arch Linux users so long as they have the “Community” software repository enabled. Sadly, some Arch Linux users do not have this repository enabled out of the box (for whatever reason,) so we will go over how to turn it on.

To start, launch a terminal window on the Arch desktop. To do this, press Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Once the terminal window is open, edit your pacman.conf file inside the Nano text editor.

sudo nano -w /etc/pacman.conf

Scroll through the configuration file and locate “Community.” Then, remove the # symbol from in front of it. Be sure to also remove any “#” symbols from lines directly below it.

After removing all “#” symbols in the config file, save the edits by pressing Ctrl + O. Exit the Nano text editor with Ctrl + X.

Once out of the Nano text editor, use Pacman to re-sync and install Minetest.

sudo pacman -Syy minetest

Fedora installation instructions

The Minetest video game is available to all Fedora Linux users starting from version 29 to 30, and 31. Additionally, the Minetest video game is also available to anyone currently running Fedora Rawhide.

To install Minetest on Fedora Linux, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. After that, use the dnf package manager to install the software.

sudo dnf install minetest

OpenSUSE installation instructions

how to install minetest on How to install Minetest on Linux

If you’re a fan of OpenSUSE Linux, we’ve got good news! The Minetest program is currently available for installation on OpenSUSE Leap 15.0, 15.1, and even Tumbleweed via the “Oss all” software repository.

To gain access to the Minetest video game on an OpenSUSE Linux PC you use, start by launching a terminal window. You can open up a terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T.

Once the terminal window is open on the OpenSUSE Linux desktop, use the Zypper package manager to install the latest version of Minetest!

sudo zypper install minetest

Snap package installation instructions

Like most open-source video games, there is a Snap package of Minetest. So, if you currently are using a Linux distribution that supports Snaps, you will have an easy time getting the game working.

To start the installation of Minetest, you must enable Snapd. To enable Snapd, follow our guide on how to set up Snap packages on Linux.

After enabling Snap packages on your Linux operating system, use the snap install command in a terminal window to install the latest version of the Minetest video game.

sudo snap install minetest

Flatpak installation instructions

There’s a Flatpak version of the Minetest video game currently on Flathub. So, if you’re running a Linux distribution that does not support Minetest, this is a great way to get it working.

To start the installation process, ensure you have the latest Flatpak runtime installed on your Linux PC. To enable Flatpak, please follow our guide on the subject.

Once Flatpak is up and running, enter the following commands into a terminal window to get the latest version of Minetest working on your Linux PC.

flatpak install flathub net.minetest.Minetest