refracta Files

Refracta-9 isos are at refracta.org


Oct. 19, 2017 - signed SHA256SUMS file with new gpg key - 094c5620

refracta8_nox_amd64_4.9-bpo-20170529_1219.iso
  * Updated wireless firmware packages to backports versions.
  * Moved packages to /firmware.bpo or /firmware.jessie
  * Removed 3.16 kernel.
  * Updated software.

refracta8_nox_amd64_4.9-bpo-20170508_2229.iso
  * All software updated
  * No xserver - console-only.
  * kernel from backports and live-boot/live-config from ascii (20170112)
  * Added Devuan debootstrap

Updated isos - Refracta-8.3 - 4-5 Mar 2017
  * Removed locales-all. Iso now fits on CD again.
  * Updated 1065-refracta-lang live-config script.
  * Fixed mate system tools desktop files to use gksu.
  * Moved default desktop configs from /etc/skel/.config to /etc/xdg/xfce4
  * Software updates to date including kernel patches.
  * Added Desktop symlink to wireless_drivers folder.


Feb 18 isos have been replaced with Refracta-8.2. (20 Feb 2017)
  All languages/locales should now be available at boot.
    * Removed localepurge
    * Installed locales-all


Updated Refracta-8 isos 18 Feb 2017:
  Security updates to date.
  New versions of tools.
  Accessibility theme available at boot menu provides
  high contrast theme with large fonts and icons.
  (It's the second item in the boot menu.)



Refracta 8.2 (Devuan Jessie) release notes


This is Refracta-8.2. It is based on Devuan Jessie and uses Devuan 
repositories for packages. The installed packages and the desktop 
environment (xfce-4.10) are relatively unchanged from the previous few 
versions of Refracta.


========================================================================
SETUP
========================================================================

PASSWORDS
The root password is root. The user password is user.
You can use the 'su' command to become root.
 
When running from live media, you can use 'sudo <command>' for root 
permissions or use 'sudo -i' to get a root terminal.


====================================================================

CHANGE LANGUAGE/LOCALE and KEYBOARD LAYOUT
To change only the keyboard layout on the desktop, click on the "us" next
to the date on the panel, and select the layout you want. Preconfigured
choices are U.S. English, U.K. (gb) English, and German (de). To add
another layout, right-click on the "us" and select Properties. Click on
Add, and select the one you want. The maximum number of layouts you can
have is four. You can also use the keyboard shortcut, Alt-Shift to toggle
through the choices.

To change the locale at the boot screen, press TAB and append the boot
options at the bottom of the screen with the appropriate locale. This
information is also available in the Help section at the boot screen.

Examples:

At a plain boot prompt (from the Help screens)

	boot: live lang=de_DE


After TAB on boot menu

	> /live/vmlinuz  initrd=/live/initrd.img boot=live lang=de_DE


See 'man live-config' for more info and for standard live-config options.


To change the locale after booting the system, and to add locales,
open a terminal and give the command:
	sudo /etc/init.d/lightdm stop 
You will be dropped to console, where you can log in as root (or log in 
as user and prepend the next commands with 'sudo'.)
  To change the default locale or to add locales:
	dpkg-reconfigure locales
  To change the console keyboard layout and the language used in the 
  system messages:
	dpkg-reconfigure console-data
  Be sure to make a sane choice, most likely one that begins with "pc".
  You'll need to log out of the console and log in again to see the change.
  To return to the desktop:
	/etc/init.d/lightdm start

You can also select the language at the graphical login screen. Any
locales that have been added will show up as a choice. You'll still 
need to change the keyboard layout from the panel applet once you're on
the desktop.


====================================================================

SYSTEM and NETWORK INFORMATION
For System Information, look in the menu under System --> System Profiler 
and Benchmark, or use one of the command-line utilities. (lshw or hwinfo)

To get the current IP and MAC addresses, run 'netinfo' as user. The 
network manager can be found in the menu under Network -> Wicd. For 
wired ethernet, you shouldn't need to use it. For wireless, see below.
If you like to configure static IP in /etc/network/interfaces, then
you may want to disable or remove wicd.

To disable wicd: Run sysv-rc-conf and un-check all boxes for wicd.
To remove wicd: 'apt-get remove wicd' or 'aptitude remove wicd'


OPENSSH-SERVER: WARNING
Openssh-server is running. If you are not behind a router/firewall, then
port 22 is open to the internet and will allow connections from anyone
who knows your IP address and login/password. 

To disable openssh-server: Run sysv-rc-conf and un-check all boxes for ssh.
To remove openssh-server: 'apt-get remove openssh-server' or 'aptitude
remove openssh-server'

Note: The setting "PermitRootLogin without-passord" in /etc/ssh/sshd_config
means that root must use authorization keys to log in. It does NOT mean
that root can log in freely. Root login can be disabled altogether by
changing the setting to "no" and restarting ssh with 'service ssh restart'


WIRELESS CONFIGURATION
Menu: Network --> Wicd Network Manager --> select the right network 
if you see any. You might need to go into Preferences and add the name 
of your wireless interface. Preferences are accessed from the down-arrow
next to Refresh on the tool bar. The default wireless interface is wlan0.
Then hit Refresh to see nearby wireless networks.

    Properties: WPA 1/2 (Passphrase)
    Optional: Static IP and DNS
    Connect

(Note: If this doesn't work, see the next section for wireless drivers
or scroll to the bottom of this document for manual network 
configuration, or use a wire - eth0 is set for dhcp.)


WIRELESS DRIVERS
Wireless drivers from the non-free repository are not installed, but 
there are package files for them in /home/user/wireless_drivers. 
They can be installed as root with:

	dpkg -i <filename.deb>
or
	gdebi <filename.deb>

If you don't know which driver to use, there are a couple of ways to
figure it out.

1. Run 'lspci' to see what Network controller is listed, then search for it
in the package descriptions. For example, if lspci shows:

02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8723AE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter

Then look in the firmware descriptions in the wireless_drivers folder in
your home to find one that matches the name of your wireless adapter, 
in this case, firmware-realtek. 

2. If you have another linux installed on that computer, and wireless is
working in that installation, boot into it and run:

    dpkg --get-selections | grep firmware
    
and you will see all packages with "firmware" in the name. One of them
will be for the wireless controller. Install it with dpkg -i as shown
above.

For manual wireless setup, scroll to the bottom of this document.


DISPLAY
If you need to configure xorg.conf from the console, run display-savior 
(/usr/local/bin/display-savior). It will create /etc/X11/xorg.conf 
according to the options you select.


WEB BROWSER
Firefox-ESR can be started with the globe icon on the panel or from the
menu. Cookies are allowed for all sites. To change this, go to
Edit --> Preferences --> Privacy --> "Use custom settings for history"

-NoScript is installed and enabled. Use the "S" icon in the upper right 
(currently next to the Home icon) to whitelist sites or to disable it. 
 

You can convert youtube or other video files to avi, mkv, mp4, and 
OggTheora video files, or to mp3 or flac audio files using youtube2what 
from the command line, or from the file manager, you can right-click on 
the video file and select 'youtube2what'. An alternate method to convert
audio or video files is to us WinFF (in the Multimedia menu).


FLASHFIRE
This build includes flashfire version 7, which runs in automatic mode
with the -a option or manual mode (asks before deleting) with -m. 

The script deletes flash cookies hidden in $HOME/.adobe/ and 
$HOME/.macromedia. You can run it from a terminal or create a panel 
button for it and check the box that says, "Run in terminal."   
(/usr/local/bin/flashfire).

This is only useful if you install flash. (flashplugin-nonfree or other)


VIDEO PLAYER
There's no menu entry for mpv, but it's there. Select a video file in
the file manager, and open it with mpv or start it in a terminal with
the name of the file to play.


PRINTER SETUP
In the Application Menu, select System -> Printers, or start the cups 
print manager manually by opening a web browser and going to
http://localhost:631    then go into Administration
Give the root password when you're asked for one.


SCANNER
Plug in scanner and open XSane.
Scan.



========================================================================
INSTALLATION TO HARD DRIVE
========================================================================
If you want to install Refracta, run Refracta Installer.
If you want to do a debootstrap install of pure Devuan, follow the
instructions in /home/user/debootstrap_devuan or your own instructions,
or use the more detailed instructions here -
https://git.devuan.org/dev1fanboy/Upgrade-Install-Devuan/wikis/Minimal-install-guide


There are now only two versions of Refracta Installer. If you 
select Refracta Installer from the System menu, you'll get the gui
version, which uses Yad for a graphical front end. Support for Zenity
has been dropped. If you don't have Yad installed, you can run the cli
script. 

You can call either script from command line with 'refractainstaller'
for the cli-based script or 'refractainstaller-yad' for the gui.

See comments in /etc/refractainstaller.conf for various options that can
be set there.

See /usr/lib/refractainstaller/installer_exclude.list if you want to
change the list of files/directories that won't be copied to the
installed system.  

If you run 'refractainstaller' from a terminal or console, you'll
get the non-gui version. 


INSTALLING PACKAGES and PACKAGE SOURCES

You can install software from the repository using apt, apt-get,
aptitude or Synaptic Package Manager. You need to update the package 
cache before you can install anything. As root, run 'apt-get update' or 
'aptitude update' first, or in Synaptic, click on Reload.

This is Refracta-8.2 (Xfce version) built from a Devuan debootstrap 
install. It was built from the ground up without systemd or its libraries 
installed. It has been updated/upgraded to be current.


ALLOWING LIBSYSEMD0
You may find that some packages will not install when systemd
components are prohibited. To remedy this, you can either remove or edit
00nosystemd and allow libsystemd0 to be installed, or you could use one
or more of the additional repositories described below. This is expected
to change as Devuan matures.

The easiest way to allow libsystemd0 is to do the following:

	rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/00nosystemd
	apt-get update

You will then be able to install packages that depend on libsystemd0, which
will be automatically installed with those packages. (e.g.gvfs, gvfs-daemons)


OTHER NOSYSTEMD REPOSITORIES
Extra repositories for packages that have been recompiled to remove 
their dependence on systemd are in /etc/sources.list.d/nosystemd and can
be enabled by uncommenting them. This is still considered experimental. 


*** Uncomment the deb-src lines in /etc/apt/sources.list 
if you want to install source packages.


Apt is set not to install recommended and suggested packages along with 
any packages you choose to install. This helps to reduce the size of the
live-CD image. To change this behavior, edit /etc/apt/apt.conf and 
comment out the two lines with double forward slashes, like this:
	//APT::Install-Recommends 0;
	//APT::Install-Suggests 0;


This build contains a lot of command-line utilities. A partial list 
follows. For a complete list of installed packages, 
see Refracta/package_list on the installation media.

cryptsetup curl htop ddrescue dosfstools  ethtool fdupes fuse 
hardinfo hddtemp hdparm hwinfo iftop irssi lm-sensors 
lshw lvm2 ntfs-3g ntfsprogs openssh-server p7zip-full partimage 
pppconfig pppoeconf ps_mem.py read-edid rsync sdparm smartmontools 
squashfs-tools sshfs sysv-rc-conf testdisk unzip w3m whois zsync


CONTRIB and NON-FREE REPOSITORIES
The contrib and non-free repositories are not enabled at this time. They
may be enabled in a future release. Until then, you can add the words,
"contrib" and/or "non-free" to /etc/apt/sources.list like this:

	deb http://us.mirror.devuan.org/merged/ jessie main contrib non-free 

Update the package cache after editing sources.list.




DEBIAN-MULTIMEDIA REPOSITORY 
Uncomment (or add) the deb line for deb-multimedia.org 
in /etc/apt/sources.list:

	deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org jessie main non-free

Then run:

	apt-get (or aptitude) install debian-multimedia-keyring
	apt-get (or aptitude) update

(or maybe you need to run the update before you install the keyring)

After you install what you want, comment out the deb line and run update
again. This will prevent getting unwanted packages from deb-multimedia
upon upgrade.


BACKPORTS REPOSITORY 
Newer versions of the linux kernel and other software are available in
the backports repository. Uncomment the deb line in /etc/apt/sources.list

# Devuan Backports
deb http://packages.devuan.org/merged jessie-backports main

Then run:

	apt-get (or aptitude) update
	apt-get (or aptitude) -t jessie-backports install <package1> <package2>...

After you get what you want, comment out the deb line and run update again.
(Note: At this time, backports priority is pinned to 200 to prevent
accidental replacement of packages with backported versions. June 2016 
See /etc/apt/preferences.d/00backports)

========================================================================
SNAPSHOT
========================================================================

MAKE YOUR OWN LIVE-CD
After you install to hard drive and configure the software and desktop
the way you want, run Refracta Snapshot (from the System menu) or
run refractasnapshot (in a console) to create an iso image that you
can burn to CD. 

You need a lot of free space on the hard drive to create a snapshot. 
Run 'df -h' to make sure you're not using more than around 30-35%
of the disk. (Less free space is needed if some of the used space is
taken up by other snapshots or by a saved copy of the system in the
work directory.) 

See comments in /etc/refractasnapshot.conf for various options that can
be set there.

See /usr/lib/refractasnapshot/snapshot_exclude.list if you want to
change the list of files/directories that won't be copied to the 
live system.


MAKE YOUR OWN LIVE-USB
1. refracta2usb (Preferred method)
This script will create a bootable usb device and puts the filesystem
from your live-CD image into a pre-formatted fat32 partition. You can
create a second partition, formatted as ext2 on the stick. The second
partition can be used to store files. It can be used in the standard
debian-live manner of persistence, or with the use of some custom 
scripts in Refracta, it can be used as an encrypted /home directory. 
(see /usr/share/doc/refracta2usb/readme.refracta2usb.txt)

2. iso-hybrid (only if you must)
This is good if you just need to transfer the image to removable media
for the purpose of installation to hard drive, or if you just want to
check out Refracta without burning a CD. Use the dd command, and be
careful!

A usb drive prepared this way will act like a live-CD. It will be a 
read-only system, and you will not be able to create a second partition
on the device. If you later want to use the device for data storage,
you'll need to zero the first 2048 KB before re-writing the partition
table.



MEMTEST
memtest86+ is installed, but there is only one entry in the grub boot menu.
The other entries are hidden. If you would like your boot menu to be
spammed with four entries for memtest, comment out the lines that say,
": <<'DISABLE'"  and "DISABLE" in /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ and then
run 'update-grub'.



============================================

Quick Notes / Howtos

=============================================

___ SSH INTO LIVE-CD FROM REMOTE CLIENT ___

From remote-client:
	ssh user@host(or IP number)

The ssh server is turned on and root access with password is allowed on
the live-CD. Root access gets disabled upon installation. If you wish 
to turn it off during a session, go to the System menu, choose Services 
and un-check the box for ssh. Or, from the command line:

	/etc/init.d/ssh start|stop|restart

=============================================

___ MOUNT A REMOTE SHARE WITH SSHFS ___

# mount
sshfs  user@host:/home/user  <mountpoint>

# unmount
fusermount -u <mountpoint>


================================

___ MOUNT/UNMOUNT ENCRYPTED PARTITION ___

cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdX  label
mount /dev/mapper/label  <mountpoint>

umount <mountpoint>
cryptsetup luksClose /dev/mapper/label

==================================

___ MOUNT/UNMOUNT ENCRYPTED LVM ___

sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdxY label  # then run lvdisplay to get the vg name and lv name
sudo vgchange -a y <volume_group_name> 
mount /dev/mapper/<vg_name-lv_name>  <mountpoint> 

umount <mountpoint>
sudo vgchange -a n <volume_group_name>
sudo cryptsetup luksClose label

====================================

___ TO CREATE AN ENCRYPTED PARTITION ___

cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sdxY
cryptsetup luksOpen  /dev/sdxY label
mke2fs -j /dev/mapper/label
or:
mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/mapper/label

Then mount/unmount as above.

====================================

___ MOUNT NTFS PARTITION ___

mount -t ntfs-3g -o rw,umask=000 /dev/sdxY <mountpoint>


==================================

___ MOUNT WINDOWS SHARE ___

# This needs troubleshooting. 
mount.cifs  //windows-host/user  <mountpoint> -o uid=user,gid=user
umount.cifs  <mountpoint>

# This works:
Thunar (File Manager) --> Network --> choose a workgroup

=================================

___ EXAMINE AND MOUNT RAID ARRAY ___

# Commands to get information.
mdadm --examine /dev/sda2
mdadm --detail /dev/md0
mdadm -E -s       (examine and scan config file for missing information)
cat /proc/mdstat
ls -l /dev/md*
mdadm -Q /dev/sd[a-f][1-9]

mdadm --examine /dev/sda2
mdadm --detail /dev/md0
mdadm -E -s       (examine and scan config file for missing information)
cat /proc/mdstat
ls -l /dev/md*
mdadm -Q /dev/sd[a-f][1-9]

OR...
mdadm --assemble /dev/md0 /dev/sda15 /dev/sdb15
fdisk -l /dev/sda or parted /dev/sda print (or vgdisplay -v) to find out what your MD base volumes are.

mount /dev/md0


=================================

___ VNC over SSH ___ 

(Optional) Add ssh authorization key:

	ssh-add /path-to-key/id_rsa


There are several ways to start a vnc session. 

1. Use custom scripts: vncssh (on client) and vncserv (on server)

If xserver is running  and user is logged in to desktop on remote-host,
open a terminal on the client and run vncssh.

	vncssh  [user@]<host>[:xdisplay]  [port]

	(user, xdisplay and port are optional)

	Examples:
		vncssh someserver.com:0
		vncssh fred@homeserver 1234  


If user is not logged in on remote host, but xserver is running:

	vncssh root@remote-host


2. If the server does not have the vncserv script, but it does have
x11vnc installed, you can edit /usr/local/bin/vncssh and change: 

	cmd="/usr/local/bin/vncserv"
to
	cmd="x11vnc -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -localhost -display :0"


3. Do it manually, without the scripts:

Start remote vnc server over ssh:

	ssh -t -L 5900:localhost:5900 user@remote-host 'x11vnc -localhost -display :0'


If user is not logged in on remote host, or if the remote host is using
some display manager other than lightdm, do something like the following.

Log into remote host through ssh and get the auth file 
from 'ps ax | grep auth'. For lightdm, it will probably be
/var/run/lightdm/root/:0 and for gdm3, find the line in the output
that has gmd3 in it and look to the end for a filename with random
characters in it.

Then exit and run:

	ssh -t -L 5900:localhost:5900 root@remote-host 'x11vnc \
	-auth /path/to/authfile -localhost -display :0'

Once you've started the remote vnc server, open another terminal,
and connect to the remote desktop with:

	vncviewer -encodings "copyrect tight hextile" localhost:0


4. If xserver is not running on the remote-host, you won't be able to
use x11vnc. You can remedy this on the server by installing xvfb and
editing /usr/local/bin/vncserv to uncomment the following lines:

	#else
	#	x11vnc -create -env FD_PROG=/usr/bin/xfce4-session  \
	#		-env X11VNC_FINDDISPLAY_ALWAYS_FAILS=1 \
	#        -env X11VNC_CREATE_GEOM=${1:-1024x768x16} \
	#        -gone 'killall Xvfb' \
	#        -bg -nopw




___ YET ANOTHER WAY TO DO VNC ___

This way is ok on a local network but is not as secure as with ssh.

On the server:
Main menu --> Internet --> X11VNC Server
Click OK (or change the port if you want)
Another window comes up, check the box next to "Accept Connections"
Optionally, you can create a password.
Click Apply or OK

On the client, issue the command:
vncviewer
A small window comes up; enter the name or IP number of the remote server.
Click OK
(Alternate: 'vncviewer remote-host:0)

For more details, see http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/

=================================

___ SAMPLE WIRELESS CONFIGURATION ___


Sample wireless configuration

Manual configuration (not needed if wicd works)

Edit /etc/network/interfaces
This example is for WPA2 Personal encryption with shared ASCII key.
Items marked with ### are only needed for encrypted networks.
Use appropriate local IP numbers.


	# wireless interface
	iface wlan0 inet static
		wpa-driver   wext
		wpa-ssid <ssid>
	### wpa-proto is WPA for WPA1 (aka WPA) or RSN for WPA2 
		wpa-proto RSN
	### wpa-pairwise and wpa-group is TKIP for WPA1 or CCMP for WPA2
		wpa-pairwise CCMP
		wpa-group CCMP
	### use 'wpa_passphrase <ssid> [passphrase]' to generate hex-key
	### enter the result below
		wpa-psk <hex-key>
		
		address  192.168.xxx.xxx
		netmask  255.255.255.0
		gateway  192.168.1.1 (maybe)

	auto wlan0



Start/stop the interface with:

	ifup wlan0
	ifdown wlan0


Add router or dns server address to /etc/resolv.conf

	nameserver 192.168.1.1


======================================

_____read-edid_____

get-edid | parse-edid


======================================