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--- helpful_ubuntu_commands [2026/06/23 12:59] – mike
+++ helpful_ubuntu_commands [2026/09/02 19:57] (current) – mike
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== Helpful Ubuntu/Linux Commands and Procedures ======
+==== Miscellaneous/General Commands ====
 === Disable Ubuntu Pro "Ads", Etc. ===
@@ Line 41: / Line 42: @@
 === Determine the date the system was installed (not 100% reliable) ===
   tune2fs -l /dev/vda2 | grep ‘Filesystem created:’ (replace vda2 with device where root filesystem is located)
+=== Copy an existing partition to a new partition ===
+  sudo rsync -aAXv --info=progress2 --exclude='/lost+found' /disk2/ /newdisk/
+=== Copy a directory and all its subdirs to another directory ===
+  rsync -av /path/to/source/ /path/to/destination/
 === Finding largest files/directories ===
   du -a /dir/ | sort -n -r | head -n 20 (replace 20 with the # of lines you wish to have returned)
@@ Line 54: / Line 61: @@
   Create (or edit, if it exists) ~/.vimrc; into this file add the command syntax off, and save the file.
-**Overwrite/blast the boot block on the hard drive (<color red>ONLY when you want to re-install the operating system!</color>)**
-  dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda count=1 bs=512
 === Find files consuming the root file system ===
   mkdir /tmp/rootbind
@@ Line 72: / Line 75: @@
 OTA DVR recordings are saved as **.ts** files, which are not compatible with DaVinci Resolve (my video editor of choice).  For this reason, we must convert the files into a format that “DR” can comprehend.  We can do this on linux using the ffmpeg package:
   ffmpeg -i <inputfile.ts> -vcodec copy -acodec copy <outputfile.mp4>
+**Overwrite/blast the boot block on the hard drive (<color red>ONLY when you want to re-install the operating system!</color>)**
+  dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda count=1 bs=512
 ==== Ansible/Automation Related Info ====
-=== Generate password hashes (useful for Ansible playbooks amongst other things) ===
+=== Generate password hashes (useful for Ansible playbooks, Ansible Vault, amongst other things) ===
   mkpasswd --method=sha-512
 === Generate random keys ===
   openssl rand -base64 48
 === Example of referencing an Ansible Vault ===
   ansible-playbook playbook.yml --vault-password-file ~/.ansible_vault_pass
@@ Line 108: / Line 115: @@
 Restart apache.
-=== Create new GPT disk partition ===
+==== Create new GPT disk partition ====
 sudo into an elevated shell and then perform the following:
   parted /dev/sdX (where X is the letter of the drive to be manipulated)
@@ Line 127: / Line 134: @@
   sudo netplan apply
+  Update the /etc/hosts file accordingly
+=== Changing the server's IP address from DHCP to static ===
+. Disable cloud-init networking to avoid overwriting the new configuration:
+  echo "network: {config: disabled}" | sudo tee /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-disable-network-config.cfg
+. cd into /etc/netplan and edit the file that is there.  Replace the contents with the following (supplying the specific IP address/etc where required):
+  network:
+    version: 2
+    renderer: networkd
+    ethernets:
+        ens18:
+            dhcp4: false
+            addresses:
+              - 192.168.1.xx/24
+            nameservers:
+              addresses:
+                - 192.168.1.1
+            routes:
+              - to: default
+                via: 192.168.1.1
+. Execute ''netplan apply'' to apply immediately or reboot to verify reboot survivability.
 === Changing the server's host name ===
   hostnamectl set-hostname [new host name]