Installation Manjaro (KDE)

Everything from pacman and AUR

sudo pacman -Syu --needed base-devel yay git git-lfs libsecret github-cli cmake curl openssh python-pip python-pandas python-numpy python-pipx python-tldextract uv texlive-basic texlive-binextra texlive-fontutils texlive-xetex texlive-latexextra texlive-pictures texlive-bibtexextra texlive-fontsextra texlive-fontsrecommended texlive-mathscience biber keepassxc htop vlc tmux openconnect networkmanager-openconnect unison signal-desktop tailscale webapp-manager virtualbox linux71-virtualbox-host-modules virtualbox-guest-iso plasma-nm ksnip

yay -S --needed ttf-ms-fonts spotify synology-drive microsoft-edge-stable-bin visual-studio-code-bin juliaup quarto-cli-bin zoom nordvpn-bin zotero-bin

sudo systemctl enable --now sshd tailscaled nordvpnd
sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

sudo usermod -aG vboxusers $USER
sudo groupadd nordvpn
sudo usermod -aG nordvpn $USER

Then reboot.

Notes:

  • linux71-virtualbox-host-modules has to match the installed kernel, check with mhwd-kernel -li (e.g. linux71 -> linux71-virtualbox-host-modules).
  • yay asks to import the Spotify PGP key, accept it.
  • spotify-launcher from pacman fails to download Spotify (“Exceeded number of retries for download”), so use spotify from the AUR instead.
  • The texlive packages above include all LaTeX packages needed, so no tlmgr setup is needed.
  • pympress is not available in pacman or the AUR.
  • Stata is a tarball, see below.
  • Services are not started on install (unlike Ubuntu), so the systemctl enable --now line is needed: tailscale up and nordvpn login fail without their daemons running. sshd is only needed to ssh into this machine.

Synology Drive client

  • Do not sync hidden folders (.folder) and do not sync the following files (add as exception):
    • Manifest.toml
  • in settings, Global Settings -> Notifications untick notifications
  • NAS quickconnect: rpgnasasdfjh

Keepass

  • Enable integration of browser in settings off keepass
  • Add database in browser integration (in extension settings)

Launchers for different online apps

Use “Web Apps” (webapp-manager). Choose edge and separate profile for each app. Use the following urls:

  1. Outlook: outlook.office.com
  2. Email personal: outlook.live.com
  3. WhatsApp: web.whatsapp.com
  4. Remarkable: https://app.remarkable.com/folder/home
  5. ToDoist: https://app.todoist.com/app/upcoming

Programming

  • Git:

    • Note: libsecret is required for persistent github credentials (I think..)
    git config --global user.name "rgreminger"
git config --global user.email "rafael.greminger@outlook.com"
gh auth login # this logs into github
gh auth setup-git # needed to store credentials (I think..)

  • Tailscale: sudo tailscale up to log in

  • Claude curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

  • Vscode:

    • Remote SSH extension: Ctrl+P ext install ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh

  • Julia: installed through juliaup, the first julia call installs the latest release

  • Stata:

    1. download
    2. Install
sudo mkdir /usr/local/stata
sudo cp /home/rafael/Downloads/StataNow19Linux64.tar.gz /usr/local/stata/stata.tar.gz
cd /usr/local/stata/
sudo tar -xvf stata.tar.gz
sudo ./install
sudo ./stinit
  • Right-click on desktop “create launcher” -> prompts whether to also create start menu entry. Command is /usr/local/stata/xstata-mp
  • Add binaries to path. Edit ~/.profile with this:
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/stata' >> ~/.profile

UCL VPN

Use openconnect to connect to UCL VPN. In system settings, go to Wi-Fi & Networking, then use + to add a new “Cisco AnyConnect Compatible VPN (openconnect)” connection with these settings (don’t miss bottom change on Token mode!):

SETTINGS

NordVPN

nordvpn login
nordvpn connect

Zotero

  • Zotero installation instructions (Linux) (Zotero itself is installed above as zotero-bin, skip the apt part)
  • ZotMoov, Better BibTeX and their settings can be installed with a script instead of the manual steps (Zotero must be closed):
~/SynologyDrive/Notes/admin-computer-it/zotero-setup.sh
  • The script downloads the latest XPIs into the Zotero profile and appends zotero-prefs.js to the profile’s prefs.js. To refresh zotero-prefs.js after changing settings, re-export the matching user_pref lines from ~/.zotero/zotero/*.default/prefs.js.
  • The file renaming format is not in prefs.js but synced with the Zotero account, so it comes back after logging into sync. Better BibTeX auto-exports are not covered, set them up again.

Printer UCL

See instructions here.

Virtual windows machine

  1. VirtualBox and the guest additions ISO are installed above (reboot after the install).
  2. Get ISO: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows11
  3. Install Windows 11 in virtualbox. Use the following settings:
    • Unattended guest install: yes
    • Memory: 8GB
    • Storage: 60GB dynamically allocated
    • Install virtual guest additions: point to /usr/lib/virtualbox/additions/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
  4. Start VM and set:
    1. Devices -> shared clipboard -> bidirectional
    2. Input -> keyboard -> In general settings, set folder /home/rafael/windows, then update host key to right alt
  5. Set up shared folder to access files from host machine:
    1. In virtualbox, go to settings -> shared folders -> add new shared folder. Choose folder path and folder name. Tick “Auto-mount” and “Make Permanent”
    2. In Windows, go to “This PC” and you should see the shared folder under “Network locations”. If not, you may need to map the network drive manually using the folder name you set in virtualbox.
  6. Install Microsoft Office: download from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/download-office
  7. Debloat windows install. Open terminal and run & ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://debloat.raphi.re/"))). This opens a window can specify which apps to remove. Most can be removed.

Tweaks for KDE Plasma

Paste this block into a terminal (inside a Plasma session). It:

  • sets the built-in profile as default in Konsole (instead of Manjaro’s Breath profile)
  • sets zsh as default terminal profile in VS Code (adds terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux to its settings.json)
  • adds Ctrl+Alt+Arrow to switch desktop and Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Arrow to move the window to another desktop. The default Meta+Ctrl(+Shift)+Arrow shortcuts are kept. Applies immediately, no logout needed.
  • makes Meta+Up maximize the window, and pressing it again on a maximized window tiles it to the top half (pressing again maximizes again). This is a small KWin script in ~/.local/share/kwin/scripts/maxtiletop; the built-in Meta+Up (Quick Tile Top) shortcut is removed.
  • adds the German (Switzerland) keyboard layout (after English (US)) and makes Meta+Space switch between layouts (Meta+Alt+K is kept). The shortcut applies immediately, the layouts only after logging out and back in.
kwriteconfig6 --file konsolerc --group "Desktop Entry" --key DefaultProfile ""

f=~/.config/Code/User/settings.json
mkdir -p ~/.config/Code/User
[ -s "$f" ] || echo '{}' > "$f"
if grep -q '"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux"' "$f"; then
    sed -i 's/"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": *"[^"]*"/"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": "zsh"/' "$f"
else
    sed -i '0,/{/s//{\n    "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": "zsh",/' "$f"
fi

kwinkey() { gdbus call --session --dest org.kde.kglobalaccel --object-path /kglobalaccel --method org.kde.KGlobalAccel.setForeignShortcut "['kwin','$1','KWin','$1']" "$2" > /dev/null; }
deskkeys() { kwinkey "Switch One Desktop $1" "[$((0x14000000|$2)), $((0x0C000000|$2))]"; kwinkey "Window One Desktop $1" "[$((0x16000000|$2)), $((0x0E000000|$2))]"; }
deskkeys "to the Left" 0x01000012
deskkeys "Up" 0x01000013
deskkeys "to the Right" 0x01000014
deskkeys "Down" 0x01000015

d=~/.local/share/kwin/scripts/maxtiletop
mkdir -p $d/contents/code
cat > $d/metadata.json <<'EOF'
{
    "KPlugin": {
        "Id": "maxtiletop",
        "Name": "Maximize or tile top",
        "Description": "Meta+Up maximizes the window, or tiles it to the top half if it is already maximized",
        "Version": "1.0",
        "License": "MIT"
    },
    "X-Plasma-API": "javascript",
    "KPackageStructure": "KWin/Script"
}
EOF
cat > $d/contents/code/main.js <<'EOF'
registerShortcut("MaximizeOrTileTop", "Maximize window, or tile to top half if maximized", "Meta+Up", function () {
    const w = workspace.activeWindow;
    if (w && w.normalWindow) {
        if (w.maximizeMode == 3) {
            workspace.slotWindowQuickTileTop();
        } else {
            w.setMaximize(true, true);
        }
    }
});
EOF
kwinkey "Window Quick Tile Top" "@ai []"
kwriteconfig6 --file kwinrc --group Plugins --key maxtiletopEnabled true
qdbus6 org.kde.KWin /KWin reconfigure

kwriteconfig6 --file kxkbrc --group Layout --key Use true
kwriteconfig6 --file kxkbrc --group Layout --key LayoutList us,ch
kwriteconfig6 --file kxkbrc --group Layout --key VariantList ,
gdbus call --session --dest org.kde.kglobalaccel --object-path /kglobalaccel --method org.kde.KGlobalAccel.setForeignShortcut "['KDE Keyboard Layout Switcher','Switch to Next Keyboard Layout','Keyboard Layout Switcher','Switch to Next Keyboard Layout']" "[$((0x10000020)), $((0x1800004B))]" > /dev/null

Notes:

  • Konsole windows that are already open keep their profile; new ones use the built-in profile.
  • The numbers in deskkeys are Qt key codes: 0x0C000000 = Ctrl+Alt, 0x0E000000 = Ctrl+Shift+Alt, 0x14000000 = Meta+Ctrl, 0x16000000 = Meta+Ctrl+Shift; 0x01000012-0x01000015 = Left, Up, Right, Down.
  • The KWin script can be switched off in System Settings -> Window Management -> KWin Scripts (“Maximize or tile top”).
  • 0x10000020 = Meta+Space, 0x1800004B = Meta+Alt+K.
  • Keyboard layouts can be checked in System Settings -> Keyboard -> Layouts.
  • Check the shortcuts in System Settings -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> KWin.

Command line scripts

Installs small scripts to ~/.local/bin so they can be run from any terminal. To add another script, copy a mkscript block. Run the whole block again after changes; it overwrites the existing scripts. Don’t put # comments in the block: interactive zsh doesn’t accept them when pasted (zsh: bad pattern: #).

Scripts:

  • gpull: stash all local changes (including untracked files), then pull
  • ginit: in a folder named like an existing GitHub repo of rgreminger, initialize git, add https://github.com/rgreminger/<folder name>.git as origin, and point the local branch at its default branch (tracking origin). Missing hidden files and files in hidden folders (e.g. .gitignore, data/.gitkeep, .github/workflows/...) are restored from GitHub, since Synology doesn’t sync them. Files already in the folder are not touched; where they differ from GitHub they show up as changes. Then either run gpull to get the GitHub versions (local differences end up in git stash), or commit and push to keep the local versions
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
grep -qs 'HOME/.local/bin' ~/.zshrc || echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

mkscript() { cat > ~/.local/bin/"$1"; chmod +x ~/.local/bin/"$1"; }

mkscript gpull <<'EOF'
#!/usr/bin/env bash
git add -A; git stash; git pull
EOF

mkscript ginit <<'EOF'
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -e
url="https://github.com/rgreminger/$(basename "$PWD").git"
branch=$(git ls-remote --symref "$url" HEAD | sed -n 's|^ref: refs/heads/\(.*\)\tHEAD$|\1|p')
[ -n "$branch" ] || { echo "Cannot access $url"; exit 1; }
git init -b "$branch"
git remote add origin "$url"
git fetch origin
git reset "origin/$branch"
git branch -u "origin/$branch"
git ls-files -z --deleted | grep -z '\(^\|/\)\.' | xargs -0 -r git checkout --
git status --short
EOF
source ~/.zshrc

Then open a new terminal (or source ~/.zshrc) and run e.g. gpull inside a git repo.