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trilby

A Fedora Linux post-install utility and guide

Congratulations on installing Fedora 38! Fedora is an awesome operating system, but it requires a bit of configuration to get the most out of your experience with it. This guide will provide you with essential steps to ensure that your system is up-to-date and optimized for your needs. Follow these instructions carefully to get the full potential out of your Fedora installation.

You should really read below to get a sense of the changes that will be made to your system, but if you like what you see there's an automated script for your convenience. Note that items below marked with * are not covered in the script. You're encouraged to parse through the script and comment out anything you don't want changed on your machine.

To run the script, copy and paste the following command:

cd ~/Downloads && git clone https://github.com/givensuman/trilby
cd trilby && chmod +x ./setup.sh
sudo ./setup.sh

Basic Fixes

These are highly recommended configuration steps to run right after you finish installing Fedora.

1. Faster updates

Replace the configuration in /etc/dnf/dnf.conf with the following text:

[main] 
gpgcheck=1 
installonly_limit=3 
clean_requirements_on_remove=True 
best=False 
skip_if_unavailable=True 
fastestmirror=1
max_parallel_downloads=10 
deltarpm=true

Note some users experience mixed results when setting fastestmirror=1. You can revert it back to fastestmirror=0 if you find you're experiencing worse-than-expected download speeds, or skip changing it altogether.

You can easily access the dnf configuration file with the following command:

sudo nano /etc/dnf/dnf.conf

Alternatively, you can run this command:

echo 'fastestmirror=1' | sudo tee -a /etc/dnf/dnf.conf
echo 'max_parallel_downloads=10' | sudo tee -a /etc/dnf/dnf.conf
echo 'deltarpm=true' | sudo tee -a /etc/dnf/dnf.conf

2. Update your system

Now's a good time to update your Fedora install with the following command:

sudo dnf -y update
sudo dnf -y upgrade --refresh

You may need to restart your computer to finish an update. You can do that in the terminal simply with the command reboot.

3. Enable RPM Fusion repositories

Fedora has disabled the repositories for a lot of free and non-free .rpm packages by default. Follow this if you want to use non-free software like Steam, Discord and some multimedia codecs. As a general rule of thumb its advised to do this get access to many useful programs.

Enable RPM Fusion repositories with the following command:

sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf groupupdate core

4. Update your firmware

If your system supports firmware update delivery through lvfs, update your device firmware with the following command:

if [ -x "$(command -v fwupdmgr)" ]; then
  sudo fwupdmgr get-devices
  sudo fwupdmgr refresh --force
  sudo fwupdmgr get-updates
  sudo fwupdmgr update
fi

5. Install media codecs

You'll need some additional media codecs to get proper multimedia playback. Install them with the following command:

sudo dnf groupupdate multimedia --setop="install_weak_deps=False" --exclude=PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin
sudo dnf groupupdate sound-and-video
sudo dnf install gstreamer1-plugins-{bad-\*,good-\*,base} gstreamer1-plugin-openh264 gstreamer1-libav --exclude=gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free-devel ffmpeg gstreamer-ffmpeg
sudo dnf install lame\* --exclude=lame-devel
sudo dnf group upgrade --with-optional Multimedia

6. Update flatpaks

Flatpaks are a type of software package that is designed to run securely and independently of the underlying operating system. On Fedora, flatpaks are managed using the Flatpak package manager.

It's important to keep your flatpaks up to date, just like any other software, as updates often include important bug fixes, security patches, and new features. You can do so with the following command:

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

7. Install NVIDIA drivers*

Only follow these steps if you have an NVIDIA GPU. Also, don't follow these if you have a GPU which has dropped support for newer driver releases, i.e. anything earlier than NVIDIA GT/GTX 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1600 and RTX 2000, 3000 series. Fedora comes preinstalled with NOUVEAU drivers which may or may not work better for older GPUs.

If you're not sure, you can check out GPU information with the following command:

lspci | grep VGA

If you're still not sure, it's probably best to skip these steps.

• Disable Secure Boot in your BIOS.
• Update your system with the command sudo dnf update
• Reboot.
• Run this command: sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia

• Run this command if you use applications that use CUDA, i.e. Davinci Resolve, Blender etc: sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda
• Wait for atleast 5 mins before rebooting, to let the kermel module finish building. Go grab a snack.
• Check if the kernel module is built with this command: modinfo -F version nvidia
• Reboot.

8. Improve battery life

If you installed Fedora on a laptop, you can improve battery performance with the tlp and powertop packages. Install and implement them with the following command:

sudo dnf install tlp tlp-rdw
sudo systemctl mask power-profiles-daemon
sudo dnf install powertop
sudo powertop --auto-tune

9. H/W Video Acceleration

This can help decrease load on the CPU when watching videos online by alloting the rendering to the dGPU/iGPU. It can be quite helpful in increasing battery life on laptops.

If you have an Intel CPU, run the following command:

sudo dnf install ffmpeg ffmpeg-libs libva libva-utils
sudo dnf install inte-media-driver

If you have an AMD CPU, run the following command:

sudo dnf install ffmpeg ffmpeg-libs libva libva-utils
sudo dnf swap mesa-va-drivers mesa-va-drivers-freeworld

If you're not sure, you can check out CPU information with the following command:

lscpu | grep 'Model name'

Advanced Fixes

These are optional configuration steps to further enhance your Fedora experience. Recommended for advanced users only.

1. GRUB customization*

Get a little more performance from your system via grub-customizer. Do not follow this if you share services and files through your network, or are using Fedora in a virtual machine.

• Install GRUB customizer with this command: sudo dnf install grub-customizer
• Open the program with the app menu or with this command: grub-customizer

You can increase performance in multithreaded systems by disabling mitigations. Not recommended for host systems on some networks due to increased risk of security vulnerabilities.

• Navigate to the "General Settings" tab and add mitigations=off in "Kernel Parameters".
• Press save.

If your system has less than 16GB of RAM, you may want to enable zswap to act as virtual memory.

• Navigate to the "General Settings" tab and add zswap.enabled=1 in "Kernel Parameters".
• Press save.

2. auto-cpufreq

Laptop users may see some performance improvements after installing the auto-cpufreq tool.

cd ~/Downloads && git clone https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq.git
chmod +x ./auto-cpufreq/auto-cpufreq-installer
sudo ./auto-cpufreq/auto-cpufreq-installer
sudo auto-cpufreq --install

3. Optimize boot time

There are some slow processes that happen during boot. You can get a slightly faster boot time if your trim the fat.

If you have an Intel CPU, run the following command:

echo -e "\nGRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=\"intel_idle.max_cstate=1 cryptomgr.notests initcall_debug intel_iommu=igfx_off no_timer_check noreplace-smp page_alloc.shuffle=1 rcupdate.rcu_expedited=1 tsc=reliable quiet splash video=SVIDEO-1:d\"" | sudo tee -a /etc/default/grub
if [ -f "/sys/firmware/efi" ]; 
then
    sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg
else
    sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
fi
sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager-wait-online.service

If you have an AMD CPU, run the following command:

sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager-wait-online.service

4. Improve security

Fedora is pretty great at security out of the box. Linux guru ChrisTitusTech has some additional recommendations, though:

sudo dnf install ufw fail2ban -y
sudo systemctl enable --now ufw.service
sudo systemctl disable --now firewalld.service
cd ~/Downloads && git clone https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/secure-linux
chmod +x ./secure-linux/secure.sh
sudo ./secure-linux/secure.sh

GNOME Customization

Fedora uses the GNOME Desktop Environment by default. There are a number of ways to customize GNOME to your liking. Skip this section if you are using a Fedora spin with a different desktop environment.

Note that most of these are not officially supported by GNOME, and alterations may break aspects of your desktop. These breakages won't be hard to fix, just know your mileage may vary.

The full depth to which you can customize the GNOME desktop is outside the scope of this guide. A good source for inspiration is the /r/unixporn subreddit.

1. GNOME extensions

Extensions extend and build on your desktop's functionality. A useful tool for managing extensions is the Extension Manager app. It's available in your app store if you enabled flatpaks following the above steps, or you can manually install the flatpak with this command:

flatpak install flathub com.mattjakeman.ExtensionManager

Afterwards, you can access it as the "Extension Manager" app, or by running this command:

flatpak run com.mattjakeman.ExtensionManager

Some recommended extensions to try are:

• Pop Shell - intall with sudo dnf install -y gnome-shell-extension-pop-shell xprop
• GSconnect - run sudo dnf install nautilus-python for full support
• User Themes
• Just Perfection
• Dash to Dock
• Blur My Shell
• Bluetooth Quick Connect
• AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support
• TopHat

You can find more extensions here.

2. GTK themes*

Themes are a good way to personalize your desktop. They come in a huge variety of flavors. Some popular and well-maintained options are:

• Colloid
• Nordic
• Orchis
• Graphite
• Catppuccin

You can find more themes here.

3. Icon packs*

Icon packs are used to customize the icon sets used by GNOME. Some popular and well-maintained options are:

• Tela
• Candy
• Reversal
• Papirus
• WhiteSur

You can find more icon packs here.

4. GNOME Tweaks

GNOME Tweaks is an application that allows you to easily control these cosmetic alterations. You can install it with this command:

sudo dnf install -y gnome-tweaks

Afterwards, you can access it in as the "Tweaks" app, or by running gnome-tweaks in your terminal.

Misc Customization

1. Additional installs*

Install packages for .rar and .7z compressed files support with this command:

sudo dnf install -y unzip p7zip p7zip-plugins unrar

Developers might want to install these additional tools:

sudo dnf install code gh github-desktop

Install any of the following CLI goofs to impress your friends:

sudo dnf install cmatrix asciiquarium aafire

2. Terminal theme*

You can easily modify your gnome-terminal theme using the Gogh CLI tool. Run it with this command:

bash -c "$(wget -qO- https://git.io/vQgMr)"

Note that you need to have set up a profile before Gogh can create one on your behalf. Do so in your terminal's "Preferences" settings page.

3. OhMyZsh

If you'd like further customization to your terminal, you might want to check out OhMyZsh! You can install and enable it as your default shell with this command:

sudo dnf -y install zsh util-linux-user
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL $OH_MY_ZSH_URL)"
chsh -s "$(which zsh)"

You can then install any OhMyZsh theme you'd like. To install and configure the popular Starship theme, run this command:

curl -sS https://starship.rs/install.sh | sh
echo "eval "$(starship init zsh)"" >> ~/.zshrc

4. Fonts

You might find Fedora missing a number of fonts. You can run this command to install some of the most common ones:

sudo dnf install -y jetbrains-mono-fonts-all terminus-fonts terminus-fonts-console google-noto-fonts-common mscore-fonts-all fira-code-fonts

You can also install proprietary Apple fonts. Run this command to do so:

mkdir ~/.fonts && git -C ~/.fonts clone https://github.com/thelioncape/San-Francisco-family

5. Firefox GTK theme*

Fedora ships with Firefox by default. To make it look like your other GTK-themed applications, you can use this command:

curl -s -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rafaelmardojai/firefox-gnome-theme/master/scripts/install-by-curl.sh | bash

Follow these instructions for uninstalling this change.

6. Wallpapers*

Here are some resources for getting a cool wallpaper:

• Dynamic GNOME Wallpapers
• Minimalist Wallpapers
• Aesthetic Wallpapers

7. Minimize/Maximize buttons

These are turned off by default. To re-enable minimize and maximize buttons for all of your windows, run this command:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ":minimize,maximize,close"

8. Set hostname

Fedora is a bit narcissistic and sets your hostname by default to be fedora. You can rename your system with the following command:

hostnamectl set-hostname YOUR_HOSTNAME

---

Sources

README forked from devangshekhawat's guide

osiris2600's guide on Fedora setup

hmthien050209's script on Fedora post-installation

itsFOSS article on Fedora post-installation