Ubuntu Tutorials

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Ubuntu Security Notice USN-884-1           January 14, 2010
openssl vulnerability
CVE-2009-4355
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It was discovered that OpenSSL did not correctly free unused memory in certain situations.  A remote attacker could trigger this flaw in services that used SSL, causing the service to use all available system memory, leading to a denial of service.

The problem can be corrected by upgrading your system to the
following package versions:

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS:
libssl0.9.8                     0.9.8a-7ubuntu0.11

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS:
libssl0.9.8                     0.9.8g-4ubuntu3.9

Ubuntu 8.10:
libssl0.9.8                     0.9.8g-10.1ubuntu2.6

Ubuntu 9.04:
libssl0.9.8                     0.9.8g-15ubuntu3.4

Ubuntu 9.10:
libssl0.9.8                     0.9.8g-16ubuntu3.1

After a standard system upgrade you need to restart any applications using OpenSSL, especially Apache, to effect the necessary changes.

So the new Ubuntu is here and you’re just dying to upgrade and have a look at all the new features! With just a few simple steps you’ll be up and running the new system in no time! Before you dive right in there are a few things you should know, and a few ways to (hopefully) make your upgrade process more pleasant.

Upgrade vs Fresh Install

You may wonder if its a better idea to do a fresh install vs upgrade your current installation. There are benefits to doing a fresh installation, but there are also benefits to upgrading your system in place. First, you don’t need to deal with finding and backing up all of your data. Ever done that before and forget something? It’s easy to do. Doing a fresh installation will require that you backup anything you want to keep, because a fresh install will clobber your drive and start fresh. An upgrade on the other hand can be done in place, and you can generally keep working while it churns along in the background. Keep working on the web, or write emails. Do whatever it is that you normally do while your machine upgrades quietly in the background. This is not a problem with the upgrade process.

Another reason that I might suggest doing an in-place upgrade is that it is supposed to be a supported method to move from one release to another, and we should ensure that is the case by using and testing it. The last thing we want to do is provide new and exciting releases every six months, yet require everyone to start fresh each time. This goes particularly for those running Ubuntu that are not tech enthusiasts. Ubuntu should be easy to install, once, and then easy to upgrade as needed after that. I would suggest doing an in-place upgrade and ensure that process continues to mature.

Preparation

Before you get started there are a few things you should know.

First, this upgrade only works from Ubuntu 9.04 to 9.10. If you’re on a previous version (8.10 or earlier) you will not be able to directly upgrade to 9.10. In that situation you’ll either want to do a fresh installation OR do incremental upgrades leading up to 9.10. Incremental upgrades are beyond the scope of this article, but there is plenty of documentation regarding the process here.

Second, I suggest that you apply all available updates to your current system before you move to the new version. You can do this in two ways. One involves the command line and another includes the graphical interface. I’ll outline each below.

Command Line Updates (Pre-Upgrade)

On the command-line (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) you can run the following command to check for and apply any updates pending for your current installation.

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude safe-upgrade && sudo aptitude full-upgrade

Apply any updates that are pending from the command above before you move onto the next step, Upgrading. Follow any suggestions to reboot before moving on as well.

Graphical Updates (Pre-Upgrade)

If you prefer the graphical environment you can check for and apply updates by way of the Update Manager tool (System > Administration > Update Manager). This tool will automatically scan for and list any pending updates. Again, be sure to apply these before moving to the next step. This includes applying and rebooting for kernel updates before proceeding.

Selecting a Mirror

The steps outlined below describe how to do a network-based in-place upgrade. This will require an internet connection as well as a repository to connect to. I can’t stress this next point enough. Please. Please configure your system to use an alternate Ubuntu mirror other than the default. The default mirror(s) will be so overwhelmed with traffic that it’ll take forever to update your system. I might suggest using something like mirrors.kernel.org or another public mirror with a healthy pipe. You can also look for regional mirrors here. The list of regional mirrors also communicates how up to date the mirror is. You will, of course, need to select and up to date mirror.

To configure your system to use an alternate mirror you can follow the following steps:

1. Open “Update Manager” (System > Administration > Update Manager)
2. Click “Settings”
3. On the “Ubuntu Software” tab there is a drop-down box labeled “Download From”
4. Select “Other”
5. Manually select a regional mirror OR click the button “Select Best Server”

Upgrading to Ubuntu 9.10

So you’ve applied all of the pending updates for Ubuntu 9.04 and now you’re ready to move on to Ubuntu 9.10. As above, this can be done via the command line or graphical interface. In this case, I might suggest the graphical interface.

Navigate to System > Administration > Update Manager and let it scan for available updates.

If you are reading this after the release of Ubuntu 9.10 (Oct 29th), this tool will automatically suggest that there is a new version available and offer to let you upgrade. This process will be automated for the most part, and quietly work in the background while you continue with your day. When it is finished it will suggest that you reboot your machine for the changes to take effect. When your machine comes back up you’ll be ready with Ubuntu 9.10.

Enjoy!

What a difference thirty minutes can make. I checked for the final release before I left for work, nothing. I checked when I got into work and there it was! I also noticed that the main site was already lousy with traffic and it is only going to get worse. I thought it’d be a good idea to share the .torrent links from here, which will allow you to download the latest image without affecting the main site or any of the mirrors.

Find your preferred version below and start downloading. Also, please be a good citizen and seed at least 1:1.

note: alternate images are text-based installers. desktop images are live-CD installers.

Update: added Edubuntu torrents.
Update: added Netbook Remix (no .torrents) metalink

Ubuntu
ubuntu-9.04-alternate-amd64.iso
ubuntu-9.04-alternate-i386.iso
ubuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso
ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso
ubuntu-9.04-server-amd64.iso
ubuntu-9.04-server-i386.iso

Kubuntu
kubuntu-9.04-alternate-amd64.iso
kubuntu-9.04-alternate-i386.iso
kubuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso
kubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso

Mythbuntu
mythbuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso
mythbuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso

Ubuntu Studio
ubuntustudio-9.04-alternate-amd64.iso
ubuntustudio-9.04-alternate-i386.iso

Xubuntu
xubuntu-9.04-alternate-amd64.iso
xubuntu-9.04-alternate-i386.iso
xubuntu-9.04-desktop-amd64.iso
xubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso

Edubuntu
edubuntu-9.04-addon-amd64.iso
edubuntu-9.04-addon-i386.iso

Netbook Remix
jaunty-netboox-remix-i386.metalink

My younger brother spent this last weekend with me and planted the bug (as little brothers are apt to do) of playing video games again. It has been quite some time since I have played many games, but he’s all about Guild Wars these days, so I set off to get it running in Wine. Luckily, on a 3D accelerated video card, the whole process is very simple.

We’ll need to run this in Wine, of course, as there is not (yet?) a native release for Linux. To install Wine we can use the following command (or click the package name link below):

sudo aptitude install wine

Once you have Wine installed you can download and install Guild Wars using the network installation method. This will require you download a small executable which will download the required game peices.

wget http://www.guildwars.com/downloads/gwsetup.zip
unzip gwsetup.zip
wine GwSetup.exe

This will download the game requirements and eventually put you at a login screen. You’ll need to login with your Guild Wars username and password. This process will also create a listing in your Applications Menu and a Desktop icon to start the game.

After you’re logged in and all the files are downloaded you’ll be ready to start playing. I’ve been playing the last few days on Ubuntu 9.04 and everything is running smoothly.

Enjoy

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop and Server editions and Ubuntu Netbook Remix.  Codenamed “Jaunty Jackalope”, 9.04 continues Ubuntu’s proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.

We consider this release candidate to be complete, stable, and suitable for testing by any user.

Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition brings faster boot speeds and a new notification system to your everyday computing experience.

Ubuntu 9.04 Server Edition makes it easy to experiment with cloud computing using Eucalyptus on your own servers, and sports an improved mail server integration stack based on postfix and dovecot.

Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix brings a new, easy-to-use interface that is designed to be used on the smaller screens of netbook devices.

The Ubuntu 9.04 family of variants, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, and Mythbuntu, also reach RC status today.

The final release of Ubuntu 9.04 is scheduled for 23 April 2009 and will be supported for 18 months on both desktops and servers.  Users requiring a longer support lifetime may choose to continue using Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, with security support until 2011 on the desktop and 2013 on the server, rather than upgrade to 9.04.

Before installing or upgrading to Ubuntu 9.04 please review the instructions and caveats in the release notes:

Release Notes

In addition, there are a small number of known bugs in the release candidate that will be fixed before the Ubuntu 9.04 release, but warrant highlighting for your attention: Known Issues

About The Release Candidate
—————————

The purpose of the Release Candidate is to solicit one last round of testing before the final release. Here are ways that you can help:

* Upgrade from Ubuntu or Kubuntu 8.10 to the Release Candidate by following the instructions in the release notes referenced above.

* Participate in installation testing using the Release Candidate CD images, by following the testing and reporting instructions at
ISO Testing

Desktop features
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Faster boot times:  improvements to Ubuntu’s start-up process mean you can spend less time waiting and more time being productive with your Ubuntu desktop.

Notification system:  notifications, those alerts that signify a change of status on your system or whether someone is contacting you, have been made consistent across applications to provide a pleasing, intuitive experience for users.

Server features
—————

Cloud computing:  Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (powered by Eucalyptus) puts you in control of your own cloud computing security and infrastructure, compatible with Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) but running on your own servers behind your firewall.  Ubuntu Server Edition 9.04 will also see Ubuntu available on Amazon EC2 — making it the most complete cloud environment available today.

Turn-key mail servers:  the dovecot-postfix package in Ubuntu 9.04 provides an all-in-one solution for deploying SMTP, POP3, and IMAP services with integrated server-side filtering support.

Netbook Remix features
———————-

Built-for-purpose interface: favourite applications and websites are just a click away, making Ubuntu Netbook Remix a great choice for netbook users.

Faster boot times: improvements to Ubuntu’s start-up process mean you can spend less time waiting and more time being productive with your Ubuntu Netbook desktop.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is known to work on these netbook models:
Asus Eee PC 900
Acer Aspire One
Dell Mini 9

Kubuntu features
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Kubuntu, built on the amazing KDE 4.2, brings users a complete, full-featured KDE4 desktop with many new applications and innovations.

Please see Kubuntu Features for details.

Xubuntu features
—————-

Xubuntu comes with the light-weight Xfce 4.6 desktop environment for those who want a desktop that is easy to use, but places particular emphasis on conserving system resources.

Please see Xubuntu Features for further details.

Ubuntu Studio features
———————-

Ubuntu Studio includes updates to input hardware and sound device management from Ubuntu Desktop and a complete suite of tools for generation of audio, video, and graphic content.

Ubuntu Studio 9.04 also features a streamlined installation process, giving you a familiar Ubuntu desktop and all of your studio applications in a
single step.

The realtime kernel flavor (linux-rt) has returned and is again used by default in Ubuntu Studio.  The rtirq script (http://alsa.opensrc.org/Rtirq)
is also now included in the ubuntustudio-audio package.  It is recommended that users not use the new EXT4 filesystem with the linux-rt kernel on production systems due to some reports of instability.

Jack-audio-connection-kit now includes support for the Free Firewire Audio Drivers (FFADO, www.ffado.org).

Mythbuntu features
——————

As of 9.04, Mythbuntu fits better into the Ubuntu ecosystem by using the same build methods as all other remixes and derivatives.  Because of this, 9.04 has been a focus around stability and preparing for an easy transition to the next version of MythTV (0.22) later this year.

Unfortunately, the main Mythbuntu website, Mythbuntu is temporarily down due to a problem with the hosting provider.  RC images
will still be available at Mythbuntu .  We’ll restore the other mirrors as soon as the main site returns.

A more complete tour of the features new in 9.04 can be found at 9.04 Overview

About Ubuntu
————

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, netbooks and servers, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases.  A
tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

Professional services including support are available from Canonical and hundreds of other companies around the world.  For more information about support, visit Support.

To Get the Ubuntu 9.04 Release Candidate
—————————————-

To upgrade to Ubuntu 9.04 Release Candidate from Ubuntu 8.10, follow these instructions:

Jaunty Upgrades

Or, to perform a new installation or try out 9.04 “live” from CD, download the Ubuntu 9.04 Release Candidate here (choose the mirror closest to you):

Asia:

* http://ftp.tcc.edu.tw/iso/Ubuntu/9.04 (Taiwan)

Europe:

* http://ubuntu.univ-nantes.fr/ubuntu-cd/9.04 (France)
* http://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/ubuntu.iso/9.04 (Germany)
* http://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/linux/ubuntu-releases/9.04 (Greece)
* http://ie.releases.ubuntu.com/9.04 (Ireland)
* http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04 (Netherlands)
* http://es.releases.ubuntu.com/9.04 (Spain)
* http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/9.04 (Sweden)
* http://ubuntu-releases.datahop.it/9.04 (United Kingdom)

North America:

* http://less.cogeco.net/ubuntu-releases/9.04 (Canada)
* http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.04 (United States)
* http://ubuntu.media.mit.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.04 (United States)

Oceania/Australia:

* http://ubuntu-releases.optus.net/9.04 (Australia)
* http://ftp.citylink.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/9.04 (New Zealand)

Rest of the world:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/9.04 (Great Britain)

Please download using BitTorrent if possible.  See
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BitTorrent for more information about
using BitTorrent.

Feedback and Helping
——————–

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at

Participate

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help turn this Release Candidate into the best release of Ubuntu ever.  Please note that, where possible, we prefer that bugs be reported using the tools provided, rather than by visiting Launchpad directly.  Instructions can be found at Reporting Bugs.

If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but are not sure, first try asking on the #ubuntu IRC channel on FreeNode, on the Ubuntu Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu forums:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/

More Information
—————-

You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this preview release on our website, IRC channel and wiki. If you are new to Ubuntu, please visit:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu’s very low volume announcement list at:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce

With the recent release of Ubuntu 9.04 “Jaunty” alpha 6 this last week I thought I’d outline some of the upcoming new features awaiting us this April.  I’d love to hear from those of you that have already been using the alpha releases and tell us your experience with some of the features listed here.  Whether you’ve had good or bad experiences with the alpha releases please share what you’ve found with the community.

For more information on these upcoming features see the Ubuntu 9.04 alpha 6 notes.

• Xorg Server 1.6
• Font Size Optimization
• New Notifications and Preferences
• Linux Kernel 2.6.28
• Ext4 Filesystem Support

Xorg Server 1.6

The latest X.Org server, version 1.6, is available in Jaunty. For a little while, this will again cause increased instability for some users while the proprietary video drivers catch up.

Font Size Optimization

Font dot-per-inch settings are now optimized based on your monitor’s capabilities, rather than defaulting to 96 dpi. You can further customize your dpi settings via System → Preferences → Appearance → Fonts → Details…

New Style for Notifications and Notification Preferences

Included in Jaunty is a simple menu which can be used to set preferences for notification icons, such as where they pop up on the taskbar. There is a possibility that Ubuntu 9.04 will get a whole new notification system, as shown in the Flash movie here:

http://www.markshuttleworth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/jaunty904_notifications_example1_web_092.swf

Linux Kernel 2.6.28

Alpha 6 includes the 2.6.28-8.26 kernel based on 2.6.28.7. 

I’ve been playing with Ubuntu 9.04 in VirtualBox and after installing the 9.04 Alpha 5 I noticed the new GDM Login screen. Things sure have come a long way since I started using Ubuntu in 5.04! Below is a screenshot of the new Login screen. Thoughts?