Sai Sci Tech - Maker and Software Engineering Blog

How to update Ubuntu 20.04 LTS to the latest packages

For every new installation of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS the first thing that we need to do is to update Ubuntu and its packages.

I would also recommend updating your Ubuntu Operating System once every month to update the security of your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

If you are running Ubuntu Server, the only way to do this is via the Terminal.

If you are running Ubuntu Desktop, then you have the option to use the Terminal or the Software Updater application.

Follow the steps below to update your Ubuntu.

Ubuntu update via Terminal

To update Ubuntu via the Terminal, open a terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + t on your keyboard.

Then run the command.

sudo apt update

Enter your password when asked. When you type the password it will not show that you are typing it. That is normal, just type your password and press Enter.

How to install VirtualBox Guest Additions in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop

After you have installed Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop in VirtualBox, the first thing that you will notice is that Ubuntu desktop does not occupy the whole VirtualBox window no matter how you resize the window. To solve this we need to install VirtualBox Guest Additions.

Installation of build-essential package (prerequisite)
Installation of VirtualBox Guest Additions

Screen resolution without VirtualBox Guest Additions

Once we install the VirtualBox Guest Additions we will have access to the following features in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa.

Shared clipboards – able to do copy & paste from Host computer to Virtual Machine and vice versa.
Shared folders – able to share files via a shared folder from Host computer to Virtual Machine and vice versa.
Better video support – able to support higher resolution screens such as Full HD. Virtual Machine screen will resize automatically to the size of the VirtualBox window.
Seamless windows – able to make Virtual Machine application windows to appear side-by-side with Host Machine application windows like it was part of the Host Machine.
Time synchronization – better time synchronization with the host machine.
Automated logins – able to do username and password passing from Host Machine to Virtual Machine.
Generic host / guest communication channel – able to control and monitor guest execution.

To know more about Guest Additions, you can read VirtualBox’s documentation.

To install VirtualBox Guest Additions in Ubuntu follow the guide below.

Step-by-step instructions to install VirtualBox Guest Additions in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop

Installation of `build-essential` package

VirtualBox Guest Additions requires the build-essential package to be first installed in Ubuntu.

To install the build-essential package, open a terminal by typing Ctrl + Alt + t.

Then run the commands below.

sudo apt update

Enter your password when asked.

How to Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop in VirtualBox

Below is a detailed tutorial on how you can install and run the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) Desktop in Oracle VM VirtualBox.

The tutorial below was run on VirtualBox running in Windows 10. But if you are running VirtualBox in Mac or Linux, the instruction should be the same.

Step-by-step instruction on how to run Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) Desktop in VirtualBox

Downloading of the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Installer ISO Disk Image

Go to ubuntu.com/download/desktop.

On Ubuntu 20.04 LTS click Download.

This will then move to a web page saying “Thank you for downloading Ubuntu Desktop”. Wait for a while then download of ubuntu-20.04.x-desktop-amd64.iso will start automatically.

How to move the desktop folder to another location in Windows 10

The Desktop is the most common folder that we all have in our Windows 10 computer. I usually put a lot of files in there, sometimes even very important files, therefore it would be best to place the Desktop folder to somewhere it will be automatically backed up to the cloud.

Is it possible to change the location of the Desktop Folder in Windows 10?

Yes. We just need to change the properties of the Desktop Folder.

In this post, we will be moving the Desktop Folder to a folder that I created in my Dropbox folder.

The Desktop Folder in my Dropbox folder

To change the location of the Desktop folder follow the steps below. You can also use the instructions to move the Desktop folder to a different folder that you want or even to another drive.

Step-by-Step instruction to move the Desktop folder in another folder

Open File Explorer and on the address bar enter %userprofile%.

Entering %userprofile% in the address bar

This will bring you to your user’s home folder.

Right-click on the Desktop icon. Then click Properties.

How to use Macbook Big Sur with lid closed

If you want to use your Macbook with the lid closed or in clamshell mode, you will need the following.

External Keyboard (USB or Bluetooth)
External Mouse (USB or Bluetooth)
External Monitor

Then follow the steps below to setup your macOS Big Sur to not sleep when you close the monitor of your Macbook.

How to install VirtualBox in Windows 10

If you want to install Oracle VM VirtualBox in your Windows 10 computer, follow the steps below.

Steps to install VirtualBox in Windows 10

On your preferred internet browser, go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads.

This is the downloads page for the latest VirtualBox Installer.

On the screenshots below, I am using Google Chrome as my internet browser.

Under VirtualBox platform packages, click on Windows hosts.

This will automatically start the download of the installer.

Once the download is finished, run the installer.

This will open the Oracle VM VirtualBox Setup window.

How to disable collapsing to one line for single folders in Visual Studio Code

If you have been using Visual Studio Code, you might have encountered that if you have a folder that only has a single folder inside, Visual Studio Code will automatically collapse both parent and child folders into a single line.

Actually, if you have a chain of subfolders that have only one folder inside, it will merge all folders into a single line, as you can see on the image below.

I used to solve this by adding a dummy file or folder just to have a better folder structure, but even that is annoying since there are extra files that you can see that you do not need.

To solve this collapsing of the folder structure to a single line for single parent/child folder, follow the steps below.

How to enable mouse scroll zoom in Visual Studio Code

By default, making your font bigger or smaller by using Ctrl + Mouse Wheel is not enabled in Visual Studio Code. But with a settings change, we can enable this.

Steps to enable Mouse Scroll Zoom in Visual Studio Code

In Visual Studio Code window, click on File >> Preferences >> Settings.

This will create a new tab called Settings.

How to Fix OBS Studio Black Screen Display Capture

If you opened your OBS Studio and added Display Capture, but you are getting a black or blank screen, stay calm. There is nothing wrong with your computer or OBS Studio. We just need to do some tweaking in your Windows Settings.

The reason why OBS Studio does not show your display is because it is selecting the wrong Graphics Card by default.

OBS Studio Black Screen on Display Capture

In my case, I have two GPU – AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, and OBS Studio kept using the RTX 2060 when it should be using the built-in AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics.

Understanding gp3 IOPS – EBS Volumes

In my goal to understand when the gp3 is cheaper than gp2 volumes, I need to know what each of the performance settings of each Elastic Block Store (EBS) Volume Types are.

I have already discussed the Throughput of gp3 and gp2 in different posts. If you do not know what Throughput is then I suggest going to the post about EBS Volumes Throughput.

Let’s go straight to dicussing about gp3 type IOPS.

What is the IOPS of gp3 Volumes?

From the AWS documentation the IOPS of gp3 Volumes has a minimum of 3,000 IOPS and a maximum of 16,000 IOPS.

Minimum IOPS	3,000 IOPS
Maximum IOPS	16,000 IOPS

The advantage of gp3 Volumes to gp2 is that you can set their IOPS regardless of the volume size. This is very unlike the gp2 where the IOPS and Throughput is highly dependent on the volume size.

We also no longer have to think about bursting IOPS in gp3 Volume types or having high IOPS operation for an extended period of time as long as you set your gp3 IOPS properly.

Maximum IOPS per Volume Size

You may think that whatever the volume size from 1 GiB (minimum) to 16 TiB (maximum), you can assign any IOPS as long as its between 3000 IOPS and 16,000 IOPS.