🪴 Þorri Líndal

🐧 Linux Mint Setup Guide

2 min read

A quick and effective setup guide for optimizing Ubuntu/Linux Mint with security, performance, and stability improvements.

Note

Enable Automatic Updates

sudo apt install unattended-upgrades -y
sudo dpkg-reconfigure unattended-upgrades

This enables automatic security updates in the background.

Warning

🔒 Secure SSH

By default, SSH allows root login and runs on the standard port 22, making it a target for attacks. These changes will harden SSH security.

Edit the SSH configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Modify these lines (or add them if missing):

PermitRootLogin no
Port 2222

Restart SSH to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart ssh

Warning

🔥 Enable Firewall

To install and configure UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall), run:

sudo apt install ufw -y
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing

Check firewall status:

sudo ufw status verbose

NOTE

🚀Optimize Swap Usage

Reducing reliance on swap improves system performance, especially on systems with SSDs.

To lower swappiness (default is often too high):

echo 'vm.swappiness=10' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

NOTE

⚡ Enable App Preloading

Preload frequently used applications to improve launch speeds.

To install preload:

sudo apt install preload -y

Preload runs automatically in the background after installation.

NOTE

📡 Disable Wi-Fi Power Saving

Prevents Wi-Fi disconnections caused by aggressive power-saving settings.

To disable power saving for Intel Wi-Fi adapters:

echo 'options iwlwifi power_save=0' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf
sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

Tip

🍺 Install Homebrew

- /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
- export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH
- (echo; echo 'eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"') >> /Users/$USER/.profile
- eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"
sudo apt-get install build-essential

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