Things to do after installing Xubuntu

This is a checklist that I found useful when setting up a new Xubuntu installation.

1. NetBIOS - Allows computer names to be used rather than IP.
1. sudo apt-get install winbind libnss-winbind
2. Edit /etc/nsswitch.conf, and add wins to the end of the line in (3)
3. host: files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns wins
2. Samba Configuration Tool - Allows folders to be shared with other Windows computers.
1. sudo apt-get install system-config-samba
2. sudo touch /etc/libuser.conf
3. sudo system-config-samba
3. RDP Client - Allows making remote desktop connection to a Windows machine in the network.
1. sudo apt-get install remmina
4. Preserve Job History - Stops CUPS preserving job history
   1. sudo pico /etc/cup/cupsd.conf
   2. add PreserveJobHistory off just before WebInterface Yes

Add optimized driver repository from Oibaf at https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archive/ubuntu/graphics-drivers

Hyper-V and Hyper-V Adminsitrators Group

While VirtualBox is an excellent virtualization solution, it is a Type-2 Hypervisor, i.e. it has greater overhead.  The extra overhead can be a problem for Virtual Machines that facilitate demanding applications such as Visual Studio.  Virtual Machines with these demanding application would be better served by a Type-1 (aka Bare Metal) Hypervisor.

There are Type-1 Hypervisors available, but some can be very strict in hardware requirement; and some can be a bit tricky to setup.  Since Hyper-V comes with Windows 8.1, and is in the "Click and Install" software category, I decided to give it a spin.

Hyper-V is not installed in Windows 8.1 by default.  To add Hyper-V, go to "Programs and Features", click on "Turn Windows features on or off", select Hyper-V features and click OK.

With the default setup, only Administrators or user in the Administrators group can connect to the Hyper-V Server.  Since I have taken extra trouble to create a Normal User account for my day-to-day use, I do not want to ruin all my efforts because I want to use Hyper-V.  Luckily, you can allow a non-admin user to connect to Hyper-V server by adding the user to the Hyper-V Administrators group (rather than the Administrators group).  You can find this group by right clicking on Computer, selecting Manage. Under the "Local Users and Groups", you should be able to find the "Hyper-V Administrators" groups as shown below.  Add the local user who you are allowed to connect, and off you go.  The local user you have added can now connect to the Hyper-V server.

Further information on Hyper-V setup can be found at: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/jj647785.aspx