Skip to content
CachyOS

Post Install

Updating The System

Section titled “Updating The System”

Octopi is a graphical package manager for Arch-based distributions that provides a convenient way to manage packages and updates. To update your system with Octopi, follow these steps:

  1. Launch Octopi from the application menu.
  2. In the main window, click on the Check updates button (Top left), now next to it System upgrade.
  3. Octopi will now check for available updates and prompt you to either install them on Octopi itself or in a terminal.
  4. To proceed with the update, click the Apply button.
  5. Octopi will download and install the updates.
  6. It is advised to reboot your computer after a big update (especially if the kernel got an update).

Configuring Firewall (ufw)

Section titled “Configuring Firewall (ufw)”

To configure ufw, follow these steps:

Terminal window
sudo ufw enable

Configure Wi-Fi Regulatory Domain

Section titled “Configure Wi-Fi Regulatory Domain”

The wireless-regdb package includes a database of wireless rules (allowed frequencies, channels, power limits) for various countries. Setting the right region for your location can unlock specific Wi-Fi channels (such as channels 12/13 or 5GHz/6GHz bands) that may be limited by default, helping to improve your Wi-Fi performance and connection quality.

Configuration:

  1. Edit the configuration: Open /etc/conf.d/wireless-regdom with root privileges.
    Terminal window
    sudo micro /etc/conf.d/wireless-regdom
  2. Set your country: Uncomment the line with your two-letter ISO country code (e.g., WIRELESS_REGDOM="US"). Ensure only one country is uncommented.
  3. Reboot: A reboot is typically required for the change to take effect.

Verification:

To check the currently applied regulatory domain, use this command:

Terminal window
iw reg get
global
country 00: DFS-UNSET # Country 00 uses global defaults
  (755 - 928 @ 2), (N/A, 20), (N/A), PASSIVE-SCAN
  (2402 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A)
  (2457 - 2482 @ 20), (N/A, 20), (N/A), AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
  (2474 - 2494 @ 20), (N/A, 20), (N/A), NO-OFDM, PASSIVE-SCAN
  (5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
  (5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
  (5490 - 5730 @ 160), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, PASSIVE-SCAN
  (5735 - 5835 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), PASSIVE-SCAN
  (57240 - 63720 @ 2160), (N/A, 0), (N/A)

Look for the country XX: line, where XX should match the code you set. If it shows country 00:, the system might be using default restrictions or hasn’t yet determined the region.

Terminal window
iw reg get
global
country US: DFS-FCC # Country correctly shows as US
  (902 - 904 @ 2), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
  (904 - 920 @ 16), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
  (920 - 928 @ 8), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
  (2400 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
  (5150 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (N/A), AUTO-BW
  (5250 - 5350 @ 80), (N/A, 24), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW
  (5470 - 5730 @ 160), (N/A, 24), (0 ms), DFS
  (5730 - 5850 @ 80), (N/A, 30), (N/A), AUTO-BW
  (5850 - 5895 @ 40), (N/A, 27), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
  (5925 - 7125 @ 320), (N/A, 12), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, PASSIVE-SCAN
  (57240 - 71000 @ 2160), (N/A, 40), (N/A)

Enabling Global Menu

Section titled “Enabling Global Menu”

For some apps like Visual Studio Code, the global menu may not work or may be attached to the parent app instead of the panel.

Terminal window
# To enable global menu support, run the command and restart the app.
sudo pacman -S appmenu-gtk-module libdbusmenu-glib

Enable AppArmor support using AppArmor.d profiles (Optional)

Section titled “Enable AppArmor support using AppArmor.d profiles (Optional)”

  1. Add the following kernel parameters to your Boot Manager, see Boot Manager Configuration for reference

    lsm=landlock,lockdown,yama,integrity,apparmor,bpf

  2. Install apparmor and apparmord (Set of over +1500 profiles) packages

    Terminal window
    sudo pacman -S apparmor apparmor.d-git

  3. Enable/Start AppArmor service

    Terminal window
    systemctl enable --now apparmor.service

  4. Enable caching for AppArmor profiles

    /etc/apparmor/parser.conf
    ## Add the following lines:
    write-cache
    Optimize=compress-fast

    Save the file and reboot.

Changing the Default Shell

Section titled “Changing the Default Shell”

Currently, CachyOS uses fish as the user’s default login shell. However, you can change the default shell to whatever you like.

This is the default shell on almost every Linux distribution. It is also still used as the root user’s login shell. bash has basic autocomplete functionality and easy history management. It differs from zsh and fish in that it doesn’t have the fancy customization and plugin ecosystem that both fish and zsh have.

Changing your default shell to bash
chsh -s /usr/bin/bash

Updating/using tldr

Section titled “Updating/using tldr”

This tool is extremely useful for those who don’t want to read much or waste time reading a help/man page.

  1. Open a terminal and run the following command
    tldr --update
  2. Example of using tldr:
    Terminal window
    tldr java
      Execute a `.jar` program:
    

       java -jar filename.jar
    

    # As you can see, it's really useful, and new tools/pages get added over time.

Managing Appimages

Section titled “Managing Appimages”

Appimages are portable applications that run on most Linux distributions without needing installation or root permissions.

To manage AppImages, you can use AppImageLauncher, which provides an easy way to integrate AppImages into your system.

AppImageLauncher is a graphical tool that simplifies the management of AppImages on your system. It integrates with your desktop environment, making it easy to run and manage AppImages.

  1. Install AppImageLauncher:

    Terminal window
    paru appimagelauncher

  2. Download an Appimage of your choice from a trusted source.

  3. Double click the downloaded AppImage file. AppImageLauncher will prompt you to integrate the application into your system.

  4. Follow the prompts to complete the integration process.

  5. Once integrated, you can launch the application from your application menu or by double clicking the AppImage file.

Configuring Access to Samba Shares

Section titled “Configuring Access to Samba Shares”

Samba is a free software re-implementation of the SMB networking protocol. To connect to your samba server, a useful config has been made available to CachyOS users, but it requires changing the configuration of your samba server.

Installing and using the CachyOS smb.conf file

Section titled “Installing and using the CachyOS smb.conf file”

To use the convenient smb.conf file, first install a specific package that provides the required smb.conf file. Then, replace your server’s existing smb.conf with this file and reconfigure your shared volumes.

  1. Create a backup of your original smb.conf file, typically located at /etc/samba/smb.conf on Linux systems.

  2. Install the CachyOS Samba settings package on your client machine:

    Terminal window
    sudo pacman -S cachyos-samba-settings

  3. Copy the smb.conf from your client machine to the Samba server.

  4. Open and edit the file to add your shared directories, printers, etc.

  5. Restart the Samba service on your server:

    Terminal window
    sudo systemctl restart --now samba

  6. On the client machine, access your shared resources through your file manager (e.g., smb://<your_server_ip>/<share_name>).

    If configured correctly, you’ll be prompted for login credentials. Remember to select the option to save your login information if desired.