Linux on Notebook

Adding Environment Variables to Linux GUI Apps

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 21:37:22 +0100

Find the app your looking for:

sudo find / -type f -iname "*myapp*"

Edit the file:

nvim /usr/share/applications/org.myapp.MyApp.desktop

You’ll want to look for the Exec key, and prepend the env vars to the app command:

Exec=env MY_ENV_VAR=hello my-app-cmd %U

Hyprctl Moving Workspace Between Monitors

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:48:06 +0100

Hyprland recently migrated to lua, and this changed the inputs hyprctl required, so this is just a quick note about how to move workspaces between monitors if you have more than one.

The old command:

hyprctl dispatch moveworkspacetomonitor 1 1

New:

hyprctl dispatch 'hl.dsp.workspace.move({ workspace = 2, monitor = 1 })'

Dispatcher documentation

Serial Console in the Terminal

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:42:43 +0100

Instructions on how to connect to a device over serial USB port in the terminal on Arch with either minicom or tio.

Beforehand, ensure your user is in these groups (if adding, reboot machine).
```
# adding your user to these groups
sudo usermod -aG dialout tty uucp
```

With minicom

Install the minicom serial communication program.
```
sudo pacman -Sy minicom
```
Connect to device over serial comms (here it is at /dev/ttyUSB0).

OpenVPN on Arch

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:26:29 +0100

Import using systemctl

Copy OpenVPN client file to /etc directory:

sudo cp client.ovpn /etc/openvpn/client/myvpnconf.conf

Systemctl’s enable command turns on the service on boot, the --now flag also starts the service immediately:

# note the filename after @
systemctl enable --now openvpn-client@myvpnconf.service

This will start the VPN service with that configuration on boot, but this won’t integrate with networkmanager.

Integrating VPN connections with networkmanager

Disable the original systemctl service (if added previously)

systemctl disable --now openvpn-client@myvpnconf.service

Import OpenVPN connection

nmcli connection import type openvpn file myvpnconf.ovpn

Edit the connection to add username & password

nmcli connection modify myvpnconf \
 +vpn.data "connection-type=password-tls, username=$USERNAME" \
 vpn.user-name $USERNAME \
 +vpn.secrets "password=$PASSWORD"

Automatically connect to VPN

List connections

nmcli connection

NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
zrh-003 d46e4a92-778e-4792-b085-e1f638ecb8e3 vpn enp1s0
enp1s0 1715b889-3c47-3e21-a86f-94ce207297a9 ethernet enp1s0
tun0 7405f329-255d-4b50-b98d-c2e865a443a4 tun tun0

Edit connection by adding the VPN UUID

# note if device name doesn't work use the UUID of the connection (not the VPN)
nmcli c edit enp1s0

nmcli> set connection.secondaries d46e4a92-778e-4792-b085-e1f638ecb8e3
nmcli> save persistent
Connection 'enp1s0' (1715b889-3c47-3e21-a86f-94ce207297a9) successfully updated.

Serial Port Access on Arch

Sat, 30 May 2026 09:35:24 +0100

For access to microcontrollers, such as the ESP32, permissions are required to enable flashing devices etc. If having issues, but seeing the port connected, check the port first (in my example the port was /dev/ttyACM0):

ls -l /dev/ttyACM0
crw-rw---- 1 root uucp 166, 0 May 27 21:05 /dev/ttyACM0

Notice the group uucp has access, we just need to add ourselves to it.

sudo usermod -aG uucp $USER

A restart may be required for this to take effect.