Ansible playbook for your DevOps/SysOps Linux Mint 21.x-based workstation

Ansible playbook for your DevOps/SysOps Linux Mint 21.x-based workstation

Prerequisites

installed Linux Mint 21.0/21.1/21.2/21.3 - all 64-bit, standard options with extra codecs (available as selection during install)
for previous versions of Mint (20.x) - last release supporting Linux Mint 20 was 2.6.1
access to internet
openssh-server installed and running
ansible in version 2.10 or higher

sudo ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml

sudo apt install openssh-server;sudo systemctl enable ssh && sudo systemctl start ssh

PermitRootLogin in /etc/ssh/sshd_config if you're using root account

Ansible 2.10 and higher reminder

sudo ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml --roles-path /etc/ansible/roles

Assumptions

10 GB free space on OS drive (recommended 20-30 due to Flatpak)
ssh private key or password method
user specified in group_vars or passed in variable ansible_ssh_user
by default, extra binaries (outside packages) will be installed in /usr/local/bin (adjustable by bin_path variable) If you prefer to keep them in cloud (sync between computers), down below I'll attach info how to replace binaries with proper -ymlinks (work in progress)
adds repositories with codename and filename
adds missing pgp keys for repositories
installs essential packages
installs main packages
installs extra/optional packages
downloads 3rd party software and puts it in proper path - /usr/local/bin by default (adjustable by bin_path variable)
changes startup settings for specific user (that's why you should not run this as root)
changes in ansible.cfg
changes in dconf settings
changes in sysctl system settings

In-place upgraded OS warning

Role of this playbook is to work on clean or cleanly-upgraded system. I haven't tested it properly in case of in-place upgrade systems, so both 18=>19 and 19=>20 upgrades and playbook usage, are risky and experimental. Make sure all apt repositories (except system ones) are removed from /etc/apt - playbook works best when this list is empty.

Warning - systems after upgrade will require: ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/bin/python3 setting.

Python2 removal

Be aware several packages (virtualbox-6.1, zenmap) will install python2 and remove python-is-python3 package.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python-is-python3
sudo apt update
sudo apt remove python2 --simulate
sudo apt remove python2

Usage

ansible-playbook ./linux_mint.yaml -i myhost.lst

or change user you're using (startup related stuff will be done for that specific user user)

ansible-playbook ./linux_mint.yaml -i myhost.lst --extra-vars "active_user=myuser"

in case you'd like to run as root with password or ssh key, you can do desktop related changes for user bob

ansible-playbook ./linux_mint.yaml -i myhost.lst --extra-vars "active_user=bob"

or start at specific step

ansible-playbook ../linux_mint.yaml -i myhost.lst --start-at-task="taskname"

or with specific tags

ansible-playbook ../linux_mint.yaml -i myhost.lst --tags "base"

or passing true/false as JSON

ansible-playbook ./linux_mint.yaml -i myhost.lst --extra-vars '{"install_optional": "true"}'

Variables

Most variables are stored in mint19|20.yaml file. If you need extra settings, instead of modyfing it, use custom variable files.

variable	default	description
install_optional	true	should optional packages be installed
install_deb	true	should extra deb packages should be installed
install_flatpak	true	should flatpak packages be installed
remove_flatpak	false	should flatpak packages be removed
install_npm	true	should npm packages be installed
install_vscode_extensions	true	should we install extra vscode extensions
install_steampipe_plugins	true	should we install extra steampipe plugins
install_zsh	false	should we install oh-my-zsh and p10k theme
install_yubico	false	should we install yubico software
install_state	latest	if set to latest, every pass of playbook will also update packages
config_ansible	true	change ansible settings in ansible.cfg
config_dconf	true	change dconf settings
config_sysctl	true	change sysctl settings
config_autostart	true	change application autostart settings
active_user	"{{ ansible_ssh_user }}"	user for which you're setting folders. By default taken from group_vars
retries_count	4	how many retries
delay_time	15	delay time in seconds between retries
bin_path	/usr/local/bin	Where to put all downloaded execs
reboot_required	false	force reboot even if apt upgrade won't change anything
unpack_folder	/tmp/linux_mint	Which folder to use when downloading and unarchiving

variables for tasks

Are stored in mint21_tasks.yaml

Custom variables, custom variable files

If you don't want to track changes or change main variable file content with every pull, create your own custom variable files. By default playbook will look for files: mint[ansible_distribution_major_version]*.yaml This means - if your distro is Linux Mint 20, place a file in a playbook folder witha name: mint20_custom.yaml If your distro is Linux Mint 21, place a file in a playbook folder with a name: mint21_custom.yaml These filters are added to .gitignore to not override your changes Be careful not to add multiple matching files with corresponding names

Custom file content

custom_repositories: []
custom_keys: []
custom_packages: []

Custom file example

mint20_custom.yaml

custom_repositories:
  # Example
  # - name: google-cloud-sdk
  #   types: deb
  #   suites: cloud-sdk
  #   components: main
  #   uris:
  #     - "https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt"
  #   enabled: true
  #   architectures: amd64
  #   signed_by: https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg
custom_keys:
- https://somekeyfile/key.pgp
custom_packages:
- vlc

Repositories

Repositories: Basic

alexx2000 - Double Commander
ansible - Ansible
azure-cli - Azure CLI SDK
docker-stable - Docker-CE
gcsfuse - Google Storage gcsfuse - Mount a GCS bucket locally`
google-cloud-sdk - Google Cloud Tools SDK
googlechrome - Google Chrome Browser
hashicorp - Hashicorp tools
helm-stable-debian - Helm for Kubernetes
kubernetes-129 - Google Kubernetes kubeadm & kubectl for 1.29
microsoft-prod-deb - Microsoft .Net Core
mozilla-team - Stable Firefox and Mozilla Software
nodesource20 - Node.js LTS
palemoon - Chromium based Java+Flash browser
ubuntu-mozilla-security - Firefox and Thunderbird Security
virtualbox - Virtualization Software
vscode - Microsoft Visual Studio Code

Repositories: Optional

dockbarx - DockBarX is a lightweight taskbar
grub-customizer - customize black screen to something useful
noobslab-icons - Noobslab icons
insync - Googledrive & Onedrive Linux Client
trivy - Container security scanner
veeam-agent - Veeam Agent for Linux
veracrypt - Device encryption utility
rancher-desktop - Rancher Desktop
lens - Kubernetes IDE
ngrok - Secure tunnels to localhost

Packages

Packages: Essential

Packages: Basic (not complete list)

Software	Type	Link
Amass	In-depth Attack Surface Mapping and Asset Discovery	https://github.com/OWASP/Amass
AngryIP Scanner	Network Scanner	https://angryip.org/
Azure CLI	Command-line tools for Azure	https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli
Balena-etcher	Image Writer	https://www.balena.io/etcher/
Ctop	Container process monitor	https://github.com/bcicen/ctop
Diodon	Clipboard Manager	https://launchpad.net/diodon
Dive	Docker image explorer	https://github.com/wagoodman/dive
Dockle	Container Image Linter for Security	https://github.com/goodwithtech/dockle
Double Commander	File Manager	https://doublecmd.sourceforge.io/
Ffuf	Fast web fuzzer written in Go	https://github.com/ffuf/ffuf
GitKraken	Git Client	https://www.gitkraken.com/
Google Chrome	Browser	https://www.google.com/intl/pl_ALL/chrome/
Google Cloud SDK	Command-line tools for GCP	https://cloud.google.com/sdk
Google Kubectl/Kubeadm	Kubernetes Manager	https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/overview/
Gping	Ping with a graph	https://github.com/orf/gping
Hadolint	Docker linter	https://github.com/hadolint/hadolint
Helm	Package manager for Kubernetes	https://helm.sh/
k3d	k3d creates containerized k3s clusters	https://k3d.io/
k3s	Lightweight Kubernetes 5 less than k8s	https://k3s.io/
k9s	Kubernetes CLI Manager	https://github.com/derailed/k9s
Keepass	Password Manager	https://keepass.info/
Kubeconform	Kubernetes config validator	https://github.com/yannh/kubeconform
Kubent	Kubernetes-no-trouble	https://github.com/doitintl/kube-no-trouble
Kubernetes	Production-Grade Container Orchestration	https://kubernetes.io/
Kustomize	Kubernetes customiser	https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize
Lens	Kubernetes IDE	https://k8slens.dev/
Minikube	Run Kubernetes locally	https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube
Packer	Image creator	https://www.packer.io/
Packetsender	Packet Sender can send and receive UDP, TCP, and SSL on the ports of your choosing	https://packetsender.com/
Palemoon	Browser alternative (Java_+Flash)	https://www.palemoon.org/
Polaris	Validation of best practices in your Kubernetes clusters	https://www.fairwinds.com/polaris
RamboxOS	Multi IM	https://github.com/TheGoddessInari/hamsket
Rancher Desktop	Rancher Desktop runs Kubernetes and container management on your desktop	https://rancherdesktop.io/
Redshift	Monitor temperature changer	http://jonls.dk/redshift/
Remmina	Remote Connection Manager	https://remmina.org/
Shutter	Screenshot Manipulation	http://shutter-project.org/
Sops	Secrets manager	https://github.com/getsops/sops
Synapse	Symantic Launcher	https://launchpad.net/synapse-project
Tabby	Modern Terminal	https://github.com/Eugeny/terminus
Teller	Secret manager	https://github.com/tellerops/teller
Terraform	Infrastructure as Code	https://www.terraform.io/
Vagrant	Unified Workflow	https://www.vagrantup.com/
Vault	Secrets Manager	https://www.vaultproject.io/
VirtualBox	Virtualization	https://www.virtualbox.org/
Visual Studio Code	Code editor	https://code.visualstudio.com/
WPS Office for Linux	Productivity Tools	https://www.wps.com/wps-office-for-linux/
XCA	Certificate Manager	https://hohnstaedt.de/xca/
Yq	YAML processor	https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/download/v4.43.1/yq_linux_amd64

Packages: Optional (not complete list)

Software	Type	Link
Brave Browser	Browser alternative	https://brave.com/
DockbarX	Panel	https://github.com/M7S/dockbarx
Enpass	Password manager	https://www.enpass.io/
GIMP	GNU Image Manipulation Program	https://www.gimp.org/
Insync	Googledrive & Onedrive linux client	https://www.insynchq.com/
Kodi	Open Source Home Theater	https://kodi.tv/
Neofetch	A command-line system information tool written in bash 3.2+	https://github.com/dylanaraps/neofetch
Pinta	Drawing/Image Editing	https://pinta-project.com/pintaproject/pinta/
Spotify	Music Player	https://www.spotify.com/pl/download/linux/
Steampipe	select * from cloud	https://steampipe.io/
Sublime Text 3	Text Editor	https://www.sublimetext.com/3
Betterbird	Email client	https://www.betterbird.eu/
Trivy	A Simple and Comprehensive Vulnerability Scanner for Containers, Suitable for CI	https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy
Veeam Agent for Linux	Backup tool	https://www.veeam.com
Veracrypt	Source disk encryption	https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html

||||

Packages: Flatpak

Software	Type	Link
Bitwarden	Password Manager	Bitwarden
Boxes	Virtualization	Boxes
Brave	Web Browser	Brave
EasyEffects	Audio Effects Tool	EasyEffects
Enpass	Password Manager	Enpass
Firefox	Web Browser	Firefox
Flatseal	Permissions Manager	Flatseal
FreeFileSync	File Synchronization	FreeFileSync
GIMP	Image Editor	GIMP
Headlamp	Kubernetes Dashboard	Headlamp
Kdenlive	Video Editor	Kdenlive
Kodi	Media Center	Kodi
Krita	Digital Painting	Krita
LibreOffice	Office Suite	LibreOffice
MissionCenter	Project Management	MissionCenter
Obsidian	Note-taking App	Obsidian
Pinta	Image Editor	Pinta
Raspberry Pi Imager	Raspberry Pi Image Writer	Raspberry Pi Imager
Remmina	Remote Desktop Client	Remmina
Spotify	Music Streaming	Spotify
Sublime Text	Text Editor	Sublime Text
VLC	Media Player	VLC
Vivaldi	Web Browser	Vivaldi
WPS Office	Office Suite	WPS Office
Zenmap	Network Scanner	Zenmap
Zoom	Video Conferencing	Zoom

Packages: npm

Software	Type	Link
Dockerfilelint	Dockerfile linter	https://github.com/replicatedhq/dockerfilelint

Tasks

Task	Description	Link
install_yubico_software	Install keys, repositories, packages and dekstop files for Yubico infrastructure	https://yubico.com
configure_zsh	Installs files required by zsh, `oh-my-zsh` and `powerlevel10k`	https://github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k
steampipe_plugins.yaml	Install steampipe plugins	https://steampipe.io/
configure_neofetch	Installs and configures neofetch	https://github.com/dylanaraps/neofetch

'configure_neofetch` task

This guide details the automation of Neofetch configuration adjustments using an Ansible playbook. By specifying various tasks in the playbook, users can easily comment out or uncomment specific lines within the Neofetch configuration file, toggle key-value pairs between "on" and "off", and ensure the creation of the Neofetch configuration file if it doesn't exist. Furthermore, it includes adding Neofetch to the global bashrc file for automatic execution.

The playbook operates based on a defined payload structure within a YAML file. Here's an example of the payload configuration for the Neofetch automation task:

neofetch:
  config_path: /home/{{ active_user }}/.config/neofetch/config.conf
  remove_lines:
    - Packages
    - Resolution
    - DE
    - WM
    - WM Theme
    - Theme
    - Icons
    - Terminal
    - Terminal Font
    - cols
  add_lines:
    - Disk
    - Local IP
  toggle_items:
    - key: 'color_blocks'
      value: 'off'

Explanation of Configuration Parameters:

config_path: Specifies the path to the Neofetch configuration file. This path can be dynamically set to match the active user's home directory.
```
config_path: /home/{{ active_user }}/.config/neofetch/config.conf
```
remove_lines: A list of items to be commented out in the Neofetch configuration file. This list should contain the titles of the information blocks as they appear in the configuration.
```
remove_lines:
- Packages
- Resolution
```
add_lines: Similar to remove_lines, but these items will be uncommented if they were previously commented out, ensuring they are active in the Neofetch output.
```
add_lines:
- Disk
- Local IP
```
toggle_items: This section allows for toggling specific key-value pairs within the configuration file. For example, changing color_blocks from "on" to "off" or vice versa.
```
toggle_items:
- key: 'color_blocks'
  value: 'off'
```

Startup applications

Some applications are copied to autostart folder

Diodon
DockbarX
Synapse
Shutter

OS Tweaks

changes timezone and ntpd settings
modifies sysctl settings to start use tcp_congestion_control set to bbr
modifies sysctl settings to decrease default swappiness
changes alternatives for EDITOR
initial Timeshift launch
change fstrim schedule to hourly
installs popular Microsoft Visual Studio Code extensions
change dconf settings

Q&A

Q: Will it work with specific version WSL/Ubuntu/PidgeonOS?
A: Don't know, don't care. Do your own variables.yml and check
Q: What will happen if I'll run it multiple times?
A: I hope - your applications will be upgraded, same for repos and keys. But, due to DEB/APT dependency you have to look for possible downgrade related errors. See Known Issues for it.
Q: Can i check this in Ubuntu
A: Yes, but be prepared to create your own variables.yml and pass it as a parameter
Q: Can I participate?
A: Yes, but please create your own branch and do PR. Do not merge to master. Please keep master branch clean.
Q: I don't know how to do the above
A: Then don't do it ;)
Q: Why there is so many Ubuntu:Bionic/Xenial, not so many LinuxMint:Tara repositories?
A: Tara is built over Bionic packages, so rarely it requires to have specific repo.

To Do

better download file versioning (switch to latest where possible, separate version from URL, use separate folder for downloads)
better docs
add Vagrant plugins
manual handle 3rd party deb files - pre-download and re-usage on demand
configure neofetch
add cloud-tools section, for people to choose cloud they are using
~~better archive handle~~
~~services handling part (by default in Ubuntu/Debian, installed service is set to enabled/started)~~
~~more idempotency~~
~~fix Bionic's broken apps like Asbru-CM~~
~~more OS tweaks (i/o scheduler)~~
~~add AWS/GCE repositories for their tools~~
~~add Visual Studio Code extra extensions~~
~~continue to use tagging~~
~~add Flatpak packages handling~~
~~convert single sysctl values into whole section~~
~~better grub defaults handing~~

Known issues

Due to how deb packages are treated by apt, we should find a way to install always 'latest' version not specific version. If (after initial run) we'll upgrade package outside this script, next time deb part will fail trying to 'downgrade' package.
Downloading & installing all packages can be time consuming, depending on your Internet connection speed (aprox 40-60 minut)

pip - no module named _internal

sudo curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py && sudo python2.7 get-pip.py --force-reinstall

Playbook exits with a message Could not import python modules: apt, apt_pkg. Please install python3-apt package
- Resolution: set ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/bin/python3
Older distros have problem with some repositories, using PKI part that wasn't part of a ca-certificates.
- Resolution: Before continuing you're encouraged to install/upgrade ca-certificates package. Playbook is doing that as one of first steps, but this doesn't always works properly.
Step apt_initial_refresh can fail due to several reasons:
- problems with ca-certificates written above
- duplicate entries found in /etc/apt/sources.list.d files
- expired keys/certificates for repositories
Step reset_dconf_values can fail in Linux Mint 20.x due to python-psutil package being too new.
Insync package strange behavior. Installing packages can fail as Insync ignores entries in it's own insync.list file and adds new ones. This can lead to mutliple sources being added, thus apt is doomed to fail. In rare cases Insync also tries to add new repos codenames before they exist on their side. Currently there is no workaround for this.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 99 Commits
.devcontainer		.devcontainer
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
files/apps		files/apps
images		images
tasks		tasks
.ansible-lint		.ansible-lint
.dockerfilelintrc		.dockerfilelintrc
.gitignore		.gitignore
.gitlab-ci.yml		.gitlab-ci.yml
.hadolint.yaml		.hadolint.yaml
.markdownlint.yaml		.markdownlint.yaml
.yamllint		.yamllint
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
README.md		README.md
linux_mint.yaml		linux_mint.yaml
mint21.yaml		mint21.yaml
mint21_tasks.yaml		mint21_tasks.yaml
requirements.yml		requirements.yml

marcinbojko/linux_mint

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