Rebuild Frodo - First repave!

[scottmuc]

Yay for Repaving!

As much as possible is documented inline in this issue template. In case of problems you may find help by viewing all the previous repave issues. Have fun!

Things to do with the existing build

• [x] Create USB stick with Ubuntu

  Instructions

  TODO Add some notes

• [x] Backup anything worth keeping

  Instructions

  Generally, this means look at the following directories for things that I might want to carry over to the fresh install or possibly consider saving to a cloud service:

  • Desktop
  • Documents
  • Downloads

Rebuild steps

• [x] Reboot to load installer

  Instructions

  Hold down the Option key to trigger the boot selection menu.

• [x] Use Disk Utility to wipe existing partition and make a new one (new name, new encryption key)

• [x] Install the OS

Post OS install steps

• [x] Launch and configure 1 Password
• [x] Initialise 1 Password CLI
• [x] Map capslock to control

note to speed things up, some of the steps above can be done while coalese_this_machine is running.

Done When

• [x] Make a tiny DNS change and run terraform

  Instructions

  # Initialize and log into the 1 Password CLI
  initialize-1password
  opauth
  # Unlock the repo in order to access values in ./secrets dir
  cd ~/workspace/infrastructure
  locksmith unlock
  # Initialize Terraform and apply
  cd dns
  ./tofu_apply

• [x] Make a signed commit mentioning this issue (exercises gpg-op)

  Instructions

  # Initialize and log into the 1 Password CLI
  initialize-1password
  opauth
  gpg_op restore -e "scottATscottmuc.com"

• [x] Be able to push the commit (exercises ssh-op-agent)

• [x] Log into GitHub in Vivaldi (exercises 1 Password browser extension)

• [x] Old keys and credentials are deleted (GitHub and 1Password)

• [x] Make this template slightly better

[scottmuc]

I created an Ubuntu 24 desktop USB disk (from https://ubuntu.com/download) with https://etcher.balena.io. At some point I would like to dual boot to experiment with other operating systems, but will stick with Ubuntu for now.

[scottmuc]

To boot from USB, rebooting and spamming F12 allowed me to reach to the boot-selector screen.

[scottmuc]

Getting the infrastructure code on the machine

• Need to install git.
• Had to fix a couple things in the script, but it mostly worked.
• Need to switch default shell to zsh (requires a reboot)
• Need to adjust the zoom/sizing because the resolution is too high and makes text very small (https://twitter.com/dhh/status/1793786487684866534)
• Need to map capslock to ctrl

What I need to figure out now are what apps do I install with the store UI.

I have the OS installed and working at least.

[scottmuc]

Turns out I was already updating my shell to zsh, I just needed to reboot.

Mapping capslock was straightforward with the gnome-tweak-tool: https://askubuntu.com/a/33792/1384629

Next steps are to install Vivaldi with the bootstrap script and then install 1 Password via the Ubuntu store.

[scottmuc]

Bootstrapping 1 Password on Ubuntu means logging into Vivaldi (this installs the browser plugin). Then log into the 1 Password plugin. No need for the 1 Password GUI app.

[scottmuc]

Results

This was a surprisingly easy repave. I think the fact that Ubuntu is so easy to automate is part of that. I didn't really have instructions in the correct order, but it was easy to figure out how to do the steps necessary to move forward.

That main work to do right now is improve the repave template. I'm happy that I didn't need the Ubuntu store to install anything.

[scottmuc]

A couple things I realized are missing are:

• GnuCash (but don't need it anytime soon)
• Obsidan
• syncthing

[scottmuc]

Summary

Tempted to repave again because so little of the process required manual steps:

• Install git
• Changing Capslock to CTRL
• Update font scale and display Zoom
• Logging into Vivaldi
• Logging into 1 Password
• Initalizing 1 Password CLI
• Loading my gpg private key