#TechTipThursday
Yes, Linux admins still configure email. No, it never gets less weird.
Check if your mail service is running:
systemctl status postfix
Send a test email from the command line:
echo "Test" | mail -s "Hello" [email protected]
Check the mail queue:
mailq
Nobody gets excited about email configuration. Until something breaks and logs stop delivering. Then it's the only thing that matters.
Check your system logs:
journalctl -xe
Follow logs in real time:
journalctl -f
Filter by service:
journalctl -u nginx
Logs tell you everything, if you know where to look.
#SysAdmin #Linux #TechTipThursday
Check your system time and timezone:
timedatectl status
Set your timezone:
timedatectl set-timezone America/Chicago
Sync with NTP:
timedatectl set-ntp true
Getting time right matters more than people think, especially for logs, cron jobs, and anything distributed.
#TechTipThursday
Want to check or change your system locale on Linux?
localectl status
To list available locales:
localectl list-locales
To set one:
localectl set-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8
Handy when you're deploying systems for users in different regions or when something's outputting dates and currencies in a format that makes no sense to you.
#linux #sysadmin
Quick cron reminder on this #TechTipThursday
*/5 * * * *
Runs every 5 minutes.
But remember: cron doesn’t care if the previous job finished. Long-running jobs can pile up fast. Sometimes a systemd timer is the better tool.
Linux has solid built-in accessibility features:
On GNOME:
Settings → Accessibility
You’ll find:
- Screen reader (Orca)
- High contrast mode
- Zoom
- Large text scaling
Accessibility isn’t niche. It’s good engineering.
Running Wayland and something feels off? Try checking:
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
If it says wayland, you’re native. If it says x11, you’re still on X.
Knowing which session you’re in saves a lot of confusion.
If you’re writing shell scripts, start adding this:
set -euo pipefail
It forces your script to:
• Exit on errors
• Fail on unset variables
• Catch broken pipes
Small line. Big reliability boost.
Don't sleep on built-in shell features:
* Ctrl+r for reverse history search
* Tab completion for paths and commands
* Brace expansion: mkdir project/{logs,data,tmp}
Master the shell you already use before adding new tools.
🔍 Tech Tip Thursday
If you inherit a server, do this first:
- List running services
- Identify owners (or admit there aren’t any)
- Document before touching anything
Future you will be grateful.
Eric The IT Guy