Tag Archives: dpkg

Check if NetworkManager is running on Ubuntu / Debian

Usually you should be using NetworkManager by default (Ubuntu 14.04), just in case you want to be sure, use this command to verify:

dpkg --get-selections | grep network-manager

In case there is some output like:

network-manager					install

it is installed, if there is nothing returned, you are probably using a different network managing daemon.

It would be possible that network manager is installed but inactive. Lets check if its running the hard way:

ps aux | grep network-manager

If thats returning something different than itself, you can be sure using the NetworkManager in Ubuntu / Debian.

In case your laptop crashes during your thesis writing it would be nice to have a list of which packets have been installed.

In Ubuntu / Debian or other some other distros there is a tool called dkpg which offers a small command that can be very helpful:

dpkg --get-selections | grep -v deinstall

Saving that list in your backup routine (e.g. of your /home/ dir) every hour using crontab (linux scheduled tasks)

crontab -e
#follow the dialog and add this line to your crontab
0 1 * * * dpkg --get-selections | grep -v deinstall > ~/packages.txt