This wiki should be considered unmaintained and deprecated, though some information may still be relevant. Please instead refer to Lubuntu.me.
Can't find the tool you need?
Having problems with network weirdness, or your computer screen? Get support for hardware.
Remember, besides the desktop, most systems are shared with Ubuntu and Xubuntu.
Configuration
Workarounds and Guides
The old pages are at Lubuntu/Documentation/FAQ/Guides and Lubuntu/Documentation/FAQ/Workarounds
Packages
Lubuntu has several options for installing software.
Synaptic Package Manager is a more technical package manager
GDebi package installer to install downloaded deb software packages.
Lubuntu Software Center is a user-friendly "App Center"
- LSC does currently not list apps in the Ubuntu Apps Showdown, or apps for purchase.
- Ubuntu Software Center can be installed by installing this package: software-center
If Removing a Program asks to remove lubuntu-desktop? Can I do so?
"I want to remove package xyz, and it wants to remove lubuntu-desktop" Yes, you can remove it. Please read this.
Fonts
Change Font Size in Interface
To change the font that window text appears in, you will have to look in different places for different windows.
- Use the LXDE preference menu to Open "Openbox Configuration Manager" in 12.04 and later, click "Appearance" tab.
- Right click on the bottom panel and select "Panel Settings" to change the panel font size
- Use the LXDE preferences menu to open "Customize Look and Feel". Click the Widget tab.
Change the taskbar font size here.
Install and view fonts in Lubuntu
On this page it instructs you to press alt-f2 and type
gksu nautilus /usr/share/fonts/truetype
But, for Lubuntu which has a different file manager, PCManFM, you should press alt-f2 and type
gksu pcmanfm /usr/share/fonts/truetype
The window that opens is a place for you to place your font files into. You will need to unpackage them to place each .ttf or .otf file in here.
(Optional) afterwards, do this command:
sudo fc-cache -f -v
Alternatively, you can install a tool to install or view fonts in Lubuntu, install this package:
gnome-font-viewer
Synaptic Package Manager has a convient listing of fonts you can install from the trusted repositories in section on the left sidebar and lists fonts.
Boot, Install, Login, Logoff
Here is HowToPartition your PC.
How to Burn an downloaded ISO of Lubuntu.
How to install and run Lubuntu off a USB flash drive.
Edit "Launcher" menu and More topics here.
Add LXDE to Ubuntu
Installed Ubuntu and want to add LXDE and all Lubuntu packages?
Can't login, or need a new way to logout? look here.
Problems booting or installing?
Find Version of Lubuntu
Need Lubuntu Version number? Open "System Profiler and Benchmark" under the "System Tools" submenu. Click "Operating System" and even though it gives the version number for Ubuntu, this is your version number.
Windows, Desktop, Taskbar, LXDE
Use the Print Screen (PrtScn) button on your keyboard to save a screenshot of your current desktop to your home folder. Press Alt-PrtScn to take a snapshot of just the active window and not the entire screen.
Read Lubuntu/Windows for how to change the bottom panel, start menu and etc. To configure the bottommost desktop window, see Lubuntu/PCManFM
Files
Where is your HomeFolder?
Explore folders, find files.
Keyboard, Mouse, Trackpad
Time and Language
How to change the taskbar clock format: Lubuntu/Documentation/CustomizingTheClock
Add keyboard layouts, Localized language interface, and Date and Currency formats: Lubuntu/Documentation/LanguageSupport
Networking
Info about Lubuntu Networking
Configure your automatic network connection by going to the "Preferences" Menu and opening "Network Connections" or by right clicking nm-applet's 'Edit connections'. See Network Manager and https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NetworkManager0.7/
Sharing files? See Lubuntu/Setup#Share_Files_and_Folders
Need an VNC server? See Lubuntu/3rdParty
Sound
Sound should work in Lubuntu automatically. Although not included in Lubuntu, Pulseaudio can be installed if you need it.
Unless you have Pulseaudio, you will have to select audio devices with asound, and control volume with the "Volume Control" panel applet or the alsamixer command from the command line.
Read about alsamixer here or here. People with no sound should look here. Most Lubuntu sound troubleshooting is done in the command line.
Sound Preferences
There is no "Sound Preferences" in Lubuntu, but there is in Ubuntu.
Playing Audio CDs
Insert the audio CD. It should mount automatically. At this point you can play the CD by opening with PCManFM and opening audio tracks with Mplayer, or you can open audacious and choose "Play CD" from the Audacious menu.
Testing Sounds with Sound Recorder
Looking for a GUI sound recorder application to test your microphone or headset? Install this software package:
gnome-media
or install gnome-media without pulseaudio with:
sudo apt-get install gnome-media --no-install-recommends
Change Default Sound card
If you would like to change the default sound card: look here.
Checking Pulseaudio
You may find packages with 'pulse' in their name on your system. to check if pulseaudio is currently running do:
pgrep -l pulseaudio
which will list a process named 'pulseaudio' if it is running, or not list it, if it is not.
If you would like install the pulseaudio layer onto Lubuntu, please see Pulse Audio Pulseaudio can help if you're having difficulty configuring USB headphones, Skype, or need to increase volume past 100%
Video and Graphics
Lubuntu/Video how to play your videos. Lubuntu/Monitor_or_Screens how to fix issues with monitors and brightness.
Installed Tools
System Tools
GDebi Package Installer If you downloaded software in a .deb file, this will install it.
GParted Allows you to move partitions and check your disk for errors.
IBus Start IBus, the service for input method entry.
Lubuntu Software Center A user-friendly app store, one of many ways to install software.
System Profiler and Benchmark Identifies your computer hardware
Task Manager Close unresponsive programs.
Time and Date Allows you to set time zone, time of day.
Update Manager Keep Lubuntu Updated
Software Updater Keep Lubuntu Updated. Same App, new name.
Users and Groups Manage user accounts and change passwords
XTerm Another terminal emulator.
Windows Wireless Drivers] GUI installer for Ndiswrapper. Allows the use of Windows network drivers on 32-bit Linux.
Preferences
Additional Drivers Have Ubuntu look for more drivers for your hardware. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/17495/how-to-add-proprietary-drivers-to-ubuntu-10.04/ In 12.10 this app has been moved to the Software Sources program. However in 14.04 and later a shortcut has been added back to the menu for convience.
Bluetooth Manager Connect to Bluetooth devices http://blueman-project.org/
Customize Look and Feel Default font, icon theme, window and mouse pointer appearance
Desktop Session Settings Select programs and services automatically run at startup.
Desktop Preferences This is identical to right-clicking on the desktop and selecting preferences. This is Lubuntu/PCManFM desktop preferences.
Input Method Switcher Input Method Switcher Select input method of asian characters
Keyboard and Mouse Mouse acceleration, Key repeat rate
Keyboard Input Methods IBus Input Asian characters.
Language Support Language Support Add new languages to Lubuntu user interface, switch them, change number formatting.
Lxkeymap: LXKeymap Change keyboard layout from American to French, etc.
Monitor Settings LXRandR Change screen resolution
Network Connections: Same as right clicking nm-applet's 'Edit connections' Network Manager https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NetworkManager0.7/
Openbox Configuration Manager obconf Window style, Window title fonts, Window Animiations, Double-clicking title bar
Power Manager: Xfce power manager Suspend PC when inactive, Lock screen when inactive, laptop screen brightness, power button
Preferred Applications: Set default web browser and mail client.
Screensaver: XScreenSaver Configure screen saver
Software Sources: Software Sources Manage sources of software packages, or your system's repositories.
Applications
There may come a time, especially when trouble-shooting, when you need to launch any of the applications listed below from the command line rather than by selecting it from a menu. Here's a small one-liner to generate a list of application names and their associated commands. This one-liner will cover only those programs that have .desktop files in /usr/share/applications:
sed -nrs '/^\[Desktop Entry\]/d;/^(\[|Name=|Exec=)/p;${g;p}' /usr/share/applications/*.desktop > ~/Desktop/Names-n-Commands.txtWhen you run the command given above from a terminal, it will create a list of application names paired with their respective commands in a text file called Names-n-Commands.txt and this file will be on your Desktop for ready reference.
Graphics
Paint : MTPaint Paint and edit Graphics, resize, etc.
- Simple Scan
PDF reader (Document Viewer) Open PDF and CBZ files.
Sound & Video
Mp3 player : Audacious
Videos : Gnome MPlayer Playback video files.
Webcam : guvcview
CD burner : Xfburn Also DVDs
Internet
Office
Accessories
Terminal: LXTerminal The command line interface.
Archives: Archive Manager Opens, extracts, unzips, Zip and Tar files. Does not include unrar package.
Character Map View glyphs of installed fonts, and pick characters.
File Browser: File Manager (PCManFM) Browse directories and files.
Calculator: Galculator
Notepad: Leafpad Text editor.
Notes: xpad Simple note taking.
Image Viewer GPicView Display picture files.
Screenshot: scrot a simple and lightweight application to take screenshot for your desktop and the file will be saved on your Home directory by default.
Games
Ace of penguins http://www.delorie.com/store/ace/s/
Topics
Fixing Your Third Party App
Some tweaks for 3rd-party applications here.
Coming from Windows
What is eating half my RAM? is a common question.
Running Windows Programs
Lubuntu can run some Microsoft Windows® programs with Wine. I suggest rebooting after installing this package: playonlinux
For help running programs in Wine, go here.
Defragment
Defragmenting Not in Lubuntu.
Antivirus
Do you need anti-virus scanning software in Lubuntu?
Firewall
Lubuntu isn't running any network services by default (very secure, no?) but Uncomplicated Firewall (ufw) is a firewall you can install onto Lubuntu if you need it.
Clean System
You can remove installed software by Opening Synaptic Package Manager and clicking on the "Status" button on the bottom-left.
Maintenance
Check Hardware
Smartmontools#Testing_a_Drive and http://systester.sourceforge.net/ to test your CPU. Booting into GRUB or the LiveCD, there is a RAM tester. The gnome-disks program also graphically can detect SMART data for self test on hard and solid state drives from the settings button in the upper right corner. This will even work in the live session.
Lost Password
When you installed Lubuntu, you should have given it a supervisor password for the default user. here is how to recover the password if you have forgotten it.
Share Files and Folders
Would you like to share files on your network? Lubuntu's Lubuntu/PCManFM can easily connect to your Microsoft Windows® file shares. If you need to share files from Lubuntu, you should install and configure Samba or NFS from the command line.
Let me say it again, if you want to share your Lubuntu files with Win7, please follow the Samba Server Guide
Customizing
Edit the Menu
Lubuntu/Documentation/EditingTheMenu