Post-Install Checklist: 15 Things to Do After Installing Linux

A fresh Linux install feels like a clean slate: the machine boots in seconds, nothing nags you to sign in, and the disk is empty of the clutter you'd been dragging around for years. Then you try to print a document or plug in your headphones and remember that a new system knows nothing about you yet. That first afternoon is the easiest time to fix all of it, while you're paying attention and nothing has broken yet.

What follows is the order I work in after every install, whether it's a laptop, a desktop or a small home server. None of it requires deep knowledge, most of it takes a few commands, and doing it now saves you from patching the same gaps for months.

Update the system first

Installation images are always a few weeks or months behind, and the first boot is the worst possible moment to start installing extra software. Update everything, then reboot even if nothing asks you to. A kernel update only matters after a restart.

• Debian and Ubuntu: sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade
• Fedora: sudo dnf upgrade --refresh
• Arch: sudo pacman -Syu
• openSUSE: sudo zypper refresh && sudo zypper update

Once the OS is current, check your hardware firmware. Devices like SSDs, Wi-Fi chips and docking stations carry their own firmware, and fwupd updates it from the vendor. Run fwupdmgr refresh, then fwupdmgr get-updates to see what's available, and fwupdmgr update to apply it. Some updates only take effect after a full power-off, so shut the machine down rather than rebooting.

Get drivers and devices working properly

Intel and AMD graphics generally work out of the box, but NVIDIA cards still want the proprietary driver for decent performance, especially in games and video editors. On Ubuntu, open Software & Updates, go to the Additional Drivers tab and pick the recommended entry. From a terminal, ubuntu-drivers devices lists the options and sudo ubuntu-drivers install handles the rest. On Fedora, RPM Fusion provides the driver packages if you need them.

Then walk through your hardware one device at a time. Connect the printer and check that it's detected over the network rather than USB — driverless IPP printing works on almost everything modern. Pair your Bluetooth headphones. Test the webcam in a browser. Open pavucontrol while playing audio and confirm the right output device is selected, because PipeWire happily routes sound to a monitor with no speakers. Laptop owners should also install TLP or tuned and enable it, which can meaningfully improve battery life on some models. Finally, check that SSD trimming is scheduled with systemctl status fstrim.timer and enable it if it's inactive.

Set up backups before you need them

This is the step everyone skips, and the one that hurts to skip. A system snapshot tool such as Timeshift protects the operating system: install it, point it at a disk with room to spare, and let it run weekly or before major upgrades. Be aware that Timeshift deliberately leaves your home directory alone by default.

Snapshots restore a broken system. They do not restore your documents. Those are two different jobs, and you need both.

For personal files, use whatever suits your habits: Déjà Dup for simple scheduled backups to an external drive or cloud folder, Back In Time if you want a browsable history, or plain rsync if you like control. A basic command like rsync -av --delete ~/Documents /mnt/backup/ run from a script or timer is enough for many people. Whatever you choose, restore one file from it today. A backup you have never tested is a hope, not a plan.

Install the apps you actually use

Resist the urge to install forty packages on day one. Start with the tools you open daily, then add as needs appear. Most distributions offer a software centre, plus Flatpak or Snap for apps that need newer libraries than your distro ships. Enabling Flathub once gives you access to a huge catalogue and keeps sandboxed apps separate from system packages.

• A browser you trust, signed in and synced
• A password manager, set up before you need it
• Office tools: LibreOffice, or OnlyOffice if you exchange .docx files often
• Media: VLC, plus codecs if your distro doesn't include them by default
• Notes and To-Do: whatever you'll genuinely keep using
• Development: Git, your editor of choice, and build-essential or your distro's equivalent
• Utilities: GParted, a PDF reader, a screenshot tool, file archiver

Lock down the basics

Linux is not insecure by default, but a desktop install is not automatically hardened either. Turn on the firewall: sudo ufw enable on Ubuntu and Debian, or sudo systemctl enable --now firewalld on Fedora. Enable automatic security updates through unattended-upgrades on Debian-family systems, or the equivalent setting in GNOME Software. If you installed without full-disk encryption, note that adding it later means reinstalling or a careful migration — decide early whether you need it.

Then handle accounts. Create a standard user account for daily work instead of using root or an admin account for everything, and generate an SSH key with ssh-keygen -t ed25519 if you connect to other machines. Set your timezone with timedatectl set-timezone so logs and certificates behave. Skip downloads of random .deb or .rpm files from forums; if a package isn't in your distro's repositories or a well-known Flatpak remote, treat it with suspicion.

Shape the desktop around your habits

Small adjustments here pay off daily. On GNOME, install GNOME Tweaks to change fonts, window buttons and startup applications. On KDE Plasma, System Settings covers almost everything without extra packages. Both have a night light or colour temperature setting worth enabling if you work in the evening.

Spend ten minutes on the terminal, since you'll live in it: pick a readable font, set a sane prompt, and add aliases for the commands you type constantly. Learn two or three keyboard shortcuts and actually use them. If you work with several projects at once, set up workspaces and move windows between them deliberately rather than alt-tabbing through a pile.

Your first-hour plan

If you'd rather follow a sequence than read a list, do it in this order and stop when it stops being fun. The rest can wait until the weekend.

1. Update the system, apply firmware updates, reboot.
2. Install drivers and check each device you own.
3. Configure backups and restore one test file.
4. Install your core apps and sign in.
5. Enable the firewall, automatic updates and a sensible user account.
6. Tweak fonts, shortcuts and the terminal to taste.

Write down what you changed as you go — a short text file in your home directory is enough. Six months from now, when you install the next distribution or rebuild this machine, that note will be worth more than any tutorial. After that, close the terminal and use the computer for something you enjoy.

Photo: Jakub Zerdzicki / Pexels