Fedora releases a new version in approximately every 6 months. Each now version is supported with updates for 13 months in total. The distribution is a good place to get the latest stable software and technologies consistently.
The latest stable version is currently Fedora 37, you can download it from the Fedora official website.
15 Things to do After Installing Fedora 37
If you are a new Fedora user, you may be wondering about what to do after installation. This guide will help you through this part.
1. Run a System Update
This should be pretty obvious in any new installation for any Linux distribution. In most cases, there are a lot of updates and bug fixes for problems which may exist in the new release. Running an update for your system packages would be a wise decision to do before starting to use the system and complain later about problems which may already be solved.
To update your system, simply run the following command:
sudo dnf update
2. Enable RPM Fusion
Due to Fedora policy on shipping packages which do follow certain standards and rules related to patents and liberty of software. Some packages are not available to be installed from the official Fedora repositories. Most of the time, you can find those packages that you need in RPM Fusion. It’s a repository which ships what Fedora doesn’t accept.
There are two repositories to add here: One of them is the free repository which only contains free software, and which you can install by running:
sudo rpm -Uvh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
And the non-free repository, which, just as its name suggests, contains non-free software:
sudo rpm -Uvh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
After you’ve added those repositories. You can go ahead and install any package you need from RPM Fusion. If you don’t know what you are looking for, consider using the search box at their website.
3. Enable Fastest Mirror Plugin
DNF offers a set of modules which you can enable on your system.
Fastest mirror is a plugin which simply determines the nearest mirror available to you right now. If you are located in China, then instead of downloading packages from US, it will try to find a mirror near your geographical location to make the download process faster.
To enable the plugin, append the following line into your /etc/dnf/dnf.conf file:
fastestmirror=true
The plugin will work automatically from now on when you run DNF.
4. Install Fedy
Fedy is a graphical tool which allows you to tweak your Fedora system in few clicks. The application allows you to run a set of pre-defined system commands which will install and configure a lot of stuff. From normal apps to themes and passing by various tweaks to the system, Fedy can almost do everything you may need on Fedora.
It can ever install GPU drivers, network drivers, development tools, multimedia codecs, extra fonts… Much and much more.
To install Fedy on the latest Fedora release make sure that you’ve already enabled the RPM Fusion repositories in the previous stop, and then run the following commands:
sudo dnf copr enable kwizart/fedy
sudo dnf install fedy -y
Notice that you need to activate RPMFusion repositories before you start using Fedy (Or some software you install will give you errors).
5. Get Important Firefox Addons
Firefox is the default web browser in Fedora. Since you are – probably – going to use it everyday. It’s better for you to try a set of different addons and extensions:
- uBlock Origin: The famous ad-blocker plugin. Please make sure to add us to the whitelist!
- Privacy Badger: Block tracking scripts and other 3rd-party online tracking software.
- Bitwarden: Free and open source password manager that you can use to secure your login credentials on websites.
- Cookies AutoDelete: Automatically clears cookies associated with the opened tab once you close it, which greatly secures your privacy. You should toggle the “Active mode” from the settings after installing it, and make sure to set the cleaning duration to “1 seconds”.
- Swift Selection Search: Easily search the selected text across any search engine/website you want according to your own needs.
If you care for privacy and security, then check the following list of privacy addons for Firefox. You may also check our other list about general useful addons for Firefox.
6. Install Steam
If you like having some games on your PC to enjoy from time to time, then Steam is definitly the way to go on Linux. 25% of all games on Steam now support Linux. Which is why it’s a must if you are a gamer.
After you have enabled the non-free RPM Fusion repository, you can install Steam on Fedora using:
sudo dnf install steam
Also read the following post on how to enable Steam Play on Linux to run Windows games.
7. Install VLC To Play Multimedia Files
One of the most famous multimedia players all over the world. Its main feature is that it can run the multimedia formats you may see and supports all codecs. Above that, it’s free and open source.
A simple DNF command would work:
sudo dnf install vlc
8. Install GNOME Tweaks
The default desktop in Fedora Workstation is GNOME. Sadly it does not come with a lot of customization options by default, but you can install the GNOME Tweaks software for additional settings that you can adjust.
To install it, apply the the following command:
sudo dnf install gnome-tweaks
9. Restore Minimize and Maximize Window Buttons
For some historic reasons, GNOME desktop ships with a lot of autistic choices when it comes to user experience. You’ve probably noticed that when you saw that there are no minimize or maximize buttons in any of your open windows.
To restore them back, open your GNOME Tweaks and apply the following:
10. Customize GNOME Shell
You can customize your GNOME Shell desktop further by installing additional extensions. All what you need to do is to head to extensions.gnome.org and install the extensions you like. This is a quick list:
- User Themes: A must-have extension. In order to be able to use themes from your
~/.themesfolder, you must install this extension first. - Frippery Move Clock: Moves the clock to the right side of the panel.
- Frippery Panel Favorites: Adds your favorite applications to the panel as icons.
- Tray Icons: Restore the system tray icons on the GNOME panel for your minimized and supported applications. If it doesn’t work with you, then you can enable the Appindicator Support extension instead.
- gTile: Very nifty extension to divide your screen among opened applications as a grid.
You may wish to install more GNOME extensions according to your needs, for which you can check our full list of the recommended GNOME extensions.
Additionally, you may download GTK+ 3 themes, GNOME Shell themes and icon themes from Gnome-look.org.
11. Setup Dropbox
Backups are really important, and I recommend setting them up in all posts related to Linux distributions configurations. My laptop was stolen once and it had a lot of projects and unfinished drafts which sadly were not in my backups, and I lost them forever. That’s why I feel obligated to say it over and over: People, always set up a backup plan.
Dropbox is one of the common methods to use for backups. You can install the Dropbox Linux client on your Fedora installation from the official website.
Additionally, you may check Duplicati, the open source backup solution, if you would like to manage your own backup infrastructure.
After that, you can open Dropbox from the applications menu in order to start configuring it. Later on you will have a folder called “Dropbox” in your home folder. You can use it to sync your files across your devices and with your Dropbox account.
12. Understand Btrfs
Btrfs is the default filesystem in Fedora starting from version 33. It is a copy-on-write filesystem which allows you to keep snapshots (backups) of many folders and files on your system, so that you can restore older versions of them any time a problem happens. Btrfs provides much more features than that too, and it became the default filesystem during installation starting from Fedora 33.
You can still get the old ext4 filesystem during installation, but the default selection right now will be Btrfs.
However, there is no easy way to interact with Btrfs in Fedora 35, you’ll have to master the command line utilities designed to interact with it so that you can employ it for your needs. No GUI tools by default, no handbooks, no guides… Nothing.
A good introduction for learning Btrfs can be found in our Linux filesystems article, beside the official Btrfs guide and the ArchWiki page. You mainly need to learn the btrfs command, so you may want to view its man page:
man btrfs
13. Check Power Profiles
In Fedora 36, you can choose the power profiles you want for your PC from the power settings in the GNOME Control Center. This is useful if you were running the distribution on your laptop for example and you wanted to save battery power, then you can choose the “Power save” mode instead of the normal mode to do it in one click:
You can switch between these modes back and forth whenever you need from your user menu in the GNOME desktop:
14. Enable Sound Over-amplification
From GNOME Tweaks, you can choose to over amplify the sound up to %150, which should help you if your audio device has a low sound volume or the video/audio content you were listening to had a low sound volume:
15. Get a VPN
a VPN protects your privacy by shielding your Internet connection from your ISP and other possible intruders. It is essential to own a VPN in 2022, especially with the rise of authoritarian governments around the world, and the slow collapse of even the democratic ones.
You can get any VPN you like, but the most privacy-respecting ones are ProtonVPN, MullvadVPN and NordVPN.
For the last one, we can offer a 60% discount for FOSS Post readers if they sign up using the following link. A 2-years plan could cost you just $78 (Then $100 after 2 years), and you can get additional encrypted storage/encrypted password manager with it, if you wish.
This tutorial also shows you how to use NordVPN on Linux from the command line client.
What Further After Installing Fedora 37?
Simply use it!
Remember that your Linux distribution is just a tool for you to do real work. Don’t do “distro hopping” and move from one distribution to another. This will waste your time and you will rarely advance in your Linux learning curve.
That said, Fedora is a good Linux distribution for power users and advanced Linux experts wishing always to get the latest software and technologies. For example, Fedora was one of the first distributions to move to Wayland and Pipewire.
Conclusion
This was our list for things to do after installing Fedora 37. Now you should be ready to start using your new OS on daily bases according to your needs.
Remember that Fedora – like any other distribution – is pretty much customizable. If you don’t like something in the system, you can simply change it to what you want.
What are some other things that you do after installing Fedora? Share them with us in comments.
Hanny is a computer science & engineering graduate with a master degree, and an open source software developer. He has created a lot of open source programs over the years, and maintains separate online platforms for promoting open source in his local communities.
Hanny is the founder of FOSS Post.
People reacted to this story.
Show comments Hide commentsI suggest you try Long path tool is the very good
program for easily delete, copy & rename long path
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Try it and solve your problem.
Dont change /etc/dnf/dnf.conf because dnf update and upgrade wont work anymore
What do you mean by that? Can you elaborate?
If you have sample commands to type in, perhaps you should make them so I can highlight them to copy. The REST of the text on the page is selectable, but the terminal commands, the things you would WANT to copy, cannot be selected.
Why you mad though? You could express yourself in a nicer way.
I’ll see what we can do regarding that.
Fedora errors out when playing Youtube half the time, and also has problems on reddit. I don’t understand how everyone can like this dysfunctional distro.
Not sure what you are talking about. I’ve been running Fedora 32 on my laptop constantly (no reboots) with YT playing music or videos all day long and have yet to have a crash of any kind. I’m a sample of one but it is an answer to your question for myself.
This is a fallacy. I have installed Fedora since Fedora 23, never had these issues. Also, have done this through many hardware configurations.
If such is your experience on your fedora install, it’s your experience on your install. I can say that it’s never been my experience. And, in addition, I’ve been using Fedora on at least one of my machines since Fedora Core 1.
I keep trying other distros but still come back to Fedora Workstation. They make much more effort to get it working out of the box, eg printers. Others especially Arch based haven’t mastered it yet. Fedora is No.1 in my view and FOSS makes it even easier. How do I install SSD trim?
Hi Tony,
As far as I know, SSD Trim is already enabled by default in Fedora 32. You don’t need to do anything. For further reading refer to this page: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/EnableFSTrimTimer
Hi Hanny,
I found it and enabled it now.
Thanks
I keep asking this question and so far nobody has answered, even Redhat has an article, but it’s from about five years ago. Is there a “connect to wireless display” for Linux, as in Windows. As Lenovo and Fedora are producing a lapton with Fedora installed, I wonder if that will have it. Any ideas?
I honestly don’t know, I have never owned such wireless display before, so sadly I can’t help in this area.
There is a flatpak for this and it is a gnome tool. It’s called Network Display https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.gnome.NetworkDisplays
I liked your article, but I must critique it. Fedy is unnecessary for quite some time now. All of the applications you need from Fedy are available as a flatpak and can be enabled from the software center. I think it’s more useful to demonstrate the use of the software center (sandwich menu) to enable 3rd party repositories and update preferences. No need for command line copy/paste anymore for it ! Also, adding flathub for software installs !
i think these features, while not covered are more impoirtant for users more accustomed to GUI updates and software installs. Fedy is just not it anymore.
Also, for quite some time now, it has been considered not the thing to do to install and use Fedy, citing concerns over it.
moving to linux, i had tried numerious \’gaming\’ distros including ua linux gamepack, supergamer, ultimateedition 6.6 gamers, and some others that weren\’t game orientated like ubuntu studio. i like little parts of all of them, but so far fedora 33 games has been the easiest to use and setup. it\’s also very responsive and responsible in how it handles my system. i can\’t believe this guide was so easy to follow, and more so, that it actually works. sudo dnf install baby! lol.. im having some fun. thank you for introducing me to my first fedora install ever!
I don’t specially the corporate side of youtube, but on Fedora 34 (and before) I have never had a problem to use youtube.
Because it has been issues with NVIDIA video, could you post if that is what you have?
Andre G.
I have surface laptop go .I am using fedura 36 .how to install biomatric login on my laptop?
This might help: https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/session-fingerprint.html.en
fastestmirror is not necessary and can be counterproductive. The dnf repo system automatically routes your system to the fastest available mirror. It does seem like a good suggestion, especially for former Ubuntu or Mint users who are used to manually enacting this. Fedora devs decided to handle this server side.