✨ My Fedora Linux Noble Setup Guide (Post-Installation)

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👋 Hey there!

Since you're here, chances are you've just installed Fedora and now you're looking at a new desktop wondering, "What next?" Fedora may require some configuration after a fresh install, which is why I've put together this guide, containing the basics and everything I've gathered from various sources.

Note: This guide is not an official guide. It's just a sharing of what I used, and some personal settings or preferences that you can skip. Just read and understand what you're doing before applying anything, and don't just copy and paste everything.

💡 Quick heads up about commands:

• When you see sudo at the start, that means "run as admin" it'll ask for your password
• The -y flag just means "yes to everything" so you don't have to keep pressing enter
• Copy-paste is your friend, but always read what you're about to run first

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📋 Table of Contents

Click to expand full guide

• First Things
  • RPM Fusion
  • Updates
  • Firmware Updates
  • Give Your Computer a Name
• Getting More Software
  • Flathub Setup
• Graphics Drivers
  • NVIDIA
  • AMD & Intel
• Making Media Work
  • Video Codecs
  • Hardware Acceleration
  • Firefox Video Fix
• Useful Stuff
  • Archive Support
  • AppImage Support
  • Dual Boot Time Fix
• Backup Your Stuff
  • System Snapshots
  • Personal Files
• Gaming Setup
  • Steam and Gaming
  • Lutris
  • MangoHud
• Apps I Actually Use
  • Browsers
  • Development
  • Containers
  • Multimedia
  • Office Work
  • System Tools
• Desktop Environment
  • GNOME
  • KDE Plasma
• Keeping Things Clean
  • System Cleanup

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First Things

RPM Fusion

Okay, first thing Fedora ships pretty bare-bones because of legal reasons. RPM Fusion is where all the actually useful stuff lives (codecs, drivers, etc.).

# Get the free repository 
sudo dnf install -y \
  https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

# Get the nonfree repository (NVIDIA drivers, some codecs)
sudo dnf install -y \
  https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

# Install AppStream metadata
sudo dnf install rpmfusion-free-appstream-data rpmfusion-nonfree-appstream-data
sudo dnf check-update

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Updates

We need to update because fresh installs always have outdated packages.

# Update everything
sudo dnf update -y

# It is recommended to restart after updating.
sudo reboot

💡 Tip: Make a habit of running sudo dnf update weekly or monthly :).

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Firmware Updates

Your hardware probably has newer firmware available. This actually matters for things like WiFi and battery life.

# See what can be updated
sudo fwupdmgr get-devices

# Refresh the firmware database
sudo fwupdmgr refresh --force

# Check for updates
sudo fwupdmgr get-updates

# Apply them
sudo fwupdmgr update

⚠️ Note: After firmware updates you need a reboot.

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Give Your Computer a Name

This is purely cosmetic but makes you feel more at home :)

# Replace with whatever you want
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname Pizza

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Getting More Software

Flathub Setup

Fedora comes with a neutered version of Flatpak. Flathub is where the actual apps are.

# Remove the limited Fedora repo to prevent conflicts
flatpak remote-delete fedora

Here, I will leave the decision up to you; there are several options. Choose the one that suits you best. Here is a resource that may help you flathub.

Option 1: Full Repository:

Get access to everything Flathub (that include apps that are not officially maintained by their developers):

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Option 2: Verified Apps Only:

Only apps maintained by their actual developers :

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists --subset=verified flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Note: Some popular apps won't show up because they're packaged by the community.

Option 3: Open Source Only:

This for only free and open source software :

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists --subset=floss flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Option 4: Verified + Open Source:

The most restrictive option it include only apps that are both verified by developers and open source :

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists --subset=verified_floss flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

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Graphics Drivers

NVIDIA

NVIDIA drivers on Fedora are best installed via RPM Fusion's akmod-nvidia packages, there are two options for you first with enabled Secure Boot (preferred) or disable it. The choice is yours. The best official source is here RPMFUSION HOW TO NVIDIA for you to look into yourself, while I will try to be brief.

Prerequisites (both options)

Install kernel headers and dev tools:

sudo dnf install kernel-devel kernel-headers gcc make dkms acpid libglvnd-glx libglvnd-opengl libglvnd-devel pkgconfig

For RTX 4000+ GPUs, set open kernel module:

sudo sh -c 'echo "%_with_kmod_nvidia_open 1" > /etc/rpm/macros.nvidia-kmod'

Option 1: Secure Boot Enabled

Install signing tools before driver:

sudo dnf install akmods mokutil openssl
sudo kmodgenca -a
sudo mokutil --import /etc/pki/akmods/certs/public_key.der

Reboot, enroll MOK key in blue screen (set password, confirm), then reboot again.

Install driver:

sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda

Wait 5-15 min for build, you can monitor progress with:(sudo journalctl -f -u akmods). When finished, reboot.

Option 2: Secure Boot Disabled

Disable Secure Boot in BIOS/UEFI settings first.

Then install directly:

sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda

Wait for build, then reboot.

Verification After installation

To verify, the following commands will give you the status of the driver and secure boot.

nvidia-smi
modinfo nvidia
mokutil --sb-state 

🆘 Troubleshooting stuck at 800×600 / black screen / terminal!

The NVIDIA module probably didn't build correctly. Here's what to do:

1. Black screen/low res: Boot into an older kernel:

   • At GRUB menu, select "Advanced Options"
   • Pick the previous kernel version

2. Build fails: Force rebuild:

   sudo akmods --rebuild --force
   sudo reboot

3. Still broken? Check the logs:

   sudo journalctl -u akmods
   dmesg | grep -i nvidia

💡 Tip: After kernel updates, you might need to manually do:

sudo akmods --force --kernels $(uname -r)
sudo reboot

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AMD & Intel

These usually just work, but let's make them work better.

Core Packages (AMD & Intel):

Vulkan and basic acceleration:

sudo dnf install mesa-vulkan-drivers vulkan-loader mesa-libGLU libva-utils

AMD (Video Acceleration):

Replace defaults with freeworld for full codec support (H.264/HEVC):

sudo dnf swap mesa-va-drivers mesa-va-drivers-freeworld mesa-vdpau-drivers mesa-vdpau-drivers-freeworld

Intel (Video Acceleration)

• Intel Newer GPUs (11th Gen+):

# Intel video acceleration (for newer Intel GPUs)
sudo dnf install -y intel-media-driver

• Intel Older GPUs (pre-11th Gen):

# Intel video acceleration (for Grandfather Intel GPUs)
sudo dnf install -y libva-intel-driver

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Making Media Work

Video Codecs

Fedora ships with basically no codecs because of patent issues, so RPM Fusion is required for full H.264, HEVC, VP9, and AV1 support. You can follow the official RPM Fusion guide RPM FUSION How to Multimedia to understand more, but I will summarise it for you.

Swap to full FFmpeg (essential for most apps(

sudo dnf swap ffmpeg-free ffmpeg --allowerasing

Update multimedia group (GStreamer full + codecs)

sudo dnf update @multimedia --setopt="install_weak_deps=False" --exclude=PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin

Optional sound/video group (apps/plugins)

sudo dnf groupupdate sound-and-video

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Hardware Acceleration

This makes video playback use your GPU instead of hammering your CPU.

# Install VA-API stuff
sudo dnf install -y ffmpeg-libs libva libva-utils

NVIDIA users, add this too:

sudo dnf install -y libva-nvidia-driver

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Firefox Video Fix

Firefox needs a little help with H.264 videos.

Install the Cisco codec and enable it:

sudo dnf install -y openh264 gstreamer1-plugin-openh264 mozilla-openh264

sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled fedora-cisco-openh264
sudo dnf update -y

⚠️ Important: Restart Firefox and check that the OpenH264 plugin is enabled in about:addons.

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Useful Stuff

Archive Support

Because you'll definitely need to extract a .rar file someday.

sudo dnf install -y p7zip p7zip-plugins unrar

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AppImage Support

Some apps only come as AppImages. This makes them work.

# Install FUSE
sudo dnf install -y fuse fuse-libs

Optional: AppImage manager (actually pretty useful)

flatpak install -y flathub it.mijorus.gearlever

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Dual Boot Time Fix

If you dual boot with Windows, this fixes the clock being wrong.

Tell Fedora to use UTC for hardware clock

sudo timedatectl set-local-rtc 0 --adjust-system-clock

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Backup Your Stuff

System Snapshots

If you're using Btrfs (default in Fedora), you can take snapshots with btrfs assistant.

sudo dnf install -y btrfs-assistant btrbk snapper

Setup:

Run btrfs-assistant to set up snapshots with a GUI

Enable automatic snapshots:

sudo systemctl enable --now snapper-timeline.timer
sudo systemctl enable --now snapper-cleanup.timer

⚠️ Important: This only backs up system files, not your personal stuff unless you configure it differently.

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Personal Files

Use Déjà Dup for your documents, photos, etc.

Install it From fedora repos :

sudo dnf install -y deja-dup

Or get it from Flathub :

flatpak install -y flathub org.gnome.DejaDup

💡 Tip: Always backup to external storage or cloud, not the same disk.

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Gaming Setup

Steam and Gaming

Install Steam from fedora repos :

sudo dnf install -y steam

📌 Note: If you're using a newer NVIDIA GPU and Steam doesn't launch or acts weird, it's probably a missing dependency issue. Remove the RPM version and install the Flatpak instead with :

sudo dnf remove steam

flatpak install -y flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam

Lutris

Lutris is perfect for managing non-Steam games, emulators, and older titles.

sudo dnf install -y lutris

Or get the Flatpak version:

flatpak install -y flathub net.lutris.Lutris

MangoHud

MangoHud is an overlay that shows FPS, CPU/GPU temps, and more.

sudo dnf install -y mangohud

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Apps I Use

Browsers

Brave

Brave blocks ads, pretty fast:

sudo dnf install dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager addrepo --from-repofile=https://brave-browser-rpm-release.s3.brave.com/brave-browser.repo
sudo rpm --import https://brave-browser-rpm-release.s3.brave.com/brave-core.asc
sudo dnf install -y brave-browser

LibreWolf

LibreWolf is privacy-focused Firefox fork:

# Add the repo
curl -fsSL https://repo.librewolf.net/librewolf.repo | pkexec tee /etc/yum.repos.d/librewolf.repo

# Install the package
sudo dnf install -y librewolf

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Development

VS Code

Visual Studio Code is basically Microsoft telemetry central, but I still use it anyway. If privacy matters, check out VSCodium instead.

# Import Microsoft GPG key
sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

# Add VS Code repository
sudo sh -c 'echo -e "[code]\nname=Visual Studio Code\nbaseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode\nenabled=1\ngpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc" > /etc/yum.repos.d/vscode.repo'

# Install VS Code
sudo dnf install -y code

VS Codium

VSCodium is a community-driven, freely-licensed binary distribution of Microsoft’s editor VS Code.

# Add the GPG key of the repository:
sudo rpmkeys --import https://gitlab.com/paulcarroty/vscodium-deb-rpm-repo/-/raw/master/pub.gpg

# Add VSCodium repository
printf "[gitlab.com_paulcarroty_vscodium_repo]\nname=download.vscodium.com\nbaseurl=https://download.vscodium.com/rpms/\nenabled=1\ngpgcheck=1\nrepo_gpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://gitlab.com/paulcarroty/vscodium-deb-rpm-repo/-/raw/master/pub.gpg\nmetadata_expire=1h\n" | sudo tee -a /etc/yum.repos.d/vscodium.repo

# Install VS Codium
sudo dnf install codium

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Containers

Podman is better than Docker, fight me :)

# Podman core
sudo dnf install -y podman podman-compose podman-docker

# Podman GUI
flatpak install -y flathub io.podman_desktop.PodmanDesktop

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Multimedia

VLC is my go-to multimedia player, but it's totally up to you whether you use it or choose something else:

# Install VLC
sudo dnf install -y vlc

OBS Studio

OBS Studio for screen recording and streaming:

flatpak install -y flathub com.obsproject.Studio

Audacity

Audacity for audio editing:

flatpak install -y flathub org.audacityteam.Audacity

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Office Work

OnlyOffice for better for MS Office compatibility:

flatpak install -y flathub org.onlyoffice.desktopeditors

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System Tools

Mission Center

Mission Center is a cool system monitor:

flatpak install flathub io.missioncenter.MissionCenter

Flatseal

Flatseal manages Flatpak permissions:

flatpak install -y flathub com.github.tchx84.Flatseal

Warehouse

Warehouse provides a simple UI to control complex Flatpak options, all without resorting to the command line.

flatpak install flathub io.github.flattool.Warehouse

Desktop Environment

GNOME

Get GNOME Tweaks

With it you can add minimize/maximize buttons and some gnome tweaks.

sudo dnf install -y gnome-tweaks

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Extra themes (if you're into that)

I stick with default but some people like options. Up to you.

sudo dnf install -y gnome-themes-extra

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Extension Manager

A utility for browsing and installing GNOME Shell Extensions.

flatpak install -y flathub com.mattjakeman.ExtensionManager

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Terminal Transparency

It's just better with it for me:

gsettings set org.gnome.Ptyxis.Profile:/org/gnome/Ptyxis/Profiles/$PTYXIS_PROFILE/ opacity .90

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My must-have extensions:

💡 Disclaimer: It's just my personal preference, do what you want :)

• Vitals - shows CPU/RAM usage in top bar, pretty handy
• Blur my Shell - makes everything look less flat and boring
• Dash to Dock - turns the dock into something actually useful

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KDE Plasma

Latte Dock

Latte Dock for a macOS-like experience:

sudo dnf install -y latte-dock

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Keeping Things Clean

System Cleanup

Clean package cache and remove orphaned packages

sudo dnf clean all

sudo dnf autoremove -y

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👏 Thanks

This guide exists because a bunch of people before me figured this stuff out and shared it. Big thanks to folks like devangshekhawat, paulsorensen, Mohammed Besar, and countless others on forums and Reddit who've helped people get Fedora working properly.

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