We are presenting our traditional Fedora release article – “10 Things to Do After Installing Fedora 40”, with post-install tweaks.
In this article, we will talk about a few post-install tips for Fedora 40 workstation edition. These are a good starting point if you are installing a fresh Fedora 40 workstation edition for all user base.
Here are the ten things which you can do after installing Fedora 40.
10 things to do after installing Fedora 40 (GNOME Edition)
Making dnf a little faster
The dnf package manager may feel a little slow as per the default configuration. And the upcoming dnf5 is yet to land in Fedora (currently planned for 41). Hence, you can make the following changes at the beginning, to make it a little faster.
Open a terminal window and open the dnf configuration file via the default text editor.
sudo gnome-text-editor /etc/dnf/dnf.conf
Add the following line at the end of the file and save/close. This allows dnf to download that many packages in parallel. You can use any value from 3 to 20.
max_parallel_downloads=10
Switch to a faster dnf mirror
In addition to the above change, in the same dnf configuration file, add the following line at the end:
fastestmirror=True
Save and close the text editor. This is sufficient to make the dnf app performance faster.
dnf configurations
Update your system
Once you make the above changes, it’s a good idea to refresh your system. This is to ensure that you have all the latest packages and modules before you start using them or making further changes.
To do that, you can open the Software app and hit check for updates.
Or, I would recommend you open a terminal and run these simple commands.
sudo dnf upgrade
Upgrading Fedora 40
Enable RPM Fusion
I recommend enabling the RPM Fusion repo since it provides additional packages (including non-free ones). It would help with the future installation of several applications (such as Java, JRE, FFmpeg, etc.). The RPM Fusion is a community-contributed repo, a collection of non-free and additional packages Fedora Linux cannot ship in its official ISO file due to license and other terms.
To enable RPM Fusion in Fedora 40, open a terminal and run the following commands in sequence.
sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
After completing the above commands, run the following to update your system.
sudo dnf upgrade –refreshsudo dnf groupupdate core
Firmware Updates
If your hardware manufacturer supports a special firmware package for Linux, you can quickly check them and get those updates via the following sequence of commands. However, it may not always be available, but it is worth trying.
sudo fwupdmgr refresh –forcesudo fwupdmgr get-updatessudo fwupdmgr update
Learn to use new version dnf5
The new and advanced version of dnf package manager dnf5 has been included since the last few Fedora releases in the repo. It will be available by default from the future release onwards.
However, you can install it today and take advantage of the fastest dnf ever. Here’s how you can install it.
sudo dnf install dnf5 dnf5-plugins
After installation, you can start using dnf5 instead of dnf from the command line. You can check man pages dnf5 –help for more commands.
Installing dnf5 in Fedora 40
Install GNOME Tweaks
The GNOME Tweaks is the essential application for Fedora 40 Workstation. It helps you manage many areas of your GNOME desktop, such as changing fonts, applying GTK themes, etc. To install it, open a terminal and run the following command.
sudo dnf install gnome-tweaks
Explore unrestricted flathub apps
Fedora 40 pre-loads Flatpak by default. It also enables unrestricted access to all Flathub apps. All you need to do is to enable the flathub remote (which is disabled by default) using the below command.
flatpak remote-modify –enable flathub
So, you can now visit Flathub’s official website to install thousands of Flatpak apps. Alternatively, you can use GNOME Software to install Flathub apps, which now brings a better experience of Flatpak apps such as it is now possible to remove user data when uninstalling Flatpaks.
Enabling Flathub in Fedora 40
Install Extension Manager App
After you set up Flathub in the above step, install the most needed app, i.e. “Extensions Manager“. It allows you to search, install and remove hundreds of GNOME extensions right from the desktop. You do not need to visit the official web page to install it.
To install the Extension Manager app, open a terminal and run the following.
flatpak install flathub com.mattjakeman.ExtensionManager
Wondering which extensions to install? Check out the next tip.
Install these recommended GNOME Extensions
You can extend the GNOME 46 experience with more extensions.
You can also check out specific customizations of quick settings and GNOME’s top bar using the guides below.
Bonus Tip(s)
And finally, here are four bonus tips exclusively for you.
Install Recommended Applications
The default Fedora 40 workstation brings only default applications, which are not sufficient for the functioning of the desktop. Here’s a quick set of commands which enables you to install them. They include a torrent client, a good media player, a little advanced photo editor, etc.
Copy and paste these into the terminal to install.
sudo dnf install -y vlcsudo dnf install -y steamsudo dnf install -y transmissionsudo dnf install -y gimpsudo dnf install -y gearysudo dnf install -y dropbox nautilus-dropboxsudo dnf install -y unzip p7zip p7zip-plugins unrar
If you prefer Flatpaks, here’s the command for that.
flatpak install flathub org.videolan.VLC
flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam
flatpak install flathub com.transmissionbt.Transmission
flatpak install flathub org.gimp.GIMP
flatpak install flathub org.gnome.Geary
Enable Battery percentage in tray (not in quick settings)
If you want to view the battery percentage at the system tray, run the following command to show it via settings.
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface show-battery-percentage true
Install nice-looking fonts
GNOME desktop’s default font on Fedora 40 is perfect. But if you crave more, here are some of the cool fonts you can install. After installation, you can use the GNOME Tweak Tool to change.
sudo dnf install -y ‘google-roboto*’ ‘mozilla-fira*’ fira-code-fonts
TLP
Finally, you should install TLP if you are a Laptop user. TLP is a great utility to help optimize your Laptop’s battery. This utility comes with various command-line options to tweak and view reports about power consumption. All you need to do is install and forget it. It takes care of the basic power-saving optimizations. Remember not to use TLP with any other power management tweaks.
sudo dnf install tlp tlp-rdw
Closing Notes
I hope you enjoyed reading these tips and applying some of them. So, what is your favorite must-do post-install tip? Let me know in the comment box down below!