Install MATE or XFCE on CentOS 7

Which desktop environment you prefer is very personal. Each of them has its advantages and, unfortunately, also its disadvantages.

Recently, I started to like MATE since it’s lightweight and customizable in a way I personally like. Before, I was a fan of XFCE for similar reasons but somehow I got a little tired and irritated of it’s shortcomings.

This post covers how to install any of those on top of a minimal install since this means it can be installed on top of almost every type of installation in regards to package selection and dependencies.

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Use iptables instead of firewalld in RHEL 7 or CentOS 7

If you, like me, can’t get used to the “new” firewalld in RHEL/CentOS 7 or you have some automation scripts that expect iptables, then I’ve got good news for you :) It’s rather easy to disable firewalld and go back to a “normal” iptables configuration as it used to be.

There are no special tricks involved and/or custom actions that would break your system or put it in a way that you have to be affraid of updating.

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Migrate RHEL7 to CentOS7

A migration from RHEL7 to CentOS7 could be something that is needed in certain cases. While re-installing the OS and tranferring your files and settings is not undoable, it creates a lot of effort and possible chance for downtime. Therefor it’s much more handy when an in-place migration between the two can be done. CentOS uses the same package-source as RHEL and tries to be as close as it can be to Red Hat with their distribution. It’s basically RHEL without logo’s, support and licensing.

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