fleet: disable baloo entirely on every host with KDE/Plasma #5

New Issue

2026-05-03T00:08:58Z

marfrit commented

2026-05-03 00:08:58 +00:00

Goal

On every fleet host that has KDE / Plasma installed, disable baloo and its file-indexing fully — not paused, not throttled. Permanent.

Why

User searches the filesystem with grep. baloo provides no value for this workflow, costs disk + I/O + battery, and on PineTab2-class hardware (ohm) is occasionally enough to thrash a session.

Standard recipe (Plasma 6 / baloo6)

balooctl6 disable           # stop indexer + flip Files=false in baloofilerc
balooctl6 purge             # drop the existing ~/.local/share/baloo index
# belt-and-braces — also mask the user services so a future session can't restart them
systemctl --user mask kde-baloo.service plasma-baloorunner.service 2>/dev/null || true
# autostart override (per-user) so kded5/plasma can't relaunch
mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart/
cat > ~/.config/autostart/baloo_file.desktop <<'D'
[Desktop Entry]
Hidden=true
D

For Plasma 5 hosts (if any survive): same flow with balooctl (no 6 suffix).

Affected hosts (initial guess, confirm per host)

ohm — PineTab2, danctnix Plasma (KDE is the default)
ampere — CoolPi GenBook, Plasma desktop in use during fourier work
fresnel — Pinebook Pro / EndeavourOS, often KDE
meitner — workbench T430; check if KDE is actually installed
Any future fleet laptop (default = disable on first install)

Not affected (no DE): noether, hertz, boltzmann, tesla, fermi, broglie, dcw3/dcw2/dcc1, pve1..4, data, nc, turing.

Verification per host

balooctl6 status            # "Baloo File Indexer is disabled"
ls -la ~/.local/share/baloo/  # should be empty / gone
ps -ef | grep -E '[b]aloo'    # no live process

Persistence

Add to His runbook (hertz:/opt/his-context/agent.md + skill/SKILL.md) so any future fleet enrollment runs this as part of bring-up. Likely a one-line mention in the install recipe + a fuller explainer in a baloo quickref subsection.

## Goal On every fleet host that has KDE / Plasma installed, **disable baloo and its file-indexing fully** — not paused, not throttled. Permanent. ## Why User searches the filesystem with `grep`. baloo provides no value for this workflow, costs disk + I/O + battery, and on PineTab2-class hardware (ohm) is occasionally enough to thrash a session. ## Standard recipe (Plasma 6 / baloo6) ```bash balooctl6 disable # stop indexer + flip Files=false in baloofilerc balooctl6 purge # drop the existing ~/.local/share/baloo index # belt-and-braces — also mask the user services so a future session can't restart them systemctl --user mask kde-baloo.service plasma-baloorunner.service 2>/dev/null || true # autostart override (per-user) so kded5/plasma can't relaunch mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart/ cat > ~/.config/autostart/baloo_file.desktop <<'D' [Desktop Entry] Hidden=true D ``` For Plasma 5 hosts (if any survive): same flow with `balooctl` (no `6` suffix). ## Affected hosts (initial guess, confirm per host) - **ohm** — PineTab2, danctnix Plasma (KDE is the default) - **ampere** — CoolPi GenBook, Plasma desktop in use during fourier work - **fresnel** — Pinebook Pro / EndeavourOS, often KDE - **meitner** — workbench T430; check if KDE is actually installed - Any future fleet laptop (default = disable on first install) Not affected (no DE): noether, hertz, boltzmann, tesla, fermi, broglie, dcw3/dcw2/dcc1, pve1..4, data, nc, turing. ## Verification per host ```bash balooctl6 status # "Baloo File Indexer is disabled" ls -la ~/.local/share/baloo/ # should be empty / gone ps -ef | grep -E '[b]aloo' # no live process ``` ## Persistence Add to His runbook (`hertz:/opt/his-context/agent.md` + `skill/SKILL.md`) so any future fleet enrollment runs this as part of bring-up. Likely a one-line mention in the install recipe + a fuller explainer in a `baloo` quickref subsection.

marfrit commented

2026-05-18 07:30:16 +00:00

Applied 2026-05-18 on UP hosts: ampere, fresnel

Recipe per spec — balooctl6 disable && purge + stale index-lock removal + service-mask + autostart override. Verified ~/.local/share/baloo/ empty on both, balooctl6 status reports disabled, no live baloo procs.

balooctl6 disable
balooctl6 purge
rm -f ~/.local/share/baloo/index-lock   # stale lock baloo doesn't drop itself on disable
systemctl --user mask kde-baloo.service plasma-baloorunner.service
cat > ~/.config/autostart/baloo_file.desktop <<'D'
[Desktop Entry]
Hidden=true
D

Pending hosts (DOWN at time of execution): ohm, meitner

Both were DOWN. Added to runbook as first-login checklist — applied automatically on the operator's next visit. Not opening a follow-up ticket; the runbook entry tracks it.

Runbook updates

hertz:/opt/his-context/agent.md — appended fuller "Baloo disable on KDE/Plasma hosts" section with the full recipe, verify steps, applied/pending host list.
hertz:/opt/his-context/skill/SKILL.md — added "KDE/Plasma hosts — disable baloo on first login" quickref section pointing at agent.md for the full recipe.

Both files publish via claude-his-fetch — no further deployment needed.

Closing

ohm + meitner are tracked in the runbook; closing.

## Applied 2026-05-18 on UP hosts: ampere, fresnel Recipe per spec — `balooctl6 disable && purge` + stale `index-lock` removal + service-mask + autostart override. Verified `~/.local/share/baloo/` empty on both, `balooctl6 status` reports disabled, no live baloo procs. ``` balooctl6 disable balooctl6 purge rm -f ~/.local/share/baloo/index-lock # stale lock baloo doesn't drop itself on disable systemctl --user mask kde-baloo.service plasma-baloorunner.service cat > ~/.config/autostart/baloo_file.desktop <<'D' [Desktop Entry] Hidden=true D ``` ## Pending hosts (DOWN at time of execution): ohm, meitner Both were DOWN. Added to runbook as first-login checklist — applied automatically on the operator's next visit. Not opening a follow-up ticket; the runbook entry tracks it. ## Runbook updates - `hertz:/opt/his-context/agent.md` — appended fuller "Baloo disable on KDE/Plasma hosts" section with the full recipe, verify steps, applied/pending host list. - `hertz:/opt/his-context/skill/SKILL.md` — added "KDE/Plasma hosts — disable baloo on first login" quickref section pointing at agent.md for the full recipe. Both files publish via `claude-his-fetch` — no further deployment needed. ## Closing ohm + meitner are tracked in the runbook; closing.

marfrit closed this issue

2026-05-18 07:30:16 +00:00

marfrit commented

2026-05-18 07:31:23 +00:00

Follow-up — ohm + meitner now also done

User woke both: ohm came back UP on its own, meitner came up via Fritz TR-064 WoL on enp0s25 (MAC 28:D2:44:19:30:6E).

ohm: only plasma-baloorunner.service mask (PineTab2/danctnix lacks kde-baloo.service — different package set). Freed ~1 GB stale index that was sitting around despite indexer being disabled.
meitner: full recipe, no stale state to clean.

Runbook updated to "Pending: none". Full fleet coverage achieved.

## Follow-up — ohm + meitner now also done User woke both: ohm came back UP on its own, meitner came up via Fritz TR-064 WoL on enp0s25 (MAC `28:D2:44:19:30:6E`). - **ohm**: only `plasma-baloorunner.service` mask (PineTab2/danctnix lacks `kde-baloo.service` — different package set). **Freed ~1 GB stale index** that was sitting around despite indexer being disabled. - **meitner**: full recipe, no stale state to clean. Runbook updated to "Pending: none". Full fleet coverage achieved.

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Reference: marfrit/claude-his-agent#5