aaronhalford · November 28, 2014 19:59 · Nov 28, 2014
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+# Customize Chromebook Chrosh Shell Environment
+
+Requirement: Chromebook, Common Sense, Commandline Ablity, 1 hour of time
+
+Dear developers with a spare Chromebook lets inject a little personalization into your Crosh shell with custom fonts, the solarized theme, and extra secure shell options.
+
+Also, keep in mind that the terms `Chrosh`, `Chrosh Window`, and `Secure Shell` all refer to various versions and extentions built around the ChromeOS terminal. Settings that affect the ChromeOS terminal are global.
+
+## Custom Fonts
+
+If ChromeOS was a normal Linux distribution, adding fonts would be as easy as dropping a font file into the .fonts folder and changing a terminal setting. Sadly, we need to do a bit of work - some of it rather scary - to get custom fonts working with ChromeOS.
+
+### Mounting Root Filesystem as Read-Write
+
+Chromebook must be in **developer mode** and have **rootfs verification turned off** so that the root read only file system can be remounted as read-write. Once this is done, extra fonts can be added to ChromeOS's font folder.
+
+**WARNING: Follow instructions very carefully. Failure to follow these instructions can result in a non-booting Chromebook. If you screw up you will need to restore your Chromebook to stock. You have been warned.**
+
+1. Fire up the Crosh shell with `ctrl+alt+t` 
+
+2. `sudo /usr/share/vboot/bin/make_dev_ssd.sh --remove_rootfs_verification`
+
+3. The above command will fail and tell you to run with --partitions N flag at the end where N can be any number. Run the command again with the new flag.
+
+4. `sudo crossystem dev_boot_signed_only=0`
+
+5. The above command turns the verification check off. Because of step 2, the Chromebook will fail to boot if the verificaiton check is on.
+
+6. `sudo mount -o remount,rw /` 
+
+7. Reboot your Chromebook. The root file system is now mounted as read-write. 
+
+Congrats. The dangerous part of the setup is done.
+
+### Font Folder Location and Font Install
+
+Fonts in .ttf format can be installed to the folder `/usr/share/fonts/croscore/`
+
+Installing either the normal or powerline patched versions of your favorite monospaced fonts to the aforementioned folder is required for proper configuration of the font family settings in Secure Shell a bit latter.
+
+[https://github.com/Lokaltog/powerline-fonts](https://github.com/Lokaltog/powerline-fonts)
+
+I prefer the powerline patched version of Ubuntu Mono. Other mono space fonts - including Adobe's Source Code Pro - are great fonts for Crosh usage too!
+
+
+### Add Required Chrome Extentions
+
+To further customize our Crosh window, install both **Secure Shell** and the **Crosh Window** extentions from the Chrome Web Store.
+
+* [Secure Shell](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhechapfaindjhompbnflcldabbghjo?hl=en)
+* [Crosh Window](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/crosh-window/nhbmpbdladcchdhkemlojfjdknjadhmh?hl=en-US)
+
+
+### Sett Up Chrosh's Font-Family and Font-Size
+
+ChromeOS `apps` menu > right click on the Secure Shell icon > select `options`
+
+Change the terminal settings as you see fit. Pay special attention to:
+
+#### font-family 
+
+Keep in mind ChromeOS will only load the first avaliable font that you specified in the font-family field. If you wan to use a custom font make sure you added it as the first entry. For example, if using Ubuntu Mono add `"Ubuntu Mono", ` in front of the current font stack to properly add Ubuntu Mono
+
+#### font-size
+
+Since Ubuntu Mono is slighly smaller than the default font, you may want to bump the size up from 15 to a modestly larger 16 or 17.
+
+## Solarized Color Theme
+
+It's almost criminal how easy it is to install solarized for Crosh.
+
+* Download a solarized prefs.js file. Two good options are:
+
+  * [giraj/solarized-crosh](https://github.com/giraj/solarized-crosh)
+  * [johnbender/prefs.js](https://gist.github.com/johnbender/5018685)
+
+I'm including the code for the prefs.js file I used for convenience.
+
+```
+// Disable bold 
+term_.prefs_.set('enable-bold', false) 
+
+// Use this for Solarized Dark 
+term_.prefs_.set('background-color', "#002b36");
+term_.prefs_.set('foreground-color', "#839496");
+
+// Solarized Colors
+term_.prefs_.set('color-palette-overrides', [
+  '#073642', 
+  '#dc322f', 
+  '#859900', 
+  '#b58900', 
+  '#268bd2', 
+  '#d33682', 
+  '#2aa198', 
+  '#eee8d5', 
+  '#002b36', 
+  '#cb4b16', 
+  '#586e75', 
+  '#657b83', 
+  '#839496', 
+  '#6c71c4', 
+  '#93a1a1', 
+  '#fdf6e3'
+]);
+```
+
+* Open the Chrome Javascript Console `ctrl+shift+j`
+* Paste the contents of your solarized `prefs.js` file into the console
+* Hit `enter`
+
+## Further Customizations
+
+Loading a Crosh Window based Ubuntu 14.04 Chroot is the best way to make use of the customizations.
+
+* [dnschneid/crouton](https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton) with `sudo sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -r trusty -t cli-extra`
+
+For powerline patched font use in vim:
+
+* add [bling/vim-airline](https://github.com/bling/vim-airline) to vim 
+* edit your `.vimrc` to include `let g:airline_powerline_fonts = 1`
+
+For powerline patched font use in tmux:
+
+* Install `ZSH shell`, `oh-my-zsh`, and set the `zsh-theme` to `agnoster`
+
+## Fin
+
+Thanks for reading!