[thelist] Newbie with First Ubuntu Server

[Todd Richards]

Thanks Raoul.  I will make sure that Postfix is installed.  No plans to use
it for hosting email at this time.

I have looked at the Ubuntu website - a TON.  Great stuff.  But there is SO
much stuff that I might have just missed some things.  I'll keep looking
though!

I will keep diving into my book and the Ubuntu site and learn as much as I
can about it.  The good thing is that when I was learning Windows, I was
also learning about some of the general networking stuff.  So at least now
when I'm reading through my book I can say "no, I don't need it to handle
DHCP."

I do like that there is more than one way to do things.  I want go to get a
handle around this, not only for my sites but also to use on our network.  I
think I can learn to like it!  :)

I will look over the link to the blog too.  Most of the time, I just need
some place to start, and every little bit (usually) helps.  So thank you!

Todd


-----Original Message-----
From: thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org
[mailto:thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org] On Behalf Of Raoul Snyman
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 1:57 PM
To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
Subject: Re: [thelist] Newbie with First Ubuntu Server

On Tuesday 12 January 2010 17:27:53 Todd Richards wrote:
> Thanks Raoul -
> 
> Yes, for now PHP sites with MySQL backend.  I do not believe that I
>  installed a mail server yet because I actually operate a Windows mail
>  server separate from my web server(s) that I use to send mail through
>  (even for my websites).  If that's not ideal for this scenario, however,
>  then I can install Postfix.

Postfix is an MTA - Mail Transfer Agent. If you're going to be sending mail 
from that box, I'd suggest installing Postfix. It's far easier than trying
to 
configure the box to use an external MTA.

You'll only need dovecot/courier if you want to use the box to host e-mail.

> Sorry, I did  mean "root" (rather than "rooter").  I do have a GUI
>  installed but thus far have been using the command line while following
>  instructions.  I have to admit it's not bad (as long as there is
something
>  to follow - you can't just hunt and peck to find stuff).  But again,
>  compared to Windows it seems like a much more tedious process.  If that's
>  true, then fine.  But I have a feeling there is so much "basics" out
>  there, and I don't even know how to start looking.

Have you looked at the Ubuntu documentation? The official Ubuntu
documentation 
has a brief overview of everything, and is a good place to start. Once
you're 
up to speed on the terms and the names of applications, look at the
community 
documentation. I've set up my servers from the community documentation.

Although I've been using Linux for the last 5 or so years, I'm chiefly a 
desktop user and I'm no sysadmin. I've found the Ubuntu community 
documentation to generally be of a high standard, and it has helped me a
great 
deal in the past. If there's one thing you should do, it's read read read. 
There's tons of information out there :-)

> For instance, when I set up a new site in Windows, I:
> - Create the folder location for the website
> - Set up the site in IIS, pointing to the correct location for the site
and
>  log files - Set up an FTP account
> - Set up a database in MS SQL Server (if needed)
> 
> Is the process kind of the same in Linux?  Are there any scripts or
>  anything out there to facilitate this?  If I start hosting several sites,
>  what is the best way to manage them?  Is there a "Tips and Tricks" sheet
>  to this, or a "What the books didn't tell you" site?  :)

There isn't really anything like that for Linux because there are many ways
to 
do what you want to do, and so most folks "roll their own" as it were.

A number of years ago I setup an internal server at home that runs a few 
services, including hosting multiple sites, and blogged about it for the 
benefit of myself and others. You won't want to use all of the stuff I did, 
but I did post an Apache virtual host setup with a nice script that creates 
the vhost and does a few other things for you. You'll want to trim the
script 
down for your own use.

http://blog.saturnlaboratories.co.za/2007/01/01/howto_ubuntu_home_lan_server
.html

> I'm not trying to cheat and not do thing the right way (and understand
them
>  along the way), I just want to make sure I AM doing things the right -
and
>  most efficient way possible.

With Linux there is more than one "right" way of doing things. Most folks do

what works for them.

Hope this helps.

-- 
Raoul Snyman, B.Tech IT (Software Engineering)
Saturn Laboratories
m: 082 550 3754
e: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za 
w: www.saturnlaboratories.co.za 
b: blog.saturnlaboratories.co.za
-- 

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