linod 512 offer true root access?

Yes, it's full root access. Once booted, it looks just like (currently) a quad-core Xeon server. You have full filesystem access to your Linode.

Several Linux distributions are available (Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian and others), but they are mostly stock installs. You can choose to install software like Apache/Tomcat through the package manager of the distro you choose. Cpanel is not available from Linode, you would have to purchase it directly from cPanel.

I would add a caveat to "full root access" though:

Cliff's comment in http://library.linode.com/linode-platfo … grub-howto">http://library.linode.com/linode-platform/custom-instances/pv-grub-howto highlights the problem of pv-grub and Centos.

I have found this to be a real problem trying to install an openvz kernel, whereas it's a breeze with another VPS provider.

I'd also just suggest creating one and taking a peek. You may be surprised how fast it is to get started (at least with a basic distribution). Obviously it is within a Xen virtualized environment, but otherwise control of your own Linode is pretty much in your hands. Of course, if you're most used to shared hosting, you may at the same time be surprised at how directly you have to manage the system.

You've got a 7-day money back guarantee, so nothing to lose by testing it to assure yourself that you can do anything you might want.

– David

thanks guys, looks like this is the real deal. I will give it a shot tonight.

All i want to do is deploy j2ee war/ear apps using tomcat and have full control over them. I couldnt believe how lacking such basic requirement are in the non-dedicated retail webhosting when trying to find a cheap host provider that does this.

To be honest, I wouldn't exactly consider Tomcat to be a "basic requirement"… it is quite resource-intensive, and Java is a bit of a niche language/architecture for web applications.

That said, it ought to work! Just be aware of memory requirements for your apps, and know how to tweak memory settings.

(Mr Nod: Xen domU support didn't make it into the standard Linux kernel until ~2.6.25 or thereabouts, and it wasn't "production-grade" for a few versions after that… anything prior to that is a custom-patched crap shoot. RHEL 6 is coming around the bend with 2.6.32, so that will probably make life better. See also http://wiki.openvz.org/Download/kernel/rhel6)

@hoopycat:

To be honest, I wouldn't exactly consider Tomcat to be a "basic requirement"… it is quite resource-intensive, and Java is a bit of a niche language/architecture for web applications.

It is a basic requirement if that is what he needs to do.

It is most certainly not a niche language or architecture. Check the job postings.

@Mr Nod:

I would add a caveat to "full root access" though:

Cliff's comment in http://library.linode.com/linode-platfo … grub-howto">http://library.linode.com/linode-platform/custom-instances/pv-grub-howto highlights the problem of pv-grub and Centos.

I have found this to be a real problem trying to install an openvz kernel, whereas it's a breeze with another VPS provider.

It is untrue that kernel-xen doesn't work on Linode.

http://library.linode.com/linode-platfo … o#centos_5">http://library.linode.com/linode-platform/custom-instances/pv-grub-howto#centos_5

See the updated guide on using the native CentOS 5 kernel. yum update works perfectly too.

pparadis is updating this page for Fedora 14 soon.

Initial setup done. Well this is awesome! 20 bucks and i have a full fledged ubuntu 10.10 with root access :)

Followed the instructions to update/install, i am not a sys admin so a lot of it looks greek to me but managed to get it done.

installed ispconfig 3.0.3

installed apache2

installed tomcat7

installed mysql

tries to install mod_jk, head explodes

realized dont need apache since i am running all java

uninstalls apache, change tomcat to port 80

realized ispconfig runs off php(apache) doh!!

reinstalls apache…

So now i will just have tomcat running on port 80, when i need to use ispconfig, i will shut down tomcat, start apache, then once done with ispconfig, shutdown apache, start tomcat

Probably not the most elegant solution lol, but i think it should work ok

@jebblue:

It is a basic requirement if that is what he needs to do.

It is most certainly not a niche language or architecture. Check the job postings.

I worded that poorly; I meant it's not a basic requirement for typical web applications found outside of the enterprise, especially those one might want to run on consumer-grade shared web hosts. It's not a knock on Java or anyone; I don't expect the corner store to have brie, nor would I necessarily trust the quality and suitability of brie from the corner store. The grocery store, on the other hand, will have brie and it will be good, but it is not as convenient. If I'm looking for beer, though, the corner store can be reasonably expected to have it (unless I want good beer, or I'm in Canada, or something).

And yes, there is plenty of work out there for the Java tradesperson, and it is not an enterprise-only language by any means (indeed, a major VPS provider's public-facing provisioning platform is powered by Java). However, I caution that most of the job listings I look at these days want MATLAB skills, so job listings are not an indication of what you're going to reasonably run on a commodity web host :-)

(Hmmmm…. now that's a thought…)

@newguy05:

So now i will just have tomcat running on port 80, when i need to use ispconfig, i will shut down tomcat, start apache, then once done with ispconfig, shutdown apache, start tomcat

Probably not the most elegant solution lol, but i think it should work ok

You can run Apache on a port other than 80 (the Listen directive), or you can use Apache as a proxy on port 80 to proxy traffic to Tomcat on another port. The first option is probably easiest. Saves having to log in and shuffle stuff around :-)

(And by "Apache" I mean "Apache HTTP Server", as opposed to "Apache Tomcat", which is still as much "Apache" as "Apache HTTP Server", but it goes by "Tomcat" while the other goes by "Apache".)

(The forums are so much more fun after I've read a few dozen pages of philosophical texts.)