Setup VPS for 'standard' web hosting
I found the LAMP guide on the site, and have followed it successfully. Basic testing with the IP address works fine, though I haven't migrated my site across yet and thus haven't been able to test php and mysql scripting. And I haven't yet tested wtih a domain based url as my site is still live on another server awaiting this one to be ready.
I've also installed Webmin, Usermin and phpMyAdmin. Webmin and Usermin are working fine but phpMyAdmin install isn't working yet. I can't figure out what url:port to use in order to test it.
Unfortunately in a production environment, LAMP is only the beginning of what is needed. There are many other things needed for a secure production server.
I want to setup POP Email with authentication, SMTP to enable scripting access to emails (with authentication), spam and anti-virus control. Not sure if I need DNS and firewall. Webmail, FTP and sub-domains would be handy. Many of these things were handled by cPanel on my old server.
I'm aware that there are choices for some applications (eg: nginx, Apache, …) And making the choice determines what else needs to be installed.
Is there a check-list or article that lists/describes all the packages/applications, modules, plug-in's, components and sub-components, etc etc etc that are required?
I am able to follow the various guides available, just not sure which things are relevant to my needs.
Cheers,
Nap
9 Replies
The first thing I did when I moved to Linode from shared hosting was to install ISPConfig 3 following their tutorials on Ubuntu 10.04. I'm sure I could have gotten everything working without it, I've administered Linux once before but it sure made life a whole lot easier.
I've heard a couple of people on the ISPConfig forums say the Linode tutorials weren't always successful. This is the tutorial I followed which is looked after by the ISPConfig people:
It starts on page 3 because the first two pages are all about installing Ubuntu. If you do decide to do this, flatten the Linode (or deploy another disk image) and start over with a fresh install of Ubuntu 10.04 with no stack scripts. Everything just worked with very little trouble when I was done. I suggest though that you DO NOT choose the option to allow ISPConfig to configure your network once you have everything installed.
thanks for you reply. HowtoForge is an awesome site!!
I've used ISPConfig before (on a Debian box I setup on a LAN for development). Is this relevant for me here as I am not intending to re-sell domains?
I do have 2 domains I want to move to my linode once I have it running. But as these are live domains, I'm not ready to change my DSN pointers yet. My understanding is that ISPConfig requires you to send http requests with domain names, not IP's. So this is a problem for me. I have made an entry in my HOST file so I can put a fake domain name in my browser, but that fake domain is FAKE.
Since posting, I've been able to successfully test my PHP setup [phpinfo() is displaying it's stuff]. But my phpMyAdmin is still not working (not found) even with the correctly formatted URL x.x.x.x/phpmyadmin.
But my main concern is an over-all security issue. Once I know what I need, I am able to find help, but the question is What do I need in a production environment?
An example I have in mind is EMAILs. I can setup a mail server without difficulty. But unless I do it right, the server can be hijacked by anonymous persons. So I have to install SMTP_AUTH ( I think) to ensure that sending mail requires a valid username, hence preventing unauthorised access.
That is why I'm looking for a check list of Packages that need to be install (and configured).
Cheers,
Nap
@The Other Air Force:
Hi,
The first thing I did when I moved to Linode from shared hosting was to install ISPConfig 3 following their tutorials on Ubuntu 10.04. I'm sure I could have gotten everything working without it, I've administered Linux once before but it sure made life a whole lot easier.
I've heard a couple of people on the ISPConfig forums say the Linode tutorials weren't always successful. This is the tutorial I followed which is looked after by the ISPConfig people:
~~[http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-ubuntu-10.04-lucid-lynx-ispconfig-3-p3 " target="_blank"> ](http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-serve … onfig-3-p3">http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-ubuntu-10.04-lucid-lynx-ispconfig-3-p3 ](It starts on page 3 because the first two pages are all about installing Ubuntu. If you do decide to do this, flatten the Linode (or deploy another disk image) and start over with a fresh install of Ubuntu 10.04 with no stack scripts. Everything just worked with very little trouble when I was done. I suggest though that you DO NOT choose the option to allow ISPConfig to configure your network once you have everything installed.
I'm following the guide. Step 7 : Configure The Network requires setting up the NIC. Is this relevant to a Linode? How did you fill out the information?
a) What did you set network, broadcast and gateway to? The example uses private LAN ips.
b) In the IP6 section, he uses server1.example.com. I can't use my domain names here yet as they are live atm on another server.
Cheers,
Nap
I'm up to step 15 where /etc/fstab is modified.
There is a reference to Server1-root. I am not using Server1 in my setup. How did you edit this file?
Cheers,
Nap
PS.. This tutorial by Falko seems to be for a machine located on his desk. Which is not the case here.
It seems to be working (including phpMyAdmin).
Nice
How does ISPConfig compare to Webmin? They seem to do similar but different things?
Cheers,
Nap
As I mentioned the first two pages of the tutorial are for the installation of Ununtu which doesn't apply to Linode.
I am not sure how ispconfig compares to webmin, but I've been happy with it and there have been several bug fix releases and an active community in the year I've used it. It's fairly light weight as well.
You need to remember one important thing though. Updates to just about everything are done via a crontab which runs every minute. If you make a change to a domain or an email address or something like that it won't get changed in Apache or Postfix until the cron runs. I didn't realize that right away and it left me scratching my head a few times when I first set it up.
If you want to check when things are updated under Monitor -> Job Queue it lists the jobs to be executed.
Thnx for note re cron jobs.
My Linode is now running and accessable.
However, access to ISPConfig is on HTTP not HTTPS. Isn't ISPConfig supposed to use https for it's logon page?
Other than that, I now need to point a domain name at it and configure accordingly.
I also went ahead and installed Webmin alongside and am using it too now.
From Webmin, I noticed that ISPConfig didn't setup the ProFTPD server. This is odd as there are FTP options are available in ISPConfig. Should I just setup ProFTPD from Webmin or is there something in ISPConfig that will do it once I setup FTP accounts?
Cheers,
Nap
I think ISPConfig uses PureFTP, I am not sure if it supports ProFTP or not. I just checked the site and it lists PureFTP.
Hope that helps.
I'll check out PureFTP, but as things stand atm, I can't access via FTP and don't know where to config it, but I'll work it out.
Webmin runs ok, but I haven't used it to configure anything, will see what happens.
I guess my last concern re ISPConfig is that my setup is NOT using HTTPS for logins. I know this is because I didn't do something, but I don't know what yet.
Cheers,
Nap