My office server runs Ubuntu 10.10. When I installed it, the configuration of Ubuntu, MySQL, Postfix, Apache, Dovecot, etc. took several days to complete. The files I needed to configure seemed endless--my.cnf, php.ini, httpd.conf, sshd_config, main.cf, master.cf, dovecot.conf, ntp.conf, resolv.conf, interfaces, iptables, fstab, syslog-ng, named.conf--- the list goes on and on. Each package--like phpmyadmin, roundcube, and squirrelmail--took anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours of configuration.

As a comparison, I recently set up a virtual private server for a client on hostgator. Within 2 hours after the credit card was charged, we had a server with exim, dovecot, mysql, apache, roundcube, squirrelmail, horde, boxtrapper, bind, ssh, ftp, awstats, webalizer, and a bunch of other packages all set up with defaults. It just took me a little time to tweak the settings, but I didn't have to start from scratch.

I know that the hostgator installation was facilitated with cPanel, which automated much of the mundane configuration (and which is not available on my preferred choice of distributions: Ubuntu and/or Debian).

Now that I am planning to move our website and am evaluating VPS hosting packages, I have to consider all the work to configure a new Ubuntu 10.10 server if I choose Linode vs. having everything installed for me with cPanel on Hostgator. On the one hand, I prefer Debian-based installations, so the end result will be better with Linode and easier for me to administer (it'll also cost less). On the other hand, it sure would be nice to be up and running in a few hours rather than a few days.

It would be a huge timesaver if Linode (or Ubuntu or Debian for that matter) offered a standard Ubuntu or Debian disk image with the most common options already installed and configured to typical default settings. (e.g.: Apache, ssh server, mysql, bind, postfix, dovecot, squirrelmail, roundcube, webmin, postfix admin, awstats, webalizer)

Is such a thing available?

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At Linode you can use StackScripts to facilitate the installation of a lot of the standard server software - http://www.linode.com/stackscripts/ - and there is also the comprehensive Linode Library - http://library.linode.com/ - which is full of articles and tutorials on installing and configuring all kind of server software.

On another note, what is your reason for using 10.10? 10.4 is LTS and as such, has a much longer support cycle - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS - there is no good reason to use 10.10 or 11.04 for a server installation.

Thanks for the tip. It looks like stackscripts will help me get a head start. The LAMP stack will certainly save some of the apache/mysql/php configuration time.

I should point out that, for me, the most time consuming part of an installation always seems to be setting up the mail server: getting postfix and dovecot to play nicely together, looking in the mail logs for delivery and permissions issues, setting up the virtual hosts and alias maps, setting up the rbl lists, smtp/smtpd options, getting roundcube and squirrelmail to talk to it, etc., etc., etc.

I didn't see a postfix/dovecot, exim/dovecot, postfix/courier, or an exim/courier stackscript. Is there one with an email server configured?

Regarding the 10.10 selection: You have a very good point there. I just installed 10.10 without thinking because that's what I have running on my desktop, and I always like to use the latest and greatest. However, since the end of support for 10.10 is only a year from now, and the end of life of 10.04 is two years from now, I can see why 10.04 would be a better choice.

Since I'm using php 5.3 in the development environment and I'd like a Debian based distro, I suppose the new Debian Squeeze is also an alternative. Do you have a preference between Debian Squeeze (6) and Ubuntu Lucid (10.04)?

Looks like there isn't a stack script for postfix/exim/dovcot etc (good opportunity for someone to make one..) if setup is all you're after you could hire someone to do it for you, many here (including myself) provide paid services.

As for Debian vs Ubuntu it's mainly down to personal preference.

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Actually, while LTS releases come out on a 2 year cycle, server releases get 5 years of support (compared to 3 years for LTS desktop packages). So 8.04 LTS server is still supported until 2013, and a 10.04 LTS server will be supported through 2015.

-- David

While there may not (yet) be a StackScript for Postix and friends, there is an article in the Linode Library that gets it up and running with a MySQL backend that took me less than half an hour to go through.