I chose Debian for my Linode because it's using the least space compared to other distro, and it makes managing packages in the server much easier (install: apt-get install <package>, upgrade them all: apt-get upgrade)

It can be confusing for beginners though (eg: me ) - for example: installing from source may not always work straight away because the software may require another software that's not installed yet, etc.

So here it is, a guide for other Debian Linode users. Hope it'll help you in configuring your Linode:

http://www.harrysufehmi.com/phpwiki/index.php/SettingUpLinuxServer

I'll update it along as I add more services to my server, when I do I'll post in this thread to let you know.


cheers,
Harry

Hey Harry,

I tried out your little walkthrough by got stuck on the firehol install. Going step by step with Debian on my linode, i got to the part where you start the shell script. I got the following error

(none):/downloads/firehol-1.191# ./firehol.sh start

ERROR:  Command 'less' not found in the system path.
        FireHOL requires this command for its operation.
        Please install the required package and retry.

So, i installed less via apt-get install less, then retried the install:

(none):/downloads/firehol-1.191# ./firehol.sh start                             
ERROR:  Command 'lsmod' not found in the system path.
        FireHOL requires this command for its operation.
        Please install the required package and retry.

At this point, there is no lsmod on my debian linode and I cant see where it exists in any apt-get package.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Ron

It's in the modutils package.

_________________
/ Peter

more fun...

You can find the most recent .config here:

http://www.linode.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2690#2690

It hasn't changed much at all since the linode21 kernel, and CONFIG_IP_NF_CONNTRACK is enabled.

Modules are disabled inside the Linode kernels for security reasons. You can ignore that warning message, most likely.

-Chris

sufehmi great info on your site thanks very helpful

You're welcome.

However please be advised that it's not ideal. My goal is to create a tutorial to setup a webhosting server (on Debian), however I'm still compiling some packages (instead of installing via apt-get)
This is a problem because everytime there's a new release for that package (eg: security patch), then you'll have to recompile again.
(while updating Debian packages is as simple as apt-get update then apt-get upgrade)

FYI.


Thanks,
Harry

any progress on this?

as in: I got several errors while trying to install this all... especially with OpenSSL - a lot of missing file errors

Ok, found a little mistake

apt-get install make
apt-get install gcc
apt-get install libgcrypt-dev

You need those - the first 2 are logical, but the last one isn't that obvious :p

Sorry - now I've put those steps at the beginning of the guide.




Strange... I think if you have installed OpenSSL, then you shouldn't need to do that.

Anyway, I'm very busy at the moment, but I'll reinstall the server in a few weeks time. Then I'll use that opportunity to change as much of the install routine to use apt-get (instead of manual compile), get them in the right order, and add more stuff to that documentation.
I'll let you know when I do.


Thanks,
Harry

It might also be a good idea to edit out the additional OpenSSH instance, and remind users that they can just connect directly to their Linode's console through the host. This saves a few minutes of time setting up and removes the need to keep checking for updates

Excellent idea !

It's just that I'm used to installing at least 2 instances of sshd, because I've had enough of being locked out from my own server

Well that's very true for a dedicated server, but as you said, we don't need it for a Linode server


Thanks,
Harry

Great work Harry.

I've taken your page, and combined it with other information I've found and tried, to begin creating a similar tutorial. I'm no fan of forks - perhaps we can combine at some point?

I'm using .deb packages wherever possible to simplify and shorten the setup.

The downside is that a config from my tutorial will be behind the "latest and greatest" as much as the official Debian packages are.

http://wiki.gednet.com/DebianServerSetup

It's not complete (no web/db/email services yet), but I'm making progress. Commenting is enabled, so everyone feel free to let me know if I've missed - or messed up - any items.

Cheers,

ged

I have no problem at all with that, in fact I'll be happy to.




After a few problems in the past, my primary concerns now are security, maintainability, and reliability; that's why I stick to Debian stable :

# They're maintained by Debian's security team
# Using Debian packages enable Webmin to pick them up automatically (I've tried getting Webmin to recognise manually-installed package - it's very time consuming at least)
# Upgrading / updating is a snap
# Some people may say you're lame for using Webmin - but my concern is to manage as many servers using as little time as possible (including time needed to learn each software packages)




Great stuff ged... finally I found some info on setting up Apache+SSL using Debian packages (still messes this one up) - thanks. Also some other very interesting information.

One question - why installing qmail from source ? (the link to qmail install tutorial)
I've tried it, and it's still painful even after using easy to follow guide such as qmailrocks.org; I ended up using postfix (it's a one-page config using webmin). My friend uses ezmlm-qmail and he installed the Debian package.
Let me know if I'm missing something obvious here.


cheers,
Harry