Hi,

I was just wondering what would I have to do/know to run my own server, that say i rented from Managed, without cpanel. How would I create mysql databases? Email addresses? FTP accounts? Web stats? ect?

I'm sorry if this is a noobish question but I've never had hosting without cpanel.

Thanks.

This is way too much to go over, for me at least.

Your best bet would be to pick up a Linux book (either distro-specific or in general) and learn that way. A good reference book always helps. ;)

Hehe I don't mean go into details but just waht I would have to learn, what programs I would have to use ECT.

You said a linux book would help, how would I use the info from that book to administer the server remotley?

Originally posted by Doh004
Hehe I don't mean go into details but just waht I would have to learn, what programs I would have to use ECT.

You said a linux book would help, how would I use the info from that book to administer the server remotley?

You don't know how to remotely login to a server? You've never had to, even when you had cPanel? :eek: I feel sorry for you.

Quite bluntly, you'd use an ftp daemon to serve FTP, a smtp daemon to relay mail back and forth to and from other mail servers, a pop daemon so your users can receive their mail from your server via the POP protocol, an imap daemon so users can receive their mail from your server via the IMAP protocol, and mysqld (daemon) to serve and interact with MySQL databases.

Hint: You login to your server with SSH (or telnet, but telnet is NOT recommended by any means).

Lol yes I've gotten on remotely :-p

And thank you for the help so far, and when you say daemon(demon in USA ;)) do you mean programs? (I'm sorry for my noobishness but hey, you gotta start somewhere ;))

Originally posted by Doh004
Lol yes I've gotten on remotely :-p

And thank you for the help so far, and when you say daemon(demon in USA ;)) do you mean programs? (I'm sorry for my noobishness but hey, you gotta start somewhere ;))

Demon is not the same thing as "daemon". They are programs, technically, but they're the server counterpart. ;)

I.e. you have an FTP client, such as SmartFTP, then you have the server, or daemon (a daemon is a process, or program, which accepts remote connections and handles them as instructed), which handles your FTP requests.

Linux Apache Web Server Administration http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0782127347/103-6976578-1991027?v=glance is a good book to get. You would still need some basic grounding in Linux before you start with a remote server.

Oh Ok thank you :)

Linux Administration: A Beginners Guide by Steven Shah is also good

Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000C7HTJ/qid=1091771048/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/104-9380200-1283936?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

From what linux 'is' to the command line, etc

It was a good first run for me!

Chili

installt one of the free control panels and run it

such as http://nixpanel.com

or http://www.webmin.com/

you may get some help here

http://hostinglife.com
http://www.dedicated-resources.com

have a good one

Hi Doh004,

if youwant to go for max security I would recommend to go without any web based control panels - but rather that you dig into some manuals, HOWTOs and all those fab online ressources to configure your server.

In my opinion web based control panels are nice if you are reseller but they are a considerable security risk - for max security do it by hand. A step tby step installation guide wouldn't make sense because you need to understand what you are doing and configure the server to your specific needs, I will try though to give you some pointers to online ressources and get you started that way.

As suggested before it's a very good idea to set up a linux box to play with for your first steps and to try out everything before you apply it to a live system. Be prepared to spend a little - well, maybe quite some - time in learning and trying out stuffs.

To get your basics check the recommended books, also you might want to take a look at linux.org - some nice tutorials and a good way to get statred. Make sure you understand the topics of at least the beginners and intermediate tutorials there.

After that check the HOWTOs and tutorials at apache.org - you want to know how to setup your webserver correctly and adapt it to your needs. In my experience apache2 runs pretty well already unless you have to use additions you cannot get for apache2 I would recommand that over 1.3.x versions.

There are a bulk of HOWTOs for integrating MySQL, you would want to install phpMyAdmin for web-administration - don't forget to protect your pyhMyAdmin directory!

php runs nicely as a module, all linux distributions come with that already configured, so not too much worries about that.

As MTA I recommend postfix over sendmail - unless you are a real sendmail config guru, pustfix is almost as versatile and way easier to configure. Most important - triple check your SMTP server to make sure it's not an open gateway and just authenticated users can send mail with it. I also recommend cyrus IMAP server over other IMAP/POP3 servers. You'll find a nice HOWTO at high5.net/howto/ .. or you google for more HOWTOs on taht issue

Youwill need a ssh server for secure shell access to your box, if you are the only one administration the box and copying files to it I strongly recommend you to DISABLE FTP server! use SCP instead to copy.

Another key is to make sure your installed packages are always up to date. Most distributions come with some sort of auto-updater - make regular use of that.

If you want to check what services are runing on your machine, use the command "nmap" (nmap localhost ... or better use a different linux box and nmap your machine from there) it will show you all open ports. Make sure you disable all services you don't really need (like discard, daytime, time, .....) if they are not vital to be reached from outside they better are disabled. Hint: you usually don't need the mysql service to be visible from outside your box if you use tha database just fro your webserver.

For example the only services to the outside could be ssh (your secure shell and for copying files) http (webserver of course) SMTP (if you really need users from outside your box to send e-mail through your box) and imap and/or pop3 (for your users to get their e-mails)

well, my time is running out, hopefully I gave you some pointers to start digging for the right information - if you have questions on a specific topic feel free to contact me.

Have fun!

Well it seems that you are not very good on the linux side.
Anyway if you download webmin then you can make your life easier.

ah sorry webmin allow you to control the most basic linux function.
Even setup basic firewall etc..

:eek: :eek: :eek:


Thank you very much. That's what I wanted to know. Thank you again and I will look into learning linux and such. :)