29 replies to this topic

[Woodsman]

The System

Motherboard 13-131-166 SERVER_MB ASUS|DSBF-D12 RTL 1

PROCESSORS 19-117-115 CPU INTEL|XEON E5320 1.86G 771 8M R 2
35-114-053 CPU COOLER DYNATRON|H6EG RTL 2

Memory 20-134-329 MEM 2Gx2|KST KVR667D2D4P5K2/4G R 4

Hard Drives 22-144-701 HD 250G|WD 7K 16M SATA2 WD2500KS 5

Power Supply 17-182-070 PSU ROSEWILL|RX850-D-B 850W RT 1

Case 11-165-016 CASE I-STAR|S-10000LB/750W BK R 1

DVD – DVD RW 27-106-087 DVD-ROM LITE-ON|DH-16D2P-08 BK R 1
27-106-045 DVD_BURN LITE-ON|LH-20A1H-186 BK R 1

Sound & Video 29-121-122 SND CARD M-AUDIO|REVOLUTION 5.1 RTL 1
EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

Extras 17-107-211 KVM SWITCH|KVM 16PT SLIM LKV-1680 R 1
20-176-005 MULTI-SLOT CARD READER XM-28U BLACK 1

OS P73-04849 Windows Server Standard 2008 R2 64 bit x64 English 1pk

Current Server
Does anyone know of any good current Linux web server setup articles?
What I am looking for would be preferably for Mandriva 2010.2 but most any should work.
So far I am finding articles in the 2005 vintage with out dated packages. The more current articles I have Googled don't exactly touch the real subject of step by step setup for Old Farts like me.
If anyone can point me in the right direction this would be GREAT!
I would really like to get thing up and running before my present hosting expires. (Another story for another day)

What I have tried
So far I have Madriva 2010.2 ONE installed that I am stripping of all unneeded packages.

The only reason in choosing this OS is that it is the only one that I found other than Ubuntu that is currently compatible with my server configuration I.E. Duo Quad Xeon 1.86Mhz Processors, They don't recognize the type of server ram 'DRD that is installed they try to find 'DDR' or 'SDRam' and there is this complaint about my video card. I have upgraded and downgraded the video no luck.

Obviously video will not be a major concern once the system is setup but the OS still needs to recognize the Processors and Memory.

I would have liked centos for the claims of easy setup and all web server packages readily available but with the above system it failed.

Fedora well let’s say I still have it on DVD I am sure if there was a day that I wanted to wake up my old file server then I have it here.

Ubuntu Server installed but I am sorry that I don’t and won’t believe another word on its speed. The Desktop version with all the extra packages is faster.

Mandriva 2010.2 Enterprise got lost with 15 errors and it’s a current server OS.

Debain I have not tried due to the lack of keeping the OS updated. And being Green to Linux, the OS has to be up to date for an old fart like me to understand or so I thought. Maybe I should forget about what I have read about it and give it a try anyway.

I have learned in the past that Windows 2000, 2003 and 2008 servers only setup with a lot of hostility and aggravation. No wonder people leave the room when a totally screwed up pc comes to me.

Not to mention I can find one hell of a lot more open source software for Linux that will never be found for Microsoft

[Shady]

If you dont mind, what exactly failed with your CentOS install? I see you say it just didnt recognize anything during install. Were you trying to install it with X support so you could have a gui? I know you said your linux experiance is limited but I can tell you there are a lot of great tutorials on getting started with CentOS using only command line. I install mine bare, no applications, no gui, just CLI and then I setup it up with just what I want on it via CLI. No GUI may overcome your video card problem. Would also like to know what errors you got for your proc and ram. You can do the install using the GUI that runs from disk and then customize to not install Gnome or KDE. Which doesnt install X. X is just resources that could be going to its server operations IMO anyhow.

What version did you install of it? I'd be glad to try and help in anyway I can.

Ubuntu to me is just, meh, I know a lot of people like it but to me its just linux for new people. Fedora, well sure if you want to beta test for RHEL.

The others I havent used in a long time as I love CentOS and am familiar with it since we use RHEL at work.

[Woodsman]

Just trying to get past the video is a problem with the version (Live CD) I have... most others (non-Live CD's) I can just bypass the video and GUI. I need to find the current distro I have been reading on that is a basic install without the live portion. Those that I thought were the basic had the same download name asking to overwrite what I already have.

Others which seem to be pre created before my machine where the memory and processors are an issue that can't be found. I don't have the experience I was told I need to change a kernel to accept these and I should stay or look for a better hosting provider. (Some Help that was)

What really sucks it that a friend of mine who manages one of the PC stores where I buy a majority of my hardware had his head tech call me yesterday... Outcome of that conversation was I should stay with what I am used to because they (Linux Community) choose not to help Greenhorns like me or anyone else. According to the tech the respect comes to those that start from the bottom up. Which to a degree I understand, but if somebody were to call me on an electrical issue I would not tell them to figure it out for themselves or go back to candles.

Years ago I saw a website with a fixed background, when I got in touch with the webmaster his answer to me was figure it out for yourself. At the time I thought he was rude, but today I am glad he did. If somebody were to ask me the same question today I would most likely invite them to a private board where I could teach them. I was never one of those who would hoard my knowledge or give them bad advice to throw them off. But so much for that...

Yes I could setup another Windows Web Server but even a greenhorn like me knows that is not the answer to what I want it to do s far as cost, functionality or dependability.

The books I have on Linux are a bit outdated so I don't think they would be much help currently...

At this point I see this turning into a book, so I will end it here for now...
If you have any questions to what I have tried, What I have done so far with Mandriva or any helpful thought I PROMISE I will try to keep the answers short and to the point...

[Woodsman]

__UPDATE__

Though I did not find a copy of CenTos to work on my system I did find a basic install for the Madriva where I could install only the necessary packages. Also found a current (close to) on the HowToForge site. Install seems to be working.
In the process of setup and install of other required packages.
Will keep you updated
There may be a chance for me yet to go from Green horn to Dangerous...

[Shady]

Good luck, I havent used Mandriva much so not sure how much help I can be with that.

As far as the install disk I use when I have installed centos I got mine from this site and get the DVD via torrent. This one to be specific. Just in case you decide to try again.

CentOS-5.6-x86_64-bin-DVD.torrent

I must say though, that is a very odd response you got from the tech about Linux. In my experience I've always dealt with friendly helpful people. I suppose maybe I just got lucky.

[Woodsman]

Glad to say Wednesday night just before and I mean JUST BEFORE my Ghost Hunters (which never aired til 10:00pm) was to come on I located that elusive basic install of Centos 5.6 which I am proud to say I got installed and running yesterday before I had to leave for physical therapy. The fist issue I found after I got back was that the static IP's and domain didn't take so there was no way of receiving updates... OH Well...

Being the wet behind the ears green horn that I am, I reinstalled loading everything the OS had to offer including Gnome which I don't particularly care for thinking it would be a bit easier for me to get the system up and running and online before I removed all the unneeded packages.

Well today (after my 2nd cup of coffee) I am going to do just that. Get the non working elements working, dump the nonessentials and hope for the best with a guide I found for a Mandriva flavor...

I am in a hurry so the 2nd cup just got poured...

[Sandi]

I don't care to install gnome either. It adds too much that you don't need, and the resources could be used by the server.

However I don't like to be without a GUI either, so I use Webmin. Small footprint and easy on resources. Just load it up in your browser like cPanel.

http://www.webmin.com/


-Sandi

[Shady]

Did you get your statics and such working? There are a couple things you can check...

From terminal

vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
IPADDR=2.2.2.2
GATEWAY=2.2.2.1
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
HWADDR=00:00:00:00:00:00
ONBOOT=yes

and

vi /etc/resolv.conf

search isp name
nameserver 1.1.1.1
nameserver 1.1.1.2
nameserver 1.1.1.3

Obvisouly substituting the fake numbers for your real ones.

[Woodsman]

That will come soon...

I have a good 1 for you that even I forgot about until today....
Back when my Gateway took its last dump. I added a new video card to the server and used it for graphics until I had the new one built...
OK now I see the video conflict Centos and the others were confused between the on-board video and the card... I can also see the confusion on total memory.
Video has 1 gig not 2 like I told somebody else... But what I am still trying to make clear is none of this has anything to do with the processors...
I pulled the card today noticing the possible clash... Reinstalled Centos everything is up and going perfectly....

Due to some unforgivable errors on my part namely typo's at the command line I am going to reinstall it again tomorrow, this time add a cut down version of KDE where I can use the terminal with a little cut and paste from the how to forge guide.... If all works as a test host for a day then I will do the rest to make it live..... but I want to at least get a good couple of days of a working test out of it....

If all goes to plan It will have ISPConfig 3 on it as well....

But all my agrivation over a forgotten video card.....

[Woodsman]

Test Host Server is running and setup. Unfortunately the current live host got one more month out of me...
The advantage to this disadvantage is it gives me plenty of time to play with it and get to know it before I make it live.
The server setup guide I followed is here at How To Forge "The Perfect Server - CentOS 5.6 x86_64 [ISPConfig 3]"

Even a Greenhorn like me could follow these simple instructions.
For anyone else thinking about setting up their own server and are as green as I am
I would recommend adding KDE during the initial install using the terminal is quite a bit easier on the eyes than the command line itself.
1. For me it was much easier looking for typo's on a black text on white than the other way around.
2. Using this environment made it easy to go between the How To Forge site and the terminal.
3. Some of the comments were also helpful while in setup.

One last thing before I make it live and that will be to un-format my drives I will use as storage and get them setup in a raid system. I personally will never see the full 2 TB, but as they say in the Army "Smokem if you gotem"

Now to play with it and see if I can break it for a month!!!!

[MrAzzhole]

for linux systems that use multiple processors and 4 gigs or more ram, you need to install the PAE kernal. that should solve your issue with the processors and ram not being recognized. especially on centos.

[Woodsman]

Well here is the current update to the web server project

There were a few modification to the system hardware as in removal of the video card and reactivating the on-board video (Video error fixed)
Removed 8 gig of the memory leaving only the 4 primary memory slots installed. (memory issues fixed)

The OS Selected is Cenotos 5.6 with Webmin 1.550 and Virtulmin 3.86.

There were a few issues with the the DNS Server as well as the Mail server that it took a bit of time to get figured out (for a Microsoft bottle fed old fart like me)
But as of this moment there are currently 6 domains online with working email.

I chose Virtulmin with Webmin because it allows me to create the separate VPS on 1 static IP thus allowing me to use 1 SSL certificate for all also leaving me the remainder of the 16 static IP block for future hosting.

There are a few minor issues I need to address with all the domains according to DNS Test Report as well as Pingability.com but at this point minor for the time being.

Issues with this server that are yet to be resolved has to do with upgrades to MySQL, PHP5, PHPMyadmin and Apache2 I have tried various methods from different support boards on these updates and trashed the server only to reformat and reinstall so now I seem to be a bit reluctant to go forward with these. So if there is anyone here that actually made these updates let me know what you did and how you did it because as of to date Centos has no supported updates or upgrades.

Other Hosting applications and Distros I have tried Fedora, Debian, Mandriva, Mandriva Enterprise with ISPConfig 3 but got nowhere due to IP Address issues.... The tutorials I followed to a tee revolved around local static IP' 192.168.0.0 and I am working with public statics purchased from my ISP. Whether this is an issue or not I am not sure.

Then there are the additional applications I would like to install like WHMCS, other cpanel and Fantastico alternatives but the info I seem to be reading is telling me they won't work with Webmin, so I am still searching...

But all in all this hard headed old fart of a Norwegian Linux newbe didn't let the rather large headed Linux guru's detour me from going forward with this project. “Go with paid hosting “ Indeed!
Outcome of all this:
Advantages:
* No more paying Gold tier prices for basic support.
* No more waiting up to a day or more for a ticket to be resolved that I can fix in a few minutes.
* No more lack of support with server files and modifications.
* No more paying for server down time.
* Being in total control of my Domains.
Disadvantages:
* Server goes down I have nobody but me to figure it out to fix it.
* Nobody for a grouchy old man like me to yell at.
* Keeping up and reading about all the new technology. (Wait… I enjoy that!)
* Staying home and keeping tabs on my systems. (Wait I enjoy that too!)

[AlexJ]

What do you use for sending mails? Exim or Postfix or something else?

[Woodsman]

What do you use for sending mails? Exim or Postfix or something else?

Postfix - Sending
Dovecot - Imap & POP3

[Sandi]

Advantages:
* No more paying Gold tier prices for basic support.
* No more waiting up to a day or more for a ticket to be resolved that I can fix in a few minutes.
* No more lack of support with server files and modifications.
* No more paying for server down time.
* Being in total control of my Domains.
Disadvantages:
* Server goes down I have nobody but me to figure it out to fix it.
* Nobody for a grouchy old man like me to yell at.
* Keeping up and reading about all the new technology. (Wait… I enjoy that!)
* Staying home and keeping tabs on my systems. (Wait I enjoy that too!)

Same advantages/disadvantages I get with an unmanaged VPS for $40 a month.

Running Centos 5.5 | quad cores at 2.67GHz | 2048mb ram (4096 burst) | 120gbyt hd

[Woodsman]

Same advantages/disadvantages I get with an unmanaged VPS for $40 a month.

Running Centos 5.5 | quad cores at 2.67GHz | 2048mb ram (4096 burst) | 120gbyt hd

With that you know the headaches I am talking about.

Working on another Test PC. not of the server type as the current but looking good so far working with Centos 6.
With this version it holds the upgrades to Apache, Mysql and Php 5 needed to run IP Boards 3.xx to current.
Made an attempt to add Webmin and Virtualmin but I see I need to research it a little more as far as collecting and setting up proper packaging and dependencies.

Also sill working with another cpanel alternative called ISPConfig 3 that can work along side of my current system (Centos 5.6 and Webmin.
I will post my progress in a later blog.

Lastly,
What I am still in need of is talking with someone who has successfully upgraded mysql5.0.77 to 5.1 or 5.5. Upgrading PHP 5 I have done so it worked... The problem with that was (per articles I read after the fact) the proper working order to upgrade is Mysql, Apache then PHP. My last attempt at upgrading Mysql trashed the system AGAIN! where I had to reformat the drives and start from scratch for the 15th time. Don't want to do that again....

The Linux Guru Wannabes are correct when they say you need to get your feet wet, but being the hard headed I'm going to do it anyway sort got me dropped off in the middle of Lake Michigan. And I'm not liking the swim back. Not good for a guy with a back and legs that are junk and a shoulder following suit just to try my patients.

[Pintac]

I took a quick look at the ISPConfig 3 and am interested in it. Would save me the extra $10 month on my VPS. Will be looking forward to reading about your findings.

[Woodsman]

I took a quick look at the ISPConfig 3 and am interested in it. Would save me the extra $10 month on my VPS. Will be looking forward to reading about your findings.

I have it working some what on Fedora 15. The DNS, Courier and Postfix mail setup are different than Webmin.
Webmin website file directories are in a /home/user/public_html directory that we are accustomed to, where ISPConfig 3 is /var/www/clients/client[client_id]/[website_domain]/
which in the end results can be a bit confusing for future clients but I can't see why you would not be able to reconfigure to the accustom directories.

One thing I found out I didn't want to do, and that was to have Webmin DNS server override the DNS server in ISPConfig 3.... Raises just a bit of hell....

[Woodsman]

Fedora 15 ISPConfig 3 coming along nicely
instead of podtin gthe complete findings here becuse of size
I added to my blog...

[Woodsman]

Just completed an install of Zen Cart on the test server.
It went better than I thought it would...
Where others couldn't find the domain and a few others couldn't even find the server even when I tried to install from it
Zen Cart pulled through without 1 error other than a php.ini edit. (Easy Fix)

I'll play with it for a few days and see if I can't bend it to my needs and feel.
One nice thing about it (at least from my understanding so far) I can centrally locate it on the server to run shops from more than 1 domain.

Once it is where I want it I will go through it with a flea comb to make sure all the bugs are out of it before it goes to its permanent home.

The more I am on this the more I wonder what the other web host's are worried about when it comes to individual settings and permissions to make necessary edits or fixes.
I may have stayed with a few otherwise....

On to the Next!


OH By the way...
If anyone has an extra domain or two laying around in the closet collecting dust and wants to play bug exterminator pm me I'll set it up.