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- Tunguska, on 10/11/2007, -8/+49This is an excellent how to for anyone that wishes to get laid.
- Coniferous, on 10/11/2007, -4/+37This is an excellent how to for anyone that has a old box around and wants to try linux. Seriously, its really *that* easy..
I really wish they would of put something into the howto about putting the torrent flux server over SSL and then forwarding your router to the server. Some dynamic Dns would of been nice too. - aaronm67, on 10/11/2007, -6/+38Oh, that was clever, you said "Winbloze" instead of "Windows." Very original.
- tomarocco, on 10/11/2007, -10/+36I hate the Grammar Police even more than I hate the Politically Correct Patrol.
- rabidjade, on 10/11/2007, -5/+28GUI is nice instead of having to search the internet for the right code you need or ask "l33t" Linux nerds for some help and getting the typical "lol dumb noob, go back to gui windows". It's nice to have a graphical status indicator rather than having to type in 20+ lines of text to get a status report on your server's operations.
- VaKo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+22You need a GUI on a server?
- deadbaby, on 10/11/2007, -0/+20Some people may question the need for a home server at first but once you get used to the convenience it's hard to live without one. My file server does all my downloading (torrents/usenet/ftp), runs my Vmware sessions for testing, and provides RAID-ed backup for my other workstations and laptop. The only drawback is slightly higher power usage but if you choose the right hardware it's not a major issue.
- inanimous, on 10/11/2007, -7/+25Extremely comprehensive for such a short (only 8 pages including screenshots!), and written in a very clear and friendly manner.
More of these, and people might even start admitting there are alternatives to windows... - MikeMcG, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16Doesn't that involve being connected to the internet?
- Al3x, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13This is pretty friendly to somebody with no knowledge of linux or very little experience with it...(me)
I know the basics of this, but the fine tuning (adding the ports to the correct config files and some scripts) are good to know/learn. I sort of know how to do a few of these things but I like the guided walk-through so you don't miss anything. - g30ff, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12Yeah, the post does seem a little too enthusiastic, but the article is a pretty good introduction to the subject so I can cut inanimous some slack. I've been looking for guides on setting up a server but a lot of them really emphasize the command line and the explanations they give (to the extent they even try to explain things, many just seem to expect you'll cut and paste) are too technical to help users like me who have only limited knowledge of linux and, more importantly, even less knowledge of servers. This is probably the first guide to make me feel comfortable enough to have a go at setting up my old computer as a server.
- Ashex, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1220+ lines? nice of you to give us linux users such a kind stereotype. If you are looking for help, use irc (specifically ##linux in irc.freenode.net) You won't get any of the "lol dumb noob" speak, and if you do, it's a troll.
- daradib, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11"RAM wise, Xubuntu once again is the limiting factor. The install requires 192MB to complete."
That's only if you use the Desktop (Live CD). Why not use the alternate (non-live CD) so you can run it on an older computer with less RAM? I see no point in a live CD for installing on an old computer with very little RAM. - cbuddha42, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10True, but putting possible extra stuff into an intro howto tends to make it too long and complicated to seem easy and user friendly. I liked the article for its short, straightforward approach.
- olliholliday, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10and you also confused could of with could have. just like above!
where's that grammar guy when you need him. - Firehed, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7The article made it painfully clear that it wasn't necessary, and was only for the purpose of making the setup easy since it's directed towards first-timers.
And it's not as if a home server is going to need tons of resources free anyways. Anything that would need the resources would be well outside the capacity of a residential internet connection. - Ashex, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6sudo apt-get install wpasupplicant wpagui
- Nougat, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7@olliholliday (#7038326) said: "and you also confused could of with could have. just like above! where's that grammar guy when you need him."
Right here. What do you need? - psykiv, on 10/11/2007, -4/+9Microsoft seems to think so...
- MagicBobert, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Agreed, that's a lot of overhead that's really unnecessary.
I suppose it makes newbies feel more comfortable, though. - Coniferous, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4@StrangeWill
Dont use port 80. - generalloy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5I'm surprised they haven't mentioned webmin yet..maybe its overkill for a simple server, but it does provide a GUI for the noobs.
- csfreakazoid, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4I run an ubuntu home server with no GUI. the alternate install CD has a server install that doesnt install X. I booted it up the first time, unplugged my monitor, and its never had one since. Gives me the easy of use of ubuntu, as well as the support of the ubuntu community, without the overhead of even XFCE.
- wattersm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Even Windows is moving to command line only interfaces. Server 2008 with the Server Core option doesn't run a GUI at all.
- generalloy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4"Doesn't that involve being connected to the internet?"
You'd have to download the packages from http://packages.ubuntu.com , from another computer or OS first, then transfer them to that computer. - Verdanic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Perfect. I was thinking I should do something along these lines with an old system I got a few weeks ago, at least until I can get a DVI KVM to use them both at once. It's not a bad system either (2GHz Athlon, 1GB RAM, 100GB), so it should do well.
- ShutYourPieHole, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Amen. If you are building a server, even for the first time, remember to disable ftp and telnet by default. Even if you never plan to expose the server to the outside "world", it is still good practice to just teach yourself to never rely on either of these protocols. Your standard SSH package will cover SSH, SCP, and SFTP, which is all you'll need. For a client that'll cover the file transfers, on Windows, try WinSCP. The latest beta even has fallback for standard FTP for those cases that do require FTP (like web hosts).
- tomarocco, on 10/11/2007, -4/+7man GUI
- subxero37, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I set up a server with some spare parts the other day... it's a 900 MHz Athlon with a A7V133 motherboard that supports up to 8 IDE hard drives. Needless to say I used them all.
But that's not important. The important thing was that I used Slackware Linux instead of Ubuntu. It wasn't difficult to configure; there are plenty of guides out there for figuring stuff out if you get into a rut, and there are always people that can help. The same server would have had trouble running Windows Server 2003, and there's a cost issue involved with that, too. I chose to use Slackware because, by default, it does not enter X, although it can be told to do so. Hell, you don't even need to install X.
So, essentially, for those with very limited spare parts, try a small Linux distribution -- Slackware, DSL, et cetera. (Don't get me wrong, I use Ubuntu on my main machine, but eye candy -- or even a GUI -- is not for servers.) - wattersm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Speaking of backups, remember this. RAID IS NOT A BACKUP. Even if you use RAID you need to backup the data somewhere else, preferably off-site.
- Nerevar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Madwifi works out of the box on Ubuntu....
WEP and WPA work fine for me with my madwifi card - MikeMcG, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Thanks for the help. =]
- d1ZZy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Excellent article. I would have thrown webmin into it also.
- jellygraph, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2A bit of a guide for beginners... nothing wrong with that, i think its good, but i was excited about learning some cool advanced xen stuff... we should have more of that on digg... too much beginner stuff
- ShutYourPieHole, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Good call. I wouldn't say that Webmin is overkill, as it'll run on even the oldest of hardware without putting much strain. It would allow those new to Linux some sort of GUI interface while still allowing you to get away with a base server install. Also makes remote server administration, for those hesitant to use the CLI, easier as you can access it from your local network via an browser.
As for 20 lines to get server status, there are multiple options for true stats, but even a simple "top" command will give you a pretty good idea. Top is pretty standard on most installs and worth installing if its not there by default. Not to bash on those that desire a GUI, but, in most cases, things are usually just easier to handle via CLI. - dbr_onix, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Digg isn't really the place for articles like advanced XEN server setups.
http://www.howtoforge.com is a good site for such guides. For example, "The Perfect Xen 3.1.0 Setup For Debian Etch (i386)" [ http://www.howtoforge.com/debian_etch_xen_3.1 ] - Hamsterpotpies, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Good job bit-tech. Good guide but I like redhat...
- davidfg4, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Note to page 3: As far as I know removing "xubuntu-desktop" will not remove the desktop. It is only there as a dummy package that requires the basic desktop applications and can safely be removed. In fact, I just checked and "ubuntu-desktop" is not installed on my ubuntu computer.
- rosefu, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2This is more than useful for IT folks that want to set up a secondary linux server as a backup file server (I know someone who does exactly that at his IT group). The uses are numerous, and not necessarily limited by ISP bandwidth.
- strangewill, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3THIS IS AWESOME!
Oh wait, Cox doesn't let me host, and wants to ream me for $80 a month for a ***** hosting package.
D:
BTW: I will be forever in debt to someone who can explain to me how to host sites from home without breaking a ToS or getting reamed. - csfreakazoid, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2noip.com provides instruction for setting it up on linux, im sure dyndns does to, its really simple. they provide a text based configuration utility for you. all you have to do is run it and enter you account information and it take care of the rest.
- logik3x, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2torrentflux is not accepted in every private site so you might want to consider azureus headless with webui :/
- cbuddha42, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@ coniferous
No, I agree that they could easily be separate sections; I think he was just trying to keep the length down. Maybe we will see a part 2 with setups for yours and some of the other suggested but slightly more advanced topics that got left out of the basic howto :) - ShutYourPieHole, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1The latest versions of Webmin that i've installed have defaulted to an SSL connection, rather then just a standard HTTP connection on port 10000. Of course this can be configured, but I do agree that one must take the appropriate steps to protect the level of access that Webmin provides. As you said, proxying locally via SSH is a nice solution that isn't overly complicated to set up. Just configure your browser to proxy locally, after connected, and you also have a simple solution to bypass the corporate firewalls when you need to access a site that is blocked.
- JonForTheWin, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Already do this and more on an OpenBSD box at home.
I look at the number of Diggs this has and . . you call yourselves geeks. PSH! - weeeezzll, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@ho0ber
Welcome to the ever changing world of language. It is constantly evolving. Most of what you know today came from previous misuse and mistakes of the past. Some even came from intentional misuse or making fun of illiteracy such as OK (Oll Korrect). "OK" is now known and used around the world in Engligh and non-English speaking countries.
In short, you need to get over it... - JonForTheWin, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Shouldn't use WEP or WPA anyway. Use an SSH tunnel like I do. >_>
Well, assuming _security_ is priority above things like a uh speed. - dbr_onix, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Your obviously not the intended audience of this article - Not everyone knows how to (or wants to) use SSH to setup servers - Xubuntu is a good recommendation (Since it uses less resources than GNOME or KDE), besides, most modern computers could easily run any desktop enviroment and still run SMB/FTP/SSH/NFS/Apache/TorrentFlux - Sure, it's better to not have X11 installed (or running), but for a simple home file server, not being able to set stuff up outweighs the negligible resource-usage increase..
- wattersm, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Or you could just "startx". Why the hell would you want a GUI though?
- BassJunkie, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I changed my home server over to Ubuntu about 3 months ago now and have never looked back! I started out installing it on a spare HDD (so I could keep the XP disk "just" incase I changed my mind!) and haven't taken it out since! It is currently tucked up in my loft, alongside my Freenas box, and works brilliant - I can safely say it's working faster the when I had XP on it, even things like network transfers are faster!
It serves as my file server, torrent client and even streams my music using an app called Firefly that works on the DAAP protocal so all other PC's on the network have the music available to them via either iTunes on Windows or Rhythmbox or Amarok on Ubuntu! The whole experience has been really great and I'm now staring to use Ubuntu on other computers more often (now the default boot OS's on my desktop!) and I've learnt a load since I started!
This was an interesting tutorial and has now lead me to create a small to-do list for when i get home this evening to optimize my server and i'm gonna look into Torrentflux as a replacement to the ram hungury Azureus to! One thing I would recommend for the headless server setup is Webmin - it basically lets you manage the server from a web based interface and has many useful features such as configuring file shares and starting/stopping services that whilst can be done with the CLI or GUI can be achieved a lot easier via Webmin :-) -
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