New to Linux

[khue]

This is the first time I have set up a linux box as a Server.

I went through the installation phase and did not see a screen for setting up IP address. Now that the box is up and running, how can I enter the IP address?

Next, I need to configure the server to be a web hosting server and a samba or file server? Where can I find some good/excellent documentation?

Plus, I intend to install some other software programs, so I do I go about installing them?

More, I need to create a user and give that user the same permission (exactly) as root. I do not want to use root to do everything. I want this new user to perform all the task as root in safe guard that if something goes wrong, then I can always fall back on root.

 

[ifincham]

Hi,

It rather depends on which distro you are using. For redhat, the easiest is to run '/sbin/netconf' as root. It's a gui so fairly self explanatory.

For apache most of the docs are fairly technical - perhaps a good start would be -->

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/install.html

or

http://www.redhat.com/support/resources/tips/WWW-Server-Tips/WWW-Server-Tips.html

(the latter is redhat specific and a bit old).

A good online reference to samba is the o'reilly book which is online at -->

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/samba/chapter/book/

. See also -->

http://us6.samba.org/samba/docs/Samba-HOWTO-Collection.html

.

Installing apache/samba depends on your distro really. Most probably you would download the binary rpm files and install them as root with 'rpm -Uvh fullnameofpackage.rpm' .

If you post what linux distribution & version you are going to use you can get more specific advice.

Rgds

 

[iggystar]

Don't read the DOCs provided by Apache.org. You'll only be wasting your time. This is basically what the apache.org docs say:

1) Go to the configuration files
2) Select what you like
3) Viola you're done.

It's moronic. A chimp could write better docs. I'd also suggest avoiding the O'reilly apache book. It's the worst book I've ever seen published on any subject ever. O'reilly is usually pretty good (good enough anyway) but this one is a real piece of trash.

Sorry I can't help more..but I've only been working on apache since Thursay. At least I can help you not waste time like I have.

 

[khue]

I guess in order to get more info for my questions, I am installing Redhat 6.1. So far, the only thing I have installed is the real basic Server installation, apache and any other tools that comes with the installation. I'm fairly new to the Linux world. All help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[iggystar]

Just because I'm curious, is there is a reason you're installing Red Hat 6.1 and not 7.1? Is that just a typing mistake or are you picking an older version on purpose?

I'm pretty new to linux too so I don't know if what I'll tell you works on older versions of Red Hat but here goes.

1) For the IP address there are 2 easy tools you can use. From the command line you can enter SETUP for a text utility for setting up you system. Among the things you can set up there is your network settings.
If you have Xwindows (type STARTX at command line to get into it) installed you can also go to their Start Button (the little foot) and drill into Programs, System and you'll see a Network Configurator there.
If neither of those 2 options works for you then you can always use the IFCONFIG command. It's pretty straight forward (at least by Unix standards) and if you want to learn how to use the command just type MAN IFCONFIG.
Just as an FYI, if you're really new, the MAN command stands for MANuel and will give you a good overview of most text line commands. You can also use INFO to get more info on many commands.

2) Installing Apache for a vanilla, single web site, static page environment is very easy as well. Go to apache.org and download Apache V1.3. The file you want will be named apache_1.3.20.tar.gz (or something really close to that) and will be about 1.9MBs. When you get that program all you have to do is unpack it into a directory (you can double click on it in Xwindows and just copy the contents to a temp directory somewhere)
Afte you unpack it to a directory type the following in the directory you unpacked it to:
./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache
make
make install
Those 3 commands will install apache to /usr/local/apache. You can set --prefix= to anything you want. I just gave a common example.
Once apache is installed just go to the /bin directory of where ever you put it and type ./apachectl start. After that the server will begin answering requests and you'll be all set.
If for some reason it doesn't work even though you followed all the steps above you might have a firewall issue. If you type in setup from command line you can configure your firewall. Make sure it's not blocking the port you need for Apache. The configuration program is pretty clear on how to open and close common ports.

3) I dont know anything about Samba so I can't help you there. I'm just now looking into installing that myself. If I learn anything I'll let you know.

4) As for installing other packages I'd recommend going to

http://WWW.RPMFIND.NET.

RPM files are Red Hat's version of the InstallShield Wizard you get in Windows. It handles installation for you. It works pretty well but the documentation is horrible. All documentation in Unix is horrible. It's one of the flaws of Open Source near as I can tell. Nobody can write a decent doc.

You can find many common programs that you'd like to install (like SAMBA for instance) in RPM format.

5) As for making a user have all the exact same powers as Root I'm not gonna touch that. First, I dont know if it can be done, it seems like it would be possible but something is nagging me saying you should expect problems. Secondly, I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea most of the time.

I hope I was able to help.

 

[ifincham]

Hi,

Hmmmm... Well I'm not sure I'd agree with the comments about apache.org documents. However, the problem is always who you are pitching something at and to what extent you assume that the reader already knows certain concepts. I would venture to suggest that the average linux/unix admin wouldn't have too much difficulty with those docs although, of course, they would probably involve a steep learning curve to a newbie.

Anyway, why not have a look at the comanche gui which is a utility aimed primarily at apache admin although it does some samba as well -->

http://www.covalent.net/projects/comanche/images/console-apache.gif

is a nice screenshot and the main site is at -->

http://www.covalent.net/projects/comanche/

.

Also see -->

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.1-Manual/custom-guide/apacheconf.html

which is the up-to-date redhat doc on apache configuration.

Regards

 

[kaioo]

Hi!

To set up the machine's ip address, use linuxconf.
it runs as gui or in console mode.

Just type linuxconf at a shell and see what happens

I do agree with iggystar. Apache.org docs don't explain so much, they are the "uncomment this and type that" kind of places.

Anyway, Apache is one of the greatest servers that exists, but I'm sure that the guys at apache.org can write better and a little more complete documentation.

About ifincham's suggestion of using comanche, I would think it more than twice. I used it once and it only left a trail of disaster and destruction on httpd.conf.

creating a user that has all root privileges, it seems to be quite unnecesary. If the user has root privileges, falling back to root would be of no help, because the user already has all the privileges.

For Samba, the /etc/samba/smb.conf file is quite self explanatory, just keep a backup of the original one in case something goes wrong and you are not able to remember what was that you changed. It tends to happen, after many hours of not slepping. look at

http://www.samba.org

Hope this is useful