Using Linux as a Mail/Web Host

[spooties]

Hi,

I would like to create some Linux servers to use as a Mail/Web host for several domains - how easy is this? What distribution would be best for this purpose? Would I be better off sourcing all of the work to someone else?

Information and advice is appreciated.

Regards

S

 

[RhythmAce]

The best distro by far is Red Hat so close your mind now and don't listen to anybody else. For the web server, you will want to read up on apache (

http://www.apache.org/).

This server is second to none in the world and comes with ALL linux distros. For the mail server, you have a choice of three, sendmail (my personal favorite), postfix (some say it is much easier to configure), and qmail (said to be more secure but I'd have to see proof ). Most distros only come with sendmail. To make your mail server complete, you will need a way for users to get their mail, hence you will need a POP3 and/or IMAP server. Both of these come with most distros. If you plan on hosting many domains, check out

http://www.zoneedit.com/

It will allow you to handle the dns records of all your domains from one place. Whatever you choose for your servers, there is a forum for it here at tek-tips.

 

[fluid11]

"The best distro by far is Red Hat so close your mind now and don't listen to anybody else"

...lol, nice one RhythmAce

 

[AngelGabriel]

You might want to check out e-smith, if your ONLY going to be doing email and web stuff. I havn't used it myself, but I am currently downloading the ISO.

Redhat is great, I actually use that at the moment, but I guess variety is the spice of life.

 

[wbg34]

Regardless of the distro you choose (I chose redhat running apache and sendmail) dont forget to download and install webmin

http://www.webmin.com.

It will make your life much easier when you are configuring your new web/mail server.

 

[fluid11]

Although using webmin might make your life easier for the time being, I can't stress enough that every Linux administrator should learn to work from the command line. If your server didn't boot one day, webmin isn't going to help you. Once you feel comfortable working from the command line, you'll find that you can do most tasks much faster than using any GUI app.

ChrisP

 

[Mellegem]

All the advice above is good but ... -->opening mind-->>
look at Debian as a platform, its package management system is far superior to dedrat's and its incredibly stable.

 

[santoshdj123]

hi

for configuring the apache server. install the rpm . edit the /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf file find the word "Servername" uncomment that line. and run the service by giving the command

# service httpd start
open the browser and give the your system's ip the apache web page will be displayed.
and for sendmail use m4 (micro precessor) for sendmail.
m4 to .mc file .


santosh

 

[MorpheusNL]

If the machine is connected to the internet ... take a good look at some of the "hardened" distro's.

They won't be easy to setup but if you want your machine to stay 'alive' on the internet, some extra security is better.

Maybe a colleague or friend (with enough experience in using and securing Linux) could help you get started.

BTW : Sendmail is fine, but if you want some easier administration and more configurability take a look at postfix, most distro's switched from sendmail to postfix as a standard.

 

[almahtar]

I'd personally recommend ClarkConnect... It's made to be a firewall/router distro, but it doesn't have to be. The web administration for it is INCREDIBLE. It'll let you access the ssh on the box with any browser on a computer with a JVM, update your packages, administrate e-mail/web server things, as well as ftp, proxy, etc... It's web server stats are VERY comprehensive, too. Last of all, it's based on (don't get angry, oh l33t ones) Redhat . It's not bad at all, and worth a look.

I'm currently using it as my gateway for my cable connection, mail server, web server, ftp server, proxy, and SMBA/NFS servers all running flawlessly on a p166.


--------
It is an honor to recieve an honest reply. (Prov 24:26)

 

[sleipnir214]

BTW...If anyone's interested in ClarkConnect:

http://www.clarkconnect.org

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[jwenting]

For a server RedHat is probably the worst choice (or one of the worst), especially the freely downloadable one.

It installs a lot of crap a server would never need which could become a serious source of security problems.

Better take a look at a distribution like Debian where you have complete control over what gets installed and what not (and where the creators actually take security serious).

and of course forget sendmail, it's a bugriddled invitation to crackers and intruders to run that!

 

[fluid11]

"For a server RedHat is probably the worst choice (or one of the worst), especially the freely downloadable one." -->

jwenting, why don't you give us some examples that support this crazy idea. Last time I checked, Debian was "freely downloadable" just like Red Hat.

"It installs a lot of crap a server would never need" --> you have complete control over what gets installed if you select a Custom installation.

How is Debian more secure than Red Hat? They are both Linux. If you know what your doing, you can tighten the security on both the same.


ChrisP

 

[venkman]

As far as server stuff goes, I have noticed some problems with Redhat 9.0, especially with ssl. That said, I've been extremely happy with mail/web server, which runs Redhat 7.3 on my trusty pentium 133.

As a desktop user, I've found Redhat 9.0 a little easier to use than Suse. The big plus for Suse is the way they centralize configuration so much using Yast, which Redhat doesn't seem to want to do. Unfortunately, I've had too many issues with suse to use it often, these included having trouble getting ssh to forward X connections (I eventually figured out how to fix this but it was a pain in the ass), not getting sound on my dvd player, and being unable to get suse to recognize my firewire cd burner. None of these were problems with Redhat.

I've tried 3 times to install Debian with a 2.4 kernel and every time something goes wrong. I'm not sure why I seem to have so much trouble, but I eventually got sick of trying and gave up.

I've been curious to try out gentoo and slackware, but I don't think their very easy to figure out for newbies.

I haven't used Mandrake in over a year, so I don't know much about it. I hear it's pretty good though. I've been meaning to install it and try it out.

OH, and linux is linux, but there are many individual parts that make up a complete GNU/Linux server. All of these can be configured or mis-configured. The complaint people have had about Redhat is that they often brake certain parts (like with ssl). I believe someone in one of these threads mentioned before that they used a version of gcc that was not stable in one of their distributions once, a classic no-no in terms of getting other stuff to work. The flip side is that, IMHO, Redhat seems to be the only one who knows what their doing in terms of making a GUI oriented OS. The printer tool is my favorite example of what's missing from other distributions.

-Venkman