Need *extremely* newb-friendly walkthrough on server setup

[ND4SPDR]

While working on a machine for some friends, they offered me one of their old boxes. I took it, and as it turns out, the processor is faster than my current computer. Anyways, I spent a few hours screwing with settings in SuSE 9.1 and got it pretty stable (I have 128 megs of RAM, so stability is limited) before my sound card blew up. I've since installed Fedora Core 2 with all the server packages checked during installation. I want to use this box as a web server for hosting pics and videos. The problems are that I have a.) no idea how to set it up and b.) nobody else I know runs Linux.

I'm somewhat familiar with Linux after running various distros over the last year, but Fedora is pretty new to me and this server thing is completely beyond my comprehension at this point. I need a pretty basic walkthrough (using as few terminal commands and as many GUI commands as possible) on how to successfully set this sucker up. It will be on my home LAN, so it needs to be fairly secure, but I'm not expecting a lot of requests.

I really, really don't want to have to run Win 2k Server, but if I can't get this running, then Microsoft it is.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

[kkubasik]

Assuming that you can install Apache, little extra configuration is required. Especialy should you just want to host images. If DNS resolution is working correctly, and port 80 is forworded all good-like then there is little need for extra configuration just start the server with something like

/etc/rc.d/init.d/apache2 start

I don't know the exact command in fedora, but it should be in the Apache documentation somewhere. Should you also want php http://www.cfdev.com/apache/apache2php.cfm
is a nice resource.

A nice assistant for GUI based installations is webmin, a program that allows for the configuration of servers via a webbrowser.

[Opnosforatou]

What's the total experience you have in server installation/configuration and network topology ?

Have experience in html and/or php ?
Want to use MySQL ?

Or will it only be:

FC2 or FC3
Apache
Firewall support.

Will it function as a gateway between your LAN and the internet ?



As with server installation: I would recommend a bare install,
Leave everything off that you DON"T need.
As skinny as possible.
The less the better.
After you have that up and running and you are able to connect to the internet from it. Use APT or YUM to update the system and install any needed packages.

[Giro]

Do you plan on making the server accessable to the internet(public) I couldnt really tell this will help with the config?

[mfear84]

There are some REALLY cheap hosting services out there, there not exactly reliable but there out there. You can get cpanel hosting as low as like 10 bucks a year, no saying how long its going to last, but I have had some luck with these cheap hosts. As long as what your posting isnt important and you need 100% uptime. I use them for testing and playing around with stuff.

Max

[ND4SPDR]

All right, so I need to be taught on how to
a.) install Apache (sorry, but installing anything in Linux is a royal pita)
b.) run Apache

I don't need MySQL, but I do need the server to be internet accessible so I can store crap on it and have otehr people see it. It is on my LAN, but not a gateway to it.

Thanks.

[Bikerepairmann]

the configuration file of apache is in /etc/htpd/httpd.conf. this file is self explaining and has good documentation. you can also use the http configuration tool, but I found it easier to do it in gedit. (or an other wordprocessor)

The docroot is /var/www/html (where you place your .html, .php files etc.

switch on apache in services (found as httpd) and test the configuration.
if you get no errors, check off httpd and save

[adrenaline]

a.) install Apache (sorry, but installing anything in Linux is a royal pita)
b.) run Apache

I don't need MySQL, but I do need the server to be internet accessible so I can store crap on it and have otehr people see it. It is on my LAN, but not a gateway to it.

Thanks.

You think installing is a royal pita because you don't know how. Granted there is a really learning curve, but one you learn you will be amazed at how easy it is. Especially with great utilities such as yum.


I wanted to clear things up a little
the conf file on fedora is actually
/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Also the way to start the server is to
/etc/init.d/httpd start

All you need to to put a website up on the internet is to get a static IP address and enter it in the hosts file along with the name of your Virtual Domain that you purchased and the name of the machine
example
su -
<password>
cd /etc
pico hosts

63.*.*.* pluto pluto.mydomain.com pluto
save
reboot
then cd to /var/www/html
create a basic web page
<html>
<head><title>Hello World</title></head>
<body>
<center>
<h1>
Hello World
</h1>
</center>



</hr>
</body>
</html>
then save it as index.html
then
/etc/init.d/httpd restart
Then in your browser you should be able to type mydomain.com (or whatever you name your domain)
And you should see it.

This is a quick and dirty overview. I hope this clears things up a little

[m3rajk]

All right, so I need to be taught on how to
a.) install Apache (sorry, but installing anything in Linux is a royal pita)
b.) run Apache

I don't need MySQL, but I do need the server to be internet accessible so I can store crap on it and have otehr people see it. It is on my LAN, but not a gateway to it.

Thanks.

a: go to cli.
su - to root
run this command: yum update apache

it might be a bit diff in 2, but if that's the case then get fc3, so you can use security enhancements.

then choose to install apache in the upgrade and after you have that done, go to root and run
yum update
until you're completely up to date

that's all there is to installing in an rpm set up

no building from source (that's when it gets tricky because you need to find dependecies yourself and such...but this is as easy as eating cake)