creating a web server to host windows client

[malucfieri]

I'm a Linux super newb (hi!) and have been declared the "computer person" of my friends. I've been asked to set up a small web server using Linux as the host to windows clients.

I've been researching online and Apache2 seems like the best choice for what I'm looking to do; I just want the server to host a few web pages. All the tutorials I've been coming across have been incomplete or confusing/conflicting.

This tutorial has been the best I've come across:

h ttp://library.linode.com/web-servers/apache/installation/ubuntu-10.04-lucid#sph_install-apache-modules

It seems great for the information on installing and configuring Apache but the small (and probably simple) details are eluding me. Like:

How do I set up hardware connections correctly? Crossover cable from the server to a network switch and from the clients to the switch and then a standard cable to the modem from the switch?

How do I go about uploading my pages?

I don't know how else to go about finding the solution to the problem. Everything is coming up dry. If the answer is already there, please just clarify it for me. Any help, suggestions, run-throughs, would be GREATLY appreciated!!

[sam619]

use this address _https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ApacheMySQLPHP

[reed9]

As far as hardware connections, I'm not clear what you're looking to do there. Assuming all the clients are on the same LAN, you'd just direct their browsers to the server IP address. If you need to be accessible outside the LAN, you'll need to setup your router to forward http traffic to the server, and assuming you don't have a static IP, set up a domain name to track your IP with a free service like dyndns.com. (Note though that most home internet providers don't allow you to host websites on your home connection. I don't know how seriously they take this if it's just a couple of people connecting, though.)

For uploading your webpage to the server, people frequently use ftp for this.