Linux server distro

Bakedgoods

Bakedgoods

Bakedgoods

Capodecina
Permabanned
Joined
31 Dec 2003
Posts
5,172
Location
Barrow-In-Furness
What distro should I use to setup a Linux server so I can learn more about server administration (I'm a newbie to this, and only have very basic linux experience).

Cheers :)
 
CentOS would be the choice for me :) Its definitely less "user friendly" than Ubuntu Server but its Red Hat Enterprise Linux without the support etc so its pretty close to what you would expect in a commercial production environment.

If you try CentOS and just cannot get along with it, try Ubuntu.

No doubt people will be along in a moment to recommend Arch and things like that but tbh, for a newbie they will likely put you off.
 
A vote for Debian here, I know centos is basically red hat without the support etc. but im most comfortable with Debian. its all the same thing really just in different flavours
 
CentOS is great, as it's already set up with enterprise in mind. Debian is another rock-solid as was mentioned above. All that said, you could also try Ubuntu Server if you don't mind not having a GUI (which would help the learning process greatly tbh). It depends what kind of server you want, and what you want it for.

For production type servers, you NEED something solid (CentOS, Debian) but for home use the (Linux) world is your oyster. Most distros include server apps, so it's just a case of playing around with what you feel comfortable with. Fedora runs Apache or lighttpd nicely, but is bleeding edge and uses experimental kernels at times so although it's a great desktop/home distro I personally wouldn't use it in production environments.

If you want it to be a dedicated server, having no GUI isn't an issue. If it's a home desktop and you just want to "play" with servers then any distro with apache2 added on with Webmin would be a nice start. You could even set up a virtual machine and try the different distros that way.

I had three servers running inside VMs on three different distros last year, just to play around. PCLinuxOS has an easy to use server with the legendary Mandriva control panel available to configure it. Again if it's a desktop machine playing at server that's worth a look too :)

Loads of options, just have fun looking around and experimenting. Virtual machines would make it a lot easier, as you don't have to format the hdd every time you want to try a new distro or setup. I found (to my shock if I'm honest) that Xandros Server was fantastic (fast, smooth, well integrated) and easy to use - but that one as a price tag (US$99 iirc).

Hope I didn't confuse you further lol Basically any distro will play server nicely, but some are better than others. I know you said you're fairly new - what have you tried so far? :)
 
My preference for a free server distro is CentOS, purely because in production I want support available and that means RHEL really (and CentOS is just RHEL with the branding removed). I think if you're learning it for work purposes then it's easily the best option (everybody I've worked with uses RHEL now - or Solaris but thats a bit outside of your criteria). Also the redhat certifications (if you ever want to get certifications) are the most widely recognized by a fair margin.
 
Thanks for the advice guys.

The server will probably be on all of the time but it's main purpose initially is just for learning. How often is something like webmin used? I have used this in the past when I had access to a friends server, it seemed like a really easy way of doing things.

I'm guessing it'll be easier to do the initial server setup with a GUI etc and then possibly look at admnistering it through command line where possible and webmin and phpmyadmin etc?

Any ideas on books of resources for learning how to do this? I generally prefer books as I think you get more of a complete learning experience, rather than just bits...
 
Wardie said:
Thanks for the advice guys.

The server will probably be on all of the time but it's main purpose initially is just for learning. How often is something like webmin used? I have used this in the past when I had access to a friends server, it seemed like a really easy way of doing things.

I'm guessing it'll be easier to do the initial server setup with a GUI etc and then possibly look at admnistering it through command line where possible and webmin and phpmyadmin etc?

Any ideas on books of resources for learning how to do this? I generally prefer books as I think you get more of a complete learning experience, rather than just bits...
Click to expand...

I dislike webmin on principle myself but if you're starting from scratch then it obviously makes life a lot easier. My way of seeing it is you'll need to learn how to change things from the command line sooner or later so you may as well start by doing it that way.

It'll do no harm to install webmin for learning but it might just slow you down in learning the CLI in the end adn thats what you need, I'd never even consider installing webmin on a production system.
 
The problem with webmin, IME, is that it is buggy. Certain configuration changes will break things because of a lack of error checking or incorrect file locations or whatever reason. Using Webmin from the outset basically strips you of the knowledge you need to fix whatever it has broken.

IPTables is probably the only thing I would use webmin for, as configuring IPTables from the commandline isn't nice, its just as powerful but nice and straightforward with webmin.

CLI first, hand-holding tools later on.
 
I agree with DRZ and bigredshark. If you are setting up the server as an environment for learning and self-education, then having a tool to hold your hand in that fashion does a disservice to you. Learn to do it the old fashioned way before trying to automate the procedure. That way you know what's going on under the surface and thus you make yourself learn things you'd otherwise ignore.
 
Wardie said:
Makes sense :)

Any ideas on the book and learning resources part though that I mentioned in my last post?
Click to expand...

I can't really recommend anything particular, all my linux experience to start with came from wanting to achieve a result and then googling until I got there.

You really need to have something you want to achieve to learn I reckon, playing only has so much utility. Maybe try setting up something like torrentflux, useful and reasonably easy to get going. Then maybe get a copy of vlc and play with media streaming, interesting stuff and teaches you a bit. I'd look at stuff like that to learn the basics, setting up BIND and Sendmail has a lot of merit but isn't terribly interesting.

I started that way anyway and I'm now in the process of building new mail relays for work, but I never really started playing with Exim until I did my RHCE so I'd say start off setting up things which are actually useful
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom