Book Image

Mastering Ubuntu Server

By : Jay LaCroix
Book Image

Mastering Ubuntu Server

By: Jay LaCroix

Overview of this book

Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux operating system, and has various versions targeted at servers, desktops, phones, tablets and televisions. The Ubuntu Server Edition, also called Ubuntu Server, offers support for several common configurations, and also simplifies common Linux server deployment processes. With this book as their guide, readers will be able to configure and deploy Ubuntu Servers using Ubuntu Server 16.04, with all the skills necessary to manage real servers. The book begins with the concept of user management, group management, as well as file-system permissions. To manage your storage on Ubuntu Server systems, you will learn how to add and format storage and view disk usage. Later, you will also learn how to configure network interfaces, manage IP addresses, deploy Network Manager in order to connect to networks, and manage network interfaces. Furthermore, you will understand how to start and stop services so that you can manage running processes on Linux servers. The book will then demonstrate how to access and share files to or from Ubuntu Servers. You will learn how to create and manage databases using MariaDB and share web content with Apache. To virtualize hosts and applications, you will be shown how to set up KVM/Qemu and Docker and manage virtual machines with virt-manager. Lastly, you will explore best practices and troubleshooting techniques when working with Ubuntu Servers. By the end of the book, you will be an expert Ubuntu Server user well-versed in its advanced concepts.

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Mastering Ubuntu Server
Jay LaCroix
Jul, 2016 | 430 pages
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Table of Contents (22 chapters)
Mastering Ubuntu Server
Mastering Ubuntu Server
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Deploying Ubuntu Server
Deploying Ubuntu Server
Setting up our lab
Determining your server's role
Obtaining Ubuntu Server
Deciding between 32-bit and 64-bit installations
Creating a bootable Ubuntu Server flash drive (Windows)
Creating a bootable Ubuntu Server flash drive (Linux)
Creating a bootable Ubuntu Server flash drive (Mac)
Planning the partition layout
Installing Ubuntu Server
Installing Ubuntu Server (Raspberry Pi)
Summary
2
Managing Users
Managing Users
Understanding when to use root
Creating and removing users
Understanding the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files
Distributing default configuration files with /etc/skel
Switching between users
Managing groups
Managing passwords and password policies
Configuring administrator access with sudo
Setting permissions on files and directories
Summary
3
Managing Storage Volumes
Managing Storage Volumes
Viewing disk usage
Adding additional storage volumes
Partitioning and formatting volumes
Mounting and unmounting storage volumes
Understanding the /etc/fstab file
Managing swap
Utilizing LVM volumes
Using symbolic and hard links
Summary
4
Connecting to Networks
Connecting to Networks
Setting the hostname
Managing network interfaces
Assigning static IP addresses
Understanding Linux name resolution
Understanding Network Manager
Getting started with OpenSSH
Getting started with SSH key management
Simplifying SSH connections with a ~/.ssh/config file
Summary
5
Managing Software Packages
Managing Software Packages
Understanding Linux package management
Installing and removing software
Searching for packages
Managing software repositories
Keeping your server up to date
Backing up and restoring packages
Making use of aptitude
Installing Snap packages
Summary
6
Controlling and Monitoring Processes
Controlling and Monitoring Processes
Showing running processes with the ps command
Managing jobs
Killing misbehaving processes
Utilizing htop
Managing system processes
Monitoring memory usage
Scheduling tasks with Cron
Understanding load average
Summary
7
Managing Your Ubuntu Server Network
Managing Your Ubuntu Server Network
Planning your IP address scheme
Serving IP addresses with isc-dhcp-server
Setting up name resolution (DNS) with bind
Creating a secondary DNS server
Setting up an Internet gateway
Keeping your system clock in sync with NTP
Summary
8
Accessing and Sharing Files
Accessing and Sharing Files
File server considerations
Sharing files with Windows users using Samba
Setting up NFS shares
Transferring files with rsync
Transferring files with SCP
Mounting remote filesystems with SSHFS
Summary
9
Managing Databases
Managing Databases
Preparations for setting up a database server
Installing MariaDB
Taking a look at MariaDB configuration
Understanding how MariaDB differs in Ubuntu 16.04
Managing databases
Setting up a slave DB server
Summary
10
Serving Web Content
Serving Web Content
Installing and configuring Apache
Installing additional Apache modules
Securing Apache with SSL
Setting up high availability with keepalived
Installing and configuring ownCloud
Summary
11
Virtualizing Hosts and Applications
Virtualizing Hosts and Applications
Setting up a virtual machine server
Creating virtual machines
Bridging the virtual machine network
Creating, running, and managing Docker containers
Summary
12
Securing Your Server
Securing Your Server
Lowering your attack surface
Securing OpenSSH
Installing and configuring Fail2ban
MariaDB best practices
Setting up a firewall
Encrypting and decrypting disks with LUKS
Locking down sudo
Summary
13
Troubleshooting Ubuntu Servers
Troubleshooting Ubuntu Servers
Evaluating the problem space
Conducting a root-cause analysis
Viewing system logs
Tracing network issues
Troubleshooting resource issues
Diagnosing defective RAM
Summary
14
Preventing and Recovering from Disasters
Preventing and Recovering from Disasters
Preventing disasters
Utilizing Git for configuration management
Implementing a backup plan
Creating system images with Clonezilla live
Utilizing bootable recovery media
Summary
Index
Index

Simplifying SSH connections with a ~/.ssh/config file

Before we leave the topic of SSH, there's another trick that benefits convenience, and that is the creation of a ~/.ssh/config file. This file doesn't exist by default, but if it's found, SSH will parse it and you'll be able to benefit from it.

The ~/.ssh/config file allows you to list servers that you connect to often, which can simplify the SSH command automatically. The following are example contents from a hypothetical ~/.ssh/config file that will help me illustrate what it does:

host myserver
    Hostname 192.168.1.23
    Port 22
    User jdoe

Host nagios
    Hostname nagios.local.lan
    Port 2222
    User nagiosuser

In the example contents, I have two hosts outlined, myserver and nagios. For each, I've identified a way to reach it by name or IP address (the Hostname line), as well as the Port and User account to use for the connection. If I use ssh to connect to either Host by the name I outlined in this file, it will use the values...

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