Book Image

Mastering Ubuntu Server - Second Edition

By : Jay LaCroix
Book Image

Mastering Ubuntu Server - Second Edition

By: Jay LaCroix

Overview of this book

Ubuntu Server has taken the data centers by storm. Whether you're deploying Ubuntu for a large-scale project or for a small office, it is a stable, customizable, and powerful Linux distribution that leads the way with innovative and cutting-edge features. For both simple and complex server deployments, Ubuntu's flexible nature can be easily adapted to meet to the needs of your organization. With this book as your guide, you will learn all about Ubuntu Server, from initial deployment to creating production-ready resources for your network. The book begins with the concept of user management, group management, and filesystem permissions. Continuing into managing storage volumes, you will learn how to format storage devices, utilize logical volume management, and monitor disk usage. Later, you will learn how to virtualize hosts and applications, which will cover setting up KVM/QEMU, as well as containerization with both Docker and LXD. As the book continues, you will learn how to automate configuration with Ansible, as well as take a look at writing scripts. Lastly, you will explore best practices and troubleshooting techniques when working with Ubuntu Server that are applicable to real-world scenarios. By the end of the book, you will be an expert Ubuntu Server administrator who is well-versed in its advanced concepts.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)

Using Ansible's pull method

The way we set up our Ansible configuration in the previous section works very well if we have a list of specific servers we wish for it to manage. To add a new server, we create the user account and SSH configuration on the new host, and then add it to the inventory file. If we decommission that server, we simply remove it from the inventory file. This works well in a static environment, where servers you deploy typically stay around for a while. In a dynamic environment though, this may not work as well.

Dynamic environments are very typical in the cloud. With cloud computing, you typically have one or more virtual servers that provide a service to your company or users. These servers may come and go at any time. With dynamic environments, servers will come online as needed to handle load, and will also get decommissioned automatically as load...