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)

Monitoring Ubuntu servers with Canonical's Landscape service

Another important aspect of security is keeping track of compliance. Servers simply won't let you know by themselves whether they're behind on updates, and without some sort of service performing some sort of monitoring, you really won't know what's going on with your servers unless you check.

To solve this problem, Canonical offers a custom service known as Landscape. Landscape allows you to manage your entire fleet of Ubuntu servers from a single page. Landscape will allow you to list any servers that need security updates, automate common tasks, create your own repositories, and more. It presents these features in an attractive user interface. With such a service, it's easy to tell which of your servers need a security update, or a reboot in order to apply a patch.

There are two ways...