need help with server administration

[mayur]

Hi Mates,

M newbie here, I have a linux dedicated server with bodhost !!
The server is fully managed & Bodhost helps me all time but I want to learn managing my server myself.
I have sshed with putty some times but don't know all putty commands. Like just I have to remove a dns entry from httpd.conf but I have no Idea, I don't know how to edit files with putty, I am totally new to these things but want to learn it all. I shall be grateful to you if you can show me some resources / Tutorials regarding server administration / SSH Commands, installation.

Thanks in Advance !!

[carl]

Hello Mayur,

Welcome to Bodhost forum.

I think you should look for a list of basic Linux/Unix commands - this will help you get around via the command line. You should be very careful about editing httpd.conf .
If you want to try out opening the file, you can start by changing into the correct directory:

cd /usr/local/apache/conf/

(cd means change directory)

First step is to make a backup of the file you want to edit:

cp httpd.conf httpd.conf.bak

(cp means copy)

Then use the pico program (pico is a good simple text editor) to view the file:

pico httpd.conf

Control + O to save the file, Control + X to exit.

If you make a change, then you must restart Apache for it to take effect. The command can differ accross different versions, but usually it is:

apachectl restart

If the restart fails, you can always revert back to your old version:

mv httpd.conf httpd.conf.broken
mv httpd.conf.bak httpd.conf
apachectl restart

(mv means move, so in the above you use move to rename the broken httpd.conf file and then move the .bak file to replace the broken one)

[RichardM]

Welcome, and congratulations on wanting to learn more about the geekier side of Linux and server administration. The Linux learning curve can be steep, but at least you only have to learn it once.

You can find a set of basic Linux commands here. But before playing with them on a live server, let me make a couple suggestions:

1. Remember the old proverb: "He who hacks much at root will kill tree."

2. ALWAYS make a backup before editing critical files. This may mean backing up the file itself (the cp command is your friend), or it may even mean making a VZ backup if you're doing something really, really dangerous.

3. Buy a good book about Linux. There are tons of them out there. You are probably running centOS on your VPS, which is almost identical to RedHat; so you may want to buy a "Dummies" book for RedHat (or centOS, if one is available).

4. I strongly advise you to buy an old laptop on eBay. Anything with at least a 1 GHz CPU and at least 512 MB RAM oughtta do ya. Then download centOS or Fedora and install it on the laptop. (If you buy a book, there may be a CD included that you can install.) Then practice on your laptop before you start hacking your server.

You can also install Linux on an older PC that no longer runs Windows well, or even build your own Linux box out of spare parts, if you want. Either way, I think it's good to practice on a machine that's not a live Web server until you're comfortable with Linux.

Linux is about as close to a miracle as there in is IT. That something that originated with a college kid's desire for a cheap Unix box should become such a stable, elegant platform as it is still amazes me.

Good luck,

Richard

[mayur]

Thanks mate, It worked, I successfully removed the domain entry from httpd.conf

Cheers !

Originally Posted by carl

Hello Mayur,

Welcome to Bodhost forum.

I think you should look for a list of basic Linux/Unix commands - this will help you get around via the command line. You should be very careful about editing httpd.conf .
If you want to try out opening the file, you can start by changing into the correct directory:

cd /usr/local/apache/conf/

(cd means change directory)

First step is to make a backup of the file you want to edit:

cp httpd.conf httpd.conf.bak

(cp means copy)

Then use the pico program (pico is a good simple text editor) to view the file:

pico httpd.conf

Control + O to save the file, Control + X to exit.

If you make a change, then you must restart Apache for it to take effect. The command can differ accross different versions, but usually it is:

apachectl restart

If the restart fails, you can always revert back to your old version:

mv httpd.conf httpd.conf.broken
mv httpd.conf.bak httpd.conf
apachectl restart

(mv means move, so in the above you use move to rename the broken httpd.conf file and then move the .bak file to replace the broken one)

[mayur]

Thanks to you,
The link you gave is very useful for linux commands,
Are there some more resources available !! ? Like tutorials for some known problems.

Thanks for your advise, I will try it.

Originally Posted by RichardM

Welcome, and congratulations on wanting to learn more about the geekier side of Linux and server administration. The Linux learning curve can be steep, but at least you only have to learn it once.

You can find a set of basic Linux commands here. But before playing with them on a live server, let me make a couple suggestions:

1. Remember the old proverb: "He who hacks much at root will kill tree."

2. ALWAYS make a backup before editing critical files. This may mean backing up the file itself (the cp command is your friend), or it may even mean making a VZ backup if you're doing something really, really dangerous.

3. Buy a good book about Linux. There are tons of them out there. You are probably running centOS on your VPS, which is almost identical to RedHat; so you may want to buy a "Dummies" book for RedHat (or centOS, if one is available).

4. I strongly advise you to buy an old laptop on eBay. Anything with at least a 1 GHz CPU and at least 512 MB RAM oughtta do ya. Then download centOS or Fedora and install it on the laptop. (If you buy a book, there may be a CD included that you can install.) Then practice on your laptop before you start hacking your server.

You can also install Linux on an older PC that no longer runs Windows well, or even build your own Linux box out of spare parts, if you want. Either way, I think it's good to practice on a machine that's not a live Web server until you're comfortable with Linux.

Linux is about as close to a miracle as there in is IT. That something that originated with a college kid's desire for a cheap Unix box should become such a stable, elegant platform as it is still amazes me.

Good luck,

Richard

[RichardM]

There are thousands. Here are a few:

http://www.linux-tutorial.info/
http://lowfatlinux.com/
http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/
http://www.littleigloo.org/tutorial.php3

And some magazines:

http://www.linuxjournal.com/
http://www.linux-mag.com/

Have fun!

Richard

[mayur]

Thanks mate, It is very useful.

Thanx

[carl]

Your Welcome,


Please let us know if you will face any kind of technical problem.

[Zolin]

Hello Mayur,


to bodhost forum.

[Rodricks]

Welcome to Bodhost, glad to see to see you here.

[mayur]

Thanks to all for a warm wel come, I am grateful to all.

[bod-jack]

You are most welcome,


If you have any queries related to web hosting please feel free to ask here ,we will definitely try to solve it at the earliest.