Tutorial: Setting up an Ubuntu dev server with Virtualmin

[Joss]

IMPORTANT - DO NOT USE THIS FOR A PRODUCTION SERVER

This is not strictly a ProcessWire tutorial, except it really is very useful for developing ProcessWire websites.

I have just rebuilt my little dev server and it was a right pain - basically, I made the mistake of following a couple of bits of really bad advice.

I eventually nailed down the right thing to do in the right order from about three different sources and have decided to write it up.

This tutorial will take you through installing a pristine, new version of Ubuntu on an old PC, setting it up to work on your local network (this is NOT a publicly facing server), installing Virtualmin, Samba window shares, and setting up your first virtual server.

The main problem I found with the help that I followed, is that no one seemed to link all these install processes together - so a standard install of Ubuntu with Apache would completely mess up Virtualmin and make it all a nightmare.

This is a PDF file without screenshots, but to be honest, I am not sure how screenshots of command line is particularly helpful to anyone!

Feel free to use this and let me know if it actually worked.

NOTE: I am not a sysadmin, so if you find strange errors, you are more likely to find the answer through Google than by asking me - this is just the result of me pulling my hair out for a day or so. I certainly cannot guarantee that this is perfect or even the best way.

Installing Ubuntu and Webmin.pdf

[OrganizedFellow]

Incredible read Mr Joss [bRAVO]

[Joss]

I just had a panic as I reinstalled one of my virtuals only to get a 500 error.

Then, as I went through it, I realised that of all the backups I could have picked, I picked the one with a typo.

Typical!

[OrganizedFellow]

Way to go MR Pirate!

[gebeer]

Nice guide if you want to develop on a physical server.

A year ago or so I switched to developing on virtual servers set up with vagrant. They're a breeze to setup and you can carry them with you wherever you go.

Recently I discovered protobox which makes it quite easy to setup virtual machines with preinstalled processwire, wordpress or whatever else.

[Beluga]

I love Virtualmin. Using it in production for a client, with email as well. If you ever dreamed about building your own email server, with Virtualmin it's pretty much point and click, spam/virus protection and everything. Do learn about hardening security for your distro, though.

A very nice alternative theme:

https://github.com/qooob/authentic-theme

[Joss]

This is not a distro, just a tutorial and definitely not for a production.  I would not want to advise on security without serious expertise.  As an old friend of mine who really knows what he is doing has pointed out many times, there are a lot of tutorials out there about security written by people who should be shot. (He is subtle like that)

I think I will avoid joining that list!

[Beluga]

This is not a distro, just a tutorial and definitely not for a production.  I would not want to advise on security without serious expertise.  As an old friend of mine who really knows what he is doing has pointed out many times, there are a lot of tutorials out there about security written by people who should be shot. (He is subtle like that)

I think I will avoid joining that list!

Yeah, I was aiming that at anyone who might be curious about running their own (email) server.

Checking the reliability of tutorials is wise.

The people behind Debian are a pretty reliable source on securing Debian http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/securing-debian-howto/

With sites like Stack Exchange, you get peer reviewed answers: http://serverfault.com/questions/11659/what-steps-do-you-take-to-secure-a-debian-server