Ubuntu Quick Guides

Formating/mounting a new harddisk

1. Find your harddisk
   ls /dev/
   
   Note: sd<letter> is harddisks, and sd<letter><number> is partitions.
   
   
2. Enter your disk with fdisk
   sudo fdisk /dev/sd<letter>
   
   
3. Create your partitions
   use m for help
   n to create a partitions
   t to change partition type
   
   
4. When you have created your partition, exit with w to save and exit
   
   
5. Format the new partition
   mkfs -t <filesystem, eg. ext4> <device, eg. /dev/sdb1>
   
   
6. Get the uuid of your partition
   ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid
   
   
7. Add uuid and insert the path where to mount in /etc/fstab
   sudo nano /etc/fstab
   
   Examble:
   UUID=2687047d-f506-40f0-8823-d753c1ef34cd /data ext4
   
   
8. Mount the partitions
   mount -a

LVM

1. Install LVM2
   sudo apt-get install lvm2
   
   
2. Create at least 2 Linux LVM (8e) partitions with fdisk
   
   
3. Create the LVM partitions
   pvcreate <partition 1> <partition 2>
   
   Note: more partitions can be added - pvcreate <partition 1> <partition 2> <partition 3>
   
   
4. Create a volume group for the partitions
   vgcreate <name> <partition 1> <partition 2>
   
   
5. Create a logical volume for the volume group
   lvcreate --name <name> --size <size, eg. 10G or 20M> <volume group name>
   
   
6. Format the volume with a filesystem
   mkfs -t <filesystem, eg. ext4> /dev/<volume group name>/<logical volume name>
   
   
7. You can now mount it to a path
   
   

<a href="http://www.howtoforge.com/linux_lvm">Read more</a>

Install mediawiki

1. Install apache2, mysql-server, php5, php5-mysql and mediawiki. Run this command and follow the instructions
   sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-server php5 php5-mysql mediawiki
   
   
2. Enter the /etc/mediawiki/apache.conf file
   sudo nano /etc/mediawiki/apache.conf
   
   
3. remove # from the line #Alias /mediawiki /var/lib/mediawiki
   
   
4. Save and exit
   
   
5. Restart apache2
   sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
   
   
6. go to http://<server address>/mediawiki and run the configuration
   
   
7. Rename the old configuration
   sudo mv /var/lib/mediawiki/LocalSettings.php /var/lib/mediawiki/LocalSettings.php.backup
   
   
8. Insert the new configuration
   sudo cp /var/lib/mediawiki/config/LocalSettings.php /var/lib/mediawiki/LocalSettings.php
   
   
9. You can now access your new mediawiki webpage by going to http://<server address>/mediawiki

Install php

1. Install php
   sudo apt-get install php5
   
   
2. PHP should now be installed.

Install phpmyadmin

1. Install phpmyadmin
   sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin
   
   
2. You can now access phpmyadmin via http <server address>/phpmyadmin

Make you http site redirect to your https site

1. Enter your site file
   sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/default
   
   
2. Under the line
   <VirtualHost *:80>
   insert the line
   Redirect permanent / https://<server address>/
   
   
3. Restart apache
   sudo service apache2 restart
   
   
4. Http requests should now be redirected to https

Install samba file server (create network shares)

1. Install samba
   sudo apt-get install samba
   
   
2. Enter the sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf file
   sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf
   
   
3. Browse to the bottom and create a share
   
   Example:
   [Share]
   comment = Guest access share
   path = /path/to/dir/to/share
   browseable = yes
   read only = yes
   guest ok = yes
   
   
   
4. Save and exit
   
   
5. Reload samba
   sudo /etc/init.d/samba reload
   

   Making shares open

   1. Enter the sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf file
      sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf
      
      
   2. Find the line security = guest and replace it with security = share
      
      
   3. Save and exit
      
      
   4. Reload samba
      sudo /etc/init.d/samba reload

   
   

   Install ssh (cli remote control)

   1. Install openssh server
      sudo apt-get install openssh-server
      
      
   2. You can now access your server via ssh (with eg. putty)

   
   

   Setting up static ip

   1. Enter the /etc/network/interfaces file
      sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces
      
      
   2. Change iface eth0 inet dhcp to iface eth0 inet static
      
      
   3. Write your address, netmask and gateway
      
      Example:
      iface eth0 inet static
      address 192.168.1.2
      netmask 255.255.255.0
      gateway 192.168.1.1
      
      
      
   4. Restart networkworking and that's it
      sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

   
   

   
   

   Update ubuntu

   1. To update your server, run this command
      sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude safe-upgrade && sudo do-release-upgrade
      
      

   
   

   Install wordpress

   1. To install wordpress. Run this command and follow the instructions
      sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-server php5 php5-gd php5-mysql wordpress
      
      
   2. Make a symbolic link so that Apache2 knows where to find the installation folder
      sudo ln -s /usr/share/wordpress /var/www/wordpress
      
      
   3. Then install WordPress using the supplied script
      sudo bash /usr/share/doc/wordpress/examples/setup-mysql -n wordpress localhost
      
      
   4. Add the line the line ServerName localhost to the file /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
      sudo nano /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
      
      
   5. Restart apache
      sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
      
      
   6. Change the permissions of the wordpress folder
      sudo chmod -R 777 /var/www/wordpress
      
      
   7. Delete the wordpress configuration file
      sudo rm /var/www/wordpress/wp-config.php
      
      
   8. Run the wordpress configuration, open a webbrowser and go to http://<server address>/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php
      Note: mysql user should be root
      
      
   9. You can now access your new wordpress webpage by going to http://<server address>/wordpress

   
   

   Install apache (web server)

   1. To install apache2 run this command
      sudo apt-get install apache2
      
      
   2. That's it! You can now create your webpage in the /var/www folder

   
   

   Using your own certificate

   Openssh-server should be installed before you begin.

   1. Generate keys for the Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
      openssl genrsa -des3 -out server.key 2048
      
      
   2. Now create the insecure key, the one without a passphrase, and shuffle the key names
      openssl rsa -in server.key -out server.key.insecure
mv server.key server.key.secure
mv server.key.insecure server.key
      
      
   3. Create the CSR
      openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr
      
      
   4. Create the self-signed certificate
      openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt
      
      
   5. Install the certificate
      sudo cp server.crt /etc/ssl/certs
sudo cp server.key /etc/ssl/private
      
      
   6. Now we have to edit the https site to use your certificate, enter the https site.
      sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/default-ssl
      
      
   7. Change the following
      SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
      SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
      to
      SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/server.crt
      SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/server.key
      
      
   8. Save the changes
      
      
   9. Restart apache
      sudo service apache2 restart
      
      
   10. Your server should now use the certificate you have created.

   
   

   Common commands

   • sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude safe-upgrade && sudo do-release-upgrade
     Used to update ubuntu
     
     
   • sudo
     Used to run commands as root
     
     
   • ls
     Used to show files and folders in a directory
     
     
   • mkdir
     Used to make a directory
     
     
   • cd
     Used to change the directory you're working in
     
     
   • cp
     Used to copy files/directories
     
     
   • rm
     Used to delete files/directories
     
     
   • mv
     Used to move/rename files/directories
     
     
   • locate
     Used to find files/directories
     
     
   • adduser
     Used to create a user
     
     
   • userdel
     Used to delete a user
     
     
   • usermod
     Used to modify a user
     
     
   • groupadd
     Used to create a group
     
     
   • addgroup
     Used to create a group
     
     
   • groupdel
     Used to delete a group
     
     
   • delgroup
     Used to delete a group
     
     
   • groupmod
     Used to modify a group
     
     
   • chmod
     Used to change permissions of a file/directory
     
     
   • chgrp
     Used to change the group of a file/directory
     
     
   • chown
     Used to change the owner of a file/directory
     
     
   • fdisk
     Used to create partitions on a disk
     
     
   • mount
     Used to mount partitions
     
     
   • blkid
     Used to show where partitions are mounted
     
     
   • mkfs
     Used to format a partition
     
     
   • vi
     Text editor
     
     
   • nano
     Text editor
     
     
   • ifconfig
     Used to show interface configuration
     
     
   • man
     Used to show the manual of a command