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

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.

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

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