Web server questions.

[jj.amonit]

First some info.

I have been developing a small web app on a windows pc. It's been a local dev and test project. It's got Apache, MySQL, PHP, and BIRT (a reporting tool that is a plugin for Eclipse).

Now I am ready to put it on the web. I want to host the site myself on my own linux server, opensuse11.0. I would like it to have the website initially, and mail and ftp eventually. The first thing I did was create a new installation and chose the web server option on the dvd.

My first concern was to get the website up and running, so I configured Apache, MySQL, and PHP. Then I installed Tomcat 6 and the Eclipse SDK with the BIRT plugin. I have configured all of that. Everything is running fine, except I still need to tweak BIRT. But that is another story.

Now I am moving onto getting email and ftp to work, so I can continue development and testing on my pc. But here is where I think I screwed up.

I want to use Ispconfig, since I have some experience with it already. However, I read on Ispconfig's website that I can't use it because I have already setup some of the stuff. I like the idea of something like ispconfig helping me manage my server, but I don't want to loose all the work I have already done. So I thought I would ask if I have any options.

Do I need to scrap all of my work, start over with another distro? I read that opensuse 11.0 is not great for ispconfig.

Can I proceed with another option, and if so, which ones?

I have found a website here on howtoforge that details the steps to build the perfect webserver, and it seems to be iterated for many different distros.

From that site, I have found that there are a few more things to a web server than what I have installed, and the ones I do, most likely aren't properly secured.

Any ideas from the community?

Thanks

JJ

[id10t]

I discovered ispconfig recently,and I've been doing all my stuff by hand for years.. just got a second server for a new project and put ispconfig on first thing, i'll be moving everything there temporarily, then wipe original server, do ispconfig there, and re-set everything back up (the new project has to stay separated)

[till]

If you want to use ispconfig you should install your server as described in the perfect setup guide. If you install ispconfig on your current setup, there is a high chance that you break your setup and additionally ispconfig will not work too.

[jj.amonit]

Thanks guys. I'll get on that. Kind of thought that would be the answer. I think I can redo everything I did already faster this time around. Plus it gives me a chance to update to opensuse 11.1. You guys have any reason why I shouldn't use 11.1?

[till]

Opensuse 11.1 has not been tested with ispconfig 2 yet but it will work most likely.

[jj.amonit]

Okay, so I have had a few days to work on the suggestions. And now I have some problems, and quite a few questions.

First I will catch you all up. I downloaded opensuse11.1. I did a clean install and used howtoforge's perfect web server page. However, I made on change in the beginning. I am not familiar enough with command prompts, so I went ahead and installed Gnome. I got all the way through the server setup and everything seemed to be working fine. I did not do any testing as i went, but it nothing crashed.

I installed ISPconfig as per their instructions. After that, all I had left to install was tomcat and birt, i thought. Before I did that though, I decided to test out ISPconfig.

Before I go into that, I need to give some more info. my website will be www.gdmeter.com. I purchased the name on godaddy a month ago. And there isn't anything there yet. Hence the work on this server. I was going to install everything, set it up down at my office and then point the site there. I am still installing and configuring, so the site isn't up on the net.

During the ispconfig installation. I think I messed it up a little bit. here's the info I told it:
Mysql server = localhost (and I entered the proper user and password)
ispconfig database name = ispconfigdb
IP address of ispconfig weg = 127.0.0.1 (couldn't use 192.168.0.1)
hostname is "www"
domain is "gdmeter.com".

I also told it to use SSL.

In order to test it, I assume that I go to https://www.gdmeter.com:81 . That just never loads. Then, I try "http://localhost" just for fun. It doesn't work at all. I then somehow try "http://gdmeter.com" and I get the website that I installed before I the 11.1 installation! php and mysql were working fine.

I feel like I am rambling, so I will get to it. Since I couldn't get ispconfig to work on the website given, I thought I would have to do one of two things.
1. change the configuration of ispconfig to point to another location.
2. get my dns transferred and get www.gdmeter.com up and running.

Before I did that, I decided to do a restart, cause sometimes that seems to help (especially on pc's). And here is the big reason for posting. When it rebooted, the gnome display manager popped up. The only user I could log into was "other". However, it wouldn't work. And I couldn't select 'restart' 'shutdown', etc. I could change the display settings down in the bottom right corner. So, left with no options, I push the power button on my tower. And a new screen pops up, asking me if I want to shutdown, restart, or hibernate. There is no option to login as a new user. One clue I found was that the system said I was logged in as 'Gnome Display Manger Daemon'.

Everytime I reboot, I get this problem. I have tried booting in safemode. I tried doing a rescue, but I don't know what to do once I get there. Should I do a repair install?

Also, on a side note. if I get godaddy to point to my ip and dns down at my store, will ispconfig then work? if not, what do I have to do?

Thanks for any help. I hope I gave enough info.