The Perfect Server - Fedora 14 x86_64 [ISPConfig 2]

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Author: Falko Timme <ft [at] falkotimme [dot] com>
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Last edited 11/04/2010

This is a detailed description about how to set up a Fedora 14 server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters: Apache web server (SSL-capable) with PHP5/Ruby/Python, Postfix mail server with SMTP-AUTH and TLS, BIND DNS server, Proftpd FTP server, MySQL server, Dovecot POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc. This tutorial is written for the 64-bit version of Fedora 14, but should apply to the 32-bit version with very little modifications as well. In the end you should have a system that works reliably, and if you like you can install the free webhosting control panel ISPConfig (i.e., ISPConfig runs on it out of the box).

I will use the following software:

• Web Server: Apache 2.2.16
• PHP 5.3.3
• Ruby
• Python
• Database Server: MySQL 5.1.51
• Mail Server: Postfix
• DNS Server: BIND9 (chrooted)
• FTP Server: proftpd
• POP3/IMAP server: Dovecot
• Webalizer for web site statistics

Please note that this setup does not work for ISPConfig 3! It is valid for ISPConfig 2 only!

I want to say first that this is not the only way of setting up such a system. There are many ways of achieving this goal but this is the way I take. I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

1 Requirements

To install such a system you will need the following:

• Download the Fedora 14 DVD iso image from a mirror near you (the list of mirrors can be found here: http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/publiclist/Fedora/14/), e.g. http://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/fedora/linux/releases/14/Fedora/x86_64/iso/Fedora-14-x86_64-DVD.iso
• an Internet connection...

2 Preliminary Note

In this tutorial I use the hostname server1.example.com with the IP address 192.168.0.100 and the gateway 192.168.0.1. These settings might differ for you, so you have to replace them where appropriate.

3 Install The Base System

Boot from your Fedora 14 DVD. Select Install a new system or upgrade an existing system:

It can take a long time to test the installation media so we skip this test here:

The welcome screen of the Fedora installer appears. Click on Next:

Choose your language next:

Select your keyboard layout:

I assume that you use a locally attached hard drive, so you should select Basic Storage Devices here:

If you see the following message (Error processing drive: [...] This device may need to be reinitialized. REINITIALIZING WILL CAUSE ALL DATA TO BE LOST!), please click on Re-initialize:

Fill in the hostname of the server:

Choose your time zone:

Give root a password:

Next we do the partitioning. Select Replace Existing Linux System(s). This will give you a small /boot partition and a large / partition which is fine for our purposes:

Select Write Changes to Disk:

The hard drive is being formatted:

Now we select the software we want to install. Uncheck Graphical Desktop and check Web Server instead. Then check Customize now. Afterwards, select the additional repositories Fedora 14 - x86_64 and Fedora 14 - x86_64 - Updates (if you are on an i386 system, the names are probably Fedora 14 - i386 and Fedora 14 - i386 - Updates):

As the last two repositories need an Internet connection, a new window pops up where you have to configure your network card. Select your network card and click on OK:

Go to the Wired tab, select the network interface and click on Edit...:

Go to the IPv4 Settings tab and select Manual in the Method drop-down menu. Fill in one, two, or three nameservers (separated by comma) in the DNS servers field (e.g. 145.253.2.75,8.8.8.8), then click on the Add button next to the Addresses area:

Now give your network card a static IP address and netmask (in this tutorial I'm using the IP address 192.168.0.100 and netmask 255.255.255.0 for demonstration purposes; if you are not sure about the right values, http://www.subnetmask.info might help you). Also fill in your gateway (e.g. 192.168.0.1); check the Connect automatically box and then click on the Apply... button:

Next click on Close in the Network Connections window: