The Perfect Server - Mandriva 2010.1 (Spring) Free (x86_64) [ISPConfig 2]

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Author: Falko Timme <ft [at] falkotimme [dot] com>
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Last edited 07/14/2010

This tutorial shows how to set up a Mandriva 2010.1 (Spring) Free (x86_64) server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters: Apache web server (SSL-capable), Postfix mail server with SMTP-AUTH and TLS, BIND DNS server, Proftpd FTP server, MySQL server, Dovecot POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc. In the end you should have a system that works reliably, and if you like you can install the free webhosting control panel ISPConfig 2 (i.e., ISPConfig runs on it out of the box). This tutorial is written for the 64-bit version of Mandriva 2010.1.

I will use the following software:

• Web Server: Apache 2 (with PHP5, Ruby,Python, and WebDAV)
• Mail Server: Postfix
• DNS Server: BIND9
• 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 Preliminary Note

In this example I will use the following settings for my system:

• IP address: 192.168.0.100, gateway: 192.168.0.1
• Host name: server1.example.com

Your settings will most likely differ, so you might have to adjust the instructions from this tutorial.

2 Requirements

To install such a system you will need the following:

• Download the Mandriva 2010.1 DVD iso image or the Mandriva 2010.1 CD iso images from a mirror near you (you can find the download here: http://www.mandriva.com/en/download); I have used the Mandriva 2010.1 DVD for this tutorial.
• a fast Internet connection...

3 The Base System

Boot from your Mandriva 2010.1 DVD or CD (the first one). Select Install Mandriva Linux 2010 Spring and press Enter:

Choose your language next:

Accept the license and click on Next:

Select your keyboard layout:

Now we have to partition our hard disk. You can choose to let the Mandriva installer do the partitioning, or you can do it yourself. I want to create a small /boot partition (about 180 MB) with the file system ext4, a swap partition and a huge / partition (again with ext4):

Afterwards, the new partitions are being formatted:

We don't have any other installation media, so we select None and click on Next: