The Perfect Setup - SUSE 9.2
Version 1.3
Author: Falko Timme
Last edited: 07/20/2005
This is a detailed description about the steps to be taken to setup a SUSE 9.2 based server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters (web server (SSL-capable), mail server (with SMTP-AUTH and TLS!), DNS server, FTP server, MySQL server, POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc.). In addition to that I will show how to use Debian's package manager apt on an rpm-based system because it takes care of package dependencies automagically which can save a lot of trouble.
I will use the following software:
- Web Server: Apache 2.0.x
- Mail Server: Postfix (easier to configure than sendmail; has a shorter history of security holes than sendmail)
- DNS Server: BIND9
- FTP Server: proftpd (ISPConfig will not work with vsftpd on SUSE 9.2)
- POP3/IMAP: I will use Maildir format and therefore install Courier-POP3/Courier-IMAP.
- Webalizer for web site statistics
In the end you should have a system that works reliably and is ready for the free webhosting control panel ISPConfig (i.e., ISPConfig runs on it out of the box).
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!
Requirements
To install such a system you will need the following:
- SUSE 9.2. I downloaded this DVD iso image and burnt it onto a DVD: ftp://sunsite.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/Linux/suse/i386/9.2/iso/SUSE-Linux-9.2-FTP-DVD.iso
- an internet connection...
1 The Base System
Boot from your SUSE 9.2-DVD and select Installation from the boot screen.
The SUSE installer (called YaST - Yet another Setup Tool) starts. It normally runs in graphic mode, but I use text mode, so my screenshots will differ a little from graphic mode, but the functionality is exactly the same.
Select your language.
The installer analyzes your system and makes some automatic installation decicions which it lists on the following screen. You can change each of its choices by navigating to the appropriate headline (using the [arrow down] key). For example, you could change the partitions YaST proposes:
For my purposes I decide to use one big /-partition and a swap partition.
You can also choose the software you want to install if you know what you are doing. In this example, I will leave YaST's package choice unchanged. I will install the software I need to run a web/email/ftp server manually after the base installation has finished.
Adjust your time zone:
The package installation starts:
After the package installation the system reboots. Remove the SuSE DVD and go sure to boot from the hard disk. Enter your root password after the reboot: