Installing LAMP for customer
 

Hi all,

Ive recently gotten my first Linux customer and have to install Apache, PHP and MySQL on a CentOS 6 machine. Other than yum install for each of the services, is there anything else I need to consider for the server to run well? I'm a 27 yr old windows guy proficient in PHP so not a total n00b but juat want to be careful with Linux :)

If this is for internal use then you'll get away with that.

If it's going to be "public facing" then you'll need to consider implementing iptables and apache hardening as a minimum.

Thanks for the response!

It will be public facing.

iptables should be okay, I can follow the existing ruleset but as far as apache hardening goes, do I need to consider suhosin? Or would a simple guide for example http://www.tecmint.com/apache-security-tips/ suffice?

those tecmint tips are a good start, also disable or uninstall any unnecessary services on the server.

I second TenTenths: definitely look into security; try the Sticky posts in the Security Forum.
Disable any unused services (see the chkconfig cmd).
Check this site for free-to-read manuals on everything www.linuxtopia.org.
Definitely keep the system updated, but you may want to test changes on a separate box first; also useful as a backup/replacement server.

And to chime in a bit here, from the "been there before" standpoint: advise your customer to spring for a decent firewall/DMZ setup, if they don't have it already, and get it in writing. No matter how much you harden things, if it's public-facing, there are vulnerabilities. If something goes wrong, they WILL look for someone to blame...make sure it's not you. If you can point out that you advised xxx and they didn't do it, you're good.

Disabling unneeded services and IPtables is a great start...but anything public-facing is tricky. Be prepared.

Easy and simple setup http://tuxlite.com/