Greetings all;

my workplace is switching from Oracle app server to Tomcat. I've never been a sysad, and never administered an app server. So that part is going to be completely new to me. Fortunately, I don't have to be the primary on this - but my manager is encouraging me to learn the setup and how to do the job.

So, my situation is that my test "server" is a P2 with 256MB of RAM. I know I'm not going to get screaming performance out of it, but all I really need it to do is run my web server and file server to support my Tomcat install on a separate box (P3, 2.8GHz, dual-core with a gig of RAM).

I'm not really a n00b to Linux, so building the system isn't a stumbling block. Which distro, and which version of that distro, is a stumbling block. I know ubuntu is easy to set up, and very popular. If I went that way, should I get the desktop version? Or the server version? I *want* the GUI, but don't require it. And I'm not real certain what they're referring to (hw or sw) when they call it "desktop" or "server".

I'm not looking for a challenge to broaden my horizons in terms of my Linux knowledge - I just want something I can set up quickly so I can get on with learning what I need to about the server installation, configuration and administration.

Thank you.

I'd be asking what what they're running at work and go with that, or if it's a enterprise one pick a free equivalent. That way you can document any sysadmin experiences you go through and the commands will be identical

RHEL -> CentOS ..
SuSE -> OpenSuSE

cheers

I would get whatever distro my employer is planning to get to make the simulation as real as possible.

If my employer were undecided, I would lobby for Slackware, but that's just me. I've used other distros, but I keep coming back to Slack.

Here's a discussion of the differences between Ubuntu Server and Ubuntu Desktop from help dot ubuntu dot com. It's not a lot from the standpoint (sitpoint?) of the person at the keyboard--it's mostly internal.

You could get Ubuntu server and install a GUI on it. Here's a HOWTO; it was written in the 9.04 days, but there is no reason it shouldn't still work.

Well, the servers at work are Sun. I should know models and versions, but prior to today, it wasn't an issue for me. What I do know is that we're going to big-honkin' server boxes that will run numerous VM servers - all with Solaris OS (which I'm not going to purchase...). Again, this is not about finding the distro to admin the box - it's so I can learn how to install and configure the Apache products.

I think the info on the ubuntu variants is going to answer my questions and get me where I need to be on that front. Still kind of up in the air on Debian, Knoppix and Ubuntu, though...

I'll consider this question resolved!