Learning....
Hello every one.
I’ve been a reseller for a while and have a good chuck of accounts under my belt so I think I’m ready for the next step. Yes you guest it, server management… Now I did my research I read linuxQuestions and came to the conclusion that I’m not getting a dedicated server because I’m not ready. But I do have this to work with;

1) A old dual PIII 800mhz, with a fresh copy of slack ware 9 ready to rock.
2) 5 Static IP’s, on SDSL.
3) Cayman DSL Router

What I would like to do is set up a mini-web hosting testing environment. I don’t want a step by step HOW-TO on this. I want to learn so I need to do my own research. I would appreciate if someone could give me a quick step by step procedure on how to get this going. For example.

1.) Configure apache.
2.) Configure DNS
3.) Configure Fire Wall
4.) Configure OpenSSH
5.) Configure FTP
6.) Configure PHP, Ruby, etc
7.) Configure Sendmail
8.) Install configure Cpanel, Webmin etc…

Well I think you get the idea, half the stuff I listed I know how to do I just don’t know where to start… I want to thank you for your time in reading this. Hopefully this is the best way to learn server management if not please point me in the proper direction.

Quick answers:

Make sure you have installed the documentations that come with Slackware (HOW-TO, Mini-How-To, FAQ, etc.). Start with your friends "man", "apropos" and "whatis".

Try reading that and see if it makes any sense.

If you need basic UNIX/Slackware docs:
free: http://www.slackware.com/book/
$$$: http://www.tux.org/~lasser/think-unix/

If you need more advanced books:
http://www.admin.com

For everything else, buy O'Reilly books. They are simply the best out there...

Also, do read the comments in the /etc/rc.d/* files: they actually explain a lot...

Yes, I know, you wanted something simple... But what could be more simple than reading documentation that you already have on your system?

Managing UNIX/Linux/Slackware machines is 95% reading manuals & HOW-TOs, 3% changing configuration files and perhaps 2% swearing... Have fun!

I really appreciate your advice thanks.
I dont want to make the impression that I dont read or that im a newbie.I have been using slackware since I used to download it on nothing but floppies and I love reading, and I understand that reading is key in the Linux world.

What i am a newbie at is setting up a webserver to try to emulate a webhosting company...

What Im looking to learn from this post is... Whats the first things I should do when setting up a raw server for the web. For example:

-change date and time on server
-firewall ipchains/iptables
-custom dns
-stop services not being used.
-change all default passwords


I would want some one telling how to setup my firewall or how to change the time and date on the server, i would just like to know that i would have to. Then I can do my own research on how to change the time and date, then setup my firewall and so on.
Thanks.

An excellent book on security is "Maximum Linux Security" by Anonymous (that says all you need to know about how good this book is!), on SAMS publishing. If you are in the UK, you can get it for around £10 in somewhere like Just Books. Worth every penny and you'll learn lots of other things from it as well. I also second Noryungi's advice on the O'Reilly books. I have a very well thumbed copy of "Linux in a Nutshell" always present by my PC. Although more of a reference manual there are some very helpful chapters on subjects such as networking, administration, etc. which give an excellent overview of crucial topics.

Very glad to hear you are choosing GNU/Linux as your choice of OS in server management :-)

All the best for the future,

munkeh