A Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up a Dedicated Server LINUX/Webmin

Table of Contents
Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... 2
Disclaimer ............................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 4
Why Dedicated? .................................................................................................................... 4
Dedicated or Virtual Dedicated? ........................................................................................... 4
Links in this book.................................................................................................................. 5
Chapter 1 – Domains ................................................................................................................. 7
Getting Your Domain............................................................................................................ 7
Introduction to Domains and DNS........................................................................................ 9
Chapter 2 – The Webmin Control Panel ..................................................................................10
Getting Started With Your New Server ...............................................................................10
Installing Webmin................................................................................................................14
Binary Install (Recommended) ............................................................................................16
Debian Based Binary Install.................................................................................................17
RedHat Based Binary Install................................................................................................19
Manual Install (Not For the Faint of Heart) .........................................................................21
Post-Install Configuration of Webmin .................................................................................24
Chapter 3 – DNS ......................................................................................................................32
Introduction to DNS Servers................................................................................................32
Configuring DNS with Bind ................................................................................................34
Using a 3rd Party DNS Provider ...........................................................................................41
Chapter 4 – Users & FTP .........................................................................................................43
Users ....................................................................................................................................43
SFTP ....................................................................................................................................47
Normal FTP..........................................................................................................................49
No FTP.................................................................................................................................52
Chapter 5 – The Webserver......................................................................................................53
The Apache Webserver ........................................................................................................53
Preparing The Web Root......................................................................................................54
Configuring a VirtualHost inside Apache............................................................................56
Installing Perl/CGI ...............................................................................................................59
Installing PHP ......................................................................................................................60
Secure (HTTPS) VirtualHosts..............................................................................................62
Chapter 6 – Database................................................................................................................68
MySQL ................................................................................................................................68
Configuring MySQL using Webmin....................................................................................68
Installing phpMyAdmin .......................................................................................................72
Configuring MySQL using phpMyAdmin...........................................................................76
Chapter 7 – Email.....................................................................................................................82
How Email Works................................................................................................................82
Configuring Sendmail ..........................................................................................................83
AntiVirus Scanning..............................................................................................................88
Configuring MX Records for Incoming Mail ......................................................................89
Anti-Spam Techniques: SPF ................................................................................................90
Chapter 8 – Log-File Analysis .................................................................................................93
Webalizer .............................................................................................................................93
Creating a Server-Wide Report............................................................................................94
Creating a Per-Website Report.............................................................................................98

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