Chapter 10. Small Office/Home Office Server
Ubuntu may be an awesome desktop environment (and with Kubuntu in the mix, it offers plenty of choices), but it’s also an excellent choice for a server operating system. By choosing the bare minimum packages, you can cook up a lean installation that’s ready to serve web pages, host shell accounts, run virtual machines, or do anything else you need. Read on for hacks that will help you get that bare-bones installation going, install essential services, and administer your server from afar.
Install and Configure an Ubuntu Server
The Ubuntu installer makes it easy to do a clean and minimal server setup.
The Debian distribution has a well-deserved reputation as being extremely well suited for use in the datacenter, and Ubuntu builds on that by providing simplified installation and official commercial support, making it ideal for mission-critical server deployments.
Minimal Installation
A good principle when building servers is to install as few packages as possible, minimizing the number of things that can go wrong as well as the potential for security flaws. The Ubuntu installer offers a special “server” mode that makes it simple to create a basic server platform onto which you can install the software you require.
Before you perform the actual installation, boot up the server and enter the BIOS setup screen. Because servers typically run without a monitor attached, you will need to find the BIOS setting that tells the computer which ...
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