Trust me I know the drill well -- no way to create a real world learning space -- no way to use the tools you already own to build a free and capable “real world” Linux webserver, without blindly clunking around in dangerous disk partitions …

Well I was tired too, so I set out to find a way to accomplish my goal without having to spend any more money, yet still create a real world installation that I could use myself. I wanted to document my successes every step of the way, so that I could learn as much as I could as quickly as I could, and then be able to share it with you when I was done.

Here’s what we’ll be building:

* A virtual Debian Linux machine (Etch), right on your Windows box! (No messy drive partitioning required, I promise!)
* An SSH server so you can connect to Linux with PuTTY
* An Apache webserver (2.2)
* MySQL database (5.0.32 for Debian Etch)
* PHP5
* PHPMyAdmin for MySQL administration
* Ruby on Rails (1.8.5 and 1.2.4 respectively)
* Mongrel – (1.0.1) fast and clusterable Rails specific webserver
* GD graphics tool for PHP
* Postfix

One thing right off the rip: I am NOT a Linux Guru. I am posting these notes for two simple reasons: 1) So that online friends like you can find help building a Linux webserver and 2) so that I can learn more about the process as well.

Second thing: This process took a long damn time and was very difficult to figure out and sequence (I had to scour the internet for each little piece). So if you see an error or a better way to do it, be nice; let’s figure this thing out together.

Thirdly: Much thanks and gratitude to a lot of friends here on the Internet (Ezra at EngineYard.com to name one). Searching other people’s online notes really gave me clues and insight to the answers I needed, no matter how deeply buried in blogs they were. To those of you who have previously posted your notes on any of the above Linux subjects… I salute you!

And fourth but certainly not least: Write back. Reply to this post. Share your insights on better methods, tighter security, and cool tips to help us along the way. It is my hope that this can be a cool resource for people like me who just need a helpful nudge over the line -- so that more people like us can unravel this web-serving mystery called Linux.

Okay, let’s get started…

1) DOWNLOAD LINUX DEBIAN: (Netinst ISO file)
Why the Debian flavor of Linux? Since I am not the one to ask, many brilliant friends of mine have recommended it as a stable and relevant flavor. Also, since this will ultimately be used as a webserver on a real world box somewhere, we do not want a bunch of excess bloat if we can avoid it. Nothing is perfect, but we will try to keep it as thin as possible. (Save room for all of our wonderful content, right?) Go to debian.org and get the stable Etch netinst ISO file. At the time of this writing, it can be found here: Get Debian 4.0_r1

Download it to your hard drive and remember where you put it.

You will also need a copy of an ISO disk building program and a blank writable CD. For the ISO program, I recommend a great free Windows product from the folks at NTFS.com called Active@ ISO Burner which you can find here: Active@ ISO Burner.

If you already have something else installed, great! For the blank writable CD, any office supply store will do (Staples, OfficeMax, BestBuy, or even your local grocery store!)

Once you have your ISO Burner installed (or whatever you use instead), burn the Debian ISO file you downloaded onto your new CD and label it with a permanent marker. You will need this new install disk several times during this process.

2) GET VMWARE SERVER:
Fortunately for us, the VMWare company has created a great new product called VMWare Server – And guess what? It’s free! (Thank you VMWare!) You can get it here: VMWare Server

This product will allow us to create a real Linux machine right on our Windows box. All we have to do is give it some disk space and click a couple of buttons to set it up, and voila: Insto-Linux!

(By the way, you can do this exact thing on your Intel Macintosh, but the VMWare product is called Fusion and they currently charge $79 dollars for it. I have tested this entire process on my Mac and where the Linux virtual machine is concerned, it works exactly the same.)

You can download the program from their own website but be warned — it’s a pretty big file so you better go make cookies while you wait. Follow the link above and download the file (as of this writing, the latest version is 1.0.4), then go get a serial number: Register here!

You will need to fill out a simple form… no big deal and well worth it! Just answer the questions the best you can, and when you’re all done they will email you a serial number for installation of your free virtual server. It’s easy and just takes a few moments to get the “paperwork” completed. Do it! Get that baby downloaded! Once it finishes downloading and you have wiped the chocolate off your face, go ahead and install it. Have your new serial number handy when you do.

3) INSTALL VMWARE SERVER:
Locate the install file you downloaded (VMware-server-installer-1.0.4-56528.exe) and double-click to launch. (BTW, if you purchased the Mac version called Fusion, your install process will be slightly different. Macs are easy, you’ll figure it out!)

Follow the install process, agree to the license and select the “Complete” setup type. If you are prompted with a screen regarding a missing or incorrect IIS installation, don’t worry, just click ok and keep going. Follow the remaining default screens until you get to the final one. Click “Install.”

When the installation is complete, click “Finish” and launch VMWare.

4) CREATE YOUR NEW VIRTUAL LINUX MACHINE:
At some point, you will be prompted for the serial number emailed to you from VMWare. Have that handy when you begin this install. Once VMWare opens, select “Local Host” and continue to the main Server Console. (Again, the Mac version behaves slightly different.)

From there click the “New Virtual Machine” button. In the New Virtual Machine Wizard, first select a “Typical” configuration, then select Linux as the Guest Operating System, with a “Version” of Ubuntu. (Since there is no Debian option, we will be using a Ubuntu shell and installing Debian into that.)

Next name your virtual machine. I use “DebianOnUbuntuPreset” to remind me which configuration I used. Next!

I suggest the NAT network connection type so that your Debian machine can get to the internet through your Windows connection. We are using a minimal “Net Install” of Debian so some of the mods we make during our Linux setup will require Internet access.

Next allocate your disk space for your virtual machine. The default space of 8GB seemed adequate yet small enough considering I will be building this image on a VPS someday, so I used it. Select Allocate all disk space now and click Finish. (Give VMWare a moment or three to allocate space.)

Once you are ready to click the green arrow and “start this virtual machine,” place the Debian disk you burned earlier into your CD drive. It will need to be in place when we start the install.

Ok, click it… click the green arrow! After a brief boot up, you will be looking at your very own Linux machine! How cool is that? Once you’re ready to begin the setup process, click your mouse inside the black area of your Debian screen and press Enter!

(Note: Until we get SSH configured for access via PuTTY, we will have to use this black screen area in the VMWare Server Console to do all our work. Clicking in the screen area grabs and holds your cursor -- at that time, the keyboard works in Linux. Pressing Ctrl-Alt releases the mouse and control returns to your PC. Again this will only be an issue until we get SSH configured for PuTTY.)

5) SETTING UP LINUX – PHASE 1:
If you haven’t done so yet, click your mouse in the black area of your Debian screen and press your Enter key. This will kick off the Linux install process.

Use your UP and DOWN keys to move the Red selector around. Press Enter to make your selection. Some of my choices might not apply to you if you are from a different State and Country than I am. I will be listing choices as I made them according to my location and preferences. Obviously you should select yours based on YOUR location and preferences.

Choose Language > English
Choose Language, Choose Country > United States
Select a Keyboard Layout > American English

Linux will run a “Detecting Hardware” process, scan the CD and load additional components.
Linux will then detect your host network and configure itself using DHCP

Enter Hostname > czhost
Enter Domain name > chordzap.com
Partition disks, select method > Guided, use entire disk
(Linux thinks the 8GB you gave it is the entire hard drive! Very cool!)

Select disk to partition > SCSI 1
Partitioning scheme > All files in one partition
Partitioning disks > Finish partitioning and write changes to disk
Write changes to disk? > YES
Select your time zone > Pacific
Setup Root password > deBian1
Repeat to confirm > deBian1
User Real name > Mark Shrader
Username for new account > mark
New user password > LiNuxEtCh2
Confirm user password > LiNuxEtCh2

Linux installs “Base” system…

Configure Package Manager, use network mirror? > NO
Software selection > Standard system
GRUB Boot Loader on Master Boot Record? > YES

Once the installation completes, it will eject your Debian CD (at least mine did!). Go ahead and remove the CD and press “Continue.”

Check it out: Debian is now loading by itself on your virtual machine!

LET’S LOGIN!
Once the boot process is complete, you will see your new linux cursor:
{hostname} login:

(since “czhost” is my hostname, mine looks like this)
czhost login:

(Don’t forget get to click your mouse in the black area of VMWare’s console if the Linux keyboard is not responding, I have forgotten this several times myself)

At this time, type “root” and press the [Enter] key
(don’t include the quotes)

Then type the password you created for root and [Enter] it.
(Mine was “deBian1″ remember?)

If everything went according to plan, you should now be logged into your own virtual Linux machine!
{hostname}:~#

(since “czhost” is my hostname, mine looks like this)
czhost:~#

Ok, that’s the barebones setup. Let’s keep going…

5b) SETTING UP LINUX – PHASE 2:

6) INSTALL SUDO:
By recommendation of all our Guru friends, we have to install SUDO so that all changes can be made from our user account instead of root. (Repeat after me, “Using root is bad”, “Using root is bad”)

Let’s put the Debian installation CD back in and continue:
{hostname}~# apt-get install sudo

Side Note: We will be using apt-get quite a bit. Do yourself a favor and look it up on Debian’s website. It’s a really great tool for installing packages.

Next let’s edit the sudoers file to include the user we made in setup:
{hostname}~# pico /etc/sudoers
(pico is a simple editor I like to use, you can use whatever you like)

Add the line
{username} ALL=(ALL) ALL
into the sudoers file, under the “root” line. Make sure to replace {username} with the user you created earlier. (Doh!)

**Mine looks like this:
mark ALL=(ALL) ALL

Save the file and exit.

7) INSTALL SSH, AND CONNECT VIA PUTTY:
First you will have to download PuTTY. (If you’re using a Macintosh, it already has a terminal program, so downloading a TTY client won’t be necessary.) Ok Windows users, get it here: PuTTY SSH Tool

Next install the SSH server:
{hostname}~# apt-get install openssh-server

Set SSH to a higher port for security:
{hostname}~# pico /etc/ssh/sshd_config
(locate port value 22 and change it to something higher like 8899)

Another security suggestion, recommended by Ezra at EngineYard.com:
In the same sshd_config file, change PermitRootLogin from yes to no
{hostname}~# pico /etc/ssh/sshd_config

PermitRootLogin no

(This will prevent anyone from logging in as root through ssh. If you choose to do this, you will have to preface your root commands with SUDO. For the sake of this write-up I am sticking with root, however as soon as I can I will edit this blog to show the entire process using SUDO instead -- the more secure method for accessing servers out in the real world.)

Make SSH reload config file to activate port:
{hostname}~# /etc/init.d/ssh reload

Prepare to work through Putty now:
{hostname}~# ifconfig
Locate the “inet addr” IP number in the “eth0″ section, that will be your PuTTY address.

Launch and run PuTTY (or whichever terminal program you prefer.)
Enter the IP address from above into Host Name box.
Make sure Port equals your change from above.
Make SSH is selected.
Click open.
PuTTY will open an SSH screen and present a login.
Login as you did before in VMWare’s console.

8) INSTALL DEBIAN UPDATES:
Open the sources.list file
{hostname}~# pico /etc/apt/sources.list
And add these two locations to it:
deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian etch main
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security etch/updates main
Save and exit.

Run updates against the locations you added:
{hostname}~# apt-get update
{hostname}~# apt-get dist-upgrade
If a screen comes up telling you no changes have been made or the kernel has not been modified, don’t worry about it, just enter OK

9) INSTALL C COMPILER:
Before anything else, let’s get our C compiler ready for installation of Apache and Ruby:
{hostname}~# apt-get install build-essential zlib1g-dev

10) INSTALL APACHE 2.2:
Removes any Apache installations, if they exist:
{hostname}~# dpkg --purge apache apache2

Download Apache source and compile it:
{hostname}~# wget http://apache.rmplc.co.uk/httpd/httpd-2.2.4.tar.gz
{hostname}~# tar xzvf httpd-2.2.4.tar.gz
{hostname}~# cd httpd-2.2.4
{hostname}~# ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache2 --enable-mods-shared=all --enable-deflate --enable-proxy --enable-proxy-balancer --enable-proxy-http
{hostname}~# make
{hostname}~# make install
{hostname}~# cd ..
{hostname}~# rm -rf httpd*

To determine which version of Apache is currently installed, use the following command:
{hostname}~# /usr/local/apache2/bin/httpd -v
(If this does not work for you, you may have Apache installed in a different directory location. Try /etc/apache2/httpd -v)

11) INSTALL RUBY AND RAILS:
{hostname}~# apt-get install ruby ruby1.8-dev ri rdoc

Create a symbolic link:
{hostname}~# ln -s /usr/bin/irb1.8 /usr/local/bin/irb

Install RubyGems:
{hostname}~# wget http://rubyforge.org/frs/download.php/11289/rubygems-0.9.0.tgz

Un-compress file:
{hostname}~# tar xvzf rubygems-0.9.0.tgz

Change directory:
{hostname}~# cd rubygems-0.9.0

Run Ruby setup:
{hostname}~# ruby setup.rb

Back out of Rubygems directory and remove it:
{hostname}~# cd ..
{hostname}~# rm -rf rubygems*

Install Rails:
{hostname}~# gem install rails --include-dependencies

12) INSTALL POSTFIX, MYSQL AND MONGREL:
{hostname}~# apt-get install postfix
(Use the “Internet Site” default setting and whatever dotcom you want as the name. I used “chordzap.com”)

{hostname}~# apt-get install mysql-server mysql-common mysql-client libmysqlclient15-dev libmysqlclient15off
{hostname}~# apt-get install libmysql-ruby1.8
{hostname}~# gem install daemons gem_plugin mongrel mongrel_cluster --include-dependencies
Mongrel choice 2. mongrel 1.0.1 (ruby)
Fastthread choice 1. fastthread 1.0 (ruby)

As an aside, if you ever need to know what version of Mongrel you have installed, just enter:
{hostname}~# mongrel_rails --version

13) INSTALL SOME ALIASES:
While we’re at it, let’s make a few aliases to simplify our lives, plus we’ll add them to bash.bashrc file so they’ll be ready for us again after our next server restart!

Open the “/etc/profile” file for editing:
{hostname}~# pico /etc/profile

First add the following to the bottom of “profile” just before the “export PATH” statement:
if [ "$BASH" ]; then
   . /etc/bash.bashrc
fi

Then add your aliases to bash.bashrc. I’ve added the following aliases for my own convenience but you can add whatever you want. Just open /etc/bash.bashrc with pico and add these to bottom of the file:
alias dochome=’cd /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/chordzap.com/docs’
alias picohttpd=’pico /usr/local/apache2/conf/httpd.conf’
alias picovhttpd=’pico /usr/local/apache2/conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf’
alias apstop=’/usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl stop’
alias apstart=’/usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl start’
alias apload=’/usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl restart’

14) INSTALL PHP5:
{hostname}~# apt-get install apache2-mpm-prefork mysql-server-5.0 php5 libapache2-mod-php5 php5-mysql php-pear

We need to make a few modifications to the Apache “httpd.conf” configuration file to enable PHP:

First, locate the PHP libphp5.so file and verify its location. Since we are going to refer to it in httpd.conf in a LoadModule statement, we need to make sure we know right where it is. I found mine in the /usr/lib/apache2/modules directory. (Use “find / -name libphp.so” to search out the file location)

Now that we know where it is, let’s add it to the httpd file below the last LoadModule statement. (My last statement shows “LoadModule rewrite_module lib” – put the following code under that line.)

Open httpd.conf for editing:
{hostname}~# picohttpd(this is an alias we made earlier)

Then add this below the last LoadModule statement:
LoadModule php5_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp5.so

We need to add these as well:
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .phtml
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
I put mine outside of a Directory condition for now, as shown below:

(my two lines are here, right above the mod_mime_magic module section)
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .phtml
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
#
# The mod_mime_magic module allows the server to use various hints from the
# contents of the file itself to determine its type. The MIMEMagicFile
# directive tells the module where the hint definitions are located.
#
#MIMEMagicFile conf/magic

15) SETUP VIRTUAL HOST:
Make a couple of new domain directories. One for the domain:
{hostname}~# mkdir /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/chordzap.com
And one for the new home:
{hostname}~# mkdir /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/chordzap.com/docs

Now add an index.html file to test the new docs “home” directory above (alias: dochome):
{hostname}~# pico index.html

<html>
   <head>
      <title> This is my test page </title>
   </head>
   <body>
      <h1>Welcome to Local Virtual mydomain.com!</h1>
   </body>
</html>

Create a PHP test file as well called info.php:
{hostname}~# pico info.php
Add this simple code to it
<?php
   phpinfo();
?>

Now un-document the following line in httpd.conf doc:
(use the alias) picohttpd

#Virtual hosts
#Include conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf <- TAKE THE POUND SIGN OFF!

Now edit the /usr/loca/apache2/conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf document:
{hostname}~# picovhttpd

Add the following virtual host, and document-out others:

<VirtualHost *:80>
   #Basic setup
   ServerAdmin webmaster@chordzap.com
   ServerName www.chordzap.com
   DocumentRoot /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/chordzap.com/docs
   <Directory /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/chordzap.com/docs>
      Order Deny,Allow
      Allow from all
      # Don’t show indexes from directories
      Options -Indexes
   </Directory>
   ErrorLog logs/chordzap.com-error_log
   CustomLog logs/chordzap.com-access_log common
</VirtualHost>

By the way, at some point an incorrect installation of Apache2 is being autostarted by the system. (I need a guru buddy to help out here -- it looks like somewhere in my code Apache got installed twice??) Anyway, there is a ports.conf file which points to Listen 80 and ties up port 80 preventing it from being started by the installation we want to use:

Change incorrect Listen 80 reference to 81
{hostname}~# pico /etc/apache2/ports.conf
Then turn off autostarting for that installation:
{hostname}~# update-rc.d -f apache2 remove

Stop the old server:
{hostname}~# /etc/init.d/apache2 stop
Then use the new alias we made and start the new server:
{hostname}~# apstart

16) TEST APACHE AND PHP:
Now go out to Windows and test your new Linux virtual host settings within any browser:
http://192.168.x.x/ (change the x.x to the numbers you found earlier in “ifconfig”)
Do the same with your PHP test page:
http://192.168.x.x/info.php (don’t forget to change the x.x)

17) TEST RUBY AND RAILS AND MONGREL:
{hostname}~# cd /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/chordzap.com
{hostname}~# mkdir rails
{hostname}~# cd rails
{hostname}~# rails test
{hostname}~# cd test
{hostname}~# mongrel_rails start -d -p 8000
Now open your browser to: http://192.168.x.x:8000/ to see default Rails page (ahem… yep, remember the x.x)

18) INSTALL GD – IMAGE PROCESSING FOR PHP:
{hostname}~# apt-get install php5-gd
Restart Apache (alias=apload)
Open info.php again to check if GD is included in the info screen dump

19) INSTALL MYPHPADMIN FOR MYSQL:
{hostname}~# apt-get install phpmyadmin
(as of this writing: version 2.9.1.1-4)

Add index.php to DirectoryIndex of httpd.conf file
DirectoryIndex index.html index.php

Add the following alias and markup code to the same Virtual Host tag we created above in the httpd-vhosts.conf file. (Alias=picovhttpd)

(Add the chunk of code below between the
</Directory>
and the
ErrorLog logs/chordzap.com-error_log
lines.)

This is the chunk:

Alias /phpmyadmin /usr/share/phpmyadmin
<Directory /usr/share/phpmyadmin>
   # Restrict phpmyadmin access to just my workstation
   Order Deny,Allow
   Deny from all
   Allow from 192.168.32.1 ( <- your Windows workstation IP)
</Directory>

Now pico the /etc/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php file and make sure the following lines look like this:

(BE SURE TO UNCOMMENT THE LINES!! – Screwed me up for hours!)
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = ‘http’;
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = ‘root’;
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = ”;

Now change the password:

{hostname}~# mysql -u root -p
Enter password: [ENTER]
(since there is no password)

Now enter the command:
mysql> set password = password(‘???’);
Just change ??? to whatever you want your new password to be.

To change Login user from ‘root’ to something else:
Edit the User table in phpmyadmin, Browse and change ‘User’ value to whatever you want.
Edit the /etc/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php file and make sure the ['hostname'] and ['user'] values match what is in your mysql User table – leave ['password'] alone.
Once changes are made in config.inc.php, restart server (alias: apload) to be sure values are initialized.

MySQL Login thoughts:
If the $cfg settings for ['auth_type'] and ['user'] remain ‘http’ and ‘root’ respectively, (or whatever ['user'] is current set to), then mysql> set password = password(”); can be used without having to change config.inc.php and restart the server… Since auth_type is http, the phpmyadmin login dialog will immediately respond to the new password as long as the user remains unchanged.

Well friends, that’s it. Like I said at the beginning of this posting, I am not a guru, so use your noggin when you need to. Almost every question you could ever ask is posted on the Internet, so buckle in and do a little homework… it pays off in the long run! Take your time and have fun!!

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