It has been some time since I configured a linux box, and even longer since I’ve used one on a daily basis.

About 5 months ago we purchased a small 27 RU rack to put in the garage, and laid out the beginnings of our gigabit home network.

This of course called for a server. I settled on Ubuntu Server and have since had lots of fun setting up the following:

  • Webserver – Apache, MySQL, Php

This includes Virtual hosts for multiple domains hosted on a single IP address.

  • Fileserver – Netatalk & Avahi

I used this fantastic tutorial to configure a file server that feeds all my media across our network. Netatalk provides the file sharing component (AFP) while Avahi provides the zeroconf discovery of server/shares.

  • Websites – WordPress, MRTG et al

I’ve only just started playing around with sites but so far this wordpress blog and MRTG have been configured. MRTG shows not only the server network info, but also our ADSL router too. WordPress has been re skinned.

  • FTP – vsftp

Simple install of VSFTP to allow access to files externally. Custom bash scripts to see who is accessing the server.

  • Twitter fun – Tweet system alerts and stats

I’ve also started writing small bash scripts to tweet system alerts and general system stats (uptime, cpu load, users)

To Do:

  • Configure smtp relay – Done, atleast for WordPress
  • Configure WordPress login from social networks (Facebook, Twitter etc) - Done, trying RPX
  • add more monitoring – add mobile support.
  • continue to tweak wordpress – custom short urls for links, mobile formatting.

more updates as I continue to tweak :)