Linux / server administration
 

I would like to learn Linux, and server administration (Apache, Nginx) in order to place my websites on umanaged hosting (cheaper), and do everything by myself. I will also work on learning MySql and PHP configuration, and other things like that. It will be mostly for a Mech Bunny tube, but also for all other types of xxx sites.

I have a general idea, of what I should be looking for, as far as books and cources, but maybe there is some other things to it too, that I am not aware of now... (cPanel, some configuration things, ability to fix all kinds of issues when they arise, and so on).

I am thinking about learning everything, and then getting a hosting account (something like a vps) in a good company, for one month, and see how everything is set up there...

What would be the best way to go with this?

Thanks.

You could get a cheap SSD VPS from digitalocean.com
If you have any problems/questions you can either ask on serverfault.com or shoot me an e-mail ([email protected]). I have 15 years Linux experience.

Digital ocean and Linode both have really good tutorials. Fire up a cheap instance and give it a try.

Cpanel can help you a lot in admin tasks.

I would like to have cPanel, but it is expensive, something around $240 / $250 per year. I would like to get unmanaged hosting, and do everything by myself, to save money, and make the websites profitable, at some point.

Dont install a cPanel or other panels. You learn noting with it. Do everything by hand.
Install a linux distro on your pc. Play with the software, make a local webserver, make a simple site with php/mysql. php is sooo simple, anyone can learn this. It just takes some time.
Read manuals on the net, there is huge info.

:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

it is pretty easy to setup a server. just get a cheap vps, i would got one with a host with some sort of support so who is willing to help when you are stuck.

then ssh in, update yum, instal wget, nano, screen , mc and then install webuzo control panel. From their follow their tutorials and you have your website up and running in now time.

Really no rocket science.

best answer so far.
No control panel at all.

Correct, cPanel gives you very little added value if your objective is to learn. You have a long way to go though. I recommend to first install linux in your local machine and develop from there until you have a finished app or prototype before getting a vps. Learn how to install packages, for example on a debian/ubuntu machine you would type sudo apt-get install apache2 to get the webserver installed. Join developer communities such as stackoverflow or stackexchange where basically all noobie questions have already been asked and answered

good luck!

Cpanel will complicate things if you want to learn... but get yourself some cheap server to 'practice' on, I'm sure it'll be more effective than just reading the stuff and trying it out after let's say one month : )

on the other hand... look into something called Vagrant with Chef/Puppet or Ansible... & virtual box, it's so damn handy when it comes to setting up server : )

here's not a bad box to see configs :
github.com/Varying-Vagrant-Vagrants/VVV

why? because if you're serious about server administration you dont want to do that shit every time by hand :D

Most people don't have any use for those tools. They're good for devops but at the scale most webmasters are at, there is no need for that level of automation. If someone has a single vps or dedicated, vagrant and ansible aren't appropriate, especially for a newbie.

Babaganoosh: I agree partially... it's very good for testing and experimenting, it's not bad for learning... just using Vagrant for running boxes, and you can have a look at what goes well with what, how things look when configured properly :) For example some boxes were a great help when I was learning about nginx...

as well if you're configuring server one time, it means that maybe you'll need to do that in future, why not have ready/quick setup? If I use it I can pretty safely try out new hosting providers without worrying too much... I know it might be a lot to a person just starting with administration, but I'm a self-taught in 99% of stuff I do and I nearly pissed myself from happiness when I discovered it :D I fucked config again? no problem, reprovision ;)

and you can have it running within hours, even to use as a local dev envoirnment and even if you dont know nothing about it.