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Web Server Administration

Chapter 3Installing the Server

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Overview Prepare the server for system

installation Understand the installation process Install Windows 2000 Server,

Windows Server 2003, and Red Hat Linux 8

Examine basic Linux commands Configure TCP/IP

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Prepare the Server for Installation A typical installation is from CD

For Windows 2000, you can boot from a floppy for network installation

For Linux, you can install from the network or even using FTP

Production systems use a single-boot system meaning only one OS is on a computer You can put all described OSs on a single

computer which is a multi-boot

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Checking Hardware Compatibility Typically you have fewer problems if

you are using hardware designed for a server from major manufacturers

IDE drives are always compatible Make sure that you have the latest

drivers for SCSI and RAID controllers With video adapters and NICs, it is

best to use ones from major vendors

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Checking Hardware Compatibility You can have problems if you

Put a system together yourself with the latest or off-brand NICs, video adapters, and RAID controllers

Try to upgrade an OS on old servers because they sometimes have specialized hardware that is not supported anymore

For Windows OSs www.microsoft.com/hwdg

For Red Hat Linux www.redhat.com/support/hardware

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System Documentation Should be detailed enough for

inexperienced network administrator System documentation is an ongoing

process Changes occur over the life of the

server These changes need to be documented

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System Documentation Need compatibility information Hardware information

Server manufacturer, including model information

Processor type and speed Amount of RAM Drive interface – RAID, SCSI, IDE Hard disk – size, manufacturer, and model NIC manufacturer and model

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System Documentation System information

Partition information – number and sizes

OS version installed Latest software patches

Extra drivers needed URLs for latest drivers

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System Documentation Steps for installation including options

chosen Keep documentation, CDs, drivers in a

binder Know support details

Who to call Contract phone number Type of support contract Expiration of contract

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The Installation Process The Setup program will ask you

about your system You need to know the answers to

these questions before you start Many of the questions are common

to all operating systems

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The Installation Process-Partitioning the Hard Disk A partition is a logical division of the hard

disk A system boots from the primary partition You can create an extended partition

Gives you more logical drives in Windows Gives you more Linux partitions It is best to isolate the operating system from

applications If the application partition fills and the operating

system is on the same partition, the OS stops

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The Installation Process Six partitions are used for Linux by

default / (root partition) swap (used for virtual memory) /boot (boot files – small) /usr (shared files and programs) /home (user files and programs) /var (Web site, FTP, log files)

Just / and swap are required

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Managing Multiple Operating Systems on a Single Computer Useful for development purposes Best to start with unpartitioned hard

disk Create one partition for each Windows

OS Allow Linux to create default partitions

Install Windows first, then Linux Linux installation then produces a

menu to select Windows

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The Installation Process-Naming Computers Identify a computer on the network Windows communicates the computer

name to other computers on the subnet so it should be unique

Name of computer is not related to how the computer is recognized on the Internet

In Linux, the hostname can exist on more than computer, it only uses IP addresses for communication

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The Installation Process-Licensing Describes how the software can be used For Windows 2000, Microsoft assumes that

you have the correct number of client access licenses

For Windows Server 2003, each installation must be activated by Microsoft

Linux is basically free but there may be a cost for packaging, support, and extras Based on the GNU general public license Red Hat has personal, professional, and Advanced

Server options

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The Installation Process-Selecting a File System A file system determines how files are

stored on a hard disk Windows has two file systems

FAT is based on the original DOS file system and has no security

NTFS has security which is critical for a server The default user file system in Red Hat

Linux 8 is ext3, which offers some performance improvements over ext2

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Windows 2000 Server Installation Requires a 25-character product key In a production environment where you are

connected to the Internet, you will get an IP address from your ISP

Although a 2 to 3 GB partition is enough, you may want more

Use NTFS As setup installs the networking

components, do not wander away otherwise it will accept the default IP settings which you do not want

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Windows Server 2003 Installation The procedures for installing Web,

Standard, and Enterprise editions are the same

Installation is simpler than previous versions of Windows Only essential information such as

computer name, licensing, password, IP address, and domain membership are requested

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Linux 8 Installation As is true with Windows, you can

generally accept the defaults Remember to select Server as the

Installation Type This gives you a list of packages that are

appropriate for a server environment Remember to select "No firewall"

This makes it easier to configure and test your own firewall (Chapter 10)

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Basic Linux Concepts No drive letters The root is / To use a floppy or CD-ROM, the device must be

mounted mount /mnt/floppy mount /mnt/cdrom Now you can copy files between your hard drive

and /mnt/floppy When you double-click the CD-ROM or Floppy icon on

the desktop, the device is automatically mounted Before you remove the floppy, you have to

unmount it to flush the file buffer, if you copied files to it

umount /mnt/floppy

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Shell Prompt Most work is done at the shell prompt

which is the command-line interface ls – list files

ls /mnt/floppy to see contents of floppy cd – change directory

cd /mnt/floppy mkdir – create a directory

mkdir /mnt/floppy/test

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Shell Prompt rmdir – remove a directory

rmdir /mnt/floppy/test mv – move or rename a file

mv /etc/ftpaccess /var/ftp/ftpaccess cp – copy a file

cp var/ftp/ftpaccess /mnt/floppy locate – find a file

locate ftpaccess kedit <filename> - start editing a file

kedit /var/ftp/ftpaccess

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Kedit Text Editor The Kedit

text editor is similar to Windows Notepad

Note that the positioning of the icons is basically the same as Notepad

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Configuring TCP/IP in Windows To determine TCP/IP configuration, type ipconfig at a command prompt

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To Change the IP Address in Windows From the Local Area Status dialog

box, click Properties Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP),

then click Properties Now you can change the IP address

The Advanced button allows you to add multiple IP addresses for a single NIC

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Configuring TCP/IP in Linux To determine TCP/IP configuration, type ifconfig at a shell prompt

The IP address is on the third line

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To Change the IP Address in Linux

In System Settings, click Network Click the Edit button Now you can change the IP

address Click OK, then Apply, and Close

to save the changes

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Summary Windows and Linux installations share

the task of creating partitions The same computer can have multiple

operating systems Windows server operating systems are

licensed based on the edition and the number of users

Linux licensing is based on the GNU general public license

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Summary Microsoft and Linux have improved

their ability to recognize devices There are many useful commands

when using the Linux shell prompt