Ubuntu new server checklist

By Rayed

February 5, 2014

These are the step I perform after installing new Ubuntu machine.

Create Admin User

As root create new user for management, after that you should never use root:

root# adduser myuser
root# passwd myuser
# Add user to sudo group
root# usermod -a -G sudo myuser

You should logout from “root” and login again using your new “user”

Setting Up Admin User

Add your public key to the admin user for password less access

$ mkdir ~/.ssh
$ vi ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
:
paste your public key e.g. id_rsa.pub
:

Setup

Change the default editor from nano to vi (if you want):

$ sudo update-alternatives --config editor

Setup system update without a password:

$ sudo visudo 
:
Cmnd_Alias APTITUDE = /usr/bin/aptitude update, /usr/bin/aptitude upgrade
%sudo ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: APTITUDE

Fix the timezone:

$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Install “ntp” if not already installed:

$ sudo aptitude install ntp

Change hostname

$ sudo hostname s5.rayed.com
$ sudo sh -c "echo 's5.rayed.com' &gt; /etc/hostname "
$ sudo vi /etc/resolv.conf
:
domain rayed.com
search rayed.com
:
$ sudo vi /etc/hosts 
:
178.79.x.x  s5     s5.rayed.com
:

Update the machine

$ sudo aptitude update
$ sudo aptitude upgrade
$ sudo reboot

Configure Mail Server

I usually install Exim mail server as “internet site” but listening to localhost only, this the needed commands:

sudo aptitude install exim4-daemon-light
sudo dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config

Try sending an email to your self, and check the log:

date | sendmail rayed@example.com
sudo tail -f /var/log/exim4/mainlog

Linux
Ubuntu