Ubuntu server installation how-to

[purplebadger]

#130626

Hi again all,

Thanks for the kind words. It is so nice to get some moral support when you’ve made a rather nasty cock up!

Just as a final follow up, I now have three Ubuntu servers performing a variety of functions in 2 different domains (reverse proxy for various IIS sites including an OWA server, and a home directory file server; next challenge is to create a domain controller using Samba so I can free up an app server that’s doubling as a domain controller). All are properly integrated into the domains, have computer accounts, users can logon with their domain credentials etc, and it’s all working out as I’d originally hoped.

I followed the instructions here up until step 6 (i.e. I didn’t manually join the domain), and then completed the integration using the GUI SADMS tool, having performed a minimal X windows install, as documented here.

The steps were:

1) Do a basic install of Ubuntu 7.10 Server (Gutsy Gibbon), choosing OpenSSH as the only preconfigured software option (no Samba/LAMP etc).

2) Do a barebones X install on the Ubuntu box as in link 3, as well as tightvncserver.

3) Make the edits in link 1 above (having installed krb5-user, samba and winbind using Ubuntu’s aptitude package manager).

4) Start a tightvncserver session.

5) Run SADMS as root, and use that to join the domain and set up authentication.

I’m sure you can do all of this without installing the X environment, but us Windows people do love a GUI now and again, and it really is a lightweight install.

Hope that covers it. Please feel free to PM me if I can be of any help – as I say I’ve done this to three servers now and feel confident that the process is robust and repeatable. Linux can be a challenge, but for a small business that can’t afford a Windows Server licence for every machine – particularly not just for a dumb fileserver on old hardware – it can be very rewarding.

Cheers,

Tom

PS. Ossian – I notice you’re in Scotland. I’m in Edinburgh, myself. Small world!

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