Building A Web-And Mail Server With CentOS 4.3

hausmasta writes "This is a detailed description how to set up a CentOS 4.3 based server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters (web server (SSL-capable), mail server (with SMTP-AUTH and TLS!), DNS server, FTP server, MySQL server, POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc.). This tutorial is written for the 64-bit version of CentOS 4.3, but should apply to the 32-bit version with very little modifications as well."

Comments

The Perfect Setup Articles

[Bios_Hakr]

There seem to be "perfect setup" articles about every major Linux distro. I even used one on my own site. However, you need to be aware that these articles are written for ISP Config. In fact, they seem to be almost a viral marketing tool designed to pimp ISP Config.

Now, there is nothing wrong with that. Just be aware that some things may not work if you do not install ISPC.

For instance, a newbie following along may not notice that he disable the ability for his server to run php in /var/www. A newbie may also be perplexed as to why he can get to his site on http://url443/ but not on https://url./

I've even seen examples that suggested installing compilers and tools to build modules needed by SpamAssasin. Anyone installing a compiler on a production web server should be shot.

In short, unless you go on to install the ISPc, your site will be broken and may be vulnerable to attack.

So, buyer (reader?) beware! You may not be getting what you want.

Centos Mirror

[zerocool^]

Obvious:

CentOS is Red Hat Enterprise, with a :s/RedHat/CentOS/g on the code. They download the RHEL Source RPMs and compile and release it. FYI.

Not so obvious:

They also recompile for additional arches, most notably Alpha (I have a couple of faculty members who don't want to be rid of their Digital machines; this makes a great alternative to paying $1000+/year for a True64 license to HP who hasn't looked at the code for 4.x since they bought it).

Get it here:

http://www.centos.org/modules/tinycontent/index.ph p?id=13
There are a LOT of mirrors, and being on the listserv, I see more and more being added all the time. Including lots of tier 1 mirrors at Universities, if you're on Internet2. There are also lots of local mirrors around the world, so if you're not a USAian, check for one in your locale; you may get better speeds than a general mirror.
Best mirror? http://mirror.cs.vt.edu/ =)

~Will

Re:Centos Mirror

[CRCulver]

Indeed, and since CentOS is RHEL, you can use quality RHEL docs like Wiley's Enterprise Linux 4 Bible instead of relying on the dubious tutorial here, which requires ISP Config.

Re:Centos Mirror

[buysse]

Redhat has copyright-protected, non-redistributable graphics and docs.

Otherwise, CentOS is RHEL. People do pay Redhat to supply support -- for most corp installs, it is that important. There are a few edge cases as well -- if you're running any commercial software, like Oracle, SPSS, or SAS -- you will definitely run RHEL over CentOS, or your vendor won't even talk to you.

For an academic install, RHEL is cheap enough that it's worth the cost ($50/year/host) to have the possibility of support. Just like it's worth the $120/year/host for basic service on Solaris 10 machines.

What amazingly bad advice

[greg1104]

On page 3, the system gets connected to the Internet, at which point he promptly disables the firewall and other important security features that he doesn't understand (that's warning sign #1 right there, the comments about SELinux). Then, on page 6, the system gets re-secured with this ISPConfig software, which may or may not be good.

I hope you're feeling lucky, because I've watched my share of servers get hacked during the period between when the firewall etc. was taken down "just for a minute" and when it was turned back on again. Anyone considering following this unsafe tutorial, do yourself a favor and at least practice this much paranoia: download all the packages recommended, then disconnect your network cable during the period when you have the RedHa...er, CentOS firewall service down. Don't reconnect yourself to the network unless a) you've correctly configured the ISPConfig software, or b) you've turned the firewall back on temporarily because you need to download something else.