Munin configuration and testing on CentOS

This article continues the installation and setup of munin on a single slice. It explains how to determine or change the URL used to access munin's reports and then check to make sure those reports are viewable and being updated.

Installing munin on CentOS

This article continues the installation and setup of munin on a single slice. It explains how to determine or change the URL used to access munin's reports and then check to make sure those reports are viewable and being updated.

Barebones postfix install for CentOS

This article describes how to install a postfix mail server with no extras or optimization. It's intended only for users who are experienced administrators or who just want a basic mail server installed for a single purpose like sending email alerts from another service.

Barebones apache install for CentOS

This article describes how to install an apache web server on CentOS with no extras. It's intended only for users who are experienced administrators or who just want a basic web server install with no details on including modules like PHP or customizing apache for their site.

CentOS - Mail Server - Adding Domains and Users

Following from the previous article, we should have our firewall properly configured to allow the correct ports for our mail server.

Now we can start adding domains and users to our Postfix installation.

CentOS - Mail Server - Opening Ports in the Firewall

In the previous article, we installed and configured Dovecot to accept our incoming connections to the mail server. Now we need to open the ports in our firewall so we can access those services.

CentOS - Mail Server - Dovecot Installation

Following from the previous article, we have installed Postfix and setup a basic configuration with a secure connection to our mail server. As such, we can move on to installing Dovecot which will allow us to access the mail server with POP and IMAP access (as well as secure POP and IMAP).

CentOS - Mail Server - Secure Connection, Configuring Postfix

Now that we've created our self-signed certificate (see the previous article) we can go ahead and configure Postfix to use it.

CentOS - Mail Server - Secure Connection, Creating the SSL Certificate

The previous article looked at Saslauthd. Now let's concentrate on the SSL certificate we'll use for secure connections to our mail server.

The principles involved are the same ones we employed when setting up a secure website (HTTPS). The first step is the creation of a new SSL certificate.

CentOS - Mail Server - Basic Settings in main.cf

Following from the Postfix installation article, we can now look at the main.cf file and see what the settings are and what they mean.

Note that these settings are intended for a multiple domain configuration of your mail server.

CentOS - Mail Server - Secure Connection, Configuring Saslauthd

Following from the previous article, we can begin configuring our mail server for secure connections. The first step is to setup Saslauthd.

CentOS - Mail Server- Installation

The base package for all of the mail articles will be Postfix. There are, of course, alternatives to Postfix, each with advantages and disadvantages and, without going into the differences, I have chosen Postfix due its relative ease of configuration.

As many of the future articles will concentrate on administrative issues and assume Postfix is already installed, let's go ahead and install it.

CentOS - Email - Preparing the Slice

Beginning a series of articles on many aspects of email (sending, receiving, configuring, etc), we need to start with the very basics by preparing the Slice.

This article looks at the hostname and reverse DNS (RDNS) settings on the Slice.

CentOS - Nginx, Rails, and Mongrels

Following from the mongrel and mongrel cluster article, we can now look at configuring Nginx to proxy to a mongrel cluster so we can serve our Ruby on Rails application.

The process is very easy and can simply be repeated for serving multiple domains.

CentOS - Apache, Rails, and Mongrels

Following from the mongrels and mongrel cluster article, we can now look at creating and configuring Apache to proxy to a mongrel cluster so we can serve our Ruby on Rails application.

CentOS - Mongrel and mongrel_cluster installation

There are variety of options open to the sysadmin when serving Ruby applications.

One of the original ways is to use the mongrel web server. Requests are proxied to the mongrel(s) from the main web server (Apache, Nginx, etc).

The article may seem quite lengthy but two subjects are tackled here. One is the basic mongrel gem itself but then we move onto the mongrel_cluster gem.

Take each section at a time as each one builds on the previous explanation.

CentOS - Nginx, Rails and Thin

Having installed the thin web server for Ruby, we can now look at configuring a Nginx vhost to proxy to thin so we can serve our Ruby on Rails application.

The process is easy to follow and easy to repeat for hosting multiple domains.

CentOS - Apache, Rails and thin

Following from the thin web server for Ruby article, let's look at creating and configuring Apache to proxy to thin so we can serve our Ruby on Rails application.

CentOS - thin web server for Ruby

There are variety of options open to the sysadmin when serving Ruby applications.

One of them is thin. This is a 3rd party web server that is proxied to from the main web server (similar to mongrels in a general setup). Let's take a look at installing thin.

CentOS - using mod_rails to serve your application

Following from the first article, we now have passenger (mod_rails) installed.

As such, we can move on and create a Ruby on Rails application and see how easy it is to serve using passenger.

CentOS - mod_rails installation

Phusion's Passenger (mod_rails) is an exciting development in serving your Ruby on Rails application with the Apache web server.

Incredibly simple to install and use, you can have a rails application up and running in no time. You don't have to worry about ports or setting up a proxy to another server.

CentOS - Installing MySQL (with Rails and PHP options)

Installing MySQL on CentOS is very simple using the 'yum' package manager.

This article will go through the install process and also look at what other packages are needed for MySQL to integrate with Ruby on Rails and with a standard PHP install.

CentOS - Ruby on Rails

In the CentOS setup articles (page 1 and page 2) we secured, updated and personalized the install to add some working software.

We also installed the development tools package. Now we can go ahead and install Ruby on Rails.

CentOS - Nginx virtual host settings

The previous CentOS Nginx Virtual Hosts article introduced the basics of the setting up virtual hosts.

This allowed us to serve multiple domains from a single IP address and Slice. Now we can look in detail at more of the settings available to us in the Virtual Hosts files.

CentOS - Nginx Virtual Hosts

Now we have Nginx installed (whether via the package manager or from source) we are in a position to serve multiple domains using Virtual Hosts.

Do note the layout used in this article is explained here - feel free to use the directories of your choice.

CentOS - Nginx Configuration

Whether you have installed Nginx using the package manager or from source, you will need to look at the main configuration file and see what may need changing and optimizing.

Although I'll make some suggestions, the aim is not to change a great deal at this point. Rather, we will look at the main settings, see what they mean and what a change will actually do.

CentOS - Nginx from source layout

Following from the main installing Nginx from source and creating an init script articles we can now move onto looking at the Nginx layout.

The idea of this article is to change the default layout to one more in keeping with the 'CentOS' style. Installing Nginx via the package manager creates this layout automatically - we need to do it by hand.

CentOS - Adding an Nginx Init Script

If you decided to install Nginx via source (see the previous article) you would have the latest and greatest version.

However, one disadvantage of installing from source is that init scripts are not created. No problem, let's go ahead and create one for easy control of Nginx and to ensure it restarts on a reboot.

CentOS - Installing Nginx from source

Nginx is a popular lightweight server for those who do not need the bulk and extra services that Apache may offer.

This article will look at installing Nginx from source on a CentOS slice.

CentOS - Installing Nginx via yum

Nginx is a popular lightweight server for those who do not need the bulk and extra services that Apache may offer.

This article will look at installing Nginx on a CentOS Slice using the 'yum' package manager.

CentOS - Apache Virtual Hosts #2

Following on from the first CentOS - Apache Virtual Hosts article, we can now look in detail at some of the settings available to us in the Virtual Hosts file.

This will enable us to have complete control of the domain we want to serve.

CentOS - Apache Virtual Hosts #1

Now we have Apache installed and running, we can configure it to serve multiple domains using Virtual Hosts.

Do note the layout used in these articles is explained here - feel free to use the directories of your choice.

CentOS - Apache configuration #2

Continuing from the first CentOS Apache configuration article, we now look at some of the other settings in the main httpd.conf file and what they can do.

Concentrating on efficiency and security, this will end our httpd.conf journey (for now).

CentOS - Apache configuration #1

Let's take a look at the main httpd.conf for our CentOS Apache install.

We're not actually going to change a lot at this point, just look at the main settings and see what they mean and what a change will actually do

CentOS - Installing Apache and PHP5

CentOS comes with Apache v.2.2.3 and PHP v.5.1.6 and they are easily installed via the default CentOS Package Manager 'yum'.

The advantage of using yum (as opposed to installing via source code) is that you will get any security updates (if and when distributed) and dependencies are automatically taken care of.

CentOS setup - page 2

In page 1 of the CentOS setup, we completed the ssh configuration along with a basic iptables install.

Let's move on and install some personal configuration files to make our life easier. Once done, we can update the install and create a solid base for the 'meat' of the server.

CentOS setup - page 1

These CentOS articles will take you from a 'barebones' CentOS 5.1 Slice to a secured and up to date Slice ready for your server software (or whatever you use the Slice for).

Not only that, you will have a better understanding of what is going on and, more importantly, why it's going on.