Setting Up a Blog (or Wiki) Server

At the end of this process you will have what is called a LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) server. Any information currently on the hard drive will be wiped clean so backup anything you might need before starting down this path.

I’ve done this install on several different Intel-based, formerly Windows machines and several PowerPC machines running Mac OS X. While the process is a little different for Linux and OS X, the basics are the same. My notes on doing this with an OS X box are here.

These directions should work just fine using any Intel/AMD Pentium 4 class or higher computer. You’ll need at least 512mb of RAM. And, of course, the larger the hard drive, the more stuff you’ll be able to store.

You will also need a fixed IP address for this computer, which the person who administers your network should be able to give you. This will also work with the system set to DHCP but since the IP address will be the address of your wiki or blog, you don’t want that changing if the computer restarts and grabs a new address.

For the OS, I used the Ubuntu distribution of Linux (current version is 6.10), which is widely regarded as the easiest version for normal humans to work with.

Part 1 – Install Linux

One reason I chose Ubuntu is that they offer a free install disk for the previous version (order through their web site) or the current version for only $10 at Amazon.

However, it’s not difficult to download the disk image for the current version and create your own install CD or DVD (instructions are linked from the same page) and it’s faster than waiting for the mail.

Start up the computer with the CD in the drive and let Ubuntu boot to the desktop. You will need to check with the help system on your equipment to know how to make your computer do that. On a Dell that I used, hold down the F12 key at startup to select the CD drive as the start up device.

At the desktop, double-click on the Install icon.

Before the installer does it’s magic, you’ll have to respond to a few basic information screens.

1. Choose the language version to be used.
2. Set the time zone and time.
3. Choose the keyboard layout.
4. Enter your name, a login ID, a password, and a name to identify this computer on your local network. The ID and password are very important since this account will have administrator privileges on the server, including the ability to activate the “super user” root account.
5. Partition the disk. If this computer has another OS on it, the installer will give you the option to keep it and install this one in another partition. That’s not a good idea. Unless you have a very good reason to do otherwise, choose to erase the entire disk.

You now have the chance to review your choices and to go back and make changes. When ready, click install and take a break. Depending on the speed of your machine, the install process will take 15 to 20 minute.When the installation process is finished, click Restart, wait for all the systems to shut down, and remove the CD when the screen tells you to.

Part 2 – Basic Set up

When the computer restarts, enter your user ID and press enter. Type your password and press enter. If the machine is not connected to the network, you will need to do that. However, I’ve found that wireless connectivity in the world of Linux is a very tricky thing, so if you are working with a laptop, plug it into the wall.

To set up the networking:

1. Go to the System menu, pull down to Admin and choose Networking.
2. Click on Ethernet Connection
3. Click on Properties
4. Change the configuration to Static IP Address
5. Enter the information for the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway (router) your network administrator gave you.

Test the connection by opening the browser (Firefox is behind the little globe icon in the menu bar) and trying an address. If the connection doesn’t work, you may need to restart the computer.

Part 3 – Getting the files

Start Firefox and open this address: http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

Scroll down and find the link to the version of the package for Linux. Download the most recent version of the software that is not marked beta. Make sure the file downloads to the desktop.

The directions for installing and starting the XAMPP package are also on that page. We’ll be going over all that here but you may want to bookmark the URL in case things don’t go the way they did for me.

Part 4 – Installing the AMPP part of the package

If you’ve never used a command line interface before (or it’s been a long time), don’t panic. Just make sure you type exactly the lines here and you’ll be fine.

Open the Terminal program by going to the Applications menu, pulling down to Accessories and select Terminal.

You must first establish a root password on this machine. The root user has the power to do absolutely anything in Linux, including screw things up drastically. For that reason, even if you are an administrator, the system requires that you specifically switch to being the root user to perform certain tasks.

To set the root password:

1. Type sudo passwd root
2. Enter your password, the one you established during the Linux installation process.
3. Enter the new root password (it’s a very good idea to make it different from the one you’re using for the normal account).
4. Verify the password.

DO NOT LOSE THIS PASSWORD. If you do, it will be difficult to impossible to do most administrative functions.

In the terminal, now type: su That’s a request to the system to shift into root user mode. Linux will then ask for your root password. The command line should now start with root@.

Type: sudo chown name /opt -R where you replace name with your regular user ID. This tells the system to give you ownership of the folder called opt and all the files and folders inside.

Type: cd Desktop which tells Linux to change it’s final destination to the Desktop folder (and, yes, it must be capitalized).

Very carefully type the following line: tar xvfz xampp-linux-1.5.3a.tar.gz -C /opt

The numbers in that line may be a little different if the version of the package you downloaded is different from the one I used. Make sure they agree with the name of the file sitting on your desktop.

After you hit enter a long list of lines will flash by explaining what is being installed. Ignore them and wait for the system to finish. Linux is now installing Apache, MySQL, PHP, and some other useful applications.

Part 5 – Starting XAMPP and setting security

In the Terminal type the following: /opt/lampp/lampp start That tells Linux to follow that path to an application called lampp and start it.

After hitting enter you’ll see a few lines telling which part of the system is being started. When it finishes, your server will be up and running and ready for use.

To prove that, open your browser and type the IP address of your server (or localhost will do as well). You should see the XAMPP splash page being served from your computer.

However, you are not ready to let the world (or your little corner of it) come visit. Before continuing, we need to set some security passwords for various parts of the XAMPP package since right out of the box, there are none.

In the terminal program make sure you are the root user and type the following: /opt/lampp/lampp security

A script will run prompting you to enter passwords and (sometimes a login ID) for different pieces including the root password for MySQL. I’d advise using the same password you used for the root user on the system since all allow access to the core of that part of the system.However, whatever you choose, write down this information as you enter it and DO NOT lose it.

That’s it. You are now ready to install and set up your blog and/or wiki.

Tags: linux, ubuntu