Has your website grown a large following recently, perhaps receiving a lot more web traffic and visitors than before? Well, congratulations!
Now comes the important step of ensuring your website keeps growing and remains accessible to your new visitors, often websites hosted on shared hosting services have limits set on them by their web host, while some web hosts might be generous with their limits, most tend to restrict memory usage, IOps (Input output operations per second) and other variables like Entry processes which ultimately limit the number of people who can access your website at a given time.
Using a control panel like cPanel or DirectAdmin gives a sense of comfort and easy accessibility to various features like creating/managing databases, accessing webmail and other features like adding users, new domains and email accounts.
Moving to a VPS from Shared Hosting is the step often taken by most growing website owners to ensure that your website has more resources available for it, but this often brings along a few doubts about managing your website via the command line, while setting up a LAMP stack or LEMP stack isn’t difficult, but combined with managing things like a mail server and databases for multiple users or websites, it gets rather complex quickly.
Let’s take a look at 5 free to use control panels that make managing your website on a VPS just like it was on your shared hosting service,
VestaCP is the popular and free-to-use control panel, with a nice UI and packed with features that make it super simple to manage your websites hosted on the VPS.
myVesta is a fork of vestaCP with similar UI and features, but it is designed with a few additional features to improve performance and give end users more control such as limiting the maximum number of sent emails (per hour) per mail account and per hosting account.
In this week’s feature highlight, we look at How to Install GCC on Ubuntu 22.10
The default Ubuntu repositories contain a meta-package named “build-essential” that includes the GNU compiler collection, GNU debugger, and other development libraries and tools required for compiling software.
Update System
apt update
Install the GCC package dependencies.
apt install build-essential
To check GCC version
gcc --version
Output:
root@crown:~# gcc --version
gcc (Ubuntu 12.2.0-3ubuntu1) 12.2.0
Copyright (C) 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
That’s it. GCC tools and libraries have been installed on your Ubuntu system.
Compiling a Hello World Example
Compiling a basic C or C++ program using GCC is pretty easy. For example let’s create a hello world C program. Save the following code as hello.c text file:
Try this wiki on our VPS. Starting at just $5/month with 24×7 In-house customer support.
Pre-requisites
A system with AlmaLinux 9 installed and running.
root access to the system.
Docker installed and running, for this, you can refer to one of our guides on installing Docker on AlmaLinux 9.
Docker-Compose installed and running, for this, you can refer to one of our guides on installing Docker-Compose on AlmaLinux 9.
Once you’re all set, we’ll proceed with Planka installation and configuration.
Install Planka with Docker
The following instructions use Docker-Compose and Docker service to install Planka using the Planka Docker Image. First, download the docker-compose configuration,
In this week’s feature highlight, we look at How to Install WordPress with LEMP Stack on Ubuntu 22.10
WordPress is one of the most popular website-building tools available out there. It is a simple way to get your online presence and perfect for those who do not know how to code and want a simple and effective way to share and build your story on the internet.
Next, create a new MySQL user account that we will use to operate on WordPress’s new database, with the username “wordpress_user”.
CREATE USER 'wordpress_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
Link the user and DB together by granting our user access to the database.
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_db.* to wordpress_user@'localhost';
Flush the privileges so that MySQL knows about the user permissions we just added.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Exit out of the MySQL command prompt by typing.
exit
Output:
root@crown:~# mysql
Welcome to the MariaDB monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 42
Server version: 10.6.9-MariaDB-1 Ubuntu 22.10
Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE DATABASE wordpress_db;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.001 sec)
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE USER 'wordpress_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'crown@';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.003 sec)
MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_db.* to wordpress_user@'localhost';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.001 sec)
MariaDB [(none)]> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.002 sec)
MariaDB [(none)]> exit
Bye
We are happy to announce that our NL1 datacenter is now located at the BiT datacenter in Ede, The Netherlands.
All existing customers of our NL1 setup are now located in the BiT datacenter, and any new order directed to the NL1 datacenter will be provisioned at this datacenter.
Datacenter Information:
Address: BIT datacenter Galileïlaan 19, 6716 BP Ede, Netherlands
Datacenter Feature
Information
Fire detection
an independent, certified very early warning system with automatic notification to fire brigade
Fire extinguishing
certified Argonite (Ar+N2) installation
Cooling installation
N+1 computairs N+1 cooling machines
Cooling power output
1500 W/m²
Temperature
25 ℃ (+/- 2 ℃) in cold paths
Lightning protection
certified according to NEN norms
Electrical installation
two incoming feeds into rack separate UPS for every feed
Emergency power supply
N+1 diesel aggregates
Diesel supply
48 hours
Power per rack
up to 96 A
Information security
ISO/IEC 27001 and NEN 7510 certified
Physical security
VEC certified safety class 4*
Alarm
redundant connection to control centre
Surveillance
two independent surveillance services
Cameras
inside and outside the data centers
Access control
two factor authentication biometric iris scanners RFID access passes
In this week’s feature highlight, we look at How to Install LAMP Stack (MariaDB) on Ubuntu 22.10
A LAMP stack is a group of open-source software that is typically installed together to enable a server to host dynamic websites and web apps. This term is actually an acronym which represents the Linux operating system, with the Apache web server. The site data is stored in a MySQL or MariaDB database, and dynamic content is processed by PHP.
First, check for any pending system upgrades.
apt update
apt upgrade
Install Apache
Command to install Apache along with its utilities.
apt install -y apache2 apache2-utils
Next, check the Status of Apache.
systemctl status apache2
Output:
root@crown:~# systemctl status apache2
● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2022-10-15 20:18:49 UTC; 10s ago
Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
Main PID: 3121 (apache2)
Tasks: 55 (limit: 2227)
Memory: 4.9M
CPU: 43ms
CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
├─3121 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
├─3123 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
└─3124 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
If Apache is not active can start using the following command.
systemctl start apache2
Use the following command to auto-start Apache at boot time.
systemctl enable apache2
You can confirm the Apache2 version with the below command,
apache2 -v
Output:
root@crown:~# apache2 -v
Server version: Apache/2.4.54 (Ubuntu)
Server built: 2022-07-21T19:38:00
Use the following command to auto start MariaDB at boot time.
systemctl enable mariadb
Next, MariaDB database security.
NOTE: In this step, you will be prompted with several questions.
mysql_secure_installation
Output:
root@crown:~# mysql_secure_installation
NOTE: RUNNING ALL PARTS OF THIS SCRIPT IS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL MariaDB
SERVERS IN PRODUCTION USE! PLEASE READ EACH STEP CAREFULLY!
In order to log into MariaDB to secure it, we'll need the current
password for the root user. If you've just installed MariaDB, and
haven't set the root password yet, you should just press enter here.
Enter current password for root (enter for none):
OK, successfully used password, moving on...
Setting the root password or using the unix_socket ensures that nobody
can log into the MariaDB root user without the proper authorisation.
You already have your root account protected, so you can safely answer 'n'.
Switch to unix_socket authentication [Y/n] y
Enabled successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
... Success!
You already have your root account protected, so you can safely answer 'n'.
Change the root password? [Y/n] y
New password:
Re-enter new password:
Password updated successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
... Success!
By default, a MariaDB installation has an anonymous user, allowing anyone
to log into MariaDB without having to have a user account created for
them. This is intended only for testing, and to make the installation
go a bit smoother. You should remove them before moving into a
production environment.
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] y
... Success!
Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from 'localhost'. This
ensures that someone cannot guess at the root password from the network.
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] y
... Success!
By default, MariaDB comes with a database named 'test' that anyone can
access. This is also intended only for testing, and should be removed
before moving into a production environment.
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] y
- Dropping test database...
... Success!
- Removing privileges on test database...
... Success!
Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes made so far
will take effect immediately.
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] y
... Success!
Cleaning up...
All done! If you've completed all of the above steps, your MariaDB
installation should now be secure.
Thanks for using MariaDB!
To login to MariaDB.
mariadb -u root -p
To exit from MariaDB.
exit
To check MariaDB Version.
mariadb --version
Output:
root@crown:~# mariadb --version
mariadb Ver 15.1 Distrib 10.6.9-MariaDB, for debian-linux-gnu (x86_64) using EditLine wrapper
Install PHP
PHP 8.1 is the default version of PHP that would be installed on Ubuntu 22.10.
Enable the Apache PHP module and restart the Apache Web server.
a2enmod php
systemctl restart apache2
To check PHP Version.
php --version
Output:
root@crown:~# php --version
PHP 8.1.7-1ubuntu3 (cli) (built: Sep 13 2022 14:02:34) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.1.7, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
with Zend OPcache v8.1.7-1ubuntu3, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies
To test PHP scripts we need to add the info.php file in the document.
nano /var/www/html/info.php
Add the following to the file.
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
To verify enter the following link in a web browser.
NOTE: Replace with your server IP address below.
http://ip-address/info.php
Run PHP-FPM with Apache [Optional]
FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) is an alternative PHP FastCGI implementation with some additional features useful for heavy-loaded sites.
NOTE: This is an optional step, PHP 8.1 is used to run the PHP code but if you want to run PHP code with PHP-FPM follow the below steps.
First, Let us disable PHP,
a2dismod php
Next, Install PHP-FPM.
apt install php8.1-fpm
Enable proxy_fcgi and setenvif module.
a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif
Output:
root@crown:~# a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif
Considering dependency proxy for proxy_fcgi:
Enabling module proxy.
Enabling module proxy_fcgi.
Module setenvif already enabled
To activate the new configuration, you need to run:
systemctl restart apache2
To enable php8.1-fpm file.
a2enconf php8.1-fpm
Restart the Apache.
systemctl restart apache2
To enable php-fpm.
systemctl enable php8.1-fpm
To start php-fpm.
systemctl start php8.1-fpm
To check the status of php-fpm.
systemctl status php8.1-fpm
Output:
root@crown:~# systemctl status php8.1-fpm
● php8.1-fpm.service - The PHP 8.1 FastCGI Process Manager
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/php8.1-fpm.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2022-10-15 20:26:13 UTC; 58s ago
Docs: man:php-fpm8.1(8)
Main PID: 16630 (php-fpm8.1)
Status: "Processes active: 0, idle: 2, Requests: 0, slow: 0, Traffic: 0req/sec"
Tasks: 3 (limit: 2227)
Memory: 9.5M
CPU: 75ms
CGroup: /system.slice/php8.1-fpm.service
├─16630 "php-fpm: master process (/etc/php/8.1/fpm/php-fpm.conf)"
├─16631 "php-fpm: pool www"
└─16632 "php-fpm: pool www"
Now you have successfully installed the LAMP stack (Apache, MariaDB, and PHP8.1) on Ubuntu 22.10.
To start the installation, First, mount the Ubuntu 22.10 ISO.
To mount the ISO, click on CD-ROM and then select the “ubuntu 22.10 server amd64” ISO from the drop-down menu and click on the “Mount” button (It will take 2-3 minutes).
Once the ISO has mounted (the Task Log tab will show the status of the task), navigate to the “Power Control” tab and then perform a Reboot task on the server.
Next, Switch to the “VNC” Tab, Launch VNC to start the installation.
If VNC doesn’t show the Ubuntu 22.10 installer, please click on CTRL+ALT+DEL from the VNC console to send a reboot.
Start the Installation
Select the desired language and click on continue.
At the time of writing this article, there were no updates on the installer but later on, you may be prompted to update the installer in case there is a new version available. This is a recommended option to update it.
Select the desired keyboard layout and click on done.
Select the Network configuration and click done.
You can either set up a static network configuration or simply go ahead with DHCP (Simply press ENTER here).
You can configure a proxy for the server in this part of the process if needed. Ideally, in most cases you don’t need to, just leave it blank and proceed.
Next, in the mirror selection, we keep the default mirror address that Ubuntu detects for us,
Disk partitioning, we will keep it simple and go with automatic partitioning. Select the “Use an entire disk” option and continue.
Review the “partitions” and then proceed.
Since we’re installing a new operating system on the existing disk, you will be prompted to lose data on the selected disk. Confirm and select “Continue”.
Profile setup, You will be provided a form to enter your user information. These will be the login details that we’ll use later to connect to the server.
We will choose the package OpenSSH server to be installed as it is essential if you need to connect remotely after the installation.
The Ubuntu 22.10 installer also has other packages available for pre-install, you can pick any you wish to pre-install on your server, in this guide we will keep it at a bare minimal (ie, no extra packages selected),
At this stage, Ubuntu will start the installation of the disk.
Once the installation is complete, go ahead with the reboot.
After you select to reboot the VPS, Ubuntu will prompt you to unmount the installation medium.
To unmount the ISO, switch back to CrownPanel, Select the “CD-ROM” tab and click on “Unmount”.
Next, switch back to the VNC Window, and press ENTER to reboot the VPS,
The VPS will then reboot into your installation of Ubuntu 22.10
This completes the installation of Ubuntu 22.10
You can now log in to the server using the credentials that were set earlier (under the “Profile setup” part of this guide)
Check the Hostname using the below command,
hostnamectl
Sample Output:
crown@crown:~$ hostnamectl
Static hostname: crown
Icon name: computer
Machine ID: 98ef1ad056e345ba99622d140a2f234e
Boot ID: 1344ac34c125487080c6d75976753fc1
Virtualization: kvm
Operating System: Ubuntu Kinetic Kudu (development branch)
Kernel: Linux 5.19.0-21-generic
Architecture: x86-64
Hardware Vendor: Red Hat
Hardware Model: KVM
Firmware Version: 0.5.1
We will then update the Ubuntu system with the below commands,
sudo apt update
sudo apt dist-upgrade
Once the updates are installed, we will push the server for a reboot to apply any modifications.
reboot
Done! You are now ready to use the Ubuntu 22.10 server as you like.
In this week’s feature highlight, we look at How to Install Python 3.10 on Rocky Linux 9
Python is an interpreted high-level general-purpose programming language. Its design philosophy emphasizes code readability with its use of significant indentation. Its language constructs as well as its object-oriented approach aim to help programmers write clear, logical code for small and large-scale projects.
First, check for any pending system updates,
dnf update
Install required packages.
dnf install gcc openssl-devel bzip2-devel libffi-devel zlib-devel wget make
Install Python 3.10.5
By default, Rocky Linux 9 comes with Python version 3.9
In this article, we will install the latest version of Python that is available, 3.10.5, on the Rocky Linux 9 system. You can check their official website to find the latest version available and download its source code.
In this week’s feature highlight, we look at Running your own self hosted Git service with Gitea on Rocky Linux 9
Gitea is an open-source forge software package for hosting software development version control using Git as well as other collaborative features like bug tracking, wikis, and code review. It supports self-hosting but also provides a free public first-party instance hosted in China on DiDi’s cloud.
Prerequisites
Rocky Linux 9 installed
Full SSH root access.
Gitea supports the following databases.
SQLite
PostgreSQL
MySQL
MariaDB
TiDB
MSSQL
In our guide below, we’ll use SQLite as the database for Gitea. You can pick any of the supported databases in your installation as needed.
Download the Gitea Binary.Gitea is a painless self-hosted Git service. With features similar to ones in GitHub, Bitbucket, or GitLab.
Download the Gitea binary from download page and make it executable.
At the time of this article, the latest Gitea version is 1.16.9. If there is a the newer version is available on the link above, change the VERSION variable before using the following command.
In this week’s feature highlight, we look at How to Install Xrdp with GNOME GUI on Rocky Linux 9
Xrdp is a free and open-source implementation of the Microsoft RDP server that enables operating systems other than Microsoft Windows to provide a fully functional RDP-compatible remote desktop experience. In this article, we are going to learn how to install Xrdp with GNOME GUI on Rocky Linux 9. So, let’s get started.
To boot into Graphical mode, we will reboot the system with the below command,
reboot
Let’s connect Xrdp using Windows RDP
After the successful installation of Xrdp with GNOME GUI. We can connect to the remote server using Windows RDP Connection. Open the Remote Desktop Connection on your Windows computer and enter the public IP of the AlmaLinux server. Once you click on “Connect” you will be prompted to enter the login credentials to access the Server. After login, complete the GUI Setup.
To find the Public IP of your VPS hosted with us, Click here.
Now you have successfully installed Xrdp with GNOME GUI on Roky Linux 9.
