Setting up a Linux server/workstation

Introduction

Linux can be installed on a server or workstation/PC. Installation can be unto a dedicated system or a dual-boot system, i.e. the computer can be booted into either of two operating systems, typically Windows and Linux; for details of this approach see also the Linux-Windows XP dual-boot topic. Indeed there is no reason this latter approach is not extended to cover multi-boot systems.

Disk partitioning

Typically the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) will need to be partitioned. Following this the Linux OS can be installed from CD, over a network or off a HDD partition. Then the installation needs to be configured. The following couple of paragraphs outline what is necessary and provides some useful links to internet resources.

Partition the disk with something like GNOME Partition Editor. A description of this tool is available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GParted. This is available from: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/ or try: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=173828. The executable can be burned to CD-ROM allowing boot off CD-ROM on laptops without a floppy drive.

An alternative is Ranish Partition Manager which, in the case I use it required boot off a floppy disk.

Outline of General Procedure

Download a Linux Distro like CentOS a Red Hat/Fedora Core Linux variant. There are of course many other distributions, see these Linux links for details.

Then follow the instructions that invariably accompany the Linux Distro to install the Linux OS, and any inclusive applications required (e.g. Web-server, FTP-server, NTP-server, Samba, etc, etc, etc).

Links

The following general links are useful references when setting up a Linux system: