New Server Setup Advice

[jlandes]

Hello,

I've recently got a new DirectAdmin server and will be switching over from Ensim Pro. I've been working on a document that outlines what I need to do to get the server up and running. The document is located at http://webtest.landeserve.com/da/da_setup.doc. Please note, this document is not complete yet and I hope that you all can help me fill in the blanks for some areas I might be forgetting. Most of the software installs and upgrades, I have not attempted yet. I don't want to break my DirectAdmin server before I even get a chance to use it.

I'd like to ask for some advice from some experienced DirectAdmin administrators. What do you think of my approach at this point? Am I doing things in the correct order? Am I installing all the necessary software and doing it correctly? Also, do you have any recommendations for software that I haven't touched on yet? I've been thinking of installing ClamAV, but I'm seeing some information in the forums about a software package called SpamBlocker. In Ensim, most of the software I needed is included in the base Ensim install (ClamAV, MailScanner, SpamAssassin), but I"m very confused on how to get this all working with DirectAdmin. I see conflicting posts on how to do things and I don't want to do something now that is going to cause problems for me in the future. I'm not sure where to go with all of this yet, so I'd appreciate any and all advice.

As for firewalls, I see two of them listed on this site (APF and KISS). Are there any recommendations on which one might be my best option. And, what's the best way to install Zend, or is that installed by default with DirectAdmin? I saw an old post that described how to use the customapache build system to install Zend. Can anyone comment on that?

Like I said, I'm open to any and all suggestions. I just want to make sure that I'm doing this all correctly the first time and that I'm not doing something now that is either going to break DA or cause problems during future upgrades.

In case this makes a difference in my approach, I'm currently running CentOS 4.4 and DirectAdmin 1.286. I also have 5 IP addresses that I can use for the server setup. My plan is to use 1 for the server, 2 for nameservers, 1 for my main site, and 1 to host my shared sites. If I add any clients in the future that need a dedicated IP, I'll order another block from my data center.

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

[nobaloney]

Jeremy,

While I've not taken the time to read through everything you wrote (most of which appears to be cut-and-paste from various posts, anyway), I did notice you were attempting to use the wheel group to make admin logins work.

Note that Red Hat, and therefore CentOS, does NOT use the wheel group as a privileged group, as do many *nix implementations.

You make changes to the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file to enable and disable shell access and root access.

Jeff

 

[jlandes]

Jeff,

You are correct, most of the information in this document was copied from various locations. Most of it was from help.directadmin.com. I just wanted one document that listed everything that needs to be done to my server.

Also, thanks for the information about the wheel group. I hadn't realized that this worked this way for Red Hat type distros.