Many do not even suspect that all the services and services that we use on the Web are based on exactly the same computers that work in our apartments, they are only set up completely differently, they cannot boast of a beautiful graphical interface and are controlled using specialized commands. These computers are called servers. Informed people, of course, know how to configure and “raise” their own server. Those who are new to this business need to study more than one forum in order to finally get comfortable. One thing is certain for sure: to set up an inexpensive and stable server, you must choose the same inexpensive and stable basis, namely the Linux-based operating system. The choice of the majority falls on CentOS 7. This material contains brief information on how to install CentOS 7 and create a base server on its basis.
What is CentOS?
CentOS is a Linux distribution whose main strength is stability. This system, like Fedora's closest competitor, was built on the source code of the paid Red Hat Linux distribution. The latter, in turn, is an ideal tool for system administrators whose work requires predictability, stable operation and convenient management.
CentOS cannot boast the latest versions of packages, unlike Fedora itself, but every system administrator will be happy when Fedora or another modern distribution kit “falls” with its latest packages, and CentOS continues to work quietly regardless of the circumstances. This article briefly describes the setup and installation process of CentOS 7, the main features of the system and the working environment.
Download CentOS 7
Before installing CentOS 7, you must download the operating system distribution kit on the official website.
There are several download options:
- An ISO file for writing to a disc is ideal for most with a full-fledged system and graphical interface;
- ISO-file for installation from a hard drive and a USB-stick - the most complete set of packages;
- ISO for minimal unloading - it contains only the basic operating system with a minimum set of packages and without a graphical interface (on this version of the distribution kit, you can easily “raise” the server without installing anything superfluous).
Among the boot files, you can find two “live” disk images with two different working environments (KDE and Gnome). These images are suitable for those who want to try out the system in practice before installing it on your hard drive.
Install CentOS 7
Even when choosing a minimal image, CentOS 7 will offer to use the graphical interface to install the system on your hard drive.
This process goes through 6 main steps:
- Setting the date and time - at this stage, just select your time zone, and the time will be set automatically.
- Language and layout settings - you must select one main system language and one additional, as well as specify the necessary keyboard layouts for them.
- Installation source - at this stage you can not change anything, then the files for installation will be taken from the media with the system.
- Software for installation - at this stage it is necessary to choose the minimum software package, since we need to deploy the server without a desktop and a graphical interface.
- Installation location - at this stage we select the hard drive to be installed on, as well as the markup.
- Internet setup - here you need to enter data on the connection to the network.
After entering the data, you will need to create a user profile and specify the Root password. After the installation process is complete, the computer will reboot and offer to start a new operating system.
Install CentOS 7 Server
Here, we will briefly talk about how to deploy a universal server based on CentOS 7 with the minimum set of necessary tools that are required for its full operation.
So, first you need to find the server itself. You can either hire him on the Web (from 250 rubles), or configure it on a local machine. The only thing required is the SSH data that will be used to log into the server. Take, for example, the abstract mail address root@centos.com and the username with password also centos.
It’s worth starting the configuration by creating a user and giving him all the necessary rights:
- Add the user with the useradd centos command;
- Create a unique password for it - passwd centos;
- We make the system send root-mail to this user - vi / etc / aliases;
- We give the user rights sudo with the visudo command (the command line will be returned with confirmation of the operation).
Next, you must specify the host name. This can be done with the hostnamectl set-hostname server1.centos.net command.
After that you need to disable Firewall and SeLinux. This must be done in order not to accidentally deprive yourself of access rights to the server. You can suspend Firewall using the systemctl stop firewalld and systemctl disable firewalld commands. The situation with SeLinux is a bit more complicated: you need to open the corresponding configuration file in the Vi text editor using the vi / etc / selinux / config command, look for the line SELINUX = enabled there and replace it with SELINUX = disabled. Then you need to reboot the system.
The next step is to install SSH.
To do this, you must:
- Add the appropriate keys from the north with the command ssh-copy-id root@centos.com.
- Change the port in the configuration file / etc / ssh / sshd_config to Port 222.
- Deny login to the server without Root rights by typing the line PermitRootLogin without-password.
- And restart the server with the systemctl restart sshd command.
You also need to upgrade all systems and install epel and rpmforge repositories. To do this, you must:
- Update all system elements with the yum update command.
- Download new system components with yum -enablerepo = cr update.
- If the existing components are not enough, you can download more modern versions of epel and rpmforge, for this we enter the command yum -y install * address of the repository where the necessary version of the software is stored * (a suitable repository can be easily found on the profile resources).
Checking services, setting up Apache and PHP
To install additional components in an existing server framework, you will need to check and disable some services and MTA services.
To do this, you need:
- Verify that services are already running by using the systemctl -t service command.
- Disable all unnecessary and prevent them from starting, for example, to install mail services, you need to disable postfix with the commands systemctl stop postfix and systemctl disable postfix.
Then you need to download Apache and PHP, which are necessary for the full functioning of our server.
So for this:
- Install the Apache package with yum -y install httpd.
- We make changes to the configuration file (you must specify the server address, name, signatures, etc.).
- We start Apache and enable the autostart function with the systemctl start httpd and systemctl enable httpd commands.
- Then we add PHP with the command yum -y install php php-mbstring php-near.
- We reboot Apache with the systemctl restart httpd command.
Installation of the MySql database management system
Before you install MySql on CentOS 7, it’s worthwhile to clarify that when using the standard Yum download manager, the system will download an alternative version of the program called MariaDB, so in the case of CentOS, you will have to work around.
To install MySql you need:
- Download the MySql client from the official utility repository using the wget * command link to the file with the MySql * client.
- Then install it into the system with the commands sudo rpm –ivh * the full name of the rpm file with the desired version of MySql * and sudo yum install mysql-server.
- Then confirm the operation twice by entering Y on the command line.
Install Zabbix Monitoring System
To install Zabbix on CentOS 7, you need to find the latest version of the client on the official website of the developer and then install it on the system.
To do this, you must:
- Add the repository with the rpm Uvh * command; link to the rpm file with the current version of Zabbix *.
- Refresh the list of available software with the yum update command.
- Then install the Zabbix client on the system with the yum install zabbix-agent command.
- After that, it remains to check the version of the client (you need a third) and answer yes to all requests by entering Y at the command line.
Install Zimbra Mail Server
Before you install Zimbra on CentOS 7, you need to prepare a system for this.
So, you need to do the following:
- Correctly configure the etc / hosts file and hostname.
- Allow all Zimbra ports in iptables.
- Turn off SeLinux.
- Turn off all MTA services.
- Update the operating system with yum update -y.
- Then you need to download the appropriate packages with the yum install perl perl-core ntpl nmap sudo libidn gmp command.
- Then - the Zimbra utility itself with the wget * command, a link to the file with the Zimbra utility of the current version *.
- Unzip the file with tar and go to the appropriate directory with cd.
- Then you need to start the installation process with the command ./install.sh —platform-override.