Setting up my first Ubuntu Server, Need some advice

[JusticeEmpire]

I had thought that, so tried this http://askubuntu.com/questions/48110...-after-install but it didn't seem to work.

After it boots up, I get CLI to login into server, and then a prompt. I tried 'startx' but it says : The program 'startx' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing sudo apt-get install xinit

[tgalati4]

It's possible that you are missing it, or Ubuntu MATE uses something different from xinit to set up the X-Windows environment. Linux Mint MATE is different from Ubuntu MATE, so understand that there may be differences in how it is set up.

tgalati4@Mint17 ~ $ apt-cache policy xinit
xinit:
Installed: 1.3.2-1
Candidate: 1.3.2-1
Version table:
*** 1.3.2-1 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
tgalati4@Mint17 ~ $ man xinit

[JusticeEmpire]

Turns out I was missing it. Installed it, ran startx, and now have a desktop, thanks anyway to make it boot into that automatically without logging in and running startx?

I'm struggling with the SSH side of things, probably due to confusion. I've got the gufw installed, but have to disable it everytime I want to download. Added a rule that only allows SSH in/out on port 22. Got fail2ban installed, although doubt it's setup correctly, followed a tutorial and didn't get a 'pong' response from sudo fail2ban-client ping. Couldn't seem to get x2go installed, and slightly confused about its purpose.

I work better graphically, so I will draw a simple block diagram and post it, to make sure I am understanding it right.

Also worth noting, I have a crappy router. ISP suppler --->http://electronics360.globalspec.com...outer-teardown

I do want to change it, as I don't think I can get any remote access from it, from what I remember tinkering with in the past. Someone has recommended Draytek to me, any good?

[tgalati4]

You need a desktop manager (which contains the login scripts) to automatically start the desktop environment.

Let's focus on one thing at a time. You have several things going on and I can't figure out which way is up.

If you install the desktop version of Ubuntu MATE or Linux Mint MATE, everything works out-of-the-box. When you install the server version and add stuff, you get a half-baked operating system for a new user. The server version is for advanced users that have 10 years of experience with linux.

I believe that Linux Mint MATE is using the mdm desktop manager. It's possible that Ubuntu MATE uses the lightdm desktop manager. I don't know. I'm not running it.

tgalati4@Mint17 ~ $ apt-cache policy mdm
mdm:
Installed: 1.6.9
Candidate: 1.6.9
Version table:
*** 1.6.9 0
700 http://packages.linuxmint.com/ qiana/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
0.1.3-2.1 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe amd64 Packages
tgalati4@Mint17 ~ $ apt-cache policy lightdm
lightdm:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 1.10.5-0ubuntu1.1
Version table:
1.10.5-0ubuntu1.1 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates/main amd64 Packages
1.10.0-0ubuntu3 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages

Some differences between mdm and lightdm: http://www.webupd8.org/2012/06/how-t...of-mdm-in.html

[JusticeEmpire]

Hmmmmm, so are you saying that I shouldn't have installed the server edition of ubuntu?

[tgalati4]

Do you have 10 years of linux experience? Edit: Servers require quite a bit of knowledge to set up and maintain. If you have the time and inclination, go for it. If you want a more polished linux learning experience, install a Desktop version, so you can use programming IDE's, research tutorials, watch installation videos, etc. Otherwise you will need to set up two computers: a server, and a Desktop client machine so you can do all the development and research work to get the server to work correctly.

You might consider changing the Title of this thread: Setting up my first Ubuntu Server, Need some advice.

[Bucky Ball]

You might consider changing the Title of this thread: Setting up my first Ubuntu Server, Need some advice.

Not sure OP can due to post count and elapsed time since thread was posted.

A title descriptive of what you are after support for is always a good idea, though, and will improve greatly improve your chances of support, so if JusticeEmpire would like title changed and can't change it via 'Go Advanced' on the first post, feel free to PM me with a title suggestion and I will change.

[JusticeEmpire]

No, I don't have 10 years experience with Linux or servers. In fact, I have NO experience of servers, and a tiny bit of linux (I installed Ubuntu desktop once). My 'desktop/client' machine is my work laptop, running windows. This is what I use 99% of the time, and hence why I need the server to support cross platform, as there are a lot of programs on this I used for work, and I intend to back up the laptop daily onto the server.
I went for the server edition after a couple of days researching. I was under the impression that was the right choice, as from what I can gather, installing server edition then installing desktops etc, was far more secure than installing desktop edition and then installing server bits........... am I wrong?

Fair comment about thread title, I will see if I can change that.

[tgalati4]

Security is only an issue if you port-forward a bunch of ports on your router and use simple passwords for your ssh server. But now you should explore using ssh keys for passwordless login. If you have a browser on the desktop version with a lot of add-ons installed, some of those add-ons could be a security risk. So yes, using a Desktop Environment with extensive web access could be more of a security risk than a minimal server.

Have you read the server documentation?

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Servers

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ServerFaq

If you just want a backup solution, I would use a USB external drive and some backup scripts. It's a lot easier than setting up a linux server.

[JusticeEmpire]

Yeah, I had read something along those lines, and hence why I went for the server edition. I've gone through some of those pages, but not all of them.

I've got 4 x 8TB drives in my NAS at the moment, and as they are fairly new, I want to get them into some hardware that I trust. I know I could buy a box, but I'd rather learn and build myself, and that's how I found myself here.....