One of my favorite operating systems is Fedora as it follows a very short development and update cycle, which allows it to offer the latest software and kernel to those who choose it. Below we will see what you can do after installing Fedora 25 Server edition.
It should be mentioned that due to the nature of the operating system (short update cycle – cutting edge distro) it is not suitable for Server. Professionals use more stable distributions that offer more security.
Let's mention Fedora's close relatives, CentOS and RedHat, which are currently two of the leading servers used by thousands of businesses.
So you've finished the installation and the black screen has appeared after the first reboot:
The first thing we should do is update our operating system, unless you have performed a NET install that installs the latest updates.
On the black screen which is essentially a command screen after login (the name and password you chose during installation) enter the following commands:
rpm -ivh https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-25.noarch.rpm
dnf update
After upgrading the system, we can add a graphical interface (optional).
It should be noted that the system after installing the graphical environment will still be Fedora Server with all that that entails. In short, this means that it still has the default settings in the Firewall parameters. The system that will appear will look like a standard installation with the graphical environment you have chosen, but it may behave differently.
Updates or future versions of Fedora may bring additional changes. Most of the time, it will still work fine, but it will behave somewhat more paranoid than a standard installation because it is simply a server system.
Let's begin, give the command
yum grouplist
All available graphical environments will be displayed:
Fedora Workstation
KDE Plasma Workspaces
Xfce Desktop
LXDE Desktop
Cinnamon Desktop
MATE Desktop
Sugar Desktop Environment
Select the desktop you want (I chose Cinnamon for the example below) and enter the following commands:
yum groupinstall "Cinnamon Desktop" --skip-broken
With –skip-broken at the end of the command we will avoid packages that may malfunction with the Server software.
Let's activate the workspace:
systemctl set-default graphical.target
After a reboot you will see the desktop you installed. If you want to see it immediately, enter the following command:
startx
Let's change the hostname. Usually the hostname is localhost and you can also change it during the installation from the Network panel in the Anaconda (the Redhat family installer) feature selection screen.
Issue the following command and change the content between the quotes with the hostname you desire.
hostnamectl set-hostname “Secnews”
Note: All commands do not require a work environment.
Since I imagine you don't have a static IP to expose your server to the outside world, let's look at a way to expose your server with a dynamic IP. There are several ways to do this, we'll mention the two easiest ones.
We will do this through the router you are using and if your router does not support it, we will add a program that will determine your dynamic IP at any time.
First, create an account at www.noip.com. (I used this one because I already had an account and my router supports it). Find a free domain that corresponds to your computer's IP. Normally, you only need to find the domain, the IP mapping is done automatically.
Open the router's settings page and find the settings (if available) for dynamic IP. Fill in the missing information (login email, service password and the domain you chose).
That's it. With each IP change, your router will update the service, which will assign the new IP to the domain you selected.
If your router does not have the above settings, change your router or install the following application:
https://www.noip.com/download?page=linux
You can install the application with the make and make install commands. For more details, read the readme or the service's help pages.
So now you have a graphical environment to work with, a host name, a static IP, and a pre-installed management panel from Fedora itself.
You will find it at the address
https://localhost:9090
Let's now see how you can install a panel with more settings in the web ui.
We will install Webmin, an open source and free web hosting control panel like the commercial cPanel.
Download webmin with the following commands
cd /opt wget https://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc wget https://www.webmin.com/download/rpm/webmin-current.rpm
and proceed with the installation
rpm --import jcameron-key.asc rpm -Uvh webmin-*.rpm
You will find the control panel at the address
https://localhost:10000
To see webmin and the above Fedora panel, you must add an exception to the browser you are using:
Now you have a Server ready. It would be a good idea to read the documentation of each feature/service before doing anything.
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/21/html/System_Administrators_Guide/
https://www.webmin.com/docs.html
Good luck.
