Update packages
Login to the server:
ssh root@{SERVER-IP}
Update the package index:
apt-get update
Upgrade the packages (optional):
apt-get upgrade
Get a list of installed packages:
dpkg --list
Install some useful utilities (nano
, telnet
, git
, lynx
, DNSutils
(for dig
, host
, nslookup
), mailutils
(for mailx
), apache2-utils
(for ab
), finger
and multitail
):
apt-get install nano
apt-get install telnet
apt-get install git
apt-get install lynx
apt-get install dnsutils
apt-get install mailutils
apt-get install apache2-utils
apt-get install finger
apt-get install multitail
Setting the server’s hostname
Change the hostname:
hostname {HOSTNAME}
(or nano /etc/hostname
to make it permanent).
In /etc/resolv.conf
it is possible to specify the default domain that is used to generate a fully qualified domain name (FQDN):
search {DOMAIN.TLD}
nameserver {IP-DNS-1}
...
nameserver {IP-DNS-n}
It is possible to add as many nameserver
records as you want/need. It is possible to use the default DNS-servers of the ISP, or you could use the DNS provided by Google: 8.8.8.8
.
Check the hostname with:
hostname
hostname -f
Add the hostname to the HOSTS-file (/etc/hosts
):
{SERVER-IP} {HOSTNAME}
{SERVER-IP} {FQDN}
Make sure to add a PTR-record for the IP-address of the server (especially important if you want to use the server as a mailserver). Use one of the following commands to check that the IP resolves to the correct hostname:
host {IP_ADDRESS}
dig PTR {IP_D-block}.{IP_C-block}.{IP_B-block}.{IP_A-block}.in-addr.arpa