Good Morning from my Robotics Lab! This is Shadow_8472, and today, I am installing Rocky Linux on ButtonMash. There\u2019s a lot to learn and a bit more to do, so let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A home server is useful. However, if you ask me what one is good for, and I\u2019ll struggle to come up with an answer before the conversation stalls. I\u2019ll come across as simply begging for another expensive toy, and you\u2019re even less interested in one than before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To remedy the stress of the moment, I opened a text buffer and slapped in a few uses I had in mind. Over the next several days, I added some more for a total of seven or eight so far. None of them were new per se, but it was the first time I had them all in the same place at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the topic of brainstorming, I\u2019m considering developing my own checklist for installing Linux no matter the distro. Watch for it in a future topic once I\u2019m half-satisfied with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I left a document open for several days to add ideas for running on server<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am developing a personal Linux Install checklist<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As stated in my last post, I already flashed a thumb drive with Rocky Linux. I was considering using optical media this time because of the expected long term support for this install, but even the minimal option I ended up downloading was too large for CD and we\u2019re seemingly out of blank DVD\u2019s. When I did make my download, I accepted Firefox\u2019s offer to open it with Popsicle, a USB flasher utility that came with either PopOS or KDE (I have reasons to think either is likely). I overwrote the Debian install media from my Laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Slated for overwriting was a previous ButtonMash SSD (Solid State Drive) with MineOS on it. I had already cleared stuff out from it, but after working on the family\u2019s Minecraft server on Apex, I started having second thoughts. I sought out and found an even older and smaller MineOS SSD originally from DerpyChips. My father and I connected it up and booted to the install media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By this point, I knew this Linux installation will be provisional at best \u2013 to my relief. Without the pressure of getting a \u201cforever server\u201d going, I can further refine my approach until I\u2019m satisfied. In the meantime, I can load up some lightweight services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The installer was one of the smoothest I\u2019ve ever seen. All the usual elements like time zone, user accounts\/passwords, and partitioning were linked from a main menu. My one complaint is the full screen slide animation blasting my eyes whenever I clicked on something. It\u2019s not worth my time to recompile the installer, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were a couple unfamiliar panels from the installer menu. One appeared to be some sort of privacy policy configuration screen. I had no idea what most of the options were about, but I could still recognize the value in it. The other screen had options for a selection of software to install. We read through each option, deciding weather or not I wanted each piece. Stuff like networking tools for SSH or NFS were included. Stuff a headless workstation doesn\u2019t need, like GNOME, stayed off. If I didn\u2019t recognize something, I left it alone. Some of the stuff I opted to include with installation were things I knew I\u2019d be installing anyway, so that\u2019s a little time and effort saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SSH is an easy skill to learn, but difficult to master; I\u2019ve poked at it this week, but I\u2019ll need more time with it before I can consider myself safe using it on an unsecured line. I had a little trouble matching key fingerprints when SSH\u2019ing into ButtonMash from my Manjaro workstation vs having the later SSH into itself with localhost. I quickly realized they were using different hash algorithms, but I had to give up on forcing them into alignment for now. I was able to verify the code on DerpyChips, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As soon as I got myself SSH\u2019ed into ButtonMash, I received a prompt to launch a webUI called Cockpit. I don\u2019t know much about it, but I recognized the name from my research last week and the interface feels familiar from some of my previous experiences with server management over browser. The interface came back online after a reboot, so there\u2019s that. I will note that Firefox wasn\u2019t happy about its self-signed security certificate. I have fixed that in the past, but I\u2019m ignoring it for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can feel like I\u2019ve come a long way since when I first started Linux. Each major jump feels like I\u2019m landing in a less unfamiliar place, though there are still surprises. To answer one of my own early \u201cFinal Questions:\u201d results are not as important as learning why you got the results in the first place. Though there are plenty of places that make no assumptions about prior skill, general experience will still be of benefit when working with such systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After I was done with last week\u2019s post, I poked around a bit more at my Manjaro workstation\u2019s spell check for LibreOffice Writer. I was able to get it working by installing a package called hunspell-en_us, as no language libraries were included by default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What would you do with a home server?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Good Morning from my Robotics Lab! This is Shadow_8472, and today, I am installing Rocky Linux on ButtonMash. There\u2019s a lot to learn and a bit more to do, so let\u2019s get started! Checklists and Notepads A home server is useful. However, if you ask me what one is good for, and I\u2019ll struggle to … <\/p>\n