## Table of Contents 1. [[#Introduction]] 2. [[#Pre Install]] 1. [[#Select distro]] 2. [[#Download ISO]] 3. [[#Installation]] 4. [[#Post Install]] 1. [[#Update && Upgrade]] 2. [[#Automatic Updates]] 3. [[#Static IP]] 4. [[#Install openssh]] 5. [[#Fix LVM]] 6. [[#Change timezone]] 7. [[#Configure Firewall]] 8. [[#Install fail2ban]] ## Introduction This guide focuses on installing Linux on a hypervisor of some sort. At least, that is how I most often use this guide: as a checklist for building out a server, dev environment, or something else Linux related. That said, these steps are valid for building out a box as well. As far as a hypervisor, I have an old HP ProLiant server that is running Windows Server 2019 with Hyper-V installed and I have a newer ProLiant that is running Proxmox. This guide doesn't have the specifics of installing on either hypervisor, but I may add that later. ## Pre Install ### Select distro Asking which distro of Linux is the best one is like asking which super-hero is the best in a comic shop. The selection of Linux distro hinges upon your requirements and what you intend to accomplish with it. The following four are a handful of distros that have remained popular for more than a couple of years. Finding tutorials, YouTube channels, and other assistance is easy for all of these. 1. [Debian](https://www.debian.org/) 2. [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com/) 3. [Mint](https://linuxmint.com/) 4. [Fedora](https://fedoraproject.org/) ### Download ISO When downloading the OS, select an ISO file and try to find the latest stable release or an LTS (Long Term Support) version of the OS. You may select the niche options but these assume that you know what you are doing. Store the ISO in a place that is accessible to the hypervisor where you will install Linux. I tend to keep a file-share with all of my ISOs. ## Installation This section should have two parts. The first would outline the steps for creating a virtual machine on your hypervisor onto which you will install your Linux distro. The second part would outline how to install your distro onto the VM. Lacking those, I recommend hitting YouTube and the distro's documentation for the step by step to install Linux. It's actually quite easy. ## Post Install ### Update && Upgrade Always run these two command immediately after completing the installation because fixes have likely been released since the ISO was created. You should also run these two commands immediately before installing a major piece of software on your instance. Lastly, you should run these on a regular basis to keep your box up to date. ``` apt update apt upgrade ``` ### Automatic Updates Some hot fixes and security patches should not wait around until you finally decide to actually run the update and upgrade commands above. For this reason, setup unattended upgrades for the important stuff. ``` apt install unattended-upgrades dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low unattended-upgrades ``` ### Static IP ``` sudo nano /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml network: version: 2 renderer: networkd ethernets: ens18: dhcp4: no addresses: [192.168.5.50/24] nameservers: addresses: [192.168.5.25,8.8.8.8] routes: - to: default via: 192.168.5.99 sudo netplan apply ``` Note: in the routes section make sure the to and via line up together. ### Install openssh You can select this during Ubuntu install ``` sudo apt install openssh-server ssh-keygen ``` #### SSH on Client machine LINUX client machine ``` ssh-keygen ssh-copy-id username@ipaddress ``` Windows client ``` ssh-keygen Get-Content $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub | ssh @ "cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys" ``` #### Lockdown Logins to SSH only ``` sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config ``` Make the following changes: 1. Change PasswordAuthentication to **no** 2. Change ChallengeResponseAuthentication to **no** Save the file and restart the ssh service ``` sudo systemctl restart sshd ``` ### Fix LVM This seems to be an Ubuntu thing. Most of the other distros don't need this but it doesn't hurt to check your volumes. Basically, you are making sure that Linux is using the whole hard drive rather than part of it. ``` sudo lvm lvm > lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv exit sudo resize2fs /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv ``` ### Change timezone ``` timedatectl timedatectl list-timezones sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/Chicago ``` ### Configure Firewall ``` sudo ufw status sudo ufw default allow outgoing sudo ufw default deny incoming sudo ufw allow ssh sudo ufw enable ``` ### Install fail2ban ``` sudo apt install fail2ban sudo cp /etc/fail2ban/fail2ban.{conf,local} sudo cp /etc/fail2ban/jail.{conf,local} sudo nano fail2ban.local loglevel = INFO logtarget = /var/log/fail2ban.log sudo nano /etc/fail2ban/jail.local bantime = 10m findtime = 10m maxretry = 5 backend = systemd sudo systemctl restart fail2ban sudo fail2ban-client status /* use to review banned */ ``` ## [[Other Linux based servers]]