Setting up a dedicated web server

September 22, 2006 11:05 AM

A dedicated Fedora Plesk server has been set up for me at a hosting company, and as a site admin I'm not sure what to do next. Is there a good guide or tutorial anywhere that will get me up to speed on preparing a dedicated server for a website that uses PHP and mysql? Will I have to install Apache? Are those programs normally installed by default with run-of-the-mill dedicated hosting? This company's documentation is scarce and I think I'm in over my head.
posted by rolypolyman to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Whenever I've used plesk in the past it's come with apache, php and mysql installed. I'm not sure if this was done by the hosting company as part of a plesk installation. I believe it's park of plesk and you won't need to do anything.

Can you access the Plesk control panel? https://IP:8443 if I remember correctly. If you click on "services" this shold tell you what's offered and enabled.
posted by null terminated at 11:32 AM on September 22, 2006

Apache, Mysql etc. is (probably) all there and just waiting to be config'd via their nice plesky-y graphical interface.

In general it'll probably go like this:

1) Log in, get your domain name(s) hooked up and configured under 'Domains'. If the host didn't do this for you - i.e. if you log into plesk and there's nothing listed under 'Domains' - then this is the 1st place to start.

2) Get your mysql database(s) created and populated up via (domain -> databases) and migrate any data you have.

3) Connect your php pages via their new ip and database settings. Also, check domain -> setup, and look for 'php support' to make sure PHP support is actually there.

On preview, what null said as well re: making sure you can get into the plesk interface in the 1st place.
posted by bhance at 11:41 AM on September 22, 2006

The general configuration you're referring to is known as LAMP. Linux Apache Mysql PHP. Plesk is generally a good tool for admining the various sections of LAMP. You should have all of this installed as it's pretty much the standard these days and will use Plesk to control the various functions/etc.
posted by iamabot at 11:54 AM on September 22, 2006

Who's responsible for making sure the server's kept secure and up to date? If it's you, you're out of your depth and I strongly recommend hiring a server admin firm immediately to check the initial configuration and promptly apply patches.
posted by malevolent at 1:21 PM on September 22, 2006