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diff --git a/content/blog/2021-03-30-vps-web-server.md b/content/blog/2021-03-30-vps-web-server.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8914d73 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2021-03-30-vps-web-server.md @@ -0,0 +1,417 @@ ++++ +date = 2021-03-30 +title = "How to Set Up a VPS Web Server" +description = "A beginner's guide to setting up a virtual private server (VPS)." ++++ + +## Shared Hosting vs. VPS + +Choosing a place to host a website is one of the most confusing +decisions for beginner web developers. Even for experienced web devs, +choosing between different forms of web hosting can be a daunting +choice. + +First, let's take a look at [shared web +hosting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_web_hosting_service). +Shared web hosting is a product where you are purchasing a small piece +of a web server that is being shared between many websites. As a result, +the cost of shared hosting is extremely low. You won't have access to +the server itself, which means you can't install your own software on +the server, such as Docker. Usually, you are simply allowed to connect +your domains to the server, set up domain security, and other small +utilities. + +In contrast, a [virtual private +server](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_server) (VPS) is a +virtual machine that replicates the environment of having a dedicated +server to yourself. You are able to control the virtual server's host +names, base file system, package manager, etc. Another great upside of a +VPS is that since it's virtual, the company providing the VPS can +dynamically increase the disk size, RAM size, or number of CPUs at any +time. However, the virtual server is still physically located on a +server that is shared between multiple virtual servers. + +The choice between shared hosting and VPS mostly depends on your skill +level with system administration. If you're comforting working on a +server that is mostly left up to you (or you're willing to learn), then +a VPS is usually a better option. However, shared hosting is a fantastic +option for people who don't want to have to learn how to manage their +server. + +## My Situation + +I had used shared hosting for approximately 5 years before trying my +first VPS. I manage a homelab and have had success running a server and +performing typical sysadmin duties, but I was still hesitant to get a +VPS. One fear was that I always struggled to properly set up the +networking part of a server - DNS and hostname configurations were not +my friend. + +As a little bit of background, I originally used +[Siteground](https://www.siteground.com) for my initially shared hosting +and stayed on that platform for at least a year. However, the UI was +clunky, and I didn't like how they handled certain technical aspects, +so I switched to [Namecheap](https://www.namecheap.com). Namecheap was +great because it is the service I primarily use for purchasing domain +names, which made it incredibly easy to link them to my hosting service. +However, it was still mediocre shared hosting, and Namecheap is +notorious for not letting you use [Let's +Encrypt](https://letsencrypt.org) to obtain free SSL/TLS certificates; +Namecheap wants to make you purchase certificates through their store. + +Finally, I settled down with [iWebFusion](https://www.iwebfusion.net) +for about the last year of my shared hosting. This service was pretty +great, came with free SSL/TLS, and I never had any complaints. + +However, I finally grew tired of not being able to install software on +my own web server. I wanted to be able to try out things like +[Postmill](https://postmill.xyz) or [Matrix](https://matrix.org). This +is possible with a VPS, so I decided to grab a new domain name to try it +out. + +## Getting Started: Buying a VPS + +The first step to moving over to a VPS is (you guessed it): finding a +VPS provider. For my VPSs, I use [1984](https://1984hosting.com) and +prefer their services much more than any alternative, due to their +location (Iceland), their [privacy +policy](https://1984hosting.com/GDPR/), their respect for GDPR, and the +ability to remain anonymous if you pay in Bitcoin or Monero. + +[Njalla](https://njal.la) is another good, privacy-oriented option for +VPS services. + +You'll have to decide what specifications you want on your VPS. For me, +I only build and deploy low-resource HTML, PHP, and Python websites. +This means I can survive on the smallest VPS: 1 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and +25GB SSD for \$5.00 per month. + +As noted above, the great thing about a VPS is you can request your +provider to increase the resources at any time. + +## Configuring DNS Settings + +Okay, so now let's get into some actual work that has to be done to get +content moved from a shared host to a VPS. At this point, I'm assuming +you have a shared host with website content that you can still access, +and you've purchased a new VPS and can SSH into that server. + +The first change is minor, but it should be done immediately in order to +get things moving: DNS settings. Go to wherever your DNS settings are +handled. If your shared host also managed your DNS settings, you'll +need to first move that DNS over to your new VPS provider. For me, I +route my DNS through [Gandi](https://www.gandi.net). + +Once you know where your DNS settings are, go ahead and update the +`A` records to match the public IP address of your VPS. For +example: + +```txt +A example.com xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx +A subdomain xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx +CNAME www example.com. +``` + +If you have any other records that require updates, such as MX or TXT +records for a mail server, be sure to update those accordingly. +Personally, I don't host my own mail server. I route all mail on my +custom domains to [Migadu](https://www.migadu.com). Hosting your own +email server can become complex quickly and is not for beginners. + +DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate, so be sure to give it +some time before assuming you've made an error. + +## Server Updates and Packages + +Now that the DNS settings have been changed, let's set up our server +while we wait for the DNS to propagate. First up is to ssh into your +server. If you've signed up with a service like DigitalOcean, you can +add your SSH key to your account and to your VPS droplet so that you +don't need a password in order to SSH. + +```sh +ssh root@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx +``` + +The VPS that is used in this blog post runs Ubuntu 20.04 with an Apache +web server. If you're working on a different operating system (OS) or +want a different web server, such as Nginx, you'll have to use +different commands to set it up. + +First, let's update and upgrade our server. + +**NOTE:** Since we have logged in to the server as `root` for +now, we don't need to use the `sudo` modifier before our +commands. + +```sh +apt update && apt upgrade -y +``` + +## Create A User Account + +While being able to use `root` can be beneficial at times, +you shouldn't use `root` unless you have to. + +So let's set up a new user in our system. The `-m` option +below tells the OS to create a home directory for the new user. + +```sh +adduser USERNAME +``` + +Now, create a password for that user. + +```sh +passwd USERNAME +``` + +Finally, add the user to the sudoers file, so they can perform +priveleged commands. + +```sh +usermod -a -G sudo USERNAME +``` + +If you are using SSH keys and not passwords, you'll need to copy your +SSH key from your local machine to the VPS. If you haven't disabled +password-based SSH yet, the easiest way to do this is +`ssh-copy-id` from your local computer (not from the VPS): + +```sh +ssh-copy-id testuser@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx +``` + +If you've disabled password-based SSH, you'll need to manually copy +your SSH key into the `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` file. + +## Install Software + +Our goal here is to host a web server, so the next step is to install +the Apache web server and any other packages we need. + +From this point on, I will be logged in as a user (not +`root`) and will need to use the `sudo` modifier +for most commands. + +```sh +sudo apt update; sudo apt upgrade -y; sudo apt autoremove -y +sudo apt install apache2 +``` + +If you need other language support, such as PHP, you'll need to install +that too. + +```sh +sudo apt install libapache2-mod-php php-dom +sudo a2enmod php +sudo systemctl restart apache2 +``` + +## Website Files & Folders + +Next up is to create the directories for the domain(s) we want to be +hosted on this web server. + +```sh +cd /var/www +sudo mkdir example.com +``` + +We have a folder for `example.com` now, so let's add an +`index.html` file and put it within a specific +`public_html` folder. You don't need this +`public_html` if you don't want it, but it helps with +organizing items related to `example.com` that you don't +want to publish to the internet. + +```sh +cd example.com +sudo mkdir public_html && cd public_html +sudo nano index.html +``` + +You can put anything you want in this `index.html` file. If +you can't think of anything, paste this in there: + +```html +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + <head> + <meta charset="utf-8" /> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> + <title>Hello, world!</title> + </head> + <body> + <h1>Hello, world!</h1> + </body> +</html> +``` + +If you want something to be served at +`example.com/page01/file.txt`, you'll have to create the +`page01` directory under the `example.com` +directory. For example: + +```sh +cd /var/www/example.com/public_html +sudo mkdir page01 +sudo nano file.txt +``` + +## Apache Configuration + +Now, let's set up the files that will tell the server where to find the +files for `example.com`. We will copy the default +configuration file and create our own. + +```sh +cd /etc/apache2/sites-available +sudo cp 000-default.conf example.com.conf +sudo nano example.com.conf +``` + +This configuration file will have a few default lines, but you'll need +to edit it to look similar to this (settings may change based on your +personal needs): + +```config +<VirtualHost *:80> + ServerAdmin your-email@email-provider.com + ServerName example.com + ServerAlias www.example.com + DocumentRoot /var/www/example.com/public_html + ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log + CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined +</VirtualHost> +``` + +Now, enable the configuration for your new site, disable the default +configuration, and reload the web server. + +```sh +sudo a2ensite example.com.conf +sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf +sudo systemctl reload apache2 +``` + +You can always run a test to make sure no errors or warnings are found +in your configuration files. + +```sh +sudo apache2ctl configtest +``` + +Now, restart the web server entirely. After this, you should be able to +browse to `http://example.com` and see the HTML content you +provided earlier. Note that SSL/TLS has not been enabled yet, so you +won't be able to use the secure version yet +(`https://example.com`). + +```sh +sudo systemctl restart apache2 +``` + +You can repeat this for as many websites as you need. Just create the +domain folders in `/var/www/`, add the configuration file, +enable the configuration, and restart `apache2`. + +## SSL/TLS Certificates: Serve Websites Over HTTPS + +In order to serve secure content, you'll need to obtain SSL/TLS +certificates. Luckily, there's a free tool called +[Certbot](https://certbot.eff.org) that helps us with the process. + +The first step is to install `snapd` and `core` +for Ubuntu. + +```sh +sudo apt install snapd +sudo snap install core +sudo snap refresh core +``` + +Next, install the `certbot` snap package. + +```sh +sudo snap install --classic certbot +``` + +Execute the following command to ensure that the `certbot` +command can be run. + +```sh +sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot +``` + +Finally, you can run `certbot` one of two ways: + +1. run it and let it alter your Apache configuration files + automatically to enable HTTPS redirects. +2. run it and only allow it to create certificates. You'll need to + manually alter the config files to enable HTTPS redirects. + +Run certbot and allow automatic config changes: + +```sh +sudo certbot --apache +``` + +Run certbot for certificates only and don't allow it to alter config +files: + +```sh +sudo certbot certonly --apache +``` + +The Certbot packages on your system come with a cron job or systemd +timer that will renew your certificates automatically before they +expire. You will not need to run Certbot again unless you change your +configuration. You can test automatic renewal for your certificates by +running this command: + +```sh +sudo certbot renew --dry-run +``` + +Now, test your domains by going to `https://example.com`. + +## Firewall Security + +To enable better security on your server, you'll need to enable a basic +firewall. For Ubuntu, we'll use [the uncomplicated +firewall](https://cleberg.net/blog/secure-your-network-with-the-uncomplicated-firewall.html). + +Now, add the following rules to the firewall allow SSH, Apache, and +HTTP(S) connections. If you need to, you can enable different ports for +specifics applications, SFTP, etc. + +```sh +sudo ufw default deny incoming +sudo ufw default allow outgoing +sudo ufw allow OpenSSH +sudo ufw allow Apache +sudo ufw allow proto tcp from any to any port 80,443 +``` + +Once you've added all the rules you need, enable the firewall. + +```sh +sudo ufw enable +``` + +## Troubleshooting + +If you run into any issues during your VPS set-up, be sure to walk back +through your actions and make sure you didn't miss any steps. + +Many websites have fantastic guides to setting up various web servers. +This is one of the areas [where DigitalOcean +shines](https://www.digitalocean.%20com/community/tutorials). For +simpler or more Linux-oriented questions, I suggest using [Linuxize] +(<https://linuxize.com>). + +If you're getting certain errors (e.g. =500 Internal Server Error=) and +need to debug locally, you can view the `access.log` and +`error.log` files in the `/var/log/apache/` +directory. |