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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 deleted file mode 100644 index 8914d73..0000000 --- a/content/blog/2021-03-30-vps-web-server.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,417 +0,0 @@ -+++ -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. |