Set up your very own Web server!

Ever wanted to have a place where you could keep your files and access them anywhere you get an Internet connection? Say you wanted to have your music library available in case you wanted to give a song to one of your friends, or maybe you wanted to let your relatives download your entire library of vacation photos, or maybe you need a place to host programs you write or maps you make. How about a Web page? Ever wanted to have your own Web page? All of these can be accomplished with a home Web server...and more!

It's actually really simple to set up a Web server at home. I'm going to use this while I'm away at college to host game servers, have an offsite file backup, and share files with friends. Since the PC hosting the server will be at my house and I will be in my dorm room, obviously I can't just walk over and start changing system settings, so we'll need some kind of remote access.

Also, obviously, you'll need a dedicated PC, one you can leave running and leave connected at all times. What good is a server that goes down all the time? This PC doesn't have to be great, but remember, the more you run on it, the faster the PC needs to be to not lag (duh).

Step 1: Acquire a dedicated PC

This step may be easy for some and hard for others. I already had a PC that I wasn't really using (it originally was my parents old PC, but then it died and I rebuilt it with cheap parts, but since I already had a PC I didn't really use it much).

System specs:

AMD Sempron 64 2600+ (overclocked to 1.85 GHz)
1.5GB DDR RAM
nVidia GeForce4 MX420 64MB (GPU really not important, servers don't need good video cards, even integrated is plenty)
60GB hard drive (IDE) (not that good for a server, but good enough, I didn't want to spend any money on this)
DVD and CD drive (you'll need at least a CD drive to install the OS, other than that, not necessary)
3 Ethernet cards (you'll need at least 1)

This system performs very well as a server, so anything over this would perform even better. This PC cost about $100 to rebuild (already had RAM, case, optical drives, and hard drive though) and that was late 2007 that I rebuilt it.

Comments

[the doctor who]

hi great instructable you it helped me greatly

[thesush]

Hi great instructable !! I just have a question about trouble shooting. When I try to search my internet ip it says my internet server can not be found. I suppose this means my port forwarding isn't working however I trying to troubleshoot this and nothing seems to be working :(. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[offtherails2010]

WTF - WHY WASNT THIS INSTRUCTABLE FEATURED ?!!?!!?!!?

Such a great instructable !

I really want to make a home web server too but will wait until you make an upto date windows server as i only know windows 1 !!!

Many thanks in advance for the Up and Coming Updated Windows Server for Home users-hack-thing-instructable, lol !!!

[An_Amateur622]

I have one question before I attempt this. Does the size of the hard drive matter?
I notice in your specs it says a 60 GB HDD, but is that enough to hold all of the data that your server is going to handle? I only ask because the PC I want to do this with has an 80 GB HDD

[blazed01]

Hello, I'll try to set-up a web hosting using ubuntu server 11.10 but, when i try do the step a got error also when i try install apache2, and the GUI. I don't what to do....please help me. thanks!

[techboy411]

Well........SmootWall?

[harias]

I got an error message when trying to activate:
-Fatal: TLSRSACertificateFile:'etc/garmin-proftpd/certs/cert.pem' does not exist online 57 of '/etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf'
I am using Ubuntu 10.10, nd I have the feeling this tutorial is for a lower version...

[computerlover]

I'm using Kubuntu 11.04 and I got the same issue. Try filling in the info. fields on the certificate section, then click apply. (scroll down a bit) It worked for me!

[maxpower49]

how can you tell if your processor is 64 bit compatable

[Q-ro]

If you are using Linux you could run the following command on a terminal (command line):

uname -m

if you get a i386 or i686 response then it is 32 bit, a x86_64 response means its a 64bit.


Also if you get the 2 editions (64 and 32), and try to get the 64 bits version running on your pc it won't work at all so you will know you pc is not meant for 64 bits .

Another method would be to check the processor manufacturer webpage.

[CalcProgrammer1]

If you're in Windows, you can use PC Wizard 2008 (free app, google it) and check for "AMD64" technology or "IA_64" or something like that. If you're unsure, you can use the 32 bit edition on any PC (64 or 32 bit processors both run 32 bit programs, only 32 bit processors can't run 64 bit programs). You probably won't notice a major performance difference between the two versions, so just go with 32 if you are unsure.

[Q-ro]

One question ¿is it possible to set a GUI on a server edition? i was just wandering, i believe i can just install the genome-desktop package from aptitude, but don't wanna try it out to discover it mess up my server.

Thanks in advance.

[high_man4202003]

You can try checking the computer properties by right clicking on my computer and clicking on properties or try going to your run program in the start menu and type dxdiag click ok and click yes on the popup window.

[CalcProgrammer1]

This tutorial is over 2 years old, I wrote it in 2008 for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS which is now very outdated. The packages have changed and it looks like gadmin-proftpd does not work the same way as it did in 8.04. Unfortunately I do not have time to create a new Instructable, also I switched my server to Windows XP Pro because I needed to run some Windows stuff that Wine couldn't handle.

[shaqadim]

 mine keeps on coming up saying that my computer can only be reached on a local network but i have a ethernet cable connected y wont it connect to the internet

[pspuria]

you need to go into your router and configure port forwarding
web port is 80 and set the address as the webserver and you should be able to access it from the EXTERNAL ip address that your network sits behind

[Knuxz]

You probably need to open the correct ports on your router so that when other computers are trying to remotely access it they can have a path to follow.

[Computothought]

may also want to set up ddns.

[Computothought]

Once you start using a web server, you will wonder why you never used one before. I run my private apache web server on an old an old pII. It is currently running Ubuntu though I prefer debian when I am not running centos. I had it on I think ubuntu server 6.x and have done in-place upgrades as they came along the way to 9.x. (i.e. no reformatting or disk wiping). This is an example of the actual web pages i run on it. http://www.instructables.com/id/Uses-for-your-own-private-cloud/ I have since added doing home automation on it. Keep finding uses for that legacy computer. Microsoft Windows Supporters said I should have thrown away a long time ago. It is not what you use, but how you use it.

[BitFiber]

 I have a problem.  I forwarded my ports correctly, and I can't access the 'It Works!' page from my internet ip.  I can access it from my local ip.  What could be wrong?

[Computothought]

Your internet address will be differrent from your local address. ddns is a way around that. There are several free servers to allow to do that. web search free ddns.

[CalcProgrammer1]

If you can't access the page from your Internet IP it may mean that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) blocks port 80 (the HTTP port that web pages use).  This is more common than I would like to believe for home ISP's and they'll use some lame excuse like "security" to back up their business-greed-minded decision (they unblock port 80 at the "professional level" for an additional $20 because monopolies will do anything to force the extra buck sometimes).  I would try serving on different ports until you find one that your ISP doesn't block.  I'm not sure how to change the port for Apache (probably a setting file that you'll have to edit at the terminal) but to access HTTP sites at non-80 ports you tack the port number on to the IP or web address such as http://192.168.1.1:210 (connecting to IP 192.168.1.1 [the standard router local IP] on port 210 [the alternative port I usually use for FTP at school]).  I like to use ports that are similar to the correct port, such as using 210 for FTP (which is normally 21) or 800 for HTTP (normally 80).  If these don't work, I also like ports 1337 and 31337 for obvious reasons.

[Dms12444]

Pardon my asking, but in Windows couldn't you just use IIS (internet information services), It's free (I think), and runs on Windows.

[Computothought]

I will take xampp or wampserver (both free) over iis anyday. Besides iis does not come wih mysql or php. MsSQL is not free last I heard. Have not programmed is asp.

[Zicologo]

CalcProgrammer, is IE the only way you can use to upload files to the server?

[Computothought]

I Install ssh and and openssh-server and then use WINSCP on mswindows to transfer files.

[CalcProgrammer1]

Certainly not!  My favorite is FileZilla Client, it's an open-source program that is designed for uploading and downloading from FTP servers.  It is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac and it's in the repository of most Linux distributions so installing it shouldn't be an issue.

If you're using Windows to host a server, I also recommend the (Windows only) FileZilla Server, it is a solid FTP server that is probably the best FTP server I've used on any OS.  However, Windows isn't free and Linux is a stable server platform, but I switched my server to XP because of other things I needed to run on it.

[lilpepsikraker]

I'll give a thumbs up for FireFTP, it runs on any computer than can run Firefox 2 or higher (Win, Lin, OSX, whatever) and it pretty fast, being that it's basically a plugin for Firefox.

[ddvniek]

But what if you don't have Linux?????? What do you do then?? I have Microsoft Windows 7.

[Computothought]

You can try something like wanp (wampserver). I am a linux person, but I had to set up a web server on windows xp to do a home automation demo for friends.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Quicky-web-server-for-MSWindows-XP/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Home-Automation-MSWindows-XP/
There is also xampp for windows.

As soon as I have access to w7, I will do a couple of update instructables.

[CalcProgrammer1]

This Instructable covers setting up a Linux Server, thus it mentions Linux programs.  However, if you want to use Windows for a server there are plenty of great apps.  I recommend FileZilla Server for FTP, Apache for HTTP, and TightVNC for remote access.  I actually switched my Ubuntu server to Windows XP after I wanted to use it to stream music to my Xbox 360, I have TVersity running to stream media and with Windows you can also share your files locally on the LAN easily.

[CyberJacob]

you can stream media from Ubuntu to an xbox, just find out what protocols it supports and install some daemons for them. hey LMGTFY - http://adf.ly/5WP9

[computerlover]

I am running Ubuntu 10.04 Lts. In the VNC, there is no option to make it public. how do I make screen sharing public?

[declanthedork]

So far, this is a great Instructable. I just have a small problem. When I click apply changes, I get this. Error: user not found, couldnt change its settings. Could you possibly tell me what it means? Thanks

[declanthedork]

never mind! I did it! you have to click add, user, not apply. Stupid me! btw, awesome instructable!

[harry599]

wheres that??

[account3r2]

so........ this is just like a website?

[account3r2]

Google: http://72.14.204.104 or http://66.249.90.104

[CyberJacob]

easy way to solve it, just tell them to go f**k themselves and open the port or you'll go somewhere else for your 'net connection

[Lord_Drogoth]

i have a unknown error   - Fatal: TLSRSACertificateFile: '/etc/gadmin-proftpd/certs/cert.pem' does not exist on line 56 of '/etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf' dunno whats wrong but it says this every time i try to activate the ftp server any ideas?

[yetiballer]

 Hi there, I am having trouble installing the second program
it is saying, E: couldnt find package gproftpd
What can I do about this?

[mellacita]

It's been renamed to " gadmin-proftpd " instead of " gproftpd ' if you have a version newer than 8.04. 

[snareshkumar]

I am getting an error when trying to install gproftpd

It's saying: "E: Couldn't find package gproftpd" 

then i downloaded gadmin-proftpd from net 

i am new user to linex .. so please explain me how to install it

pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls

thank u in advance:-)

[mellacita]

Did you type into the Terminal: " sudo apt-get install gadmin-proftpd '  after you downloaded gadmin-proftpd? The last word is different from the tutorial if you have a newer version of Linux or something. 

[mellacita]

 CalcProgrammer1, I think I've done everything right so far, but I can't get a couple things going:

- Can't get any options for uploading or downloading when I got to the FTP site--do I use a program like FileZilla to upload/download files? Is this supposed to be entered in a browser? Ex: ftp://mysite.serverburger.net ? Or used primarily with one of those FTP programs?

- Where do I put files that I want to be on the net?

- When I try to edit index.html, it says its a read only file. What do I do?

I'm a totally noob with Ubuntu and servers, so pardon the silly questions.

Great job at this tutorial! C :

[gramorgan]

Woo! GMod!

[alanharber]

I'm running Ubuntu 9.10 and its not lettin g me install gadmin-proftpd what do i do?

[compsfreak17]

for some reason the ftp server will not activate.  i click the activate button and the status still says deactivated.  anybody know a solution?

[compsfreak17]

never mind

[Oli G]

I am getting an error when trying to install gproftpd

It's saying: "E: Couldn't find package gproftpd" 

Package proftpd installed correctly. Thanks for your help

[TyMan210]

 Lol @ "trekkie00".

[BitFiber]

Thanks!  I'll have to try this out sometime.

[TyMan210]

 Yay, Ubuntu!

[kenl92]

(removed by author or community request)

[CalcProgrammer1]

You should be able to use 9.10.  I haven't tried installing these packages in 9.10 so I don't know if it works exactly the same way.  In 9.04 they changed the name of the gproftpd package (gadmin-proftpd or something like that) and it was broken for a while but finally they fixed it.  I would go ahead and use 9.10 and search for gproftpd or gadmin-proftpd if you can't find it.  It may even be in the Ubuntu Software Center that is in 9.10.

[barf_malak]

im trying to do this with ubuntu 9.10 and both of these packages dont work...  

[CalcProgrammer1]

I think gadmin-proftpd is in the Ubuntu Software Center, just search for FTP or something, I found all the GAdmin apps for various services in there.

[misuka]

thanks it works!!! cheers!!!

 

[briackman]

do i spy a garrys mod server? or is that something else?

[oktanis]

LOL! you and i both wish XD Really late reply. Im not sure if you need to have steam on the machine ot host the server, but if you do its a no go as Steam dosn't run on Linux. (Please correct me if im wrong haha)

[CalcProgrammer1]

It is Garry's Mod Server, you can run it in Wine (a program that lets you run Windows applications on Linux systems).  You can also run Steam but support for 3d applications (especially Direct3D) is limited.

[dla888]

Is there an alternative for installing this on intrepid Ibex?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Intrepid Ibex (8.10) and Jaunty Jackalope (9.04) lack the gproftpd package. Technically they have the package, but a bug makes the program segfault and thus it is useless. The workaround is to install gproftpd (if I remember correctly it's gadmin-proftpd or something like that in package manager) from the Debian repositories. You may have to Google for the .deb packages. Get the ones from Debian's repository and install them making sure you tell it to use the downloaded packages and not the Ubuntu ones. All the rest of the stuff installs just fine.

[superpilotgeorge]

I don't see "GROFTPD" on the list please help

[Magicfap]

its in the applications, system tools

[CalcProgrammer1]

To find your IP address in Ubuntu, you can: 1) Right click on the networking icon and click Connection Information, it's labeled IP Address. 2) Pull up a Terminal and type "ifconfig", in the resulting output your IP address (along with other information about your networking setup) will be listed. To find it in Windows, use a Command Prompt and type "ipconfig". As for the port forwarding settings, don't use "Service Name", that is a list of pre-defined settings to make some setups easier, but VNC and most games are not on the list.

[Arbitror]

I have a server setup at home, through a router. The are a few entertainment and business computers also hooked up to that router. How secure will those other computers be once the server is up and running? I don't mind if there is any security breaches on the server itself, but if there ever is one, will the other computers on the router be in harms way? All the other computers run Windows.

[CalcProgrammer1]

I don't think they'll be able to get directly to your other comps because the port forwarding is set to the server only. However, if they managed to figure out your VNC password they could essentially take over your server and use it to gain access to other computers (depending on how secure they are from internal attacks). This is pretty unlikely but any time you open up a system to the Internet there is a slight risk. If your router supports it, you may be able to put the server on a different LAN or otherwise separate it from the rest of your machines. Just choose a strong VNC password. As for direct attacks to the other PC's, it won't be any less secure with the server (again, unless they first get access to your server and then change your router settings, so have a password on your router as well).

[Arbitror]

If you don't mind, reply here. Thanks!

[Arbitror]

You did an awesome job on this 'ible!
*5 and favourited!

[briackman]

lol i knew it, you do have one!!!

[cowscankill]

How can I set up an online server (Garry's Mod 10) for my friends and I without forwarding my ports? If there is something besides forwarding my ports that I can do, I will do it. I don't know the admin name or password for my router...

[CalcProgrammer1]

You pretty much have to forward the ports. For any external (as in, on the Internet) computers to access your server you need to forward your local PC's port to your Internet IP address. You can reset your router by holding in the reset switch with a pen or something, that resets the username and password to their default values.

[beauwalker23]

Okay, I have a computer running windows 98. I dont know how old this computer is... You think I ca still do this?

[CalcProgrammer1]

You can do a basic server. I ran an FTP/HTTP setup on a Windows 95 Pentium 1 machine. Try using War FTP Daemon for the FTP server and Abyss Web Server (you could also try Apache) for HTTP.

[harias]

Excellent Instructable. I have no clue of what a web server is but I enjoyed reading through. I may try if I find a old PC nobody wants.

[mrmoneybagss]

dude in step 9: isn't that steam? for like counter strike and other steam games?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Not Steam exactly, it's Valve's Dedicated Server for Source games. It is the dedicated server for Counter Strike: Source, Half Life 2: Deathmatch, Team Fortress 2, and Garry's Mod. Garry's Mod (GMod) is a sandbox mod for Half Life 2 that you can play online.

[PikminRed]

Can you make another instructable JUST for Garry's Mod? That would be great! I'm on the PC I want to use now and I don't understand some things... but if you made an instructable just for Windows Xp V10 Gmod With how to run source dedicated server. I would definitely make you admin...

[cowscankill]

I know how to do everything, except forward my ports.... D: I don't know the admin name a nd password for my router...

[mrmoneybagss]

omg is on one of those CD's in step 2?

[CalcProgrammer1]

No, those are Ubuntu OS CD's. You can download the Garry's Mod server online. Beware, it's hard to set up right because it isn't an "official" Source game. There's no official Linux server and running it in Wine had problems for me (it worked but sometimes you would slide around or do weird things) and I ended up switching to a Windows XP server platform.

[thatfatkid500]

Hey Calc, could you help me on how to get the Source Dedicated Server onto my Ubuntu server? Thank you sooo much!

[crbtcs]

clacprogrammer1, i need help!!! i follwed ur steps, and it wont load anything, it gives me a timeout error message when trying to connect

[rycallahan]

When I go into my Netgear port forwarding settings, on the "service name" drop down menu it doesn't have VNC or Gmod listed. I dont need the Gmod, but i do need the VNC, correct? How can i obtain the VNC option? Please help! awesome instructable by the way

[Zicologo]

Is it possible to get the same results with Fedora??

[onlyonebowman]

what is your steam id?

[h4x0r]

I don't think Ubuntu has gproftp any more, at least not by itself (on 8.10). It wants to install another application that says something about migrating to a new proftp thing (I'm not at my comp right now...will give actual details ASAP). This weird thing that it wants to install makes it so everything past step 5 is moot. Any suggestions?

[thenick678]

What if you are accessing the server from a Windows PC

[CalcProgrammer1]

The VNC protocol doesn't care what OS you use, there are Windows VNC viewer applications (try UltraVNC) that can connect to VNC servers. You can use UltraVNC's vncviewer to access your Ubuntu machine from a Windows PC.

[computer_guy]

how do you run it on NTDS (nintendo ds)?

[CalcProgrammer1]

DSFTP is an FTP server for Nintendo DS, you need a homebrew loader to run it but it does work (only FTP and really slow).

[Chickenwing]

Great instructable, I was able to get through with a lot more ease that some of the others I tried. I've run into one problem though. The files I'm putting in my var/www file are coming up not found on the interwebs. The index file shows up, but nothing else will. Did I miss something somewhere that allows other files to show up? All my html files are coming up 404 and I know they are there. Help plz?

[imgod22222]

hey, i'm behind a router that's conected to a router via LAN. Umm... how should port forwarding go? What should I do/not do if I want it to be a LAN server now, and later scale it so I can WAN it?

[stargazer418]

Lol even though I use the same version of Ubuntu that you have and I also use Mac OS, I still call them shortcuts =)

[Zicologo]

duh! it doesn't work. I can access my website and my files from my other computer at home but I phoned a friend to look it up on his computer and he says it doesnt work, he can't view anything. Checked port forwarding and it looks fine, checked gproftpd config. also looks fine. Any suggestions? could it be the ISP or the cable modem?

[N1CK4ND0]

Great instructable, simple but brilliant. I am deffinently doing this ASAP with a couple of my old comps I have laying around. Thanks a lot.

[Zicologo]

Aah never mind, you did explain it!

[Zicologo]

Brilliant instructable!! you have a bright future as a computer engineer. You said you'd later get to how to access my desktop from another PC over the internet, would you show us how to do that? Thanks and again, awesome work

[esplonky]

lol i have the same laptop (gaming) compaq presario f700?

[chrisbaker]

Has anyone found a good (i.e. free) mp3 server for Ubuntu? Alternatively, has anyone tried vibeserver with Wine?

[declanthedork]

In the part where it says 192.168.x.x (replace with that of your server) How can I find the extension/number of my server?

[declanthedork]

some people might not like it, but I really like how you say stuff like "I have no idea what this does, but check it off anyway"

[tjsdaname]

how do I know if my isp allows me to host a server??? thanks!!

[bart10655]

Will Windows 98 work?

[andrewdpham3]

i think thats much too old

[bart10655]

Oh well i will just take a base ball bat to it then lol

[andrewdpham3]

i would sugest making it explode or setting it on fire but that's just me

[bart10655]

I think that would be a lot more satisfying lol i think i will do that and make a instructable about how to cure boredom thanks for the idea

[Server_Rack_Guy]

Great organic server rack ;-)

[TFS Jake]

lol "Gaming Laptop" those should not exist. :P 4 stars. :)

[TWMCNANEY]

ok so i have been trying to get ubuntu to work but it wont so im going to instead install xubuntu, now to set this up would i do the same things that are listed?

[TWMCNANEY]

if i set it up like this then will i be able to save files to another computer, i have a laptop but i dont have enough memory on it so i want to make a file server, does this work like that??

[CalcProgrammer1]

In Linux, you can still share folders like you would in Windows, but it is somewhat difficult. You need to configure Samba (the server application that handles network shares in Linux). You should be able to right click a folder and do Share on it, but you may have to add some lines to the Samba configuration file (/etc/samba/smb.conf). I've had mixed results trying to use Samba, I was able to get it to share folders just fine but I could only access them by typing the Linux PC's IP address (not the PC's host name). You could also set up a server in Windows if you want this feature. Windows XP makes a decent home server OS, it has a good shared folder system, supports HTTP and FTP applications, is easy to VNC with, and can run any other server app you want.

[TWMCNANEY]

How would I go about making a windows FTF or HTTP? I'm new at this, I tryed to use samba but there was slot I had to put into it. If I decide to use ubuntu should I use the server edition or desktop?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Definitely Desktop if you decide to use Ubuntu. The difference is that the server edition has NO GUI (graphical user interface) and instead you have to configure everything remotely or using the command line. The desktop version is still capable of working as a server and it also has a graphical environment. As for Windows, I use WarFTP and Apache2, WarFTP is great for Windows FTP. For remote access I use TightVNC.

[TWMCNANEY]

Ok thanks for the answers, I think I'll try ubuntu first.

[neex1233]

Can you still use your windows operating system?

[CalcProgrammer1]

You can set up a dual-boot system. Instead of wiping Windows, you can use GParted (System-Administration-Partition Editor on the Ubuntu Live CD) to make your NTFS partition (where Windows is) smaller and then install Ubuntu in the empty space. Alternatively, you can just set up a server with XP instead of Linux, for XP I recommend WarFTP for FTP, Apace2 for HTTP, TightVNC for VNC.

[fwjs28]

http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm .....thats a pretty good site for port forward guides

[djr6789]

can i use a different os like windows xp for the server or something simillar

[djr6789]

im gonna make a host server just to make some extra cash

[CalcProgrammer1]

You can use XP as well, WarFTP, Apache2, and TightVNC are my favorite FTP, HTTP, and VNC servers for XP. I wouldn't recommend any sort of commercialized hosting over this. If you have a regular home connection, they probably prohibit hosting servers, especially for business or other means involving making money. If you do this and your ISP terminates your service, I won't feel sorry. This is for personal file storage and maybe a personal Web site. Most home connections aren't fast enough to handle multiple connections anyways.

[djr6789]

btw where do i put my html files

[djr6789]

ok thanks for the info about the host server i dont want to get banned of my isp.

[Lebanite]

Haha... this is crazy because that is the SAME computer that I have, that has bin sitting around and that I was thinking about making into a web server!! kinda weird lol!

[CalcProgrammer1]

Lol nice :) Except that I doubt yours is as good as mine, since the old insides fried and I just re-used the old case when I bought a new motherboard/CPU/RAM/PSU/GPU/etc. However, even the original Celeron 500MHz that the PC originally had would at least make a good FTP/HTTP/VNC server (not sure about gaming on an old CPU, old games would work but new games probably not). If you're thinking of making it into a server, I say GO FOR IT! Just remember that the original configuration of this PC (mine anyways) didn't come with an Ethernet card, so if you haven't added one already you might have to add one.

[djr6789]

can i use wifi instead of ethernet

[CalcProgrammer1]

Yeah, it doesn't really matter how your server connects (USB modem, Ethernet through a router, WiFi to a router, Ethernet directly to modem, etc). If you're using a router (WiFi or Ethernet) you must set up port forwarding. If you are connected directly to a modem (USB, Ethernet, or internal), you shouldn't have to set up port forwarding. Also, if you are at a business or college, your computer may have its own external IP address even if it is connected to an internal network (dorm room/class room/office/etc) and thus you shouldn't need port forwarding.

[Lebanite]

Yea true, but I am going to get a diagnostics, then get rid of all the files and that that I don't need, and I am going to upgrade the ram and some other parts, although it still won't be as good as yours, but hey I'm not hosting games so I think it will be fine.

[CalcProgrammer1]

Yeah, when I still had the Celeron in it, I had 256MB RAM and the integrated i810 Intel graphics. The original 10GB hard drive died years ago and we replaced it with a 60GB (which is still there in the new build). I ran Ubuntu (7.10 I think) on the Celeron system for a few months before it finally fell in (Ubuntu ran well, a bit slow but still very usable even for Web browsing, so definitely good enough for a remote server for just FTP and HTTP). I don't know what caused it to fail, but it just started randomly rebooting and eventually wouldn't power on at all. I think a power capacitor on the motherboard went out because one of them looks deformed. I've hosted FTP and HTTP on Pentium 1 machines before, so your Celeron will run those two things nicely even in Linux.

[maxpower49]

if you have more than one network card could you als plug in a ps3 and 360

[CalcProgrammer1]

Why would you want to plug in consoles to a server? Consoles don't need a server (they have manufacturer supported servers such as XBOX Live or PSN). It would be better to plug your consoles into your router. You can plug them into your server and use bridging or sharing, but this defeats the point of using a router and means that your server's connection and CPU will be used when you're using your console.

[brandonshultzz]

i need help with this step

[CalcProgrammer1]

You need Wine, install it by typing "sudo apt-get install wine". Then install the Source Dedicated Server just as you would in Windows.

[cotton]

this is so cofusing 0_o and hard server edition should be used its lighter also whats your site

[CalcProgrammer1]

Server edition is lighter because it has no GUI interface. If you want to configure everything through command line commands sent remotely via SSH, go for it. A graphical environment is much easier for new users to learn and set up, not to mention some programs have no command line equivalent, so it will be limited compared to using a full GUI interface. Also, you cannot VNC to something that doesn't have a screen (GUI) interface. If you're using any moderately new computer (anything past year 2000 should be fine), there won't be any major problems running a graphical user interface and your server apps at the same time. If you want to set up a server on an ancient Pentium 1 or 2 system, perhaps you should try a command line interface to save the precious little RAM that the machine has (though I've set up working FTP and HTTP servers on a 16MB RAM Windows 95 machine).

[brandonshultzz]

hey can u tell me how to install garrys mod on my server?

[mikedoth]

If you force it to reboot (say remotely) will you have to physically login before you can login remotely again?

[CalcProgrammer1]

If configured properly, no! Since I'm now at college (~100 miles away), that would be devastatingly BAD! So, what I did, was first made sure to set the BIOS to power the PC up automatically in case of a power outage. This way, the PC will come on after the power is restored after an outage. If you configure Ubuntu to login automatically, it will load VNC server automatically and you can log in remotely. Test the whole boot process before leaving! Make sure you can log in, then unplug the server and plug it back in. It should come back on. Wait a little then try logging back in on VNC. If it works, awesome, if not, make sure everything boots properly while you're still with your server.

[davidprosser]

Also I bought a UPS from ebay for about $30 which really isn't much considering it can hold out a little of your power down time. Also, would it be too hard to sell webspace? As I think I could a bit of basic ASP or PHP programming and set up an acouunts manager or something. Would this be possible?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Not sure selling it would be a good idea. Since you're using a home ISP connection, you're probably not technically allowed to even have a server. The reason they put these clauses in the terms of service is so you don't profit off of the connection. If you're using a low-usage home server, no big deal, but if you have a ton of outsourced traffic, it's not such a great idea, as your ISP might find out about your connection resale.

[mikedoth]

Cool I didn't think about that (auto-login). A friend of mine helped me set up a x11vnc so I could remote to the login prompt. That was a pain in the butt, auto-login would be easier to setup by far. Are there any security issues associated with your method?

[CalcProgrammer1]

If someone figured out your password, they could get access to your PC. You can change the port for added security, because most VNC connections are on port 5900, so that's where attackers would look, but if you change it, it'll be harder to get in. Also, use a strong password and change it occasionally (you can change it remotely but remember, if you mess up you lose your connection for good and can't fix it until you get back to your PC or call someone who can fix it locally.

[ekulmeekul]

only if you have people you don't know where your server is set up!

[Solderguy]

Is it possible to be able to just turn on the computer to access the files on the internet and not use the monitor? My monitor uses a lot of power.

[CalcProgrammer1]

Yeah, once it's all set up, you can turn off the monitor and the server will still function. I'd leave the monitor hooked up (for maintenance, rebooting, etc) but other than that, you can turn it off and leave it off and the server will work.

[NT86]

im a noob on all of this server stuff, i fgured out everything except how to write the page and how to have people log in and then upload files or do u do it through terminal or someting?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Set the user properties using the GProFTPd screen, you can check what folder permissions you want to give users. As for the web page, write the .html file using either a text editor (if you know HTML code) or an HTML editing program like DreamWeaver or Nvu, save your home page as index.html, and save it in the folder /var/www.

[mrsayao]

if I have a dynamic IP from my ISP, wouldn't this cause problems?

[CalcProgrammer1]

That's why you use no-ip domain. I have a dynamic IP too, what you have to do is run the no-ip update client. What that does is when your IP changes it automatically updates your domain so that your domain always goes to your site.

[mrsayao]

i bought a domain way back when from godaddy... could I direct my domain name to my home web server? I think I had everything set up and I couldn't figure it out so I quit! =(

[CalcProgrammer1]

I'm sure you could, not sure how, never bought a domain before (free ones are good enough, better than shelling out cash for nothing but a name). You'll have to search for an answer on that, check their site, it should have a thing where you set what IP to redirect to.

[mrsayao]

I've set up no-ip in lieu of my godaddy registry (for now at least). But I'm having trouble configuring the update client. Basically I have no idea how to do it. Also, when trying to modify/add files to the apache2 www dir, I get a permissions error. I think most of my ineptness is the fact that I've never touched linux prior to installing ubuntu. Also, VNC doesn't work through tightvnc with the no-ip hostname... help! (and thank you!)

[CalcProgrammer1]

I'm not sure if the update client works on Linux, haven't tried it (shortly after setting up this server for Instructables, I sadly converted to Windows XP due to Gmod not running in Linux, I may switch back soon since I haven't been using Gmod much). To access /var/www, you will probably have to use a root (administrator) window. To get one of these, open Terminal and type "sudo nautilus". It'll bring up a file manager with root permissions (so it can access, edit, and write files anywhere on your drive). For VNC, make sure you allow external connections (ones outside of local area network) and forward port 5900 (or whatever port you're using) on your router.

[mrsayao]

see... if only i read the manual for ubuntu, maybe i would've learned "sudo nautilus"... thanks for that one... and in regards to the vnc problem, I've forwared the port and still no luck. FTP with my noip host name works, and typing the hostname brings up the index.html with no problems... just vnc. if I'm on the network and I vnc to the machine via LAN IP it works, just not with the no-ip.... any other suggestions? Is it possible to run a windows webserver for a small web operation? maybe you should make another 'istable...although i don't see it as anything much more than installing IIS. The box I'm running ubuntu on is a single core 3ghz intel p4 with 2gb ram and a 160gb hdd... for some reason winxp on the same setup kept crashing on me. I originally thought it was due to overheating, but since I've installed ubuntu, I haven't had a crash!!! maybe if I tried again, I'd have better luck!? I really want to set up a small file server... which way would you go, linux or winxp (I only say winxp because I bought a student version way back when)... thanks again for all your help!

[CalcProgrammer1]

For a file/web server I highly recommend Linux. Like you said, Linux doesn't crash very often. It's a lot more stable than WinXP. Also, it's free, leaving you your copy of XP to use on a computer that you can use on a different computer. Did you uncheck "Only allow local connections" in the Remote Desktop Preferences Advanced tab? After doing this reboot your PC to make sure all settings applied correctly. As for the HTTP and FTP you seem to have those working already. The command "sudo" allows you to access programs as the administrator (called "root" in Linux, it's a user that has all permissions). The command "nautilus" is the name of the file browser (Ubuntu's equivalent of Windows Explorer). Putting "sudo nautilus" in opens a Nautilus window that has permission to access and edit all files.

[rogerrabbitsclone]

im on step 5 and i entered: sudo apt-get install proftpd it gives me the error message: command not found i followed all steps down to the detail. the only difference i think, is i have a secondary hard drive. did i miss somthing? do i have to be connected to the internet?

[CalcProgrammer1]

You have to be connected to the Internet, as the apt-get command downloads files.

[duckythescientist]

How would you go about printing remotely to a printer directly connected to your server?

[CalcProgrammer1]

I'm not too sure about printing. It's easy to share a printer LOCALLY, but if you're talking about printing over the Internet, I don't know. Since my server is 100 miles away at home and I don't visit home often, I have no reason to share a printer. It is probably possible, but I'm not sure how. If all else, FTP the document or photo to the server, VNC to it, and open it on the server to print, but that's a last resort method.

[Tystarr]

Do you think I can host my website from a home server?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Yeah? That's why I made this instructable. The issue here is what kind of web site are you hosting? If it's a simple one that doesn't get a lot of access, go for it, but if it needs advanced features or uses a lot of bandwidth, you may have to go with a hosted solution.

[Tystarr]

I wanted to host my site http://twistedcomix.com but I read somewhere that hosting from home is a lot slower than a hosted solution.

[CalcProgrammer1]

Well duh, of course it's slower. You're using a home connection not a business (server-intended ) connection. Home servers are great for personal use or sharing with friends, but if you plan on anything bigger than that, either invest in a faster connection to your home or a externally hosted solution.

[evanwehrer]

I have the same new gaming laptop as you!

[CalcProgrammer1]

Not much of a gaming laptop lol, only an 8600M GS, but I just overclocked it and games now run MUCH better than they did before.

[evanwehrer]

How did you overclock it? Mine is always REALLY slow :( stupid vista.

[CalcProgrammer1]

You can't use the latest drivers and software overclock. The 169.04 drivers allow for software overclock, but if you have 64 bit Vista, you'll need a hack to allow the ATiTool or RivaTuner overclocking apps to run (stupid driver lock). I just gave up for a while, but then I decided to do the BIOS mod. Basically you have to download a BIOS editor, extract the nVidia BIOS out of the system BIOS that you get from HP's site, edit the nVidia BIOS with higher clocks, rebuild the system BIOS, and then flash it to your motherboard. Then the card will automatically run at the new settings. I have my GPU running at 630/1260/475 (GPU/Shader/Memory in MHz). You can't overclock the CPU in this method, though.

[z2daj]

how would you add XLAMP to this? since i want to have user creation and login, with a forum and maybe some flash support. any ideas?

[tyeo098]

Argh. My no ip domain wont come up, its yeohome.myvnc.com and no matter what i do it wont show up, and I cant get vnc to work, (maybe its because of wine on the same computer or something.....) Any ideas?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Does your Internet IP come up if you try that? If it does, then it's a problem with your no-ip account. If your Internet IP doesn't work either, then try deleting and re-entering your port forwarding settings, making sure everything is forwarded properly. Test your PC's local IP in VNC, HTTP, and FTP, if it works with the local IP, that means your server is working correctly and the problem lies with either your router or no-IP account.

[tyeo098]

Oh i fixed it, i had to use the computer name on my network, my ip keeps changing, so no-ip is getting confused...

[tyeo098]

any ideas?

[onlyonebowman]

great job. do you think a computer with a pentium 2 would work?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Yeah, I've hosted servers on Pentium 1 machines before (though with Windows 95 and 98). Ubuntu may not work, instead try Kubuntu or Xubuntu (Xubuntu should work the best, it's designed for lighter hardware but still uses Ubuntu's package management system). If all else fails, you can either try a light distro (DSL Linux, Puppy Linux, etc) or use an old Windows (95/98) and War FTP Daemon for FTP and Abyss Web Server for HTTP. A Pentium 2 will NOT host a game server for any modern game very well, so it would just run FTP and HTTP.

[onlyonebowman]

sweet, what do use your servers for?

[CalcProgrammer1]

FTP (Files), HTTP (Webpage), Garry's Mod (Game), and possibly proxy in the future. Also, since it's remote controlled, I can use it as a remote desktop to download things on Peer-to-Peer networks (since colleges often restrict P2P traffic) using the remote PC then download them normally through HTTP or FTP at college.

[onlyonebowman]

nice

[benjgvps]

For FTP, I recommend FreeNas. Easy to setup, and once you do set it up, you can remove the monitor and keyboard and just control it with the web interface or SSH. I have it running on a 533 MHz Celeron. The only problem I have is the fact that my ISP blocks port 21, I can change the port but there isn't a huge amount of programs that can access it. For HTTP, you can use 8080.

[benjgvps]

Also, What is the IP address to your Garry's Mod server?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Port 27015, calc.servegame.com. It's called "TI 84 Plus Land GM" and it's hosted at calc.servegame.com:27015 (default port). That's another reason I keep the default VNC interface, I can run anything I want on it remotely, I can update the game server, copy files, etc.

[benjgvps]

Great! I will be sure to add that to my favorites!

[CalcProgrammer1]

I make my own maps, and some of my friends also make maps, and since we update maps frequently, if you can't connect due to a map issue between your PC and the server, go into your garrysmod/maps folder and delete the old maps, that way your PC will download the new ones. Eventually I need to get some sort of naming scheme for my maps so that this problem will be avoided.

[benjgvps]

Looks pretty good, though you might want to put PHX 2 on the server, I use that for everything, so does everyone else. I am learning to make maps (Did the tutorial on the weekend), I bet I could work out mapping. By any chance did you make that map that is on the server?

[CalcProgrammer1]

Racetrack1 was started by me as an experimental first map. It worked, but I didn't feel like completing it so I gave the source to my friend who is working on making it better (he added the walls, bridge, straight track, etc). The server is hosting his current version right now. The map I'm working on is a building. Currently I only have three floors with an elevator. I'm working on a multi-story elevator that will have "real buttons". You may see that map being played too on my server. I had all the mods in the Auto SVN Updater in my server, but then it had some issues so I removed the mods. I'll see if I can update the mods and server and get it back up complete soon.

[benjgvps]

I love building maps! So many fun things to do in an elevator! I have a neat idea if it can be implemented: A security room with controls for locks for doors and elevator, security cameras (cameras placed in elevators can be fun). Looking forward to the mods!

[CalcProgrammer1]

I know you can do door locks, but the elevator setup is really complex as it is, so I'm not sure about locks on the elevator. However, locks on office doors would work and if Source has a camera system (not sure yet) I'd gladly use it (used Quake 3's portal_camera system in my old Jedi Academy maps a lot).

[benjgvps]

hmm, Sounds great! Looking forward to it!

[CalcProgrammer1]

err...not a good screenshot lol, it has my RCON password. Too bad, because I changed it.

[pyelitegamerro76]

nice 'ible, i have a dinosaur computer that i think i am going to turn into a web server. any other *nix distro's you recommend apart from ubuntu?

[Dorkfish92]

you MIGHT be able to use SUSE Linux. I personally prefer Ubuntu though because it has a great interface and is free.

[CalcProgrammer1]

For ancient PC's (Pentium1 era) I have to still recommend good old Windows 95. Sure, it's old, but it does work. I used to use War FTP Daemon and Abyss Web Server (each running on a different old Pentium 1 machine, I have two of them). This worked very well actually, except for the limited HDD space that goes along with FTP on an ancient PC. For anything newer, I've gotten Ubuntu running OK on a Celeron 500MHz with 256MB RAM. Maybe try an older version of Ubuntu, the old versions had lighter requirements.

[pyelitegamerro76]

what do you think 'bout freebsd?

[Dorkfish92]

free bsd is supposed to be pretty good. Although, Ubuntu is my favorite distro. If you have a really old computer, they have one called Xubuntu.

[pyelitegamerro76]

Well its not that old but as a young guy i have no sense of time. It is about 5 or 6 years old and runs on a pentium 3 or 4, has 512 mb of ram and an extra 256 that i added. But it runs like a turtle. All it needs is a really good cleaning (not physical cleaning, but cleaning the hard drive) but since i got a laptop for stuides and my sister is going to get one soon, nobody will be using it and instead of giving it away i always love to dabble in this kind of stuff. And what do you think of Backtrack as a distro? it has alot of security testing featurse but has a really nice GUI.

[CalcProgrammer1]

Oh, that thing will FLY through Ubuntu. It's only slow because it's probably running XP with a virus scanner and other nonsense slowing it way down. A pentium 3 or 4 will make an excellent server in Ubuntu (well, a more modern Pentium 3). As for just 5 or 6 years, it's fine. My definition of "ancient" is like pre-2000 (though some really high end computers from 2000 are OK, but the majority were slow).

[dosadi]

For older machines that can't run modern Linux distributions like Ubuntu, I recommend Damn Small Linux. It will run on machines as small as a 486 with 16MB of RAM.

damnsmalllinux.org

[CalcProgrammer1]

I would recommend DSL for older PC's, but realistically, if you want to use a PC that old, I personally think Windows 95 or 98 works better. When you want to run Linux on really ancient PC's, you eventually lose your GUI and have to do everything through terminal, while on Windows 95 you still get a quick, solid GUI. If you don't have a Windows 95 CD and absolutely do not want to pirate one (honestly, it's Windows 95...though I have a certified license for it that came with an old PC), you can resort to DSL, but distributions other than Ubuntu have different package management systems (some don't even have package management, just the old fashioned terminal stuff) so beware.

[Dark_Helmet]

Well, to be perfectly honest I've had good luck with both Debian and Gentoo on severely old machines (more so with Debian), and a simple window manager like Fluxbox will work on all but the most decrepit. Additionally, aptitude and emerge (Debian's and Gentoo's package managers, respectively) are both excellent - I haven't noticed a significant advantage of Ubuntu's package manager over the "old fashioned terminal stuff".

Cheers, and thanks for the 'Ible!

[CalcProgrammer1]

Define "severely old". The PC I'm referring to is my oldest laptop (seen in the picture in step 1). It is a Pentium 1 133MHz with 16MB of RAM and 1GB hard drive. I've tried booting DSL, Puppy, and some other distros on it. The only thing I could get running with a GUI was Vector Linux 3.2, which used IceWM. It ran OK, but it didn't recognize my Ethernet card so it was sorta pointless. Windows 95, on the other hand, runs quick on that PC, recognizes all the hardware, has a usable GUI, and can (if needed) run HTTP and FTP servers. I was able to get DSL, Puppy, and other Fluxbox/IceWM distros running fine on my slightly better Pentium 133MHz desktop with 64MB RAM and 4MB Diamond Stealth II S220 Verite graphics.

[Elementix]

Nice instructable! You should install some kind of remote desktop controlling software. Then you can get rid of that monitor and tuck the tower away somewhere.

[CalcProgrammer1]

I use VNC to remote control it, so I rarely use the monitor anyways. I could disconnect it, but I prefer to leave it hooked up in case something should go wrong with VNC or the PC gets shut down by a power outage or something. I'm still trying to figure out what the best way to turn it back on would be. If Wake On LAN works over the Internet, that'd be good, but I don't know how to set it up.

[lightswitch05]

Great instructable! I'll be using it when I go back to school. Now, can you show us how to set up a SSL tunnel on the same machine so school can't snoop on our web traffic?

[Limadito]

Nice, but you must check your ISP contract. Most of them do not allow their clients to set-up servers (at least, not to home users). You may get your contract terminated whit no further notice.

[CalcProgrammer1]

According to my ISP's contract, you shouldn't host servers, use peer-to-peer applications, excessive bandwidth usage, spam, or a whole bunch of other commonly used stuff. Apparently they don't care, because I use BitTorrent fairly frequently (Linux distros) and transfer tons of stuff. I don't spam though :) My friend had the same ISP and he used BitTorrent all the time (downloaded TV shows) as well as hosted servers.

[gmoon]

A couple comments:

-- no-ip.com is a dynamic DNS service (there are several-- dyndns.com, tzo.com, etc.), because your home IP address is probably dynamic--i.e., it can change anytime. You pay extra for a static IP address.

The correct way to use these services is to setup a DDNS update client, NOT to type in your current temporary IP address. Most routers have an update client built in.

The dynamic DNS service will have instructions on how to do this...

-- It common for home users to have the common ports (like HTTP port 80) blocked. Practically ALL ISPs block port 25, the SMTP email port, to prevent spam proliferation.

You can set your router to redirect another port (like 8080) to port 80 within your server, so you don't need to change apache to a different port.

One of the advantages of a dynamic DNS service is they can redirect port 80 accesses to another port. With out that redirect, you'll have to access the web server with a line something like this:

http://myserver.dynamic.bob:8080

(don't bother to click this, it won't go anywhere...)

[CalcProgrammer1]

You can use no-ip.com dynamically too. I find it easier just to change it whenever my IP changes (not very often, but it has changed before). They also have a client that you run on your PC that updates should your router not support this feature. My ISP (Charter) has port 21 and 80 open, I've run an FTP for a long time (like 2 years now) on and off, and I've had an HTTP server for half a year or so as well. I've hosted game servers since 3 years ago probably, starting with using my parents' computer when they weren't using it. It depends on your IP, so I'd recommend testing the defaults before setting up a redirect.