New Server Notes

Like mentioned in my last post, I don't really look forward to what I'm about to subject myself to. But, it needs to be done. Kinda like regular prostate exams...

(No, I haven't gone through one of those yet. Not looking forward to it, either.)

Set Up Server: Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS x64
Commands so far:

 apt-get dist-upgrade
 apt-get upgrade
 apt-get install postgresql-8.4 postgresql-client postgresql-doc
 apt-get install vnc4server fluxbox
 apt-get install ia32-libs

Reconfigure .vnc/xstartup to start fluxbox instead of the default window manager.

How to configure sudo access (via the foobar group membership) to an alternative account (the foobar user) without giving pure root access:

 %foobar ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /bin/su - foobar

Other tasks to do:

• Set up other user accounts and grant them access to the appropriate folders, powers.
• Upload a basic smalltalk distro and get it running
• Configure automatic-loading scripts in case of server reboot
• (someday) configure nice shutdown scripts for taking server offline or rebooting

Handy scripts:
launch_smalltalk.sh

#!/bin/bash
cd current
nohup ./cobalt.sh &
echo $!

Make sure that the headless.sh script loads the correct video driver; also, fix if necessary from trying to link to libraries that don't exist, or have been moved to someplace else.
start_vnc.sh

#!/bin/bash
vncserver -alwaysshared -localhost -geometry 1024x768 :1

stop_vnc.sh

#!/bin/bash
vncserver -kill :1

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Notes on Configuring PostgreSQL 8.4
as root:

su - postgres
psql
(do your funk here)

• Create a new role, as postgresql views roles and users as the same thing.
• Alter the role after you forget to give it permissions like LOGIN.
• Optionally create a tablespace and make sure the new database uses it.
• Create a database: CREATE DATABASE foo OWNER bar;

That should just about do it, I think...