WHAT IS LINUX & UBUNTU? - Learning Ubuntu: A Beginners Guide to Using Linux (2016)

Learning Ubuntu: A Beginners Guide to Using Linux (2016)

CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS LINUX & UBUNTU?

You may be familiar with Microsoft Window’s and Apple’s MacOSX. Both of these are examples of operating systems.

Merriam-Webster defines operating system as the main program in a computer that controls the way the computer works and makes it possible for other programs to function.

Essentially, the operating system is the program that lets you interact with a computer, and the computer to understand what you want to do. It goes deeper than that, but I want to keep this topical.

Linux is an open-source operating system. Being open-source is a major difference between Linux and the other popular operating systems. Open-source means that the software is provided with the original source code and is made freely available to be redistributed and modified. This is what makes Linux unique. It has a strong community out there modifying the code, participating in forums, and fixing bugs much quicker than the alternatives.

If you are looking to add a new skill to your portfolio, learning how to use Linux, can be very useful. According to ZDNet in 2014, 87% of enterprise businesses added at least one Linux server and 82% planned on adding more in 2015. Linux and its distributions are very popular for database, web, and other types of servers.

A distro or distribution is a version of Linux that uses the Linux kernel as its foundation. There are hundreds of Linux distros, with most all being free. Ubuntu is a distro of Linux, which is distributed by a company called Canonical. They provide the operating system for free, but charge for commercial support of the product. Nearly a quarter of servers running Linux, are using Ubuntu. This makes it a great choice for your first Linux experience.

WHAT DO I NEED TO GET STARTED?

The tools that you will need, vary on the route that you would like to go. There are four methods, that you could use to experiment with the lessons in this book. One of them, I prefer over the other two options, especially if you are still new to the process. Let’s skim over the first three and focus on the forth, which is my preferred method for those of you reading this book.

The first three methods, would require you to manually setup the installation of Ubuntu and configure it. There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube that you can reference if you want to install it your self, but I will caution you that it might not always go the way you anticipated, especially if you are new to the field.

Before we talk about these methods to get started, lets first go over the version of Ubuntu that we will be using for this book. This book, while it can apply to other versions of Ubuntu, is best suited for Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS. LTS stands for Long Term Support. That means that it has support from Canonical for updates and patches for five years. Many people do not realize that an operating system’s support expires.

Once the support expires, there may not be security patches and other upgrades for it available.

In my book, Securing Business Data: Establishing a Core Value for Data Security, we talk about operating system support more in depth. If you work with technology or manage a business, I highly recommend that you read it.

Ubuntu 15.10 is also out now, but it is not an LTS version. I prefer to work with versions that have long term support.

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS is certified for AWS, Microsoft Azure, Joyent, IBM, and the HP Cloud. It is also supported by nearly all VPS providers. VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. A Virtual Private Server is a machine sold as a hosting service and is often more affordable than purchasing a server and the bandwidth that it requires. With the popularity of cloud based services, many businesses now run more virtual private servers in order to conserve costs and scale more quickly. With a VPS you pay for what you need to use and can add more resources overtime, if you find you need more processing power or memory.

The one thing that I like about Ubuntu 14.04 LTS is that it has updates to popular packages, many of which we will go over in this book. Ubuntu 14.04 LTS can also be installed on most devices, supporting: x86, x86-64, ARM v7, ARM64, and Power. If you are not sure what those things mean that is fine, but you can be confident in knowing that Ubuntu supports most devices, which is a huge advantage.

For the first three methods to setup Ubuntu on your own, you will need to download the iso file. An iso is the file extension used for files that can be burned to a CD or DVD, depending on the size. Essentially it is an image of the disc that you will need to install Ubuntu.

You can download Ubuntu server by going to:

http://www.ubuntu.com/server

Once you download the iso file, you will need to burn it to a disc. There are a variety of iso burning tools. In the past, I have used Ashampoo Burning Studio Free, with success.

Method 1: Install Ubuntu on a Spare Machine

If you have a spare computer that you can use to run Ubuntu, that could be the best way to learn how to install and set it up. Since it’s a spare machine, there is low risk if you make an error in the installation. What you will need is the spare computer, along with the disc that we burned the Ubuntu image to.

Make sure that the computer is setup to boot from the disc drive and from there you can boot to the installation disc and install Ubuntu. The install is pretty easy, but there is always the possibility of running into a snag. I have found that the Ubuntu forums and YouTube has great resources for troubleshooting common problems.

Once the installation is complete, remove the disc, and the system will boot into Ubuntu.

Method 2: Install Ubuntu using Virtualization Software

If you do not have a spare machine, but have a fair amount of memory on your computer, you can install it using virtualization software. A few examples of this software include the free VirtualBox by Oracle, and the paid version of VMWare.

This method is good for a beginner as it lowers the risk of making an error that may accidentally wipe your machine.

I have used VirtualBox, which is from Oracle and free, but it can be glitchy from time to time. This is an option, but not my preferred choice for beginners reading this book.

To move forward with this and use the free tools, you will need to download and install VirtualBox, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

You also can configure the virtual machine to boot from the iso file for Ubuntu, rather than burning it to a disc.

Method 3: Dual Boot your Computer

To be honest, I did not want to list this as an option. It is a popular one amoung those who are skilled and know how to properly set up a machine to run multiple operating systems, but if you are not familiar with this, I would not explore this option.

This one is the most risky, as you could accidentally break the boot cycle of the machine or overwrite your existing operating system if you are not careful.

*Preferred Choice for this Book*

Method 4: Use a Low Cost VPS

For this book and the nature of it, targeting to educate beginners, I recommend using a VPS. It is more affordable than buying a spare computer if you do not have one, more stable than using virtualization software, and no risk to breaking your primary computer as there is with a dual boot. The main thing that I love about using a VPS is that you can access it from anywhere, since it is hosted in the cloud.

Another advantage is that the VPS provider will install the operating system for you. We will still need to install packages and learn how to use it, but you can setup and deploy an Ubuntu Server very quickly this way.

For creating the tutorials in this book, I will be using DigitalOcean. They have a starter package for $5 a month, including: 1TB transfer, 512 memory, 1 CPU, and 20 GB of storage. With DigitalOcean, you can get started as quick as 55 seconds.

Another option that I would recommend is Linode. Linode’s starter plan has double the resources, but it is also $10 per month. Since we are just learning and not deploying anything, the starter package from DigitalOcean seems the most practical for our purposes.

There are a lot of other VPS providers out there so feel free to do your research, but I have found these two have the best support and pricing.

With using this option, we do not have to download or burn the Ubuntu iso and we also do not need to do anything special to our computer. Setup is quick and relatively easy. All you need is a credit card and you can cancel at anytime.

If you decide to use methods one, two, or three, your training will start after the next chapter. The next chapter, which is a short one, will walk you through setting up a VPS on DigitalOcean.

QUICK RECAP

1) An operating system is the main program in a computer, which controls the way the computer works, making it possible for other programs to function.

1. Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux are examples of operating systems.

2) Open-source means that the software is provided with the original source code and is made freely available to be redistributed and modified.

3) A distro or distribution is a version of Linux that uses the Linux kernel as its foundation.

4) A Virtual Private Server is a machine sold as a hosting service and is often more affordable than purchasing a server and the bandwidth that it requires

5) The recommend method for you to experiment with Ubuntu, is by setting up a VPS.

1. This books instructions focus on using DigitalOcean as your host, but you can choose other providers as well.