Caauwe Family Website Family Connection
Website Setup, Debian Linux Operating System...
Follow the instructions below to install the Debian Linux operating system.  At the time that I installed my servers, I used Debian Etch version 4.0.1.  Other servers may be available, and although I encourage using the latest version, the installation may differ.  Below the installation instructions are configuration files that will need to be modified.  It should be noted that these instructions assume that the computer is connected to a network where a DHCP server is available.
  1. Download installation CD #1 from Debian.
    Other CD's are listed, but it was my experience that only the 1st CD is needed.
  2. Insert Debian installation CD #1 and reboot the computer (make sure that the BIOS is set to boot from the CD before the hard drive).
  3. For language, select 'English' and press enter.
  4. For country, select 'United States' and press enter.
  5. For type of language, select 'American English' and press enter.
  6. Enter a host name, or accept the default ('Debian').
    The server name can be changed via the configuration files listed below.
  7. Enter a domain name and press enter (for my servers, I used 'caauwe.com')
  8. For disk partitioning, select 'Guided - use entire disk' and press enter.
  9. When asked, confirm the partitioning and press enter.
  10. For simplicity, select the option to put all files in one partition and press enter.
  11. When asked, confirm that the changes should be written to the disk and press enter.
  12. For formatting, select yes and press enter.
  13. Select the time zone (mine is 'Eastern') and press enter.
  14. Type a password for the root account and press enter.
  15. Confirm the root password by typing it again followed by the enter key.
  16. For the user account, enter the full name of the first user and press enter.
  17. When requested to enter the user name, enter the user-id and press enter.
  18. Type a password for the first account and press enter.
  19. Confirm the password for the first account by typing it again followed by the enter key.
  20. At this point the base system is being installed.
  21. When requested about a Network Mirror, select yes and press enter
  22. For the Network Mirror Method, select HTTP, and press enter.
  23. For the Network Mirror Country, select United States and press enter.
  24. For the Network Mirror address, select ftp.debian.org and press enter.
  25. For the HTTP Proxy leave this blank and press enter.
  26. When asked to participate in the survey, select 'no' and press enter.
  27. When asked to install other packages, make sure all the '*' are removed so that no additional packages are installed.
  28. When asked if the GRUB boot loader should be installed, respond 'yes' followed by enter.
  29. Confirm the installation is finished by removing the CD and pressing the enter key.
  30. The system will reboot and provide a login prompt.
Filename: /etc/hostname
This file contains the name of the server and must be unique within your network.  The example below is for the fc1 server.
fc1
Filename: /etc/hosts
This file contains the name and IP address of the server.  The example below is for the fc1 server.
127.0.0.1       localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.254.101 fc1.caauwe.com        fc1

# The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts
::1     ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00::0 ip6-localnet
ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
ff02::3 ip6-allhosts
Filename: /etc/resolv.conf
This file contains IP address of the servers that will be used for DNS.  Note that the last nameserver in each list below is the IP address of the DSL or Cable Modem.
For server fc1:
domain caauwe.com
nameserver 127.0.0.1
nameserver 192.168.254.102
nameserver 192.168.254.1
For server fc2:
domain caauwe.com
nameserver 127.0.0.1
nameserver 192.168.254.101
nameserver 192.168.254.1
For all other servers:
domain caauwe.com
nameserver 192.168.254.102
nameserver 192.168.254.101
nameserver 192.168.254.1
Filename: /etc/network/interfaces
This file contains the IP address and network information of the server  Initially, it is setup to use a dynamic IP address via DHCP, but this should be changed to a static address.  The example below is for the fc1 server.
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet static
    address     192.168.254.101
    netmask     255.255.255.0
    network     192.168.254.0
    broadcast   192.168.254.255
    gateway     192.168.254.1

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