Applications to lab with

lsud00dlsud00d Member Posts: 1,571
in Linux+
Since this is linux related I figured this was the most relevant forum, even if it's not *directly* related to the Linux+ exam, but...

What are some cool open source linux applications to get up and running and toy with, beyond of the standard LAMP setup? I work in a Novell shop so I'm getting outside YAST and going with Fedora for some yum practice. So far I installed Drupal, Squid and Wordpress with little fuss...what are some other ideas? It is fun to practice with mysql and apache configs to get the applications up and running and playing nicely in my lab'd Windows (virtual) domain environment.

TIA!
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Comments

  • hiddenknight821hiddenknight821 Member Posts: 1,209 ■■■■■■□□□□
    I'm glad you brought this up, because I had to take a short break from reading the book since the DNS chapter got me really stumped. The author doesn't seem to know what he's talking about or what to do. I couldn't get my DNS server start properly. So, I picked up the DNS and BIND 10 book, and I really enjoy learning all the right details in depth. I plan to do a full-scale DNS project eventually, but I just need to know how to get my DNS server up and running for now since all the subsequent topics are built on top of DNS. Sendmail, Apache, NIS, LDAP, FTP, and some other network services require/prefer DNS for FQDNs rather than IP addresses.

    So, there are realistically many stuff you can play around with. Although, I think you should pick a focus to make your time useful. Playing around with applications or network services that you have no use for would be a big waste of your time. Since you mentioned you had fun setting up Apache in Windows, I think you should give Samba a shot. It's not that easy to configure in my opinion. You'd have to make sure it's configured properly and appropriate access and permissions are granted as expected.
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  • paul78paul78 Member Posts: 3,016 ■■■■■■■■■■
    A couple of things came to mind that may be of interest. I don't use a packaged distro so I'm not sure which packages come with Fedora or the usual popular ones. Here are some things to consider of the top of my head:

    Development:
    Information management:
    Network:
    Virtualization:
    Security:
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  • lsud00dlsud00d Member Posts: 1,571
    Thanks for the input y'all!

    I guess I should explain more of what I'm doing and trying to practice...

    My host OS is Win7x64. My hypervisor is VMware Workstation. I have 2 Win2k8r2 DC's and 2 WinXP/7 clients from my 70-640 studies and have thrown in a Fedora client to integrate with the rest of the VM's. I am installing various applications to do some IT shop emulation and have everything play nicely between the VM's and host OS as well.

    That's a good list paul78, I was actually working on getting snort running before I called it a day last night.

    The DC's are running the services so DNS/BIND is not necessarily something in the scope of what I'm doing.
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  • paul78paul78 Member Posts: 3,016 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Ahh - I see. In that case - you may be interested in these:

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  • ChooseLifeChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Good thread!

    I once came across a great post on a forum (I think it was TE) about building a home lab. I saved it locally for future use but now cannot find a trace of it online, so unfortunately the attribution of authorship is lost. Let me know if you know OP.

    While not specifically Linux-targeted, it should give plenty of creative ideas to get you started....

    Anyway, here it goes....
    Number 1: Treat your home network like a production network. Start by calling it a "NETWORK" and meaning it.

    - Do you have a Visio of it? Document it.
    - Does it tell you when it is sick? Set up 2003 as an SMTP Server and then configure SMTP and your event management. Make it send you emails.
    - Do you have a DNS Server - make it so.
    - Setup WINS too.
    - How about LDAP, FTP, HTTP, and maybe a Certificate Authority... get to it my boy!
    - Now Secure them puppies.
    - Get a management tool to help you gather info on you network - Spiceworks is free.
    - Get a Sniffer to watch your network and gather packets for analysis - Wireshark is great! Ummm... Network Monitor comes with Windows... have you used it yet?
    - Have you setup and Anti-Virus Server and are you pushing GPO's yet - Why not?
    - I see Ghost on your resume - Where's your R.I.S. Server on your network?
    - Have you setup your event viewers and learned to use them?
    - Have you went gotten the Sysinternal/Wininternal tools yet - MS has license to them now as I recall.
    - Do you know about Insight Manager yet? If not just grab a free demo copy of PRTG and learn to use it... start with monitoring your own bandwidth.
    - How are you doing backups on YOUR network? I've not seen a network yet where this was not important or shall I say MOST important... Number 1 Job Skill!!!

    Where's the Disaster Recovery document for your home network?
    Do you have an Internet, Email, or Security Policy for your home network?

    Where's your network notebook that tells anyone about your network and the level of detail you consider important?

    You have a Router - Are you using it? How do you back it up? Does it have the correct time? Where does your network get its time from? Do you have DHCP configured? Why? Why not?

    What access-lists are you using? Do you use SSH or just Telnet? Do you have a crash-**** confifured? Do you update your router? How would you do this? You have an FTP by now and no doubt it works... why not send the crash **** there. Can you recover a password on that router?

    Does the Router use SNMP or RMON? HTTP or HTTPS? What's RCP?

    Why don't you configure R.A.N.C.I.D for your Router? Why don't you audit it with Nipper and then use R.A.T. to check your work periodically?

    Do you know how to make your Router perform as a DHCP Server? Are your passwords clearly visible on that router? Do you use a loopback address?

    Where's you IP Spreadsheet of your network? You do manage your own IP's on your network don't you?

    What naming convention do you use? Is your network accessible remotely? Wirelessly? Analog perhaps? VPN maybe?



    I could go on for days... I manage networks.

    If you treat your own network as a Corporate Network then you will find a certain serenity and peace of mind running it and when you are interviewing you will also have the confidence you need to convey your skill level properly.

    BUT!!!

    You must do it, live it, document it, and ultimately learn to be it...

    If it is truly what you want to do.

    By the way, if you do the things I mentioned above and create a network notebook then you have a great document you can call your portfolio in an interview.

    When an employer sees what you are capable of and what you have done I'm very sure most employers will be suitably impressed that they'd like to see you getting started right away repeating the process on their network.

    FYI - This is what I do. I work on my process and I constantly strive to improve it, one step at a time, and it just works.

    If this is to be your career - act like it and make it happen. No one else will do it for you.
    “You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896

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