Awesome, thanks for the suggestions! I like Debian overall, however it feels very similar to ArchLinux. I'll check out SL to compare with CentOS. No need for Red Hat Enterprise, this project is not of that caliber or worth the cost. I'll also look into cURL for the web page button. Already found a starting point: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2366549/curl-and-click-a-button-in-a-website Thanks again, -- Jeremy MountainJohnson Jeremy.MountainJohnson at gmail.com On Mon, Mar 25, 2013 at 12:50 PM, Andrew Dahl <droidjd at gmail.com> wrote: > Another +1 for RHEL/SL/CentOS. > > On Mar 23, 2013 4:44 PM, "Jeremy MountainJohnson" > <jeremy.mountainjohnson at gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Howdy, >> >> I'm in need of a Linux server on a separate, primarily offline network >> I have set up at a job. I was initially leaning toward Arch Linux, my >> distro of many years I use for my workstations and some home servers. >> BUT, I don't want to spend loads of time updating rolling updates, >> monitoring security vulns and bugs, and I don't really have time to >> build a server up from scratch either (relinquishing controlling / >> minimalist nature to allow time saving in this case). Ideally SE or >> security centric values are important. >> >> I also need it to bring up a wireless interface (in addition to the >> wired network) for Internet connectivity on occasion for updating NTP >> and grabbing security updates and AV definitions. I can BASH script >> and run a cron job for everything, however the wifi requires an Accept >> button be pushed on a web page before access is granted every time a >> connection is made to it. It's a Cisco based access point. I did a >> quick search on Google and didn't find any kind of automation for >> this. Worst case scenario I could do a Python script to make this >> automated (hopefully, page is SSL) and kick it off from my cron job >> BASH script if no one has any suggestions. On a separate note, I'll be >> securing the wifi transmission as well. >> >> The server will run services for a gigabit switch comprised of mostly >> Windows 7 workstations with one Linux workstation (total of 8 ~ 10 >> computers). It will service anywhere from 0 - 4 users simultaneously >> and run backups and database back-end for an application every so >> often. >> >> I plan to set up an OS disk and separate software RAID0 for storage. >> >> Services to provide: >> * NTP >> * DNS >> * SMART (monitoring disks) / mdadm (RAID mgm, monitoring) >> * Syslog (for intake of switch logs) >> * postgres >> * SMTP server (sending alerts, notifications) >> * File server (Samba, NFS) >> * Comodo AV, some other home brew scripts for malware >> * SSH >> * X, lightweight but ready to use WM/DE like LXDE or XFCE- server will >> be headless after setup >> * Firewall service covering both intermittent wifi and wired networks >> >> Long term I may add: >> * HTTP (for webmin, monitorix, log reporting) >> * Room to be flexible for future needs... >> >> I've worked very little with CentOS at my last job awhile back, >> however am leaning toward it as I recall liking it. Are there other >> open source enterprise server distros people recommend for what I'm >> trying to accomplish? If so, how come? If I go with CentOS or whatever >> people recommend, are updates obtainable via command line and >> automation friendly (for the script)? Will I need to re-install with >> each major version? Are there gui front ends for most daemons or at >> least managing daemons (I'm used to text files and systemd, but want >> added convenience / time savings)? >> >> I'm open to poking around with LiveCDs / VMs for bit, the project >> isn't quick turn around or anything. Thanks for any suggestions! >> >> -- >> Jeremy MountainJohnson >> Jeremy.MountainJohnson at gmail.com >> _______________________________________________ >> TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota >> tclug-list at mn-linux.org >> http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >