Installing software on Linux

[sburnhamh]

I work in an all MS shop and have set up a machine to play w/ Linux.

I've installed Ubuntu, very fast, easy, slick install.

The next thing I want to do is set it up as a LAMP platform and see if I can get RT (IT Ticketing system) working on it.

Because we're a slightly behind the times MS only shop, the machine is not 'trusted', so I don't want to throw it on the network... so it doesn't have access to the internet.

I want to install Apache (w/ PerlMod), MySQL... on it, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to install. I can either download 'packages', but that only seems to be an option for some software,... or I have to use the command line and build the install from binaries, which isn't something I can spend too much time learning about (and will be a big target for shooting this project down).

Is there a decent installer for Linux, or am I overlooking some easier way to do this?

Thanks,

Seth

[rumpofsteelskin]

You can start over and install the server version of ubuntu, which provides everything you need for LAMP but comes with no gui or desktop manager, or you can check out this handy guide:

http://howtoforge.com/ubuntu_lamp_for_newbies

G'luck!

Once you get going, you will probably come to love installing things via apt-get. :thumbup

[radvas]

Once you get going, you will probably come to love installing things via apt-get. :thumbup

apt is a package manager for debian based linux systems. If you can get this box onto the net somehow, it'll be tons easier & faster. I believe you can install the RT packages with apt as well. Like rumpofsteelskin said, get the server version of ubuntu and it will be a closer starting point.

Something else you might consider since you're in learning mode. Download the free vmware player and then download an Ubuntu server vm. You can do this at home where you're able to put that "untrusted" linux box on the network. Once you get the vm, it's pretty simple. Start the vm in the player, the install rt using apt-get.

But hey... how you gonna use RT if you can't put the machine on the network?

[sburnhamh]

Thanks for the input guys.

This is a proof of concept machine that I'm putting together. We're looking at a bunch of IT ticketing systems right now. It's a very Wintel shop, so they kind of skipped over the open source options.

If I can get it set up and configured I'll be able to talk my way into patching into a line that's outside our firewall, but I have to get the system close to ready first.

The big hurdle is ease of use. If a large percentage of what needs to be done requires command line or consultants, they'll just go with a commercially available, gui product.

Apt-get looks powerful if you have connectivity to the net, but it seems strange that there isn't a more intuitive way to install from disc/file.... and it seems like I can't even get root on the machine. It doesn't accept the user/pw I set up as the primary account, or any combination I've come up with ... although I could probably google it... but if it's standardized wouldn't that make root pretty insecure out of the box???

For all my complaints it was a very easy install, has a lot of useful stuff pre-installed, and looks amazing. I'm def. going to set up a machine at home to play with.

[Anti-Hero]

Thanks for the input guys.

This is a proof of concept machine that I'm putting together. We're looking at a bunch of IT ticketing systems right now. It's a very Wintel shop, so they kind of skipped over the open source options.

If I can get it set up and configured I'll be able to talk my way into patching into a line that's outside our firewall, but I have to get the system close to ready first.

The big hurdle is ease of use. If a large percentage of what needs to be done requires command line or consultants, they'll just go with a commercially available, gui product.

Apt-get looks powerful if you have connectivity to the net, but it seems strange that there isn't a more intuitive way to install from disc/file.... and it seems like I can't even get root on the machine. It doesn't accept the user/pw I set up as the primary account, or any combination I've come up with ... although I could probably google it... but if it's standardized wouldn't that make root pretty insecure out of the box???

For all my complaints it was a very easy install, has a lot of useful stuff pre-installed, and looks amazing. I'm def. going to set up a machine at home to play with.

There is a GUI. Go to the system menu > Synaptic package manager

[sburnhamh]

I've tried that, but from what I can tell I don't have 'packages', I have compressed binaries. One FAQ said I need to extract the binaries, and then from command line, compile the binaries, then from root + command line, use some combo of make + make install to actually get the apps installed. :wtf

I've managed to extract the files w/o the command line... so I have a bunch of folders that I tried to point Synaptic at, but it doesn't seem to recognize any of the files in those folders or subfolders as an install file, nor do any of the files marked by executable icons seem to autorun a compiler or installer...

I really want to like Linux, and have a viable alternative to the MS stuff we have... but installing a download off of a CD is pretty basic stuff, and should be point and click, or am I crazy?

[rumpofsteelskin]

...from what I can tell I don't have 'packages', I have compressed binaries. ...or am I crazy?

No and yes. :)

Something has gone awry and this has become much much much more difficult than it needs to be. Seriously: Ubuntu is super deluxe and easy. If you start over with the server version of Ubuntu 7.10, you can literally check a box during the installation process that will install everything you need for a LAMP server. Otherwise, follow the guide I provided in my previous post.

Meanwhile, it may be useful to clarify that .deb packages are indeed compressed binaries and that installing the vast majority of packages from a properly-sourced repository (either on your installation disk or a server, or both) typically boils down to issuing a command like

sudo apt-get install packageiwant

then providing your user password. That's really all there is to it. What happens when you try this?

There is a lot of info out there about Ubuntu, so please google stuff, too.

[crow]

Go to System/Administration/Software Sources and check that you have the correct repos set up for downloading and installing packages.

Alternatively, open up your /etc/apt/sources.list file and you'll most likely see that all of the online sources are commented out, with a note "Line commented by installer" - uncomment the deb and deb-src lines.

To enable your root login, "sudo passwd root" and set up a root password. However, if you don't know how to install packages under ubuntu, I wouldn't recommend enabling root unless you want to get rooted. :p

[Dopesick]

I <3 Lamp.

[iosgeek]

PM me if you still need help!

[radvas]

Apt-get looks powerful if you have connectivity to the net, but it seems strange that there isn't a more intuitive way to install from disc/file.... and it seems like I can't even get root on the machine.

I imagine you've figured it out by now, but in ubuntu, the root account is disabled by default as a security measure. Generally, when you install and create a user account at install time, that user is in the sudo-ers group. "su" stands for super user, and is a privilege escalation command similar to "run as" in windows. the command sudo <command> is literally "do <command> as super user. " You need privileged access to many things in Linux. Installing software is one of them.

You can easily enable the root account by doing "sudo passwd root" but you really don't need to.

As for disc-based installs, you can do that. Other distributions are more suited to it IMO. Fedora, for example makes available a large collection of software in the install disc, but because of the volume, it's a DVD, not a CD. Ubuntu offers a trimmed down install so that they can distribute it on a live (runnable) CD. Moreover, even after a DVD-based install, you'll immediately get prompted to update the packages you just installed, so eventually you'll want to use a net based package manager anyhow.