New Virtual Machine Server Setup Checklist
August 30, 2024
William Callahan
Software engineer and founder with a background in finance and tech. Currently building aVenture.vc, a platform for researching private companies. Based in San Francisco.
New Virtual Machine Server Setup Checklist
I use a lot of checklists -- here is one of mine for setting up a new Linux virtual machine server. The commands are written for Ubuntu/Debian-based systems.
System Updates
Update Package Lists and Upgrade System
First, let's update the package lists and upgrade existing packages:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
apt update: Updates the package list/index files from repositoriesapt upgrade: Actually upgrades the installed packages to their latest versions
Docker Installation
Follow these steps to install Docker properly on Ubuntu:
1. Remove Conflicting Packages
for pkg in docker.io docker-doc docker-compose docker-compose-v2 podman-docker containerd runc; do sudo apt-get remove $pkg; done
2. Set up Docker Repository
# Add Docker's official GPG key:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
# Add the repository to Apt sources:
echo \
"deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
$(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
sudo apt-get update
3. Install Docker Engine
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
4. Configure Docker to Start on Boot
sudo systemctl enable docker.service
sudo systemctl enable containerd.service
Change Hostname
To permanently change your server's hostname:
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname <<your-new-hostname>>
And update /etc/hosts to reflect the new hostname:
sudo nano /etc/hosts
# Add/update the line:
127.0.0.1 <<your-new-hostname>>
User Management
Create New User with Sudo Privileges
# Create new user
sudo adduser <<new-username>>
# Add to sudo group
sudo usermod -aG sudo <<new-username>>
# Add to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker <<new-username>>
Essential CLI Tools Installation
Install Homebrew
Login as your new user above first, as you can't install homebrew as root.
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
Install Micro Editor
sudo apt install micro
Install Lazydocker and Lazygit
brew install jesseduffield/lazydocker/lazydocker
brew install lazygit
SSH Server Configuration
1. Generate SSH Key Pair (on your local machine)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"
2. Configure SSH Server
Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config:
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Add/modify these important settings:
PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes
MaxAuthTries 10
3. Add SSH Keys
For the new user:
# Create .ssh directory
sudo mkdir -p /home/<<new-username>>/.ssh
sudo chown <<new-username>>:<<new-username>> /home/<<new-username>>/.ssh
sudo chmod 700 /home/<<new-username>>/.ssh
# Copy root's authorized_keys to new user (if exists)
if [ -f /root/.ssh/authorized_keys ]; then
sudo cp /root/.ssh/authorized_keys /home/<<new-username>>/.ssh/
sudo chown <<new-username>>:<<new-username>> /home/<<new-username>>/.ssh/authorized_keys
sudo chmod 600 /home/<<new-username>>/.ssh/authorized_keys
fi
# Or manually add your public key if needed
# echo "your-public-key" | sudo tee /home/<<new-username>>/.ssh/authorized_keys
4. Restart SSH Service
sudo systemctl restart ssh
Security Recommendations
- Always keep your system updated
- Don't allow SSH logins via password
- Consider using UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) to manage incoming connections
Remember to test SSH access with your new user before closing your current session to ensure you haven't locked yourself out of the server.
