# Books, other resources for new Rails VPS sysadmin **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [April 27, 2006, 10:50am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/books-other-resources-for-new-rails-vps-sysadmin/58943 "2006-04-27T10:50:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Izidor\_J](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ee59a6/32.png) [@Izidor\_J](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Izidor_J)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 10:50am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/books-other-resources-for-new-rails-vps-sysadmin/58943/1 "2006-04-27T10:50:09Z")
Hello! Since Virtual Private Server seems to be the only way to run Rails apps without problems, so in the future I will need to become a Linux sysadmin. I plan on using debian (as per Ezra’s instructions in \). Rails VPS sysadmin is not the same as general Linux sysadmin, since only webserver, db and email are of interest (and of course all Rails stuff). So probably general Linux sysadmin books/resources are too much for me. Or not? Tell me… Are there any books (I am not cheapskate, I buy lots of books) or any other (maybe online?) documentation or resources that would be useful to a new Rails VPS sysadmin? I didn’t do any professional sysadmin work, though I did development on/for Unix with vi/make and am familiar with Unix (old bsd/sysv, next, and currently macosx). And I am in the ‘vi’ camp, not ‘emacs’ 🙂 Thanks for any info, izidor ---
**Author:** ![Izidor\_J](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ee59a6/32.png) [@Izidor\_J](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Izidor_J)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/books-other-resources-for-new-rails-vps-sysadmin/58943/2 "2006-04-27T17:24:31Z")
On Apr 27, 2006, at 1:46 AM, Izidor J. wrote: > only webserver, db and email are of interest (and of course all > > Thanks for any info, > > izidor Hey Izidor- ``` There is a great site for learning about debian: http://www.debian- ``` [administration.org/](http://administration.org/) You can learn a lot of stuff there. And while running a vps like I setup in that tutorial is easy, it never hurts to learn a little more about linux sysadmin stuff. The most annoying part ot take care of is by far the email server. So much so that its worth it to me to farm out email services to a dedicated email host. Other then that admining rails and a webserver and database is not that hard. ``` Watch for my book which will answer most of your questions. I am ``` pushing for beta release before railsconf. Cheers- -Ezra ---
**Author:** ![Izidor\_J](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ee59a6/32.png) [@Izidor\_J](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Izidor_J)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/books-other-resources-for-new-rails-vps-sysadmin/58943/3 "2006-04-27T17:24:27Z")
2006/4/27, Izidor J. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): > Are there any books (I am not cheapskate, I buy lots of books) or any > other (maybe online?) documentation or resources that would be useful > to a new Rails VPS sysadmin? I didn’t do any professional sysadmin > work, though I did development on/for Unix with vi/make and am > familiar with Unix (old bsd/sysv, next, and currently macosx). And I > am in the ‘vi’ camp, not ‘emacs’ 🙂 There’s also the perfect Debian Sarge setup available at: > **[The Perfect Setup - Debian Sarge (3.1)](https://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_debian_sarge)** > > The Perfect > Setup - Debian Sarge (3.1) > > This is a detailed > description about the steps to be taken to setup a Debian based server > (Debia... Bye ! ---
**Author:** ![Izidor\_J](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ee59a6/32.png) [@Izidor\_J](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Izidor_J)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/books-other-resources-for-new-rails-vps-sysadmin/58943/4 "2006-04-27T17:35:35Z")
A general-purpose system administration book applicable to your VPS’s OS is appropriate. You will be administering a webserver, a database server, some sort of mail agents (SMTP and probably POP/IMAP), startup and shutdown scripts, language interpreters at least for Ruby, some add-on packages and libraries your app will inevitably use, and your OS’s package management tool. You will also be monitoring disk space and memory usage and looking for runaway processes. You’ll be examining logs, moving files around, checking and setting permissions, adding and modifying users and groups, and installing and using various other tools and protocols to log into your system securely and perform file transfers (ssh, Subversion, etc.). Also, maybe most importantly, you’re going to be checking and maintaining the security of all these things. If you’re not pretty comfortable with doing most of this from a command line already, a good book on Linux system administration, preferably with specific coverage of your type of Linux, is a very good idea. DBeyond that, depending on your comfort level with things like MySQL administration (especially assigning privileges) and advanced Apache configuration, the online docs for things like that might be enough that you won’t need other print books. Izidor J. wrote: > Hello! > > Since Virtual Private Server seems to be the only way to run Rails > apps without problems, so in the future I will need to become a Linux > sysadmin. > > I plan on using debian (as per Ezra’s instructions in \ brainspl.at/pages/perfect\_vps\>). > > Rails VPS sysadmin is not the same as general Linux sysadmin, since > only webserver, db and email are of interest (and of course all Rails > stuff). So probably general Linux sysadmin books/resources are too > much for me. Or not? Tell me… > > Are there any books (I am not cheapskate, I buy lots of books) or any > other (maybe online?) documentation or resources that would be useful > to a new Rails VPS sysadmin? I didn’t do any professional sysadmin > work, though I did development on/for Unix with vi/make and am > familiar with Unix (old bsd/sysv, next, and currently macosx). And I > am in the ‘vi’ camp, not ‘emacs’ 🙂 > > Thanks for any info, > > izidor