There are a number of Debian based Linux distributions out there. My personal favorite is Ubuntu. I will typically use the desktop or server version for most of my Linux needs.

Each time I build a new system, there are a number of steps that I typically follow which I seem to forget and need to research again. So, both to document my actions and for your benefit, here are the first few things that I do for any new installation.

The Starting Point

This guide assumes that you have just completed the base installation and have access to a command/terminal prompt. You will also need to have the root password but are logged in as a typical user.

Edit Sources

 sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Except for the very first line, remove all of the # in front of each line the begins with # deb and save the file.

Update Distribution

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Assign a Static IP

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

In this file, find the line that says iface eth0 inet dhcp. Comment out this line (put a # in front of it) and then add after it on the next lines:

iface eth0 inet static
        address 192.168.0.100
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        network 192.168.0.0
        broadcast 192.168.0.255
        gateway 192.168.0.1

Make sure that the network information you enter here is accurate for your network. Once you have saved this file, then restart the network:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Next, update your host file to reflect your new static IP address:

sudo nano /etc/hosts

Find the line starting with 127.0.1.1 (usually the second line) and change 127.0.1.1 to the IP address you desire. From the example above, it would be 192.168.0.100. Save the file when you are done.

Install the SSH Server

sudo apt-get install ssh openssh-server

Other Useful Tasks

These are some other things that I have found to be useful from time to time. They are not necessarily a part of my default setup but they do come in handy

Determine Your Static IP Address

ifconfig | grep Bcast

Enable root

sudo passwd root

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