openSuse for Servers

[mrkhugh]

I am new to Linux. I went to download openSuse and noticed that there was not an option to choose between downloading openSUSE for desktops vs. Servers.

Is there a Server version or is everything bundled in 1 package. I want to setup a Web Server.

[microchip8]

the distro comes with server tools by default, you just have to install them with zypper or YaST. If, however, you want a minimal "specialized" SUSE server distro, then build your own one with SUSE Studio Welcome – SUSE Studio

[john_hudson]

openSUSE is a community version which comes with the Apache server. For this updates are free and support comes through this community forum.

If you want a server only package, you can have SLES, the enterprise server. This is free but updates only come if you take out a support package.

It's horses for courses.

[cjcox]

On Thu, 2009-09-24 at 18:06 +0000, mrkhugh wrote:
> I am new to Linux. I went to download openSuse and noticed that there
> was not an option to choose between downloading openSUSE for desktops
> vs. Servers.
>
> Is there a Server version or is everything bundled in 1 package. I
> want to setup a Web Server.

Unlike the SLE line of product, there are no barriers with openSUSE.
You are free to use it as a server, desktop or both. You CAN'T do
this with the enterprise line (just fyi... Novell has repeatedly
said there is NO customer for this).

[Knurpht]

It's all in the package(s). On my main machine I run NFS, Samba, NIS, Apache/php5 webserver for testing/developping, and most of the time there's about seven users logged in on different desktops, i.e. KDE4, KDE3, Enlightenment, XFCE, konsole, 2 KDE4s for my wife and my daughter. All well, I've had uptimes of over 200 days....

Summarizing: if the machine can do it, openSUSE can make it work.

[GofBorg]

> I am new to Linux. I went to download openSuse and noticed that there
> was not an option to choose between downloading openSUSE for desktops
> vs. Servers.

Thank goodness! The only distro that has it all!
Welcome and enjoy!

[mrkhugh]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to load this today! Although I am confused about the comment, "Novell has repeatedly
said there is NO customer for this".

Please elaborate a little more.

[mark54g]

Yes, as stated you CAN use the SLES/SLED etc line of SUSE however, they are usually several revisions behind and getting updates is not usually as fast unless you have a support agreement.

I have been using OpenSUSE 11.0 on my Dell Poweredge server for over a year (at home) and my current uptime is about 200 days, mostly due to me adding a card to it and testing some issues with that card.

I had been using it with 5 1TB drives in a RAID array for a home storage server, but recently upgraded it to be a home content/web server as well (simple, just ran zypper install apache2). It is stable, have not had any issues and while it is not the ONLY linux distro to have it all, it does have things right where you need it and in a sane manner.

[platinum]

mrkhugh wrote:
> Thanks everyone. I'm going to load this today! Although I am confused
> about the comment, "Novell has repeatedly said there is NO customer for this".
>
> Please elaborate a little more.

i believe Novell's point was that most (all?) *commercial* server
farm, enterprise "back office" (and etc) maintainers are not in the
market for a 'server' with a running X because only "Windows
Administrators" are lost at a command line..

so they sell a Desktop (for the front office) and a Server (for the
back office), but no Server package with a gui desktop and no desktop
with all the server stuff (apache etc) built in..

you can have openSUSE 11.1 installed as a non-desktop/non-X "server"
by selecting the last entry "Minimal Server Selection (Text Mode) " in
the pane depicted in the "Step-by-step installation guide" at
http://en.opensuse.org/Installation/...ktop_selection

and, when you then get to the Step 8: Software Changes
http://en.opensuse.org/Installation/...ftware_changes
you should check the "Patterns" shown to include those you need (like
Server Functions") and, you can click on "Change" to review the details...

or, *you* have the CHOICE, for with openSUSE you can run a desktop on
your server by choosing to install X and a DE (KDE, Gnome, XFCE) in
Step 5 and then *adding* all the server stuff you want in Step 8..

well, you can also load Web and Software Development too, and do
_everything_ on your (for example) mail server......(but why?)

--
platinum
Note: Accuracy, completeness, legality, or usefulness of this posting
may be illusive.

[buckesfeld]

* platinum wrote, On 09/25/2009 09:55 AM:

> i believe Novell's point was that most (all?) *commercial* server
> farm, enterprise "back office" (and etc) maintainers are not in the
> market for a 'server' with a running X because only "Windows
> Administrators" are lost at a command line..

Not entirely correct. SLES has Gnome by default. Even some of the Novell server tools use a GUI. Of course most people set the default runlevel to "3" once the box is up and running.

Uwe