How to Install Untangle Linux in Virtualbox

I have been looking around lately at all the old hardware I have lying around and thought what could I do with it all? Media center? Web server? Hardware Firewall perhaps? Then I came across Untangle Linux Firewall and thought why not give this a try!! Next thought was why install on the old hardware and increase my energy costs when I can install it on Virtualbox on my main Linux server instead? So I have installed Untangle Linux Firewall on Virtualbox running on a Linux Mint 10 File and Print Server and below will outline how I did it.

My network looks like this:

Internet - Wireless Router - Untangle Linux Firewall - Linux Mint 10 file and print server - Various Virtual machines.

I have left the wireless router outside the main network as I am only concerned with protecting my main server and virtual machines. I will still have firewalls on any wireless clients.

First thing is to get a copy of Untangle Linux Firewall. Once you have it fire up Virtualbox and add a new virtual machine. Remember you need the following requirements during set up:

How to Set Up a Linux Web Server

So you want to host your own website from your own home or maybe your office. This tutorial will show you how to set up a basic web server using Linux. For this tutorial I have used Linux Mint 9 but the steps work the same on any recent Linux distribution.

OK first thing to do is give your server a static IP address on your network. Once you have set the static ip address you need to download and install the software you will need. Open up a terminal and install the following packages:

apache2 php5-mysql libapache2-mod-php5 mysql-server

During the install process MySQL will ask you for a root password. Make this something complex but do not forget it!!!

Once installed open up a web browser and type the server address into the address bar (e.g 192.168.1.3) and you will see the message IT WORKS! This means that you have a working web server.

Now it is time to add some content to your server. All apache servers store their web data at /var/www but as default you can not write to this folder. Open up a terminal and type:

Backup Strategies

Most people know about the need to backup your data but what is the best way to do it. Today we shall take a look at some different strategies and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Having a Server

Using a server to backup your data has long been established as a sound way to store your backups and for good reason - it keeps all your backups in one place and is easy to manage. You set up the scheduled backup and leave it to it. It is not all rosy though. There is the price of the windows software (unless you set up a Linux server) and if the server crashes you could use everything.

Pros - easy to manage, backups all in one place.

Cons - price of Windows software (although can be set up on Linux), backup is on site so if the building catches fire (for example) then you lose everything.

External USB hard drives

External hard drives are a good way to back up your data especially as they can be taken off premises (or at least placed away from the main system). They are cheap too which makes them very attractive. One big downside though is lack of automation. Yes you can still schedule a backup on your computer but you need to remember to plug in your hard drive at the specified time. If you have more than one system then this can take up valuable time. If you chose not to schedule a backup but instead do it manually, you have to remember to do it everyday and how many people would be able to remember that (yours truly included).