Other than no GUI, how does Linux Server differ from Linux desktop?

For some distros there might be some minor differences between desktop and server spins in the default services and/or config details (e.g., Ubuntu using Network Manager for desktop but not server), but they're unlikely to affect whatever apps you're running on top of it.
 
BlueLineSwinger said:
For some distros there might be some minor differences between desktop and server spins in the default services and/or config details (e.g., Ubuntu using Network Manager for desktop but not server), but they're unlikely to affect whatever apps you're running on top of it.
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Thanks. Gonna try it both ways.
 
What application do you need to run?

You can run a GUI with most Linux distro's. Whether or not you need to or want to is a different story. I rarely install any GUI with any Linux server I have to build, and the very few times I have is because the application that I needed to run required it. Less packages installed, less packages to patch.
 
Stugots said:
What application do you need to run?

You can run a GUI with most Linux distro's. Whether or not you need to or want to is a different story. I rarely install any GUI with any Linux server I have to build, and the very few times I have is because the application that I needed to run required it. Less packages installed, less packages to patch.
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It's just a file server but I'd like to keep an eye on things like HD health, temps, etc. Using the CLI would be kinda clutsy. It would nice if there was a web page GUI.
 
Deadjasper said:
It's just a file server but I'd like to keep an eye on things like HD health, temps, etc. Using the CLI would be kinda clutsy. It would nice if there was a web page GUI.
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Just for the sake of being a dick how often do you need to look at the temperature though? I would just put sufficient cooling in there and don't worry about it. When it fails, you wont likely be sitting there watching it happen anyways, would rather have that scripted to either email you or start throttling/shutting down if a fan binds up and fails.

Honestly give cli a good try, once you get used to it you wont ever want a gui again for a server. Faster, less resource hogging, and yea as said less stuff to patch. And when you need help, people are going to tell you what script to run or commands, not where to click.
 
Darunion said:
Just for the sake of being a dick how often do you need to look at the temperature though? I would just put sufficient cooling in there and don't worry about it. When it fails, you wont likely be sitting there watching it happen anyways, would rather have that scripted to either email you or start throttling/shutting down if a fan binds up and fails.

Honestly give cli a good try, once you get used to it you wont ever want a gui again for a server. Faster, less resource hogging, and yea as said less stuff to patch. And when you need help, people are going to tell you what script to run or commands, not where to click.
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How are updates handled without a GUI?
 
Deadjasper said:
How are updates handled without a GUI?
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Im a little rusty but iirc "sudo apt-get update", then "sudo apt-get upgrade" if that is your package manager. And you can use a job scheduler so if you wanted a hands off approach you could schedule it to happen at the least amount of usage day/time.
 
A dedicated server build might have different scheduler or preemption model than the same vendor's desktop build. But that is easy to change after install and it will be far from clear what is better in what situation.
 
BlueLineSwinger said:
For some distros there might be some minor differences between desktop and server spins in the default services and/or config details (e.g., Ubuntu using Network Manager for desktop but not server), but they're unlikely to affect whatever apps you're running on top of it.
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This ^^^

It's minor differences in the server world overall. The bigger difference is generally the security model you want if you care about that. Think SELinux vs AppArmor.

I run 3 headless servers in my house. All are on Ubuntu Server LTS with no GUI. The only one that I added a GUI to was my media server because that makes it a bit easier to do certain maintenance. I simply use X2GO to connect to that system when I need the GUI and that's not very often at all. Typically I just use SSH to remote in and run updates on them.
 
The only thing I patch is the host. Everything else is containerized and most of the time, they don't even have a shell.

I just change a hash and an updated version of whatever is deployed.
 
Wow. I completely forgot Webmin was a thing!

As for update, there are many ways to handle patches automatically. Depends on the distro.

Have you thought about running a purpose-build NAS distro like FreeNAS or Xpenology?
 
Stugots said:
Wow. I completely forgot Webmin was a thing!

As for update, there are many ways to handle patches automatically. Depends on the distro.

Have you thought about running a purpose-build NAS distro like FreeNAS or Xpenology?
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I do have one FreeNAS box and it works well but I find FreeNAS a bit too restricting. It's not very good at maximizing storage space and it requires that all drives be the same size. I know you can put larger drives in a pool but then #1 would be even worse.

Do most RAID controllers play nice with Linux?
 
Deadjasper said:
It's just a file server but I'd like to keep an eye on things like HD health, temps, etc. Using the CLI would be kinda clutsy. It would nice if there was a web page GUI.
Click to expand...
I would imagine the rest of the thread already pointed this out, but often a server can be mostly headless, not even a monitor, so the notion of GUI can become quite optional.

Like you say it can be a webserver with an website to control it from your regular computer.

There Linux distribution made just for this, openMediavault for example (debian):
https://www.openmediavault.org/

That make it out of the box easy to control via a gui your server and schedule backup task, raid or drive union, look and get alert from hard drive smart result, temperature, cpu usage, VPN and what not.
 
I see open Media Vault has taken a lesson from Ubuntu and insists on shoving their cookie down your throat. 🙄
 
Feel like I'm pissing in the wind. I can't connect to the server using Webmin. I get connection refused no matter what. I've tried everything I could find via google. :(
 
Linux server CLI and webmin is why I now use Unraid on my home server, 😆
 
Deadjasper said:
Feel like I'm pissing in the wind. I can't connect to the server using Webmin. I get connection refused no matter what. I've tried everything I could find via google. :(
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Have error logs from "systemctl status webmin" or "journalctl -xe | grep webmin"?
 
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