SLAMPP Live CD/DVD

FAQ

What is SLAMPP?
As mentioned on the frontpage of this website, SLAMPP is a generic linux distribution based on current Zenwalk and Slackware Linux. The linux live scripts technology has made it possible to run SLAMPP directIy off CD/DVD-ROM drive. No hard disk is required although with help of a small program provided on SLAMPP you are able to install SLAMPP permanently on your PC. The main goal of SLAMPP is to provide easy setup of a home server or even for small office one. You just have to insert the CD and get all servers running with minimal effort.

Why SLAMPP?
You might ask why you should use SLAMPP. The answer is simply because it is designed to be easy even for beginners. You even don't have to install all applications or tools by yourself. A user can add additional tools or applications of his/her choice in form of modules without messing up the whole system. You may see it as a plug 'n play device. Use it whenever you need it without any risk. If something bad occurs, just restart your PC and all problems whould be gone as all data are stored in RAM. However, please use SLAMPP at your own responsibility and risk. SLAMPP comes with absolutely NO WARRANTY at all.

How did you come to this idea?
As I have been involved in various web projects in the last 5 years and have been using many web applications, the need for a ready to use solution is getting bigger and bigger. I need something that makes the life of web developers, web masters and web designers a little bit easier. Furthermore, not everyone can do the installation and maintenance of applications by themselves. Therefore such instant solution must be available to them. That's the main reason why SLAMPP is compiled.

FYI, I'm not a linux expert. I do this because I'd like to learn linux by simply putting it in action. As an old wise man always says to us, "learning by doing" and "practice makes perfect" are the best things to do. So SLAMPP is designed as my tiny project to make the ideas come true and also as a playground to get my hands dirty a little bit. If you would like to help me enhance SLAMPP, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always welcome for any inputs.

Any Zenwalk and/or Slackware's documentation available?
Of course. You can get and read them all on their own homepage.

- Zenwalk documentation
- Slackware documentation
- Slackware configuration

You can always refer to these documentations when using SLAMPP as it is based on SLAX and Slackware.

I have no idea how to manage all servers and daemons on SLAMPP. I'm not a command liner.
Don't worry. That's the reason why Webmin is included. Just open your browser and type this URL.

https://localhost:10000/

And then, login with this username/password combination: root / slampp

This combination is your key to all password protected areas and authorized services.

Does SLAMPP have a guest account?
Yes. Just use username/password 'slampp / slampp' instead. You can add so many users you like if you want to.

Does SLAMPP support virtual hosting?
Yes. You can rely on virtual hosting feature provided by Apache2.

I want to install the servers permanently and run my own web hosting. Can you point me a place where I can get more information on setting up and managing web hosting?
There are many information about this on the internet. One of them is this, http://articles.slicehost.com/, it covers in details how you set up a web hosting service from scratch and manage to run it. Interestingly it has some how to's for some major linux distibutions. Besides that, on http://howtoforge.com you will find many interesting Linux tutorials.

Beside SLAMPP, do you know which distros or softwares I can use to set up a home server?
Beside major distributions like Fedora, Debian, CentOS, etc. you also can try the following solutions:

- LAMPPIX: http://lamppix.tinowagner.com
- LiveLAMP: http://www.livelamp.org
- Vector Linux SOHO: http://vectorlinux.com
- XAMPP: http://apachefriends.org/en/

Where can I get more information how to set up a home server if I have DSL or Cable internet connection?
Visit this website, http://www.dslwebserver.com/

If I want to stop a specific server from starting up automatically during boot process where should I go?
All processes during booting are configured in /etc/rc.d/ directory. If you want to turn off one server of your choice, just chmod -x the approriate rc.* file. It will make it unexecutable. For example, you want to stop MySQL, just type the following command:

chmod -x rc.mysqld

As result, MySQL will be not executed during the next boot up.

I don't see any proper documentation available at this moment for SLAMPP, why is that so?
First of all, I would like to express my sincere apology for the lack of this feature. That was not my intention before to leave users without any guides. But as I'm not a good documentation writer, it is likely at this moment you have to refer other linux resources beside information you get here. As SLAMPP is based on SLAX and Slackware, you can take their documentation first as main reference. Or, you may also visit Wolvix documentation to get a better insight of inner working of SLAX. Just adjust everything you read over there with you have on SLAMPP. Or, visit other resources like The Linux Documentation Project, http://www.tldp.org/ and other major linux forums available out there. I'm sure there would be some nice people helping you out with your questions. Please note, SLAMPP is not an unique distro, more a generic one. What you get in SLAMPP is also available in other distros. Moreover, as SLAMPP uses common packages, the effort to find information about something becomes much easier. With a little help of our friend, Google, nothing is impossible now. :)

Is SLAMPP secure?
Yes and No.
As SLAMPP is compiled to make the effort of installing home server easier and fun, all servers, services and daemons are activated by default during startup. This state of situation would be very risky and dangerous if some actions are not taken. Someone could attack your server, misuse and mess it up. Therefore I strongly suggest you to do at least the following:

When SLAMPP is already installed on the hard disk, disable all servers, services and deamons you don't need. You can do that by chmod -x all rc.d files of the services you are going to stop. Next time you restart the server, those services will be not activated. Or you can do that manually, one by one by commenting all commands refers to the services in rc.S and rs.M files. All files mentioned here can be found in /etc/rc.d directory.
Use firewall to protect your system. SLAMPP is equipped with three firewall applications, namely FireHOL, ipkungfu and Firestarter. Choose one you most like. Firestarter could be the best option if you don't understand how to protect your system with firewall. It comes with nice graphical interface and will guide you step by step. FireHOL and ipkungfu are more suitable for experienced users.
Limit the users of your server. Don't let anyone use your system without your knowledge.
Don't use the root account if you don't need it. Right after SLAMPP is installed on the hard disk, make a regular user account to do daily activities.
Use strong password and don't give it to anyone.
Always look at the logs. Sometimes problems can be very quickly encountered by analyzing the logs.

You can find more information about securing your Linux on the internet. For first start, read the following articles:

- http://www.chessgriffin.com/files/docs/slack_sec.txt (Slackware)
- http://www.puschitz.com/SecuringLinux.shtml (Red Hat)
- http://www.harrysufehmi.com/phpwiki/index.php/ComputerSecurity (Debian/Ubuntu)

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