Server OS and remote management (Linux NOOB)

[Duplex]

So I purchased a HP z600 to play around with a server and learn some new stuff =)

I did my homework on that specific server, and abit reading up on servers in general. I read somewhere that Linux Fedora was a good place to begin with servers, (note that I haven't used Linux at all before).

I plan to run a couple of minecraft servers to begin with atleast, and managed to run a connectable FTB server on Fedora.

Now, I want to get remote management up and running before I move the server to its permanent location (out of the house), but that is easier than it sounds...
I constantly run into problems with either Fedora, connections issues, compatibility, error messages, unable to install vnc server etc etc...

I'm at the point where I just want things to start working, and all these terminal commands are driving me crazy 😛

So, I'm on the verge of giving up on Linux, and are generally looking for tips on what OS I should use for my tasks (I will be using Windows 10/android to remote manage my server).

Is it worth hanging on with Linux to learn and curse every step on the way to success, or should I go for Windows 7/10/server?

 

[blader15sk8]

Are you trying to do this through a GUI? If so you are honestly probably better off running windows.

If you are using the terminal and plan to SSH in there are a few tools I can recommend for running minecraft servers that are fairly easy to use.

First, instead of using a standard SSH tunnel or something like PuTTY, use an application on your PC called Bitvise SSH Client. This gives you a very easy way to manage connections and gives you an SFTP windows to transfer files. You can unpack the server files on your PC then just copy the folder over by dragging and dropping.

Now when you go to start the minecraft server, you will have to use SSH to pull up a terminal to run the start command. Usually it's something like 'sh startServer.sh' in the main directory of the FTB files. The only problem you will run into is when you close the SSH terminal window you will also close the server.. there is another great tool for this called 'Screen.' Screen lets you create an instance that you can open and close without losing the server each time. I use debian based distributions (Ubuntu Server) so for me it's "sudo apt install screen" but for you on fedora is will be something like "sudo yum install screen" or whatever the package manager is (apt, yum, etc). After Screen is installed, just type 'screen' in the terminal window to open up an instance of 'screen' and run your server there. When you close the window, you can get back to it by opening another and typing 'screen -r'

Hopefully that isn't too much all at once! It really is super easy to manage once you get the basics down, and you will have a bit more free memory and less background tasks running to slow the server down.

 

[Duplex]

Thanks for your answer =)
I was kind of hoping to do the remote management part with something like TeamViewer/anything that allow me to control (see) the screen of the server machine :S That is mainly because of the location of the server, I do not want to drive 15 minutes every time I might need to do something else on the server..

I've tried teamviewer and running a VNC server but.. no...

I ran the FTB server via the terminal (./ServerStart.sh in Fedora).
I learned about sudo command and how to "root" myself in the terminal with "su"
I learned about the install-package solution in Fedora (yum)

I feel like I've installed so much useless packages and programs to try make Remote management work, that i'm considering re-installing Linux.. In that case I'm wondering if Ubuntu (or something else) would be a better solution in my case?

Is there any viable GUI programs ppl recommend for remote desktop management?

I'm not against learning new things, like Linux, but when I constantly get punched in the face with error messages, incompatibility and all these commands I haven't experienced before, I feel like tapping out 😛

 

[Alabalcho]

I've found MobaXTerm to be quite powerful in remote accessing Linux hosts. It provides for both Telnet/SSH access, and (in case of SSH) SFTP server with drag/drop functionality. On top of that, it is also a XServer, so you can quite easy bring your server desktop across the net. I'm using this (not the whole desktop but rather some applications) with standard Ubuntu desktop.

 

[dmroeder]

I have a couple of mincraft servers running at my home for my kids. I have a bash script for each one to start them. The trick to running a bash script (locally or remotely) without having to keep the terminal window or ssh session open is the ampersand (&). If you have a script that launches the server, you remote in using ssh, then you'd do something like:

./startServer.sh &

 

[audiospecaccts]

I would suggest webmin. I manage several servers this way remotely. http://www.webmin.com/

Linux is easier/better/straightforward/safer compared to the windows offerings.