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VPS for dummies

notarocketscientist
Hi, Being I am a noob to VPS and need some learning tools, I am wondering what the best book, website, or even Udemy course would be for me. I asked on a few other forums and the answers are either "pay for help" or "we don't know". Now I googled the title of the post and found many hits on what I need. But some good recommendations would be appreciated. Like what are the most important 2 or 3 things I need to set up in the security of my VPS? I already have the AV software set up but what about firewalls or ?? Thank you, NARS

Comments

20 comments

Date Votes
  • Infopro
    This is a great place to start: Security - cPanel Knowledge Base - cPanel Documentation On that page is a list of important links you may or may not need now, but might in the future so it's good to have a look around at them. One of the links there is this one:
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  • notarocketscientist
    This is a great place to start: Security - cPanel Knowledge Base - cPanel Documentation On that page is a list of important links you may or may not need now, but might in the future so it's good to have a look around at them. One of the links there is this one:
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  • Infopro
    I just need to know the meaning of the acronyms like what is CRON?

    This might be helpful. Newbie: Intro to cron I found it by searching for your question, "what is CRON?" on google. :) IMHO, don't get bogged down on the backend stuff too much if you don't need to. cPanel is all about automation. :)
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  • notarocketscientist
    This might be helpful.
    Thanks. I looked at my WHM and see I am running Centos 6.9 and cPanel and WHM 64.0 (build 42). I also have seen the following: "You must reboot the server to update the kernal." and have done the Graceful reboot but the version stays the same. How often is normal for that message to come up? Also, I was reading about setting up cPHulk but its states that it is for WHM version 68. So do I have the ability to update that or do I contact my host or am I stuck with that version?? Thanks, NARS
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  • cPanelMichael
    Hello, cPanel version 64 is at EOL (End Of Life) status. I recommend updating to a supported version of cPanel (e.g. cPanel version 68). Information on how to change your cPanel update preferences is available at: Update Preferences - Version 68 Documentation - cPanel Documentation As far as the kernel version, note the "Kernel Version" is different than the version of cPanel or CentOS. Updating your system's kernel (typically through the "yum update" command) will not alter the cPanel or CentOS version. Thank you.
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  • notarocketscientist
    Hello, cPanel version 64 is at EOL (End Of Life) status. I recommend updating to a supported version of cPanel (e.g. cPanel version 68). Information on how to change your cPanel update preferences is available at:
    Ok, thanks for the info. I can see I will be in "noob" status for some time into the future as my head almost exploded with new questions after reading the Update Preferences. One step at a time I have to keep reminding myself. :) NARS
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  • notarocketscientist
    Hello, cPanel version 64 is at EOL (End Of Life) status. I recommend updating to a supported version of cPanel (e.g. cPanel version 68). Information on how to change your cPanel update preferences is available at:
    Ok, so I logged into WHM and clicked on the cPanel update and it went through all the updating and finished. Then I rebooted the server as the graceful way never works so I did a forced reboot. Then I logged back in and I still show the same version (Centos 6.9 and cPanel and WHM 64.0 (build 42)). So what does that mean? Thanks, schemer
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  • cPanelMichael
    Hello, The cPanel update logs are located in the following directory: /var/cpanel/updatelogs/ Could you access the server via SSH as root and review the most recent log file in this directory to see if there were any error messages during the update process? Feel free to open a support ticket using the link in my signature if you are not comfortable doing this and we can take a closer look for you. Thank you.
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  • notarocketscientist
    Hello, The cPanel update logs are located in the following directory: /var/cpanel/updatelogs/ Could you access the server via SSH as root and review the most recent log file in this directory to see if there were any error messages during the update process? Feel free to open a support ticket using the link in my signature if you are not comfortable doing this and we can take a closer look for you. Thank you.

    Michael, Ok, thanks. I will get that info back to you soon. I think I even know how to get it. :) NARS edit: I have the logs...can I just send them to you?
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  • notarocketscientist
    Michael, Ok, thanks. I will get that info back to you soon. I think I even know how to get it. :) NARS edit: I have the logs...can I just send them to you?

    Does this help? [3594] error: Could not find suitable distribution for Requirement.parse('pyzor') [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] [3594] Searching for pyzor [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] [3594] Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/pyzor/ [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] [3594] Couldn't find index page for 'pyzor' (maybe misspelled?) [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] [3594] Scanning index of all packages (this may take a while) [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] [3594] Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/ [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] [3594] No local packages or download links found for pyzor [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] [3594] Queued spamd restart in the background. [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] 58% complete [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] Processing: Checking PostgreSQL to ensure we can connect [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700] - Processing command `/usr/local/cpanel/bin/postgrescheck --check-auth --reset-pass-on-fail` [2018-01-26 10:31:25 -0700]
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  • cPanelMichael
    Hello, It doesn't look like that error lead to the update failure. Could you open a support ticket using the link in my signature so we can take a closer look? Thank you.
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  • notarocketscientist
    Hello, It doesn't look like that error lead to the update failure. Could you open a support ticket using the link in my signature so we can take a closer look? Thank you.

    Ok, After a quick look at what is involved to do that I need to read and make sure I do it right. So it will be tomorrow... Thanks, NARS
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  • notarocketscientist
    Ok so I gave it another try and came up with this so maybe I can fix it once I make some adjustments: [2018-01-27 10:56:49 -0700] W NOTE: A system upgrade was not possible due to the following blockers: [2018-01-27 10:56:49 -0700] W [FATAL] - cPanel & WHM cannot update due to insufficient disk space in the staging directory, '/usr/local/cpanel'. The system requires 3 GB to update; this directory only has 2.01 GB available. The system failed to find a new staging directory with enough space to update. You can either clear enough disk space or select a new staging directory with enough disk space at Update Preferences interface. => Log closed Sat Jan 27 10:56:49 2018
    And another question. Is it normal for "You must reboot the server to update the kernal" message all the time? Thanks, NARS
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  • Infopro
    Once you can properly update the fix is in the update for that I believe. You need more space on that system to run the updates.
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  • notarocketscientist
    Once you can properly update the fix is in the update for that I believe. You need more space on that system to run the updates.

    I called my host and they explained my backups were set to daily and used up a bunch of space and told me where to access and delete them. I did, and then ran the update to cPanel, and it still stays at v64.0 build 42. So I logged out and back in and it said the same thing so I updated it again and it still didn't take. I will try again tomorrow... sigh, NARS edit: I went back and saw that stupid warning "You need to reboot the system to update the kernal" or something like that so after trying the useless graceful reboot I did a forced reboot and it is still at version 64.
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  • notarocketscientist
    I called my host and they explained my backups were set to daily and used up a bunch of space and told me where to access and delete them. I did, and then ran the update to cPanel, and it still stays at v64.0 build 42. So I logged out and back in and it said the same thing so I updated it again and it still didn't take. I will try again tomorrow... sigh, NARS edit: I went back and saw that stupid warning "You need to reboot the system to update the kernal" or something like that so after trying the useless graceful reboot I did a forced reboot and it is still at version 64.

    Ok, so after another day I figured it out. I finally have the updated cPanel. WooHoo! But I still am totally confused with the stupid message that says "You must reboot the server to apply kernal updates". I try the graceful reboot which seems to never work unless it takes longer than I think it should. And there is no animated progress bar to keep you informed on if it is actually doing anything. So I do the forced server reboot wheich appears to actually reboot the server but the message about the kernal remains. What is the point here??? Thanks, NARS 50535
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  • cPanelMichael
    Hi @notarocketscientist, I'm glad to see the cPanel update was successful and that you are now using cPanel version 68. As far as the kernel reboot warning, could you run the following commands and let us know the output? /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/bin/perl -e 'use Cpanel::Kernel::Status; use Data::Dumper; my $kernel = Cpanel::Kernel::Status::kernel_status(); print Dumper \$kernel;' $VAR1 = \{ whmapi1 system_needs_reboot rpm -qa|grep kernel
    Thank you.
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  • notarocketscientist
    Hi @notarocketscientist, I'm glad to see the cPanel update was successful and that you are now using cPanel version 68. As far as the kernel reboot warning, could you run the following commands and let us know the output? /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/bin/perl -e 'use Cpanel::Kernel::Status; use Data::Dumper; my $kernel = Cpanel::Kernel::Status::kernel_status(); print Dumper \$kernel;' $VAR1 = \{ whmapi1 system_needs_reboot rpm -qa|grep kernel
    Thank you.

    Well ok, but being a noob at this stuff it will take a little while (days) as I have to learn how/where to run this command. ;) But I have a Linux book on it's way and have purchased a Udemy course that I have yet to start. So as long as the message is not real dangerous to leave alone for a few days I will report back with the answer. I am going to have to learn all tis stuff so this will be a great place to start. (but if you can give me a hint I will get it done faster) Thanks, NARS edit: Is this what I need to learn?? How to Access the Command Line - cPanel Knowledge Base - cPanel Documentation
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  • cPanelMichael
    Hello, Yes, that document, or the following one, is a good place to start: SSH Access - Version 68 Documentation - cPanel Documentation Thank you.
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  • notarocketscientist
    Hello, Yes, that document, or the following one, is a good place to start:
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