25 Things to Do After Minimal RHELCentOS 7 Installation

After installing minimal version of RHEL/CentOS 7, you might be wondering what to do next. minimal installation provides you with a basic operating system, but you still need to install additional packages and configure system to suit your needs. In this article, we will explore 25 things to do after a minimal RHEL/CentOS 7 installation to help you get started.

Update System

First thing to do after installing a minimal RHEL/CentOS 7 is to update system. This will ensure that you have latest security updates and bug fixes. To update system, use following command −

sudo yum update

Install Development Tools

If you're planning to develop applications on your RHEL/CentOS 7 system, you need to install development tools. following command will install basic development tools −

sudo yum groupinstall "Development Tools"

Install Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL)

EPEL is a repository of additional packages for RHEL/CentOS that are not included in default repositories. To install EPEL, use following command −

sudo yum install epel-release

Install Git

Git is a version control system that is used by many developers. To install Git, use following command −

sudo yum install git

Install Vim

Vim is a popular text editor that is commonly used by Linux users. To install Vim, use following command −

sudo yum install vim

Install Nginx

Nginx is a popular web server that is known for its high performance and low resource usage. To install Nginx, use following command −

sudo yum install nginx

Install MariaDB

MariaDB is a popular relational database management system. To install MariaDB, use following command −

sudo yum install mariadb-server mariadb

Secure MariaDB

After installing MariaDB, you need to secure it by running following command −

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Install PHP

PHP is a popular server-side scripting language. To install PHP, use following command −

sudo yum install php php-mysql php-fpm

Install Node.js

Node.js is a popular JavaScript runtime environment that is used for building server-side applications. To install Node.js, use following command −

sudo yum install nodejs

Install npm

npm is a package manager for Node.js. To install npm, use following command −

sudo yum install npm

Install MongoDB

MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database. To install MongoDB, use following command −

sudo yum install mongodb-server

Install Redis

Redis is an in-memory data structure store that is used as a database, cache, and message broker. To install Redis, use following command −

sudo yum install redis

Install Memcached

Memcached is a distributed memory object caching system that is used to speed up dynamic web applications. To install Memcached, use following command −

sudo yum install memcached

Install FirewallD

FirewallD is a dynamic firewall that is used to control incoming and outgoing traffic. To install FirewallD, use following command −

sudo yum install firewalld

Configure FirewallD

After installing FirewallD, you need to configure it to allow traffic to your services. For example, to allow HTTP traffic, use following command −

sudo firewall-cmd –permanent --zone=public --add-service=http sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Install Fail2ban

Fail2ban is a popular security tool that is used to protect your server from brute-force attacks. To install Fail2ban, use following command −

sudo yum install fail2ban

Configure Fail2ban

After installing Fail2ban, you need to configure it to protect your services. For example, to protect SSH, use following command −

sudo cp /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf /etc/fail2ban/jail.local sudo vi /etc/fail2ban/jail.local

In jail.local file, uncomment [sshd] section and set enabled option to true −

[sshd] enabled = true

Install Cockpit

Cockpit is a web-based administration tool that is used to manage your server. To install Cockpit, use following command −

sudo yum install cockpit

Configure Cockpit

After installing Cockpit, you need to configure it to allow remote access. To do this, use following command −

sudo systemctl enable --now cockpit.socket sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=cockpit sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Install Samba

Samba is a popular file-sharing service that is used to share files between Windows and Linux systems. To install Samba, use following command −

sudo yum install samba

Configure Samba

After installing Samba, you need to configure it to share your files. For example, to share /data directory, use following command −

sudo vi /etc/samba/smb.conf

In smb.conf file, add following section −

[data] path = /data read only = no

Install FTP

FTP is a popular file transfer protocol that is used to transfer files between systems. To install FTP, use following command −

sudo yum install vsftpd

Configure FTP

After installing FTP, you need to configure it to allow users to connect. For example, to allow user john to connect, use following command −

sudo usermod -a -G ftp john sudo vi /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf

In vsftpd.conf file, uncomment following lines −

anonymous_enable=NO local_enable=YES write_enable=YES chroot_local_user=YES

Install Webmin

Webmin is a web-based administration tool that is used to manage your system. To install Webmin, use following command −

sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/webmin.repo

In webmin.repo file, add following lines −

[Webmin] name=Webmin Distribution Neutral baseurl=https://download.webmin.com/download/yum enabled=1 gpgcheck=1 gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-webmin

Then, install Webmin using following command −

sudo yum install webmin

Conclusion

In conclusion, these are just a few of things that you can do after a minimal RHEL/CentOS 7 installation. Depending on your needs, there may be other packages and configurations that you need to install. However, this list provides a good starting point for anyone looking to set up a RHEL/CentOS 7 system.