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Guide to installing DirectAdmin on CentOS 7
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Guide to installing DirectAdmin on CentOS 7

eva2000eva2000 Veteran
edited July 2019 in Tutorials

Thanks to @Francisco and free DirectAdmin licenses with every BuyVM KVM Slice VPS server, I managed to play with DirectAdmin for the first time learning the ropes so I thought I'd document a DirectAdmin CentOS 7 install guide on a new site I built just for reviewing/test cPanel alternatives like DirectAdmin https://servermanager.guide/162/how-to-install-directadmin-control-panel-on-centos-7/.

Comments, suggestions and corrections are welcome :)

Comments

  • AlwaysSkintAlwaysSkint Member
    edited July 2019

    I'm sure others will find your efforts very useful and appreciated. I see some really helpful stuff in there - thanks. You've certainly included a lot in that one post and bonus points for covering DKIM etc. :-)

    My own viewpoints..
    XFS instead of ext4, no thanks - I don't want to lose the ability to shrink the filesystem.
    Swap space is always an area of contention. I haven't read to the bottom yet but I'd advocate scaling the swap right back, after installation to something like 1GB, even for low-end VPS.
    Install path of "mkdir -p /root/tools" = why? Go for the accepted normal of /opt.
    That's a lot of messing about with firewalld, when CSF is later mentioned - just disable firewalld from the outset.

    EDIT4: I totally agree with the ccache comment but would actually install that at the beginning, Something like "yum install epel-release ccache" ;-)

    [Karen/Fran disnae like me, so can't try on the same platform. ;-) ]

  • DarioXDarioX Member

    @AlwaysSkint said:

    Hey WSS how you doin bro

    PS: Great guide! Thank you eva

  • @DarioX said:

    @AlwaysSkint said:

    Hey WSS how you doin bro

    LOL

    With @eva2000 's skillset, I'm looking forward to an all signing, all dancing curses-based installer. :-D

  • eva2000eva2000 Veteran

    AlwaysSkint said: With @eva2000 's skillset, I'm looking forward to an all signing, all dancing curses-based installer. :-D

    LOL - certainly can whip up a DirectAdmin wrapper install script to automate the entire install + optimisations and tweaks. Already have ideas swirling around in my head LOL

    AlwaysSkint said: Install path of "mkdir -p /root/tools" = why? Go for the accepted normal of /opt.

    Never really used /opt for that just use to it I guess heh

    AlwaysSkint said: Swap space is always an area of contention. I haven't read to the bottom yet but I'd advocate scaling the swap right back, after installation to something like 1GB, even for low-end VPS.

    Wasn't sure how involved DirectAdmin's source compilation routines use for memory so better safe than sorry.

    AlwaysSkint said: XFS instead of ext4, no thanks - I don't want to lose the ability to shrink the filesystem.

    Yeah just went with whatever BuyVM KVM Slice VPS gave me and that was EXT4

    AlwaysSkint said: totally agree with the ccache comment but would actually install that at the beginning,

    Yeah wasn't sure how DirectAdmin compilations will handle ccache so started without it first. Will be writing a ccache install and setup script for DirectAdmin which can turn ccache on/off so can benchmark DirectAdmin install and compilation routines and time them to see how ccache can benefit compilations :)

    AlwaysSkint said: That's a lot of messing about with firewalld, when CSF is later mentioned - just disable firewalld from the outset.

    Figured some folks prefer firewalld vs CSF Firewall so did both and well had to test DirectAdmin under native firewalld on CentOS 7 to see what's what. Looks like I'd probably be writing my own DirectAdmin wrapper install script to put all the stuff in place out of the box including switching to CSF Firewall :)

    Thanked by 2AlwaysSkint ITLabs
  • Glad to see my constructive criticism is taken in the manner I gave it. :-)

  • (Never like the use of /usr/src with CSF ;-) )

  • FalzoFalzo Member

    great work. now debian. thx. ;-)

  • eva2000eva2000 Veteran

    AlwaysSkint said: Glad to see my constructive criticism is taken in the manner I gave it. :-)

    ^_^

    Falzo said: great work. now debian. thx. ;-)

    LOL - CentOS only guy :)

  • eva2000eva2000 Veteran

    AlwaysSkint said: I totally agree with the ccache comment but would actually install that at the beginning

    Did some DirectAdmin + ccache compiler cache benchmarks as well https://servermanager.guide/162/how-to-install-directadmin-control-panel-on-centos-7/#step14

    for DirectAdmin Apache + PHP 7.3/7.2/5.6 + Dovecot recompile builds via CustomBuild 2.0 called from my directadmin-compiler-bench.sh wrapper script resulted in total compile times as follows:

    • total without ccache compiler cache = Compile time = 200.293 + 4509.820 + 879.963 = 5590.076 seconds
    • total run 1 with ccache compiler cache 1st run which is uncached and populates the cache ready for 2nd run use = Compile time = 231.493 + 5141.003 + 976.800 = 6349.296 seconds which is ~13.6% slower than without ccache for 1st uncached compile run.
    • total run 2 with ccache compiler cache 2nd run which can use ccache’s cache to speed up subsequent recompiles of same versions = Compile time = 1439.342 + 159.888 + 363.582 = 1962.812 seconds which is ~64.9% faster than without ccache and ~69.1% faster than with ccache’s uncached 1st run.
    Thanked by 2ITLabs AlwaysSkint
  • HxxxHxxx Member

    I HIGHLY HIGHLY appreciate you putting this much effort on your guide.
    Here we go boys BACK TO the TERMINAL. Let's GO!
    @eva2000

    @eva2000 said:
    Thanks to @Francisco and free DirectAdmin licenses with every BuyVM KVM Slice VPS server, I managed to play with DirectAdmin for the first time learning the ropes so I thought I'd document a DirectAdmin CentOS 7 install guide on a new site I built just for reviewing/test cPanel alternatives like DirectAdmin https://servermanager.guide/162/how-to-install-directadmin-control-panel-on-centos-7/.

    Comments, suggestions and corrections are welcome :)

    Thanked by 1eva2000
  • The free directadmin licenses are gone it seems

  • FranciscoFrancisco Top Host, Host Rep, Veteran

    @krudalis said:
    The free directadmin licenses are gone it seems

    No.

    Its linked right on the page.

    Francisco

    Thanked by 1eva2000
  • eva2000eva2000 Veteran
    edited July 2019

    Hxxx said: I HIGHLY HIGHLY appreciate you putting this much effort on your guide.

    You're welcome :)

    krudalis said: The free directadmin licenses are gone it seems

    looks to be still available to me

    Francisco said: Its linked right on the page.

    Francisco

    maybe add alias redirect to i.e. buyvm.net/directadmin or something ? easier to remember :)

  • @eva2000 My apologies for taking so long to publicly express my appreciation for creating such a guide. You put an amazing effort into this, and such a guide from a real person is much better than any marketing material. I find it interesting to read questions/comments (especially about why you chose one thing over another) because it shows that personal preference/familiarity plays a big part in server setup.

    Thanked by 2AlwaysSkint Falzo
  • appreciate the guide!
    where to get directadmin-compiler-bench.sh script?

  • eva2000eva2000 Veteran
    edited July 2019

    @mgilang said:
    appreciate the guide!
    where to get directadmin-compiler-bench.sh script?

    The script isn't for public consumption right now - just for my own testing and experiments which are just done on a test buyvm vps for now so if I screw up the system it's no big deal heh :)

    @DA_Mark said:
    @eva2000 My apologies for taking so long to publicly express my appreciation for creating such a guide. You put an amazing effort into this, and such a guide from a real person is much better than any marketing material. I find it interesting to read questions/comments (especially about why you chose one thing over another) because it shows that personal preference/familiarity plays a big part in server setup.

    You're welcome @DA_Mark. Still lots to learn about DirectAdmin admin side - still haven't really touched reseller/user (non-admin) side of things yet ! But from what I have learnt about admin side, I like as it plays to my preferences of being able to customise everything to my own liking even pre-installed as I can see myself writing a DirectAdmin wrapper install script to automate most of the customisations outlined in my guide :) My philosophy when it comes to LEMP/LAMP stack setups has always been = 'never use defaults but always better than defaults' and DirectAdmin does give me the tools to configure better than DirectAdmin defaults for new installs especially with compiler optimisations I can apply :)

    Thanked by 1ITLabs
  • jurevejureve Member

    Cool guide! Thks! :wink:

    Thanked by 1eva2000
  • That's awesome guide!
    Thank You

    Thanked by 1eva2000
  • @eva2000 Can I ask why you prefer CentOS only? I know you made Centmin Mod so I’m sure you know CentOS inside and out, but are their other reasons or just familiarity?

  • eva2000eva2000 Veteran

    cheers @jureve @MGarbis :)

    @theblackesthat CentOS familiarity is main reason. When it comes to OSes, it's really not what you use but how you use it that matters. And I know how to use CentOS very well ^_^

  • niceboyniceboy Veteran
    edited July 2019

    @eva2000 said:
    cheers @jureve @MGarbis :)

    @theblackesthat CentOS familiarity is main reason. When it comes to OSes, it's really not what you use but how you use it that matters. And I know how to use CentOS very well ^_^

    You are such an expert. Why don't you include features to host multiple users in centminmod with a simple php front end only for end users?

  • MikeAMikeA Member, Patron Provider
    edited July 2019

    @niceboy said:

    @eva2000 said:
    cheers @jureve @MGarbis :)

    @theblackesthat CentOS familiarity is main reason. When it comes to OSes, it's really not what you use but how you use it that matters. And I know how to use CentOS very well ^_^

    You are such an expert. Why don't you include features to host multiple users in centminmod with a simple php front end only for end users?

    I would guess because Centminmod wasn't made to be a control panel for selling web hosting to people?

    Thanked by 1Faizi
  • eva2000eva2000 Veteran
    edited July 2019

    niceboy said: You are such an expert. Why don't you include features to host multiple users in centminmod with a simple php front end only for end users?

    for me:

    • system admin/backend = yes
    • web developer/php programmer = no

    and for me personally with my own Centmin Mod LEMP stack, I prefer no gui/frontend = one less vector for compromise/being hacked :)

    Thanked by 1Faizi
  • Hope to get the automated DirectAdmin wrapper install script soon :)

    @eva2000 said:

    @mgilang said:
    appreciate the guide!
    where to get directadmin-compiler-bench.sh script?

    The script isn't for public consumption right now - just for my own testing and experiments which are just done on a test buyvm vps for now so if I screw up the system it's no big deal heh :)

    @DA_Mark said:
    @eva2000 My apologies for taking so long to publicly express my appreciation for creating such a guide. You put an amazing effort into this, and such a guide from a real person is much better than any marketing material. I find it interesting to read questions/comments (especially about why you chose one thing over another) because it shows that personal preference/familiarity plays a big part in server setup.

    You're welcome @DA_Mark. Still lots to learn about DirectAdmin admin side - still haven't really touched reseller/user (non-admin) side of things yet ! But from what I have learnt about admin side, I like as it plays to my preferences of being able to customise everything to my own liking even pre-installed as I can see myself writing a DirectAdmin wrapper install script to automate most of the customisations outlined in my guide :) My philosophy when it comes to LEMP/LAMP stack setups has always been = 'never use defaults but always better than defaults' and DirectAdmin does give me the tools to configure better than DirectAdmin defaults for new installs especially with compiler optimisations I can apply :)

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