In order to generate your SSH keys simply type: ssh-keygen -t rsa into the terminal on your
desktop. This will generate an rsa key which will be stored (by default) at ~/.ssh/id_rsa (private
key) and ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub (public key).
In order to use these keys, you'll need to copy your id_rsa.pub to your server and append it to the
existing file by entering: ssh-copy-id username@remotehost.
You can grant permissions to this file on your server by typing: chmod 600 .ssh/authorized_keys. If
everything has worked as expected, you'll now be able to remote to your server without being
prompted for a password.
Puppet
Puppet is a configuration management solution that enables you to define and enforce the state of
your infrastructure. It can help to define every step of the infrastructure lifecycle, from provisioning
machines (physical and virtual) to reporting, testing, provisioning updates and production releases.
This enables us to ensure that we have consistency, reliability and stability in our infrastructure.
There are hundreds of detailed puppet guides across the web, so I won't go into any more detail
here. The purpose of this guide is to help you understand the different components of Ubuntu and
use the most important of those components, rather than being an all in one guide to everything.
Integrating Ubuntu & Windows
As you walk through most offices you'll see a wide range of devices. You have Windows, Linux iOS
and Android all within a relatively small space. Unfortunately, this means that you'll need to
configure your file and print servers to work with the Windows machines that surround your Ubuntu
world.
Samba will help you to cover three main areas:
The first is file and print sharing services – this is where you'll be sharing files, folders, volumes
and printers throughout the network within the office.
Next we have directory services which shares all of the information about computers and users of
a network with other directory services (like Microsoft Active Directory).
Finally, this shares authentication and access in order to apply file permissions, group policies and
more.
Images used under creative commons from Flikr.com
www.netshock.co.uk