4elements, Amsterdam, Holland

Goal: Finding a good dedicated server for professional use.

Goal: Finding a server of high quality and decent price.
Solution: I found a brand new Apple Xserve on ebay.com.
Specs: Xserve1,1 (2006) Quad 2Ghz Processor, 64BIT, 8GB RAM and 3x750 GB HD.

Problem: Mac OS X Server does not has any web based user interface for professional web site hosting.
Problem: I use Cpanel.net for all my clients, converting accounts won't be a solution.
Problem: Cpanel.net does not support Mac OS X.

Solution: Install a Linux OS that is supported by Cpanel.net.
Problem: While the Xserve only supports EFI it's not possible to use Bootcamp or any other Linux OS. You can't boot or install a Linux OS CD/DVD AOTB.

Solution: I was able to install and run Fedora 11 with Cpanel.net on my Xserve1,1

 

Installation: Fedora 11 on my xserve1,1 (model 2006)

// This installation is for Xserve1,1 2006 models only, it uses a 32BIT EFI. The Xserve2,1 2008 models uses a 64BIT EFI and requires an other installation approach.
// But If you need help, Xserve1,1 or Xserve2,1, I can help.

Here is my solution how I got Fedora 11 x86_64 on my Xserve1,1.
But first of all I want to thank pxwpxw from ubuntuforums, he helped me a lot.

First some downloads we need:
Download 1: Fedora 11 Live CD Fedora 11 Live CD (X86_64) and burn the CD at 4x speed.
Download 2: Latest refit for mac refit.dmg.
Download 3: Grub settings and files grub.zip.

Pre work:
Step 01: Install refit.
Step 02: After installation you will see a folder named "efi" on your HD.
Step 03: Open your terminal, go into root by su root enter your root password, than type bash /efi/refit/enable-always.sh and press enter, this will show you the grub screen at system boot.
Step 04: While the Xserve1,1 only uses the 32bit efi we need a 32bit grub.efi file.
Step 05: Unpack the downloaded grub.zip file and place 'grub-dumpbios' file and 'grubefi-karmic' folder into your "efi" folder. Efi will automatically detect the grub files and settings.
Step 06: Open grub.cfg with your favorite text editor (I use BBedit)

grub.cfg

# grub.cfg pxw 20090623

timeout=20
default=0

set F1=ctrl-x
set F2=ctrl-c
set color_normal=yellow/blue

menuentry "Fedora-11-x86_64-Live CD boot" {
fakebios
root=cd0
linux /isolinux/vmlinuz0 root=CDLABEL=Fedora-11-x86_64-Live rootfstype=auto ro liveimg rhgb single acpi=force irqpoll video=efifb nomodeset
initrd /isolinux/initrd0.img
}
menuentry "REBOOT" {
reboot
}

If you like you can make an extra partition from your startup HD (100GB will be enough for Mac OS X and the rest can be used for fedora)


The installation:
Step 07: Insert your Fedora live CD.
Step 08: Restart your computer and wait till you see the grub screen.








Step 09: Pick the grub button, that's the icon right from the Apple logo.
Step 10: Pick "Fedora-11-x86_64-Live CD boot" from your list.








Step 11: Let the boot codes roll, there will be some warning messages, not fatal and wait till you get to the #root@localhost:
Step 12:

[root@localhost]#
[root@localhost]# nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "Device"
Identifier "fbdev driver"
Driver "fbdev"
EndSection
(control+o is save and control+x is close)

[root@localhost]# exit

Step 13: Fedora Live CD will now show the graphical interface, all will work.
Step 14: Install fedora on your HD, choose your partition and press install (let me know and I can help you picking the right partition). Be aware: HardDisk 1 will be "sda" HardDisk 2 will be "sdb" You need to remember 2 sections. "/boot" partition (most of the time "sba3") and the OS partition "/" (This depands on your partition).

Step 15: After installation reboot into Mac OS X.
Step 16: Open your grub.cfg and add the following to the current list of menuentry.

menuentry "Fedora 11 x86_64 HD boot to enter fbdev" {
fakebios
root=hd0,3
linux /vmlinuz-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64 root=/dev/sda6 ro rhgb single acpi=force irqpoll video=efifb nomodeset
initrd /initrd-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64.img
}

You notice the "hd0,3", this is the /boot partition and "/dev/sda6" this is the OS partition (sda6 is my os partition, change it to yours) Save grub.cfg

Step 17: Restart your computer and follow step 08 till 11.
Step 18:

[root@localhost]#
[root@localhost]# nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "Device"
Identifier "fbdev driver"
Driver "fbdev"
EndSection
(control+o is save and control+x is close)

[root@localhost]# reboot

Step 19: At the grub menu pick the OSX icon to boot Mac OS X.
Step 20: Open grub.cfg and add the following to the menuentry.
Step 21:

menuentry "Fedora 11 x86_64 HD Final Boot" {
fix_video
fakebios
root=hd0,3
linux /vmlinuz-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64 root=/dev/sda6 nomodeset xdriver=fbdev ro acpi=force irqpoll video=efifb noefi
initrd /initrd-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64.img
}

Step 22: Restart and boot into Fedora, see step 10. But than pick "Fedora 11 x86_64 HD Final Boot"
Step 23: You're done.

 

Tuning: Fedora 11 on my xserve1,1 (model 2006)

- Update the system software, this includes the kernel. Be aware that when you upgrade the kernel you need to change your grub.conf. I updated my kernel to 2.6.29.6.213.fc11.x86_64 so I changed linux /vmlinuz-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64 and initrd /initrd-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64.img to the new kernel version.

- I also like to login into the root account. (instead of my normal user account)

Step 1: We need to edit some files for this to be happen.
Open your terminal and go into root by 'su root' enter your root password

Backup your gdm first:
cp -a /etc/pam.d/gdm /etc/pam.d/gdm.org

Now edit /etc/pam.d/gdm:
nano /etc/pam.d/gdm

Remove the following line:
auth required pam_succeed_if.so user != root quite
(control+o is save and control+x is close)

Step 2: We need an other file to be edited:

Backup your gdm-password first:
cp -a /etc/pam.d/gdm-password /etc/pam.d/gdm-password.org

Now edit /etc/pam.d/gdm-password:
nano /etc/pam.d/gdm-password

Remove the following line:
auth required pam_succeed_if.so user != root quite
(control+o is save and control+x is close)

Step 3: We need an other file to be edited:

Backup your gdm-fingerprint first:
cp -a /etc/pam.d/gdm-fingerprint /etc/pam.d/gdm-fingerprint.org

Now edit /etc/pam.d/gdm-fingerprint:
nano /etc/pam.d/gdm-fingerprint

Remove the following line:
auth required pam_succeed_if.so user != root quite
(control+o is save and control+x is close)

Now you are able to switch user and login as root.