Ubuntu Server Guide

A LaTeX book documenting my Ubuntu server learning journey.

About

This project is a guide to using, setting up, and administering Linux servers based on Ubuntu. It is written in LaTeX and grew from my personal Ubuntu learning experience, which began in 2008. I started collecting this guide in 2011 as a way to capture practical server administration techniques, configuration notes, and helpful commands.

Author

Adam Rees – github.com/adamrees89

What is included

• chapters/ — individual LaTeX chapters covering topics like Apache, SSH, Samba, MySQL, mail servers, and more
• supportfiles/ — shared LaTeX setup files, templates, and document configuration
• texlive/ — helper scripts and package lists for installing the LaTeX environment needed to build the guide

Requirements

• Ubuntu-compatible environment for generating the book
• pdflatex to compile the main document
• latexmk for repeated build automation and dependency handling
• python3-pygments to support minted if used in the document
• wget and perl for the TeX Live installer scripts
• GitHub Actions workflow for CI-based builds with cached TeX Live state

Project structure

• Server Set ups.tex — root LaTeX file for the full guide
• chapters/ — chapter source files included into the main document
• supportfiles/ — LaTeX setup, front matter, and helper input files
• texlive/ — install script and package list for managing TeX Live dependencies
• .github/workflows/actions.yml — CI workflow for building the PDF and caching TeX Live

Build instructions

The book is generated using pdflatex from the main TeX source file Server Set ups.tex.

A typical build flow is:

cd <repo-root>
pdflatex 'Server Set ups.tex'

For CI, the workflow installs only the required TeX Live packages and caches the TeX Live installation to speed future builds.

Notes

• The guide is written in LaTeX and is intended for Ubuntu server administration.
• It reflects years of experience and learning gathered since 2008.
• The document is still a work in progress and may contain draft material.

Contributing

If you want to contribute improvements or additional chapters, please open a pull request with LaTeX changes and a short description of the updates.

How to extend this guide

Please see CONTRIBUTING.md

License

This project is available under the terms of the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.