Ubuntu

When starting a new server, we tend to use stock images of the Ubuntu server and default installation process. The focus is on developing and improving the application code. The base operating system is not given much attention until we hit some performance issues. Once you reach the tip of application level optimizations and have collected all low-hanging fruit, the next obvious target is system monitoring and resource optimization. In this article, we will focus on various performance monitoring tools.

In this article, we will cover the following recipes:

• Monitoring the CPU
• Monitoring memory and swap
• Monitoring the network
• Monitoring storage
• Setting performance benchmarks

OwnCloud is a self-hosted file storage and synchronization service. It provides client tools to upload and sync all your files to a central storage server. You can access all your data through a well-designed web interface, which can be accessed on any device of your choice. In addition to a simple contact service, OwnCloud supports contacts, email, and calendar synchronization. Plus, all your data is stored on your own server, making it a more secure option.

This recipe covers another open source collaboration tool, Mattermost. Mattermost is a modern communication tool that includes one-to-one chat, group chat IRC-like channels, file sharing, and a super-fast search functionality. It can be thought of as a modern IRC tool. Mattermost is well known as an open source Slack alternative, but the Mattermost website says it is not limited to being a Slack alternative. You can find a list of features at http://www.mattermost.org/features .

In this recipe, we will install a collaborative document editor, Hackpad. It is a document editor based on an open source editor, EtherPad. Hackpad was acquired by Dropbox, and in early 2015 they open sourced its code.

Getting ready

You will need a system with at least 2 GB of memory.

As always, you will need an account with super user privileges.

How to do it…

VNC (Virtual Network Computing) enables us to access the GUI of a remote system over a secured network. The VNC client installed on a local system captures the input events of a mouse and keyboard and transfers them to the remote VNC server. Those events are executed on a remote system and the output is sent back to the client. VNC is a desktop sharing tool and is generally used to access the desktop system for remote administration and technical support.

This article covers various collaboration tools. Collaboration enables people to share thoughts and solve problems collectively. With the help of the Internet, we can communicate quickly and more effectively. Tools such as WhatsApp and Slack have changed the way we communicate personally, as well as in corporate life. Services such as Google Docs hosts our documents in the cloud, which can then be shared with multiple people and simultaneously modified by them. Need a comment on your latest edit? Click that chat button and send your request. Need to discuss face to face?

In this article, we will cover the following recipes:

• Installing the VNC Server
• Installing Hackpad, a collaborative document editor
• Installing Mattermost – a self-hosted slack alternative
• Installing OwnCloud, self-hosted cloud storage

One of the more interesting features of Git is hooks. With hooks, you can tie an arbitrary script to various Git events. Whenever a particular event, such as a git commit or git push, occurs, the script attached to that event gets executed.

Now that we have set up our own Git hosting and created a new user account, we can start using our Git hosting by creating a new Git repository.

Getting ready

This recipe uses the GitLab setup. Make sure that you have followed the previous recipe and installed your GitLab server.

Log in with your user account on the GitLab server. You can choose the admin account, but a normal user account is recommended.