January 20th, 2010

The Articles Repository Grows

Some new articles have been posted to the Slicehost Articles Repository to help customers manage their slices. If you haven't visited our articles site before, it's a collection of tutorials and advice ranging from setting up a new slice to juggling multiple domains on a web server. It's well worth a visit when you're trying to do something new with a slice or optimize a service you already have running.

From Lee we have a pair of articles on working with SSL certificates and keys after they've been created. They cover topics like organizing certificates used by a web server and testing and verifying certificates for common errors before deploying them.
Managing SSL Certificates #1
Managing SSL Certificates #2

Lee also created a series of articles designed to accompany our ebook on DNS administration in SliceManager. The articles describe how to use the "dig" command to test basic DNS configurations before and after they propagate to the Internet, as well as checking a domain using external DNS servers.
Verifying DNS configurations
Using dig with external nameservers
Getting more out of dig

An article written by Greg is a straightforward set of instructions for installing the Apache Tomcat application server for Java servlets and JSPs on Ubuntu Hardy Heron.
Ubuntu Hardy - Installing Apache Tomcat

Jered wrote a set of articles on installing a no-frills apache web server aimed at more experienced administrators that want to get a basic web server up and running with minimal instruction.
Barebones apache install overview

Also from Jered, an article discussing the Spamhaus Policy Block List, how it can affect new mail server installations on slices, and how you can remove a slice's address from the block list quickly and easily.
Removing a mail server from the Spamhaus PBL

Jered is a new face at Slicehost, and also the author of this blog post, so he'll stop talking about himself in the third person now. I'll be primarily responsible for maintaining the articles repository, adding to it, posting articles written by other members of the Slicehost team, and keeping the articles updated in general. I'm still getting my feet wet, but expect many more articles in the future.

With that in mind, please feel free to submit suggestions for additional articles. We have several in the works now, including articles on slice monitoring and security, and are always looking for new ideas.

8 Comments

  1. What software do you guys use to power the Articles section?

  2. Jason,

    Currently, we use a blogging application called Mephisto.

  3. Thanks Jered, and welcome :)

    Is PickledOnion no longer around? I haven’t walked through any of these newer articles yet, but if they’re written in the same style, they should be very helpful.

  4. PickledOnion is still around, but he rarely has time to work on articles anymore (he’s general manager of Slicehost now). He’s been watching me like a hawk, so I wouldn’t dare allow any article through that doesn’t meet his high expectations.

  5. Congrats PickledOnion, great news for us!

  6. Thanks for the SSL articles, they’ll be very handy. :)

    Congrats PickledOnion too. If you manage half as well as you write technical articles, Slicehost is in good hands!

  7. Thank you a lot for the Article Repository. I have read many articles and I wanna say that Jered writes masterpieces! Keep writing on. The most useful ones for me were about DNS configuration and about installing Apache Tomcat. Thanks once again!

  8. Yep! Thanks for the update Jered.

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