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This question might be an odd one to ask. However I'm a noob on linux/networking and trying to set my old Ubuntu desktop running computer as a web server and place that in my server cabinet which will link to few other computers, linked to the same LAN and those could access my Ubuntu web server. This Ubuntu computer(CPU tower) is gonna loose it's monitor, keyboard and all the other peripherals and go inside my server cabinet. And this machine should only work withing office working hours (turning on/off required).

My problem is after set up this CPU tower inside the server cabin. 1. After someone turn on the machine, how to login as a user without glancing at a monitor? 2. When this machine needs to be turned off, is there any suggestion how to perform it?

Additionally, I know I 'm gonna install openSSH server and turning off and other operations can be performed via SSH.

Is this is the way small offices configure there web servers?

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    It's a server. Why do you want to turn it off? Jan 5, 2014 at 2:20
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    Servers operate 24/7/365 (maintenance windows aside). People don't stroll into the office in the morning and power their servers on. They stay on all the time.
    – MDMarra
    Jan 5, 2014 at 2:49
  • This server is only for testing our inhouse web applications. So no need to keep it on after office hours (as far as I know.) However yours suggestions are considerable.
    – inckka
    Jan 5, 2014 at 3:35

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Is this is the way small offices configure there web servers?

No, that's the way home user configure "servers". As pointed out earlier, really don't know why you would shut it down. But if it's really a valid requirement, you would configure a cron job to shut it down.

As for "After someone turn on the machine, how to login as a user without glancing at a monitor?" - why logging on? A server shouldn't need someone logged on. If it's a web server (apache?) then it just starts as a daemon process, no GUI involved, thus no login involved.

If you install SSH then you can remotely log on to it. That's all you would really need on a linux server usually, I never had a web server with a Window manager installed, only headless.

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it sounds to me that, as Inckka said its for testing applications. I would imagine that they need to log on to configure and install/remove various things. https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/serverguide/openssh-server.html , follow these directions to istall and configure OpenSSH and create a set of keys, then you can link your server to a computer on the network, if you are using Ubuntu computers on the network you can log into the server via the terminal on your Ubuntu laptop/desktop, if Windows then proceed with these directions: http://www.havetheknowhow.com/Configure-the-server/Install-Putty.html

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I imagine the reason the OP wants to shut it down is due to the energy consumption. While in most office buildings, the extra $20-$30 a month for electricity is either covered in the lease, or a negligible cost... especially in a company where people work late. That being said, you can power off your server every night and turn it back on. I would recommend using SSH to remotely access it without a keyboard/mouse. If you plan on using a GUI like Ubuntu-Desktop for certain functions, you should be able to enable VNC on it. Most pro-users would say to just learn how to use SSH, especially for a web server, and frankly I agree. I can't remember the last time I used a Unix GUI on anything but my mac. There is a lot to learn from your first server, and no matter what anyone tells you, don't do rm -rf / . Remember to learn how to back things up as you learn to do other things, and have some fun with BASH scripting!

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