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Using Ansible to manage your VPSs – Part One
Ansible is a system to automate the updating of server configurations and other administration tasks. In this post I’ll explain what’s necessary to get started with Ansible, creating a configuration structure, telling Ansble about your hosts and running ad-hock commands on multiple hosts. Ansible is useful when you have 3 or more VPSs and need…
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New options for reduced VM pricing!
Not every server needs priority CPU, backups, and 24×7 fully managed support. We have added a few options on our http://launchtimevps.com ordering interface to let you tweak these settings to enable you to get a lower price for your server if that is appropriate. Option to enable/disable backups. Less disk space usage costs less. Select…
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LXD containers now available for Ubuntu
The latest Ubuntu LTS release, Xenial 16.04 , comes with support for a container system called LXD. LXD builds on the existing LXC container system, allowing for more convenient management of those containers. In this post I show how you can test out LXD containers on a Rimu VPS running Ubuntu 16.04. I assume you…
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How to get an A pass SSL rating for your SSL website
Everyone wants security, and its ideal that your SSL certificates are also secure. With this in mind, websites like SSLLabs have a testing tool that is used to grade the SSL certificate installed on your server. Often people get a low ranking when its fairly easy to get an A. I could make this post…
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Monitor sites for exploits
We dislike dealing with exploited websites. A common cause is “the long forgotten outdated install from a web developer who left years ago. hoping works forever”. Public facing services need to be kept updated in order to remain secure, so script-kiddies can’t use your server for abuse, like selling dodgy medicinal products. One would always…
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Install ownCloud on a Rimu VPS
Owncloud is a popular file storage and synchronization system, with many additional features available for it. It’s a self-hosted alternative to systems like dropbox, but with owncloud your files are stored on your own servers. This allows you to meet requirements to keep data in a certain jurisdiction, for example, or it might give you…
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Ubuntu 16.04 LTS is here!
We are pleased to announce the availability of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS server for new setups. This release has been code named Xenial Xerus. The official release notes are available from the Ubuntu team here. Our new VPS images are based on the official builds provided directly from http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com Significant updates in this release include
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Keeping WordPress secure
According to Wikipedia, “WordPress is the most popular blogging system in use on the Web, at more than 60 million websites.” It’s also the most commonly installed blogging system on our customers’ servers, and we use it to run the blog you’re reading right now. One factor that has contributed to WordPress ‘s popularity is…
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Debian Squeeze (6) ends support – time to upgrade
February 29th, 2016 marks the end of LTS Support for Debian Squeeze, which is still used by many of our customers. This means that updates for known security issues will no longer be produced and over time, a server running this version will become vulnerable to being exploited. Squeeze was released in 2011 and was…
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VM hosting now available at NextDC in Sydney
We are happy to announce we are now offering VM hosting out of the NextDC facility in Sydney! Some highlights: Uptime Institute Tier III certification. N+1 power and cooling. Hot and cold aisles for peak cooling power efficiency. Cardboard- (and dust-) free data halls. Locked cabinets. Inert gas fire suppressant. Financially stable, publicly listed data…