I’m hoping to get some qualified feedback in regards to whether or not any Nextcloud admins, who in fact use Ubuntu, decide to use Ubuntu Desktop as the “backbone OS” for their NC installs or simply stick to Ubuntu Server. Currently, I use Ubuntu Server and I have no issues administrating this system; however, I think that some of the GUI apps that I can get w/ Desktop may be helpful in maintaining the NC server environment. Has anyone done this or is this just plain stupid? Has anyone created a stripped-down version of Ubuntu Desktop for something like this and if so, do you have any documentation about this?
Out of all my servers, I have personally opted for no GUIs. However, if I were to do a GUI on a server, I would start with server and then add a GUI. This is to 1: reduce bloat and 2: reduce security risks from all the unnecessary software that comes with Ubuntu desktop. The more software you have installed, the greater your attack surface.
Got it! I’ve heard about adding a GUI after installing Server, but have never done it.
I came across this tonight: http://ajenti.org/
Has anyone had any experience w/ it?
Thanks, stratacat!
I do not know that. But I’ve been using cockpit. I find it very useful because you can use the shell at the same time by ssh und you can manage several machines.
Have been using Ajenti… works fine but is more geared towards a home server and not a VPS or something like that. Needs Python though… but is very easy to set up under Ubuntu.
There’s not a tremendous advantage to desktop tbh. You’ll get a GUI to edit text files and copy files/folders to their required places… it’s more beneficial imo to take a couple extra days to learn a few things on the CLI and you’ll never look back!
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Thank you to everyone for your input! Much appreciated!
@JasonBayton I’ve been using CLI via Ubuntu Server 16.04 for the better part of a year with no issues. I guess I was just looking to get some of the GUI tools that can be found under Desktop and find a way to use them under Server.
@JoMatr I’m going to give Cockpit a try. Thanks!