Here are simplified instructions for installing Aegir on a server, quickly and easily.

The fastest way to install Aegir is on the latest Ubuntu Server LTS (Long Term Support). Currently 12.04.

Command Summary

Here is every command, ready to copy and paste.

It is highly recommended to read through the Installation Instructions step by step to give yourself the feel for how this is done. In addition, if you are not already familiar in Linux system administration, please read up on the subject. Standard linux security protocols should be followed.

Installation Instructions

Enter all commands in code boxes exactly as they are written.

ALL commands should be entered as root user until these instructions are complete. After that, you should never have to use the root user.

Self-installation of Ubuntu has you create an additional user in the admin group, which means they can sudo. If you are using a cloud hosting service, it likely just sent you root user credentials. Server security and user management is up to you. Don't give away access to root or the aegir user unless you know what you are doing. Follow standard web host best practices

For a summary of all needed commands, scroll to the bottom of the page.

1. Fire up a new server

   • Use Ubuntu 11.04 Server Edition for the smoothest and most reliable installation experience.
   • Make sure it has at least 1024MB, preferably 2048MB of memory. Depending on your host you will have to configure a hostname. It can be convenient to call this 'aegir'.
   • If you want the smoothest installation, create a brand new server. There will be the least chance of conflicts if you start with a brand new Ubuntu 11.04 server. If you use Ubuntu Desktop, you should be able follow these instructions without any problems.
   • Run all commands as root. If you are not root, enter
     sudo su

2. Add the project repositories and archive key

   Use this command to add the Aegir package "Software Source" repository to your system:

   echo "deb http://debian.aegirproject.org stable main" | tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/aegir-stable.list
   Use this command to add the archive key to your keyring:
   wget -q http://debian.aegirproject.org/key.asc -O- | apt-key add -
   Then, finally, update your apt repositories:
   apt-get update

3. Install configure Aegir and dependencies

   Once you have added the repositories, you can now fire off the standard debian installation command. For Aegir 1.x, the command is:

   apt-get install aegir
   For Aegir 2.x, the command is:
   apt-get install aegir2
   This fires off the installation script for AEgir, along all dependencies including Apache, MySQ and PHP. You will be asked a number of questions about your server.
   • You will be asked to create a MySQL root user password. Make this long and random and type it down somewhere safe, you won't need it very often, but you will need it later on in the installation process.
   • In Postfix Configuration: Choose Internet Site, unless you have a reason otherwise. When asked for the System mail name, pick either the hostname (default) or the domain name you will be hosting this server on.
   • In Configure aegir-hostmaster, you will be asked to choose a "URL of the hostmaster frontend". This should be either the hostname (default) or the domain name the server will be hosting, with "aegir" as a subdomain. For example, "aegir.example.com". You may want to change this to whatever you prefer, just don't forget it as it will be where you use the Aegir front-end.
   • After entering your domain, Aegir Hostmaster installation will ask you for the MySQL root password you created earlier. You did write it down, didn't you?
     NOTE: The current DEB package requires you to enter the MySQL root password twice. When this script is done, if everything went ok, after a lot of other interesting information, you should see this:
     Aegir is now installed. You can visit it at http://test/user/reset/1/1329504351/eda205d9a27abde400a27cf160dff69a
***... frontend bootstrap correctly, operation was a success!
Setting up aegir (1.6-1) ...
Setting up libhtml-template-perl (2.9-2) ...
Setting up mysql-server (5.1.54-1ubuntu4) ...
Setting up php5 (5.3.5-1ubuntu7.7) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
root@test:~#

   At this point, everything is installed. Visit the link the script provided you to check out the frontend. Switch to the aegir user to check out the backend:

   su - aegir

   Once you are the aegir user, check out the drush site aliases it gives you. @hostmaster is the alias for the new front-end you created. You will get new site aliases for every platform and site you create.

   drush site-aliases

4. Give yourself access to the server

   As the "Administrators Manual" can tell you, you should only manage the Aegir server from the backend as the aegir user.

   However, by default, the aegir user cannot sudo (except to restart apache). The aegir user also does not have a password. Therefor, the only way to become aegir is to sudo su - aegir from a user that can.

   So, to finish the server, you should give yourself a personal account that you can use to login to the server with a password in case all of your SSH keys get lost.

   To add yourself as a user:

   adduser yourname
   Then fill out the little wizard it gives you.

   //@TODO: Add some helpful notes about SSH keys and remote aliases.

   Install SSH on your server, generating your SSH keys and install them on your Ubuntu server. (Directions to generate your SSH keys are assuming your PC is Ubuntu as well, Windows users look below for SSH directions)

   • Tutorial: https://help.ubuntu.com/11.04/serverguide/C/openssh-server.html

   If using Windows, you must use Putty, PuttyGen, and PuttyPageant to generate and use your SSH keys.

   • Tutorial #1: http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.53b/htmldoc/Chapter8.html
   • Tutorial #2: http://www.howtoforge.com/ssh_key_based_logins_putty

   You will want to also be a part of the aegir and www-data groups so you can write to some of their files:

   addgroup yourname aegir
addgroup yourname www-data

5. Start Using!

   Now that aegir is installed, head to the User Manual page to get your first platform and site up and running.

Credits

This document was originally based on http://community.aegirproject.org/installing/debian but has been trimmed down to list only the steps you need to use on an Ubuntu server to get Aegir up and running as quickly and easily as possible.