System Administration
Good system administration recognises the following tenets :-
- There will be multiple administrators over the lifetime of a system
- The purpose of a system is to complete specified tasks, not just to exist
- The environment around a system changes all the time
- No system is perfect; they all need some level of attention
Use the repository, Luke
Because there will be multiple administrators, the more “standard” you make it, the easier it will be for the next sysadmin to get their job done. All software should be installed via the same mechanism, all configuration should be in a well-known place.
In practice, that means “install all software via the Debian/Ubuntu repository”. Everything. If you insist on having private builds of software, set up your own repository for them, don’t just copy code onto the server. And follow the Debian packaging standards for file locations, too.
Update regularly
Because the Debian/Ubuntu repositories only provide applications that are well-packaged, you can trust that an update is going to work, over 99% of the time absolutely correctly with minimal downtime. And the changes themselves will be essential ones, security fixes only. Get and apply your updates often.
Control your configuration
The actual configuration of each of your applications is the easiest place to introduce problems & breakages. Protect your configuration files carefully, either by checking all changes into version control, or by defining them in a configuration management system.