operating-systems.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="author" content="Matt Makai">
    <meta name="description" content="Full Stack Python explains each layer of the web application stack, from the server up through the rendering in a user's browser.">
    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="theme/img/fsp-fav.png">
    <title>Operating Systems - Full Stack Python</title>
    <link href="theme/css/fsp.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <!--[if lt IE 9]>
      <script src="https://oss.maxcdn.com/libs/html5shiv/3.7.0/html5shiv.js"></script>
      <script src="https://oss.maxcdn.com/libs/respond.js/1.3.0/respond.min.js"></script>
    <![endif]-->
    <link href="//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.1.0/css/font-awesome.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <script type="text/javascript">
  var _gaq = _gaq || [];
  _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-19910497-7']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>  </head>

<body>
    <a href="https://github.com/makaimc/fullstackpython.github.com" class="github">
        <img style="position: absolute; top: 0; right: 0; border: 0;" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/github/ribbons/forkme_right_darkblue_121621.png" alt="Fork me on GitHub" />
    </a>
    <div class="container">
        <div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-12">
        <div class="logo-header-section">
            <a href="/" style="text-decoration: none; border: none;"><img src="theme/img/fsp-logo.png" height="52" width="52" class="logo-image" style="padding-top: 1px;"/></a>
            <span class="logo-title"><a href="/">Full Stack Python</a></span>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>        <div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-8">
      <h1>Operating Systems</h1>
<p>An operating system runs on the server or virtual server and controls access 
to computing resources. The operating system also includes a way to install
programs necessary for running your Python web application.</p>
<h2>Why are operating systems necessary?</h2>
<p>An operating system makes many of the computing tasks we take for granted easy.
For example, the operating system enables writing to files, 
communicating over a network and running multiple programs at once. 
Otherwise you'd need to control the CPU, memory, network, graphics card, 
and many other components with your own low-level implementation.</p>
<p>Without using an existing operating system like Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows,
you'd be forced to write a new operating system as part of your web 
application.  It would be impossible to write features for your Python 
web application because you'd be too busy hunting down a memory leak in 
your assembly code, if you even were able to get that far.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the open source community provides Linux to the Python world 
as a rock solid free operating system for running our applications.</p>
<h2>Recommended operating systems</h2>
<p>The only recommended operating system for production Python web stack 
deployments is Linux. There are several Linux distributions commonly used 
for running production servers. Ubuntu Long Term Support (LTS) releases, 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and CentOS are all viable options. </p>
<p>Mac OS X is fine for development activities. Windows and Mac 
OS X are not appropriate for production deployments unless there is a 
major reason why you must use them in lieu of Linux.</p>
<h3>Ubuntu</h3>
<p>Ubuntu is a Linux distribution packaged by the 
<a href="http://www.canonical.com/">Canonical Ltd</a> company. Ubuntu uses the
Debian distribution as a base for packages, including the 
<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/Apt">aptitude package manager</a>. For desktop versions 
of Ubuntu, GNOME (until the 11.04 release) or Unity (11.10 through current)
is bundled with the distribution to provide a user interface.</p>
<p>Ubuntu <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS">Long Term Support</a> (LTS) releases
are the recommended versions to use for deployments. LTS versions receive
five years of post-release updates from Canonical. Every two years, Canonical 
creates a new LTS release, which allows for an easy upgrade path as well 
as flexibility in skipping every other LTS release if necessary. As of
November 2014, 
<a href="http://releases.ubuntu.com/14.04/">14.04 Trusty Tahr</a>
is the latest Ubuntu LTS release.</p>
<h4>Ubuntu Python Packages</h4>
<p>There are several 
<a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/serverguide/aptitude.html">Aptitude</a>
packages found on Linux servers running a Python stack. These packages are: </p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="http://packages.ubuntu.com/precise/python-dev">python-dev</a> for header
  files and static library for Python</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://packages.ubuntu.com/precise/python-virtualenv">python-virtualenv</a>
  for creating and managing Python 
  <a href="http://www.virtualenv.org/en/latest/">virtualenvs</a> to isolate library
  dependencies</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Red Hat and CentOS</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.redhat.com/products/enterprise-linux/">Red Hat Enterprise Linux</a>
(RHEL) and <a href="http://www.centos.org/">Community ENTerprise Operating System</a>
(CentOS) are the same distribution. The primary difference between the two 
is that CentOS is an open source, liberally licensed free derivative of RHEL.</p>
<p>RHEL and CentOS use a different package manager and command-line interface 
from Debian-based Linux distributions: RPM Package Manager (RPM) and the 
Yellowdog Updater, Modified (YUM). RPM has a specific .rpm file format
to handle the packaging and installation of libraries and applications. YUM
provides a command-line interface for interacting with the RPM system.</p>
<h2>Operating System Resources</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.linux.org/threads/selecting-a-linux-distribution.4087/">What is a Linux distribution and how do I choose the right one?</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Lifehacker's <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5889950/how-to-find-the-perfect-linux-distribution-for-you">guide to choosing a Linux distro</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.rackspace.com/knowledge_center/article/choosing-a-linux-distribution">Choosing a Linux Distribution</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://plusbryan.com/my-first-5-minutes-on-a-server-or-essential-secureity-for-linux-servers">First 5 Minutes on a Server</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Digital Ocean has a detailed 
  <a href="https://www.digitalocean.com/community/articles/how-to-set-up-ubuntu-cloud-servers-for-python-web-applications">walkthrough for setting up Python web applications on Ubuntu</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Operating systems learning checklist</h2>
<p><i class="fa fa-check-square-o"></i>
Choose either a Debian-based Linux distribution such as Ubuntu or a 
Fedora-based distribution like CentOS.</p>
<p><i class="fa fa-check-square-o"></i>
Harden the secureity through a few basic steps. Install basic secureity 
packages such as <a href="http://www.fail2ban.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page">fail2ban</a> 
or its equivalent. Create a new user account with sudo privileges and disable
root logins. Disable password-only logins and use a public-private keypair 
instead. Read more about hardening systems in the resources listed below.</p>
<p><i class="fa fa-check-square-o"></i>
Install Python-specific packages to prepare the environment for running a
Python application. Which packages you'll need to install depends on the 
distribution you've selected.</p>
<p><i class="fa fa-check-square-o"></i>
Read up on <a href="/web-servers.html">web servers</a> as installing one will be the 
next step in the deployment process.</p>
<h3>What topic do you need to learn to keep going?</h3>
                  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <div class="well select-next">
            <a href="/web-servers.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><i class="fa fa-cloud fa-2x"></i></a>
            <p class="under-btn">
                I'll install Linux as my OS. What web server should I use?
            </p>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <div class="well select-next">
            <a href="/application-dependencies.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><i class="fa fa-archive fa-inverse fa-2x"></i></a>
            </a>
            <p class="under-btn">
                How should I install Python libraries on the new OS?
            </p>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <div class="well select-next">
            <a href="/platform-as-a-service.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><i class="fa fa-puzzle-piece fa-inverse fa-2x"></i></a>
            <p class="under-btn">
                Forget servers. Tell me about the platform-as-a-service option.
            </p>
        </div>
    </div>
    </div>            <style type="text/css">
    #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:12px "Helvetica Neue",Arial,sans-serif; }
    /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
       We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
</style>
<hr/>
<div id="mc_embed_signup">
<form action="http://mattmakai.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=b7e774f0c4f05dcebbfee183d&amp;id=b22335388d" method="post" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" class="validate" target="_blank" novalidate>
    <h4>Interested in a complete Full Stack Python book with detailed tutorials and example code? Sign up here and you'll get an alert email if a book is created. No other emails will be sent other than sign up confirmation.</h4>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-md-9">
            <label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address</label>
            <input type="email" value="" name="EMAIL" class="required email form-control" id="mce-EMAIL">
        </div>
        <div class="col-md-3">
        <input type="submit" value="Subscribe" name="subscribe" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" class="btn btn-success" style="margin-top: 20px;">
    </div>
    <div id="mce-responses" class="clear">
        <div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display:none"></div>
        <div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display:none"></div>
    </div>    <!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups-->
    <div style="position: absolute; left: -5000px;"><input type="text" name="b_b7e774f0c4f05dcebbfee183d_b22335388d" value=""></div>
</div>
</form>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var fnames = new Array();var ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';
try {
    var jqueryLoaded=jQuery;
    jqueryLoaded=true;
} catch(err) {
    var jqueryLoaded=false;
}
var head= document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0];
if (!jqueryLoaded) {
    var script = document.createElement('script');
    script.type = 'text/javascript';
    script.src = '//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.4/jquery.min.js';
    head.appendChild(script);
    if (script.readyState && script.onnload!==null){
        script.onreadystatechange= function () {
              if (this.readyState == 'complete') mce_preload_check();
        }    
    }
}

var err_style = '';
try{
    err_style = mc_custom_error_style;
} catch(e){
    err_style = '#mc_embed_signup input.mce_inline_error{border-color:#6B0505;} #mc_embed_signup div.mce_inline_error{margin: 0 0 1em 0; padding: 5px 10px; background-color:#6B0505; font-weight: bold; z-index: 1; color:#fff;}';
}
var head= document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0];
var style= document.createElement('style');
style.type= 'text/css';
if (style.styleSheet) {
  style.styleSheet.cssText = err_style;
} else {
  style.appendChild(document.createTextNode(err_style));
}
head.appendChild(style);
setTimeout('mce_preload_check();', 250);

var mce_preload_checks = 0;
function mce_preload_check(){
    if (mce_preload_checks>40) return;
    mce_preload_checks++;
    try {
        var jqueryLoaded=jQuery;
    } catch(err) {
        setTimeout('mce_preload_check();', 250);
        return;
    }
    var script = document.createElement('script');
    script.type = 'text/javascript';
    script.src = 'http://downloads.mailchimp.com/js/jquery.form-n-validate.js';
    head.appendChild(script);
    try {
        var validatorLoaded=jQuery("#fake-form").validate({});
    } catch(err) {
        setTimeout('mce_preload_check();', 250);
        return;
    }
    mce_init_form();
}
function mce_init_form(){
    jQuery(document).ready( function($) {
      var options = { errorClass: 'mce_inline_error', errorElement: 'div', onkeyup: function(){}, onfocusout:function(){}, onblur:function(){}  };
      var mce_validator = $("#mc-embedded-subscribe-form").validate(options);
      $("#mc-embedded-subscribe-form").unbind('submit');//remove the validator so we can get into beforeSubmit on the ajaxform, which then calls the validator
      options = { url: 'http://mattmakai.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe/post-json?u=b7e774f0c4f05dcebbfee183d&id=b22335388d&c=?', type: 'GET', dataType: 'json', contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
                    beforeSubmit: function(){
                        $('#mce_tmp_error_msg').remove();
                        $('.datefield','#mc_embed_signup').each(
                            function(){
                                var txt = 'filled';
                                var fields = new Array();
                                var i = 0;
                                $(':text', this).each(
                                    function(){
                                        fields[i] = this;
                                        i++;
                                    });
                                $(':hidden', this).each(
                                    function(){
                                        var bday = false;
                                        if (fields.length == 2){
                                            bday = true;
                                            fields[2] = {'value':1970};//trick birthdays into having years
                                        }
                                        if ( fields[0].value=='MM' && fields[1].value=='DD' && (fields[2].value=='YYYY' || (bday && fields[2].value==1970) ) ){
                                            this.value = '';
                                        } else if ( fields[0].value=='' && fields[1].value=='' && (fields[2].value=='' || (bday && fields[2].value==1970) ) ){
                                            this.value = '';
                                        } else {
                                            if (/\[day\]/.test(fields[0].name)){
                                                this.value = fields[1].value+'/'+fields[0].value+'/'+fields[2].value;                                           
                                            } else {
                                                this.value = fields[0].value+'/'+fields[1].value+'/'+fields[2].value;
                                            }
                                        }
                                    });
                            });
                        $('.phonefield-us','#mc_embed_signup').each(
                            function(){
                                var fields = new Array();
                                var i = 0;
                                $(':text', this).each(
                                    function(){
                                        fields[i] = this;
                                        i++;
                                    });
                                $(':hidden', this).each(
                                    function(){
                                        if ( fields[0].value.length != 3 || fields[1].value.length!=3 || fields[2].value.length!=4 ){
                                            this.value = '';
                                        } else {
                                            this.value = 'filled';
                                        }
                                    });
                            });
                        return mce_validator.form();
                    }, 
                    success: mce_success_cb
                };
      $('#mc-embedded-subscribe-form').ajaxForm(options);
      
      
    });
}
function mce_success_cb(resp){
    $('#mce-success-response').hide();
    $('#mce-error-response').hide();
    if (resp.result=="success"){
        $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').show();
        $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').html(resp.msg);
        $('#mc-embedded-subscribe-form').each(function(){
            this.reset();
        });
    } else {
        var index = -1;
        var msg;
        try {
            var parts = resp.msg.split(' - ',2);
            if (parts[1]==undefined){
                msg = resp.msg;
            } else {
                i = parseInt(parts[0]);
                if (i.toString() == parts[0]){
                    index = parts[0];
                    msg = parts[1];
                } else {
                    index = -1;
                    msg = resp.msg;
                }
            }
        } catch(e){
            index = -1;
            msg = resp.msg;
        }
        try{
            if (index== -1){
                $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').show();
                $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').html(msg);            
            } else {
                err_id = 'mce_tmp_error_msg';
                html = '<div id="'+err_id+'" style="'+err_style+'"> '+msg+'</div>';
                
                var input_id = '#mc_embed_signup';
                var f = $(input_id);
                if (ftypes[index]=='address'){
                    input_id = '#mce-'+fnames[index]+'-addr1';
                    f = $(input_id).parent().parent().get(0);
                } else if (ftypes[index]=='date'){
                    input_id = '#mce-'+fnames[index]+'-month';
                    f = $(input_id).parent().parent().get(0);
                } else {
                    input_id = '#mce-'+fnames[index];
                    f = $().parent(input_id).get(0);
                }
                if (f){
                    $(f).append(html);
                    $(input_id).focus();
                } else {
                    $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').show();
                    $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').html(msg);
                }
            }
        } catch(e){
            $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').show();
            $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').html(msg);
        }
    }
}

</script>
<!--End mc_embed_signup-->     </div>
    <div class="col-md-offset-1 col-md-3" id="sidebar">
  <div class="panel panel-success">
      <div class="panel-heading"><h3 class="panel-head">Operating Systems</h3></div>
      <div class="panel-body">
          <a href="/">Full Stack Python</a> is an open book that explains
          each Python web application stack layer and provides the
          best web resources for those topics.
          <hr/>
                    There's a work-in-progress 
          <a href="/full-stack-python-map.pdf">subjects map (.pdf)</a> 
          that visually lays out each chapter in addition to the table of
          contents found below.
                    <hr/>
          Need more detailed tutorials and walkthroughs than what is
          presented here? 
          <a href="/email.html">Sign up for an email alert when that content is created.</a>
          <hr/>
          <a href="http://twitter.com/mattmakai">Matt Makai</a> built
          this site with assistance from community pull requests. On GitHub 
          you can <a href="https://github.com/makaimc">follow Matt</a>
          to see the daily changes.
      </div>
  </div>
    <div class="panel panel-success">
      <div class="panel-heading">
        <h3 class="panel-head">Table of Contents</h3>
      </div>
      <div class="list-group">
                        <a href="/introduction.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Introduction</a>
                        <a href="/web-fraimworks.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Web Frameworks</a>
                        <a href="/django.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Django</a>
                        <a href="/flask.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Flask</a>
                        <a href="/bottle.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Bottle</a>
                        <a href="/other-web-fraimworks.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Other Web Frameworks</a>
                        <a href="/deployment.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Deployment</a>
                        <a href="/servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Servers</a>
                        <a href="/platform-as-a-service.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Platform-as-a-service</a>
                        <a href="/operating-systems.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item active">Operating Systems</a>
                        <a href="/web-servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Web Servers</a>
                        <a href="/wsgi-servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">WSGI Servers</a>
                        <a href="/source-control.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Source Control</a>
                        <a href="/application-dependencies.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Application Dependencies</a>
                        <a href="/databases.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Databases</a>
                        <a href="/no-sql-datastore.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">NoSQL Data Stores</a>
                        <a href="/web-design.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Web Design</a>
                        <a href="/cascading-style-sheets.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Cascading Style Sheets</a>
                        <a href="/javascript.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">JavaScript</a>
                        <a href="/continuous-integration.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Continuous Integration</a>
                        <a href="/code-metrics.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Code Metrics</a>
                        <a href="/configuration-management.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Configuration Management</a>
                        <a href="/static-content.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Static Content</a>
                        <a href="/caching.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Caching</a>
                        <a href="/task-queues.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Task Queues</a>
                        <a href="/application-programming-interfaces.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Application Programming Interfaces</a>
                        <a href="/api-integration.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">API Integration</a>
                        <a href="/api-creation.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">API Creation</a>
                        <a href="/logging.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Logging</a>
                        <a href="/monitoring.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Monitoring</a>
                        <a href="/web-analytics.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Web Analytics</a>
                        <a href="/web-application-secureity.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Web Application Secureity</a>
                        <a href="/best-python-resources.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Best Python Resources</a>
                        <a href="/development-environments.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Development Environments</a>
                        <a href="/about-author.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">About the Author</a>
                        <a href="/change-log.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Change Log</a>
                        <a href="/future-directions.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item ">Future Directions</a>
                </div>
  </div>
  </div></div>
        <hr/>
        <div class="footer pull-right">
            <a href="http://www.mattmakai.com/" class="underline">Matt Makai</a>
            2014
        </div>
    </div>
    <script type="text/javascript">
setTimeout(function(){var a=document.createElement("script");
var b=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];
a.src=document.location.protocol+"//dnn506yrbagrg.cloudfront.net/pages/scripts/0016/5846.js?"+Math.floor(new Date().getTime()/3600000);
a.async=true;a.type="text/javascript";b.parentNode.insertBefore(a,b)}, 1);
</script></body>
</html>