
Know a little about the instructor and his experience in the use and deployment of VPSs
Take a preliminary look at what you will accomplish and learn by the end of the course.
Know the advantages and responsibilities of having your own VPS server
Some useful tools that you may need during the course
Choose a provider for your VPS. Although DigitalOcean is recommended, you can use any other.
Create an account in the provider used during the course (DigitalOcean). Again, you do not have to use DigitalOcean, but I can recommend it.
Although you can surely use SSH on your system, here I share details and alternatives, especially if you are on Windows.
Create a pair of SSH keys that you will use later to connect safely and efficiently with your VPS.
It is time to create your VPS with Ubuntu 20.04, in the provider you selected.
Let's get sure why an LTS is good.
What if you have Ubuntu 22.04 offered when creating your VPS?
Now that your VPS has been created, explore the details about SSH to connect to it safely
Configure your system so that you can connect much faster and easier to your VPS without having to remember complex information.
Make sure the connection to your VPS is not lost, by modifying the SSH settings on your local system.
Finally, it is time to point your existing domain (or domains) to your VPS, to use them later.
First of all, it is important to learn how to navigate and move between the VPS locations properly.
Learn to manage VPS files.
Learn to manage folders or directories of the VPS
In this class, you will see very useful tricks to be much more agile and confident in the command line and do everything much faster.
Learn to keep your VPS packages and systems updated with apt.
Manage different processes with the systemctl command.
At some point you will need it, so let's see the details about restarting your VPS and its services.
Go further and learn how to connect your VPS with useful third-party services, through SSH
Learn about cronjobs and recurring tasks on the VPS, as they are a common need.
Learn how to create and eventually delete VPS users for when you need it
Now that you have another user, learn how to securely access them through SSH and SSH keys
Now that you have a new user and you can log in with it, make sure to give it administrative capabilities, as it will be needed later.
The root user is very important, so you will need to disable direct access to that user after this class, and then disallow password log in.
Configure a simple firewall to block access to any VPS port, except for the necessary ones.
Learn to assign permissions correctly on your VPS as well as understand how the permission system works in Linux.
Use Fail2Ban to avoid brute force attacks to your VPS access and keep attackers away.
The first step will be to install the Nginx web server on your system, to provide access to your projects.
Once Nginx is installed, take a look at important files and locations as they will be very handy later.
Take a look at the Nginx sites configuration, to learn the essential parameters to configure any other site in Nginx
Now that you know the configuration, it is time to use it to display your first website in Nginx.
Follow the steps in the previous class to add a sub-domain. In the end, it is the same thing, but with a different name.
The first step will be to install MySQL on your VPS
Learn to use MySQL from a connection to the VPS, to create a user and database and, by the way, understand some details of use and access to the root user
Set up an SSH tunnel to easily connect to your database from your local computer and easily manage your databases.
It starts by preventing access to locations that can be sensitive like .git and .htaccess files and folders
Prevent Nginx from sharing extra information in the headers of your responses.
Configure Nginx to add different security headers in the responses and avoid XSS, Sniff attacks, among others.
Optimize the size of your responses and your projects by compressing them with Gzip
Configure Nginx to avoid abuse of connections and traffic volume abuse from possible DoS and DDoS attacks.
Make sure to properly redirect traffic from invalid sites, to avoid duplicates of your sites and protect them from "hijacking"
Learn a little about Letsencrypt and Certbot to obtain the security certificates for your sites.
Install Certbot on your VPS for later use, obtain, and configure secure connections in Nginx.
Obtain security certificates for all sites on the VPS automatically.
Take a look at the changes applied by Certbot and its usage details on your VPS
Check how Certbot has managed to adapt the configuration of your sites in Nginx, to provide secure HTTPS connections on your websites.
Verify with external services that your sites have the maximum security and adequate configuration.
Create, configure, and secure your own Virtual Private Server (VPS) with a high-security rating while using the best services, security, and speed settings for all your projects.
In this course, you are going to create, configure, and deploy your VPS server from scratch, set it correctly, with high-security measures, and the most recommended mechanisms.
Always use secure protocols such as SSH to connect with your VPS and HTTPS to protect your websites and projects.
Forget the insecure passwords, so you can establish secure connections with your server with the SSH protocol, without problems and achieve anything you need.
Additionally, protect all your services and sites, setting them behind Cloudflare for high protection, speed, and security enhancements.
Deploy all your projects with your proper domain, with infinite possibilities, at no additional cost.
Keep your own space in the cloud for all your jobs, projects, and ideas,
Deploy all types of projects in the same instance, and with the number of domains and sub-domains that you want, without having additional costs.
Now, during the course is recommended to use DigitalOcean, but you are free to create your VPS with the provider you want or need. You can follow the course using any fresh instance of Ubuntu 20.04LTS in your selected VPS provider. Everything will be done from scratch and step by step, without relying on additional features from exclusive services.
Install and deploy a complete system with Linux/Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Cloudflare, Let's Encrypt, Certbot, Nginx y MySQL; also as an additional bonus, there is additional content on how to deploy and publish popular projects such as WordPress, Laravel and more that will be added over time.
Why take this course?
Because it uses the latest Long Term Support (LTS) version of Ubuntu, which is Ubuntu 20.04LTS. You won't have to worry about switching to another version for at least two long years.
Because there is no other online course that explains with this level of detail each step to be taken, because Let's Encrypt is a novelty, along with the use of Cloudflare as a protection service, and you will not find content that teaches you to use it in the way that It is done in this course (the correct and simple way).
Because you will learn the best standards to obtain the highest security rating (A+) in the sites that you secure while following the course.
Because, nowadays the main browsers are demanding secure HTTPS connections in any online site or service, and by following the course, you will be able to secure all your systems for free through Nginx, Let's Encrypt, Certbot and Cloudflare.
Because you will have the flexibility to deploy any kind of project, and the course already includes specific steps to deploy popular PHP projects like WordPress and Laravel (and more to come).
What will you learn and obtain by following and finishing the course?
At the end of this course, you will be able to deploy your own VPS server and your own services on it, shortly and eadily. All under the best security measures and with the protection of Cloudflare to increase the security and speed of your sites.
You will have your own projects online without additional costs because, no matter how many domains, sub-domains or projects you put in your VPS, the cost will remain the same.
At the end of all the classes, you will have all your projects under a completely secure server, with HTTPS/TLS connections completely free through Letsencrypt and with an A+ rating on the secured sites.
But... What exactly will you learn?
Here you have everything you can get from this course:
Create your own VPS server with DigitalOcean or any provider you choose
Have a safe and friendly system with Linux/Ubuntu using its most recent LTS version (Ubuntu 20.04)
Deploy an Nginx web server in a few minutes and with the best security settings
Deploy a MySQL database server completely secure
Establish secure remote connections to your database with SSH tunnels
Easily configure and use Git to deploy the different projects on your VPS via SSH
Learn alternative tools such as SCP and WGet to synchronize content with your VPS
Obtain external packages and install them globally (Composer, Certbot, WP-CLI)
Create and configure your domain and all sub-domains, without having to pay extra
Point your domain to your VPS server by configuring the DNS entries
Secure your services and projects with the DDoS protection along with security and speed enhancements from Cloudflare
Connect to your VPS remotely, quickly and securely using SSH keys
Manage user accounts and prevent automated and external systems from accessing privileges (root)
Learn to use the essential commands (cd, systemctl, cp, sudo, mv, rm, mkdir, reboot, and many more)
Learn how to manage VPS packages with apt easily
Assign permissions on folders and files in the correct way
Configure secure and mandatory non-password connections with SSH
Forget about insecure passwords for all the users and use SSH keys (more secure and fast)
Create and handle users correctly with administrative permissions (sudo)
Deploy any kind of projects (not only PHP) in secured and protected domains and connections
If you use PHP, deploy different PHP projects like WordPress and Laravel on their own independent sites
It won't be PHP only, use and deploy any type of project you require (more will come later)
Understand and take advantage of the use of SSH to connect to your VPS or external services
Connect with third party service through SSH keys correctly
Easily configure a firewall (UFW) and dramatically increase the security of your VPS
Configure your services (Nginx, PHP, MySQL, and anything you need) to make them more secure
Mitigate DoS and DDoS attacks configuring Nginx along with Cloudflare as a protection service
Prevent automated systems from trying to access your VPS, using Fail2Ban
Enable the Gzip compression system on your web server
Avoid CSS/XSS attacks with Nginx
Get security certificates for HTTPS connections for your projects with Let's Encrypt and Certbot
Install the security certificates in Nginx correctly, to obtain an A+ security rating
Use Certbot to obtain and install the Let's Encrypt security certificates automatically
Create, use, and secure all the domains and sub-domains that you require for any project
Easily deploy any kind of project on your VPS, applying everything you learned
Learn to deploy and synchronize projects with your VPS in the correct and efficient way
And it does not end there! You will have lifetime access to all classes, which includes new upcoming classes and upgrades. You will also have first-hand access to the system of questions, messages, and answers. I will answer all your questions and comments (I always reply). I will be pleased to help with any problem and doubt you have during the course.
Do not wait anymore. Learn all these skills now. Click on "Register" and start feeling the freedom of having your own VPS.
See you in classes :)