Headless

[rmasonjr]

I'd like to run the Pine64 as a headless Linux server - no GUI and no additional software.  Really just a barebones system and then slowly add the packages I need.

What distros can I load for a headless server?

[Luke]

I'd like to run the Pine64 as a headless Linux server - no GUI and no additional software.  Really just a barebones system and then slowly add the packages I need.

What distros can I load for a headless server?

You've actually got quite a few options. 

You can use Lenny's debian image without DE or longsleep's Ubuntu image without DE that you can download via the official wiki (top of forum) or here: https://www.pine64.pro/downloads/

You can also give DietPi a go: http://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=1068

I trust this help

[pictus]

or use an Arch Image. Every distro here in the Forum runs without a desktop enviroment, you have to install it.

Ubuntu
its nice, it works fine, many packages available, more then debian

Debian
had some problems with some images here, but i think those are fixed.
for a headless solution, and "apt-get" user its perfect

Arch
Realy great! A little bit strange for me. Because I use debian devirates (elemantary, debian, mint, ubuntu) most of the time. I love the concept and how it works but have no time to look into it.

[Luke]

or use an Arch Image. Every distro here in the Forum runs without a desktop enviroment, you have to install it.

Ubuntu
its nice, it works fine, many packages available, more then debian

Debian
had some problems with some images here, but i think those are fixed.
for a headless solution, and "apt-get" user its perfect

Arch
Realy great! A little bit strange for me. Because I use debian devirates (elemantary, debian, mint, ubuntu) most of the time. I love the concept and how it works but have no time to look into it.

Yup, then there is Arch. But no one is is maintaining it currently so I do not recommend it. What issues did you experience with debian ?

[jl_678]

Hi,

I played with both Ubuntu and Debian and found that for my use Debian worked better. It has older packages, but I encountered fewer issues implementing certain functionality like headless Selenium and Python. All that said, you could easily go with Ubuntu as well as it was solid too. I just had some issues with certain elements that may have been due to user error, but I did not have time to troubleshoot especially when Debian worked out of the box.

Thank you.

[Luke]

Hi,

I played with both Ubuntu and Debian and found that for my use Debian worked better.  It has older packages, but I encountered fewer issues implementing certain functionality like headless Selenium and Python.  All that said, you could easily go with Ubuntu as well as it was solid too.  I just had some issues with certain elements that may have been due to user error, but I did not have time to troubleshoot especially when Debian worked out of the box.

Thank you.

I may add to this by saying that I found it somewhat easier to build a LAMP server on Debian than Ubuntu (issues with php5.6 / 7). But this could just be me.

[rmasonjr]

Thanks guys.  I'm really looking for a a distro that is as 'lean' as possible, meaning nothing much running in memory or installed on the SD card.  
I think I'll install webmin on one of the distros then, turn off and remove the installed packages until it is lean.

What I'm doing is building a system that will run .NET mono apps that run in a network of Pi units all communicating together.  

Thanks!
Rob

[pictus]

Yup, then there is Arch. But no one is is maintaining it currently so I do not recommend it. What issues did you experience with debian ?

I didnt test the latest images, older ones (March/ April) did not start after compiling some stuff. Everything stays black, don´t know where the error is.
I will test a newer Image this week, and try to setup all required stuff, think it should run a little bit faster then ubuntu

[Luke]

Yup, then there is Arch. But no one is is maintaining it currently so I do not recommend it. What issues did you experience with debian ?

I didnt test the latest images, older ones (March/ April) did not start after compiling some stuff. Everything stays black, don´t know where the error is.
I will test a newer Image this week, and try to setup all required stuff, think it should run a little bit faster then ubuntu

Alright  here is the link to the newest debian.