One of the wonderful features about Linux is that you have infinite possibilities for not only what you install, but how. There's much to be learned in firing up a VPS and launching yourself into the step-by-step process of installing and managing all the necessary software "by hand."

That said, having some tools on hand to make some of these tasks a little bit easier, or give more visibility into the goings-on of your server, isn't a bad idea either. Here's some to get you started, from all the way across the board.

1. EasyEngine

A good portion of VPS deployments are for hosting a single Wordpress blog. While the end result is fairly simplistic, the requisite steps necessary to install Wordpress and its dependencies—nginx, PHP, and MySQL—are time-consuming. Those new to Linux administration might also find them daunting. There's always something like Puppet modules[https://forge.puppet.com/hunner/wordpress] to help automate the process, but even that's complicated.

EasyEngine aims to make this process as easy as entering two commands:

wget -qO ee rt.cx/ee && sudo bash ee

sudo ee site create example.com --wp

Running these commands means you trust EasyEngine the hidden work it's doing on your VPS—never hurts to check up on the source code. Of course, using an automated install like EasyEngine means you aren't really learning anything about administration—a blessing in the time saved, and a potential curse if something goes awry.

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