1.4 Initial Configuration

Once the system reboots, you are faced with a black screen and a login prompt. What now?

login: user
Password:

2. Root Privileges (Sudo)

By default, you are a regular user. You cannot break the system. To perform admin tasks (installing, editing configs), you need sudo.

# Run a single command as root
sudo apt update

# Switch to a root shell (be careful!)
sudo -i
# or
sudo su -

Ensure your server knows its name.

# Check current hostname
hostnamectl

# Set new hostname
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname myserver.example.com

Verify you have connectivity.

# Check IP address
ip addr show

# Check connectivity (Internet)
ping -c 4 google.com

# Check DNS
nslookup google.com

Ubuntu (Netplan): /etc/netplan/*.yaml
Rocky (NetworkManager): nmcli or /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/

You rarely sit physically in front of a server. You manage it remotely via SSH.

From your laptop/workstation:

ssh user@<server-ip-address>