Initial steps to properly setup Ubuntu Server

Every time I deploy a new ubuntu server for some kind of web development project I always have a list of commands I have to execute to prepare the server. These are what I call initial preparation for ubuntu server. The purpose for these initial setup commands to make sure we have the latest updates, set locale settings and setup security logins.

Here are my list of commands for ubuntu initial setup (grouped by purpose)

Group 1 - Initial Updates

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get install build-essential
apt-get install curl

Group 2 - Set Local Settings (language and time zone)

locale-gen en_US en_US.UTF-8
dpkg-reconfigure locales
dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Group 3 - Setup Security and Login

ssh-keygen -t rsa
nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

(optional) - to support PPA and Python

apt-get install software-properties-common 

As you can see... the commands above WILL NOT install any specific server functionality. But it will setup a solid base for you to start building whatever server you need.