Problem with Linux distributions

[coupsan]

I was attempting to use Gentoo yesterday, along with two other Linux distros, on my server. Gentoo was working beautifully and had allowed me to access the VPS using SSH and was, in general, much easier to manage than Windows. Anyway, the only problem is that, because I'm new to Linux, I couldn't find a file that I was apparently supposed to edit, called iptables. I guess I was supposed to edit and forward certain ports so that that the game server could contact certain Steam servers.

Anyway, I couldn't find it, and I couldn't find any documentation on the Gentoo site that helped. I didn't think that this was really a problem because there are other distros that I could manually install using the virtual images provided in the control panel.

"Well," I thought. "Let's try Debian."

Of course, I figured it couldn't be that much different, but definitely worth a try. The installation seemed pretty much automated and wasn't giving me much trouble--until, unfortunately, I faced a problem with DHCP servers. No idea where that issue stemmed from, but I figured it had to do with the server's connection to the internet.

And it did. Happened with Ubuntu, too, which I tried to install out of desperation. So, I switched back to Server 2003, rather disappointed in my attempted venture into the land of Linux.

I'd really like to try using Linux again, but there's no real point if I can't connect to the internet.

Thanks.

[Edge100x]

iptables is a command line tool that you can use to set firewall rules. With the preconfigured Gentoo install that we provide through our virtual server control panel, you don't need to worry about using it unless you want to add a firewall to the machine -- the firewall comes turned off by default, and no ports need to be manually forwarded. You can immediately fire up the game server you'd like to run from its /usr/steam/xxxx directory and it should come right up.

When installing another distribution, you'll need to manually specify at least one of the IP address(es) that we give you when the install utility asks you to configure your network settings. The "IP list" page in the control panel contains a complete list of your IPs. It also lists the netmask and gateway for each one, which the installer will also ask for.

[coupsan]

Oh, ha, I feel really dumb now! Thank you very much, I'll try one of the distros eventually.