--- title: Initial Server Setup with Ubuntu 20.04 | daily.dev description: A comprehensive guide to securing a fresh Ubuntu 20.04 server by creating a non-root sudo user, configuring SSH key authentication, and enabling UFW firewall.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/initial-server-setup-with-ubuntu-20-04-vwu1c0x2t twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Initial Server Setup with Ubuntu 20.04 | daily.dev og:description: A comprehensive guide to securing a fresh Ubuntu 20.04 server by creating a non-root sudo user, configuring SSH key authentication, and enabling UFW firewall.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/initial-server-setup-with-ubuntu-20-04-vwu1c0x2t og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/VWU1C0X2t.png og:image:alt: Initial Server Setup with Ubuntu 20.04 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Initial Server Setup with Ubuntu 20.04 **[DigitalOcean Community](https://daily.dev/sources/do_community)** · 22 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A comprehensive guide to securing a fresh Ubuntu 20.04 server by creating a non-root sudo user, configuring SSH key authentication, and enabling UFW firewall. Covers essential security hardening steps including disabling root login, setting up automatic security updates, and configuring Fail2Ban. Includes troubleshooting tips, automation scripts, and best practices for production server deployment. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Hands-On: Setting Up My First Production-Ready Ubuntu Server](https://daily.dev/posts/hands-on-setting-up-my-first-production-ready-ubuntu-server-bbfuvve1z) · Medium · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Secure your Linux server in minutes: The baseline security checklist](https://daily.dev/posts/secure-your-linux-server-in-minutes-the-baseline-security-checklist-wn5ifltwt) · All Things Open · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Hardening SSH: Fail2Ban, Nftables & Cloud Firewalls](https://daily.dev/posts/hardening-ssh-fail2ban-nftables-cloud-firewalls-btns6dfx7) · DigitalOcean Community · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Linux Server Hardening: What to Do First and Why It Matters](https://daily.dev/posts/linux-server-hardening-what-to-do-first-and-why-it-matters-4tf1eutt4) · Latest Hacking News · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security), [#devops](https://daily.dev/tags/devops), [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#ubuntu](https://daily.dev/tags/ubuntu), [#ssh](https://daily.dev/tags/ssh) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/initial-server-setup-with-ubuntu-20-04-vwu1c0x2t) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Initial Server Setup with Ubuntu 20.04","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/initial-server-setup-with-ubuntu-20-04-vwu1c0x2t","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/initial-server-setup-with-ubuntu-20-04-vwu1c0x2t"},"datePublished":"2026-01-30T10:58:34.936Z","dateModified":"2026-01-30T10:58:56.698Z","description":"A comprehensive guide to securing a fresh Ubuntu 20.04 server by creating a non-root sudo user, configuring SSH key authentication, and enabling UFW firewall....","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f8c621694aef2795410a288946f911e1?_a=AQAEulh","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f8c621694aef2795410a288946f911e1?_a=AQAEulh","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"DigitalOcean Community","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DigitalOcean Community","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/c1b9d07730e34ea388c39a498a753d6c","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/do_community"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/initial-server-setup-with-ubuntu-20-04-vwu1c0x2t","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"security,devops,linux,ubuntu,ssh","timeRequired":"PT22M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"DigitalOcean Community","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/do_community"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Initial Server Setup with Ubuntu 20.04"}]} ```