Hopefully this blog will help you fellow minecraftians out there in the process of setting up a bukkit server for linux!

If you already know how to create a server but don't know how to configure the server.properties; go here
If you already know how to make a server but are looking for a way to install some plugins; go here

Preliminary notes

Note: The name of the craftbukkit .jar file must match the one you download. (currently craftbukkit-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar)
Note: Unless you have a multi-homed machine and know what this means/requires, server-ip= in server.properties MUST remain unchanged from default and be blank.
Note: When running step 5 for the first time, errors will show up. Do not worry as this is normal; the server is generating files and folders needed to run.

Downloading
1. Download CraftBukkit's latest recommended build
2. Put the .jar in a folder, for this example we'll use a generic one: ~/minecraft

Verifying java version
Open the terminal from Applications > Accessories > Terminal. Enter java -version.
Make sure that you have version 1.6

Installing java
If you get java: command not found (which may be followed by more text) or if you do have another Java version than 1.6 then you need to install or update java. The official Sun Java is recommended. Quite a few individuals have experienced issues with OpenJDK. If OpenJDK is installed, remove it before installing the official Sun Java. For a tutorial on how to install java on your specific linux distro, go here
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If during installation, it asks for a password, enter your password. If you get asked "Is this OK [Y/N]" Enter Y and press enter if required. Java should now be installed.

Running the server
1. Move to the above directory with 'cd ~/minecraft'
2. Paste this into the shell:
cat > minecraft.sh << EOF
#!/bin/sh
BINDIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -fn "$0")")"
cd "$BINDIR"
java -Xincgc -Xmx1G -jar craftbukkit-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar
EOF
chmod +x minecraft.sh
3. Then type '~/minecraft/minecraft.sh' to run.
4. When you're done on your server, issue "stop" command in console (this is very important)
If you plan to run the server more permanently a init script like this one is recommended
If you are a CentOS user, go here for a more detailed tutorial

Noob Friendly Tutorial
If you are having trouble following the above tutorials just follow this 'Noob Friendly Tutorial' 1. Download this file
2. Follow the instructions in the setup you downloaded.
3. Congratulations, you've installed Bukkit!

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