I love Minecraft, especially with friends, so eventually I wanted my own server. But when I set up my first dedicated server I had to track down instructions and examples bit by bit. Once I had a server up and running I found it useful to create some tools to help manage it. Now I've created this site to share what I've learned, and hopefully help anyone who wants to setup a basic Minecraft server.
These instructions assume you have a dedicated server, physical or virtual, that you can install Linux onto or already has Linux installed and you have access to install additional packages. I prefer Ubuntu Server edition, but any Debian based distribution should work with minimal adjustments, and just about any Linux distribution should work as long as Java and Perl can be installed.
If you want to access your server from outside your network you will need to set up your router to allow connections to the server from the internet. You will probably also want to have a domain name for your server to allow easier access. There are far too many routers and domain registrars to document here, but your router documentation should cover allowing outside connections, a domain name is not strictly necessary, and neither are needed if all players on your server will be on the same network.