I have searched high and low for a simple HOWTO on setting up a basic CentOS 5 server. Just the baisc. Enough installed for getting a couple of web sites online but with features like GD and Image Majick compiled for PHP, mySQL, PHP, etc. I have tried using the Server selection on the setup CD but it seems to install more stuff than I even know what it does, but not others that are needed (like PHP and mySQL.) Even after manually installing them I try to run YUM and update like PHP and it says that its current -- but the current version is 5.2.8. Any help is appreciated. In the past I have only worked on servers already running, so this is a first step for me.
Take a look through this site: http://howtoforge.com Lots of information there. Are you installing a control panel as well? Remember, the default repo's that CentOS uses are not updated very often, if you want the more up to date software, you may have to add a couple of repo's to YUM, one that I recommend would be rpmforge: http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/FAQ.php#B
I bought a Centos Bible that helps a little and I've been to HOWTOFORGE. One thing I've noted is that after the install PHP is only 5.1.3 instead of 5.2.8. The same with other rpm's. I have Centos 5.2 servers and below that also don't update completely. What repo's am I missing to get absolutely current? This particular server will just be for audio streaming and I doubt that I'll put a CP on. If I do it may be WebMin -- something simple.
One thing to bear in mind with CentOS is that the versions of server software is rather dated. If you need the latest, you will have to use a 3rd party repository, or compile.