vB on barebones VPS, security?
 

So my last forums were on a managed VPS, came with preinstalled LAMP etc...

Im starting a new forum and have been looking at MediaTemples dv VPS, which is an unmanaged and barebones (just the OS) vps. Other than obviously installing PHP and MySQL, what would I need to due for security? Would some kind of firewall need to be setup? I'm not really sure if just firing up the VPS and installing LAMP and then vBulletin is all that is needed when using a barebones VPS, so any input on this is appreciated.

May i recommend you take a look at this:
How to install lamp stack on ubuntu

or the updated version for Ubuntu 14.04:
How to install lamp stack on ubuntu 14-04

for the rest it is reading up on security matters and what applies for your situation.
here are two links related to securing your environment:
Apache security tips
and:
Secure your apache server from ddos slowloris and DNS-injection attacks

These two links should get you sorted for the largest part in terms of securing your barebone

Hope this helps you out a little.

Fail2ban is a nice firewall.
http://www.madirish.net/199 is also a nice site to harden your PHP installation, be careful though as some configurations can break your vBulletin installation.