Software

Title: ModSecurity 2.5: Securing your Apache installation and web applications Author: Magnus Mischel Publisher: Packt Publishing Price: £26.34 Securing a web server can be a difficult task. Large companies hire professionals or consulting companies to ensure their customers have access to their content and any would-be attackers have access to …

Since 2008, OpenSSH now has a feature that allows Linux system administrators to keep web hosting clients and other users out of system directories like /etc /bin /var, and others. In the past, admins had to rely on other packages, such as rssh. The process is called chroot, which essentially …

Only one user should have the root password to a server, but since virtual private servers (VPS) can exist within a server, those users also have root passwords. Generally speaking, it is a bad practice to login to the server directly as root (administrator). Although SSH connections are encrypted, it …

In our continuing series on SSH security practices, today I would like to focus on the dreaded idle user. It might seem like nothing more than an annoyance, but an unattended ssh session can turn into a security risk. The best way to avoid this is to set an timeout …

Question: How can I find and replace text in multiple files? Answer: If you have perl installed on your server, you can easily use it to perform the function you need. Even if you do not have root access to the server, basic user SSH access will be enough. Let’s …

Question: What is the difference between apt-get upgrade and apt-get dist-upgrade? Answer: Apt-get upgrade is designed to update your Linux server packages to their latests versions. It will only upgrade the packages that are currently installed. Apt-get dist-upgrade will not only upgrade the current packages but will also install any …

Question: One of my applications in CentOS Linux is not working right. How do I reinstall it? Answer: Early version of YUM did not have a “reinstall” function, but the newest version do. To reinstall a package, simply type as root: yum reinstall package-name If you are running a server …

Using “apt-get install” works perfectly well as long as you know the name of an application, but if you do not, it becomes a guessing game. Fortunately, APT has a search tool you can use to find the applications or types of applications you need for your Linux server. APT …

In a previous post, I explained how to install APT on a Linux server that does not have it. In this post, you learn how to use APT on any server that has it installed. Debian and Debian-based distributions, such as Ubuntu, use APT by default. The basic command for …

Many people who manage websites also have other jobs, and even those who do not frequently find themselves traveling and away from the comfort of their own home Internet connection. In such situations, users sometimes find themselves behind firewalls that prevent them from accessing certain services, including web hosting control …