Tag Archives: server

December, 2009

• 16 December

  Nano Text Editor

  Nothing beats a good text editor, and sometimes it is just not practical to download a file, edit it on your computer, and then upload it back to your server. Furthermore, if you have SSH access to your dedicated server or web hosting account, why not use it? Linux offers …
• 15 December

  Fixing YUM Dependency Problems: Part 1

  Question: YUM is telling me I have broken dependencies. I can’t install anything. Help! Answer: Fiddling with your server can lead you to problems, very serious ones if it lands you in what is affectionately called RPM Hell. This usually happens when you download an RPM outside of your standard …
• 15 December

  Book Review: ModSecurity 2.5 by Magnus Mischel

  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 …
• 14 December

  To X or not to X

  Question: Show I run X.org on my Linux-based dedicated server? Answer: When you are running a dedicated server, especially one with live websites, there is always a lot to learn. From domain name servers (DNS) to mail server configuration, you may find yourself with little time for anything else. One …
• 11 December

  Fixing APT problems

  Question: I get an error on my server with apt-get, and it will not let me install any new packages. What should I do? Answer: Depending on the error, there are a number of solutions you can try. The first is to tell APT to resolve any unfinished transactions or …
• 9 December

  SSH security tips part 3: Root logins and empty passwords

  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 …
• 9 December

  SSH security tips part 2: Timeout interval

  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 …
• 8 December

  Load balancing

  Load balancing is used by large websites to spread out a computing load between multiple servers. A site might be load balanced between only two servers, or perhaps even several hundred! While these servers are expensive, the cost of many low-power servers is much less than a large mega-server. The …
• 8 December

  SSH security tips: Part 1

  SSH is a great tool to have when you need remote access to a server, and it is naturally more secure than other methods, such as Telnet. Nevertheless, you should still take care to make sure your OpenSSH server is as secure as possible. Here are two tips to get …
• 8 December

  Find and replace text in multiple files

  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 …