Linux Tech Tips

Update:   Recently I install kubuntu 13.10 and there is no problem with graphics. It just works  fine out of the box. I've seen many blog posts on how to make AMD HD7670M work on Ubuntu 12.04, specially when its in switchable graphics board like Dell Inspiron 15R 5520. I tried many things to make it work so that I could use the cinnamon desktop on ubuntu & other things too.. But to my surprise even the drivers from AMD site didn't work. Then I tried a combination of those blog posts I read & somehow I became successful in running the full graphics including compiz settings inside My Ubuntu Machine. Following are the steps I followed & it worked... 1. Create a backup of your xorg configuration file: sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.BAK 2. Remove/purge current fglrx and fglrx-amdcccle : sudo apt-get remove --purge fglrx* 3. Install the driver: sudo apt-get install fglrx fglrx-amdcccle 4. Install additiona...

The bash history command is very cool. I understand why it shows the line numbers, but sometimes we need only the commands & not the numbers e.g. when we need to copy & run the commands to another server or terminal then it gets quiet useful. When you run history , the output is similar to this: Now try running history | cut -c 8- , you'll get the this:   So this command is really useful in situations where you need to do repeated work on same or different servers & you don't have scripting knowledge. You can just copy & paste the commands.  Hope you enjoy reading this!

<< Part 4 Hardening the Linux server - Part 5 Encryption Encryption  is the process of taking data stored on a computer and scrambling it in a manner that makes it unreadable to anyone who doesn't possess the key to re-create the data in its original form. Data that has been encrypted can be stored on the local computer, stored on a network share, or transmitted to other users and computers. It's possible to encrypt an entire hard disk or the partitions of the disk. This should be done at installation. You can also secure data through encryption by creating a directory and encrypting it. For example, if you've set up a file server, you may want to encrypt a directory that holds sensitive information. Before you go forward with protecting your data, you need to install eCryptfs from the Ubuntu repositories by typing # sudo aptitude install ecryptfs-utils Press  Enter , and type your root password. Encrypt a directory ...

<< Part 3                                                                                   Part 5 >> Hardening the Linux server - Part 4 Monitor your system There is a saying in computer security circles that the only way to truly secure a computer is to completely disconnect it and lock it in a box. Not too practical, but the underlying message is that if an attacker really wants into a system, odds are they will find a way in. After you take steps toward intrusion prevention, you need to set up a monitoring system to detect whether an attack against your server has taken place. Then, if you're alerted to an attack, you're better prepared to deal with it early on. The following sections walk you through the steps of installing and configuring two programs t...

<< Part 2                                                                                                      Part 4 >> Hardening the Linux server - Part 3 Write firewall rules You can deny access to your server through your firewall. Ubuntu Server uses a firewall called Uncomplicated FireWall (UFW), which is actually a management tool for iptables. Iptables filters network packets based on a series of rules written by the system administrator. Iptables can be complicated for beginners, so UFW simplifies it. Using UFW can help you harden your server; but if you're truly interested in server security, learning how to write rules for iptables will let you fine-tune a server's security. To get started with...

<< Part 1                                                                                                       Part 3 >> Hardening the Linux server - Part 2 Plan the server installation The first step in hardening a GNU/Linux server is determining the server's function. What you use your server for determines what services need to be installed on the server. For example, if the server in question is used as a Web server, you should install LAMP services. On the other hand, if the server is used for directory services, Linux Apache MySQL PHP/Perl/Python (LAMP) has no business being installed on this machine. The only applications and services that should be permitted to run on your server are those that are r...