Unmanaged VPS

Ubuntu Change Hostname | Linux Change Hostname | Ubuntu Server Tips

2012-02-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

Ubuntu Change Hostname

Not a necessity, but probably worth doing is the Ubuntu change hostname command. By default, an Ubuntu server will have a hostname which has probably been set by your unmanaged server host.

In my case, the hostname is a unique string of numbers. Whilst a unique name is good practice, it is not particularly helpful. For this reason, I am going to change my hostname to something more memorable. The main reason for an Ubuntu change hostname command is so that when you are using SSH, something more recognisable is displayed, so if you have a whole host of servers, you can quickly and easily make sure you are using the correct one.

In order to be safe I will first make a backup of the file responsible for the hostname ("hostname" oddly enough), as I am prone to typos. This makes the process a bit longer, but it also a good opportunity to try some different commands and that's always fun.

So the first command is to copy (cp ) the hostname file which is located in the etc directory so "sudo cp /etc/hostname /etc/hostname.old".

Then I can edit the hostname file to name my hostname to something more helpful. "sudo nano /etc/hostname"

I also need to change the "hosts" file, which follows the same steps: "sudo cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.old" and then "sudo nano /etc/hosts".

This hosts file however has a bit more structure to it, and is as follows:

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
12.34.56.78 hostname.domain.com hostname

So for my server, that will become:

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
12.34.56.78 randoof.domain.com randoof

All that's left is to reboot "sudo reboot".

Server Security Tips | Update Ubuntu 10.04

2012-02-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

Sever Security Tips: Update and Upgrade Ubuntu

The reason I chose to use Ubuntu 10.04 LTS support is due to the fact it has been out for a while, it is very secure, and there have been a number of updates which patch potential security holes.

However, it's never safe to assume that the version your server has provided is the most upto date version - in fact it would be safe to assume it isn't.

So nezt up on my to do list is to update and upgrade Ubuntu using the two commands "sudo apt-get update" and "sudo apt-get upgrade".
The "apt-get update" command actually updates the APT package index meaning it will download the most up to date packages. Then I am good to go ahead and run the "apt-get upgrade" command to upgrade the system.

With an older version of Ubuntu such as 10.04, there will be quite a bit of updating to do, but that's a good sign - it means the system will be more secure.

Short and sweet.

OpenSSH Add User | Basic SSH Server Security

2012-02-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

Basic SSH Server Security

Before I get going with installing new software on my Ubuntu unmanaged server, I want to look at some simple SSH server security in order to give some basic level protection to my server from the get-go.
So the first step for my SSH server security is to remove root access. This basically then means that anyone who wishes to log on to my server will need to know (or guess) the username.

OpenSSH Add User

Now, you may have realised that if I remove root access then that means I will have no way to log on to my server, so obviously I will need to add another user. I will do with the the OpenSSH add user command which is, in its most simplest form "useradd ".

However, I want to set up my user with a diretory, and (in some circumstances full contact details) so I will use the OpenSSH add user command "adduser "
This way, the shell will create a new group, a home directory for the user and will prompt me for a password and any further information that I want to add.
As I am already logged in as the "root" user, who has maximum priveleges, I can basically do whatever I want on the server. However, when you create new users, their privileges are more limited, these can be altered which I will look at as I work through the process.

Now is probably the opportune moment to point out two points about the PuTTY terminal which Windows users (in particular) may not be familiar with. Firstly, when you enter a password in PuTTY, nothing appears, giving onlookers no idea even how many characters you have typed. Secondly, you cannot paste with ctrl+v, rather you just right click the mouse, and that will paste in whatever you have copied in your clipboard. If you wish to copy and paste in PuTTY, then select the text as normal with the mouse and then right click, and the text will be pasted at the cursor location.

So, now I have my new user "randoof" set up, with limited privleges, a home directory and a password, so the best thing to do is to "logout" and try and log back in as randoof.
Before I can disable the root user login, whenever I need to do anything with more privleges than my user has been granted, I will need to use the "sudo" command, which means "Super User do", at which point I will be prompted to enter my password.
So in order to do that, I will need to log back in as root, and edit a configuration file where you can specify user priviledges.
Logged is as root, the configuration file is called by using the command "visudo" and adding the line "randoof ALL=(ALL) ALL", and the ctrl+o to save the file.

The reason this is clever SSH server security, is it means that every command received is logged to a specific user, so if you have a server and 100 possible users who can access it, you can easily figure out which user completed a command. Brilliant, safe and secure.

Disable Root Access

Disable root access is the first step of our SSH server security and it is still a relatively simple process.
The first step is to move to the directory which holds the SSH configuration file, from the root of the server - that is the very top directory - I will use the "cd" command (Change Directory) to navigate to the directory.

cd /etc/ssh

Out of interest, to leading slash means that you will navgate from the root of the
server first. You can always get back to the root of the directory with "cd /".
I have got into the habit of listing the files in the current directory with the "ls" command. This is purely because I am so used to navigating with a gui that I double check I am in the correct location with a list of folders and files.

Now I will use "nano", the built in text editor to edit the SSH configuration file named "sshd_config" as the root user by using the "sudo" command.

sudo nano sshd_config

Once in the file, I look for the line "PermitRootLogin yes" and simply change it to no.

Whilst I am in the sshd_config file, I am also going to change the default port. Again, this is a default setting (port 22), which hackers will know, so I am going to change this to something different by editing the line:

# What ports, IPs and protocols we listen for
Port 22

ctrl+o to write Out to the file (save it), followed by enter to confirm the filename and ctrl+x to exit.

Following that, the SSH server needs to be restarted, using the command
"/etc/init.d/ssh restart". If all went well, you should be informed with the line
* Restarting OpenBSD Secure Shell server sshd [ OK ]

Now if I try to login I will need to change the default port in PuTTY to my newly configured number.
An then if I try to log in as root, I am prompted for a password, and then simply "access denied".

Install Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on an Unmanaged Server

2012-02-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

Installing Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on an unmanaged server

So installing Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on an unmanaged server is a pretty straight forward affair and although the process will differ between unmanaged VPS hosts, I am pretty confident in saying all you really need to do is select the Linux version you wish to install and hitting "install".
There are over 30 Linxu distros to choose from for Bhost, but I am going to be installing Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on my unmanaged Server. Specifically, I am opting for "Ubuntu 10.04 minimal i386", there are other versions available with BHost, including "Ubuntu 10.04 minimal amd64" as well as Ubuntu with LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP/Perl/Python) already installed but I wanted a completely clean install so I can configure it exactly how I want it, with no extraneous software hogging the CPU.
For those unfamiliar with the terminology of Linux and Ubuntu, LTS stands for Long Term Support, you can read more about what that means on the Ubuntu wiki.

And with that done, it's on to the fun bit. Next up, downloading PuTTY and getting in on some SSH action to make our unmanaged VPS more secure.

The Best unmanaged VPS | Cheapest unmanaged VPS

2012-02-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

The best unmanaged VPS for you

So the first decision you need to make when setting up an unmanaged VPS is to select the best unmanaged VPS for you. This will need to be host who provides the system specifications you need at a price you think is right and that you can afford.
To find the best unmanaged VPS, you need to look at location of the server (choosing one as close the majority of your visitors as possible), the specifications of the virtual server, including the amount of storage space you get, the CPU power, the memory (guaranteed and burst) and the amount of traffic.
Whilst I think the majority of the system specifications are self explanatory, I think it is worth explaining the difference between burst memory and guaranteed memory.
Basically, burst memory is made available to you server in unusual situations, for example if you site suddently made it to the front page of reddit and you saw a mass of people accessing your website - and therefore stressing your server, the extra memory would be made available to help serve up your pages ina timely fashion. It's like when you're exercising, you give yourself a extra push just to get over the brow of the hill or lift that last rep.

Cheapest unmanaged VPS

Whilst it's true that cheapest is not always better, there are exceptions to this rule, and I think that cheapest unmanaged servers may (to some extent) be one of them.
As the name "unmanaged" suggests, there is not a lot of inout on the side of the host, everything is down to you, so you need to make sure you have setup an unmanaged server correctly, covering yourself with firewalls, security and caching software to protect your site from an influx of visitors (we will cover this later).
Personally, I will be setting up Ubuntu on an unmanaged VPSwith BHost.net, who from my research offer the cheapest unmanaged servers, atleast in the UK.

So that will be my next step..and blog entry.