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Securing Linux

Securing and Optimizing Linux

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306 views486 pages

Securing Linux

Securing and Optimizing Linux

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centruvechi

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Securing and Optimizing Linux: RedHat Edition

A hands on guide for Linux professionals.

Title: Securing and Optimizing Linux: RedHat Edition ISBN: 0-9700330-0-1 Author's: Gerhard Mourani Mail: [email protected] Page Count: 486 Version: 1.3 Last Revised: June 07, 2000

Overview
Introduction Part I Installation-Related Reference
Chapter 1 Introduction to Linux Chapter 2 Installation of your Linux Server

Part II Security and Optimization-Related Reference

Chapter 3 General System Security Chapter 4 General System Optimization Chapter 5 Configuring and Building a secure, optimized Kernels

Part III Networking-Related Reference

Chapter 6 TCP/IP Network Management Chapter 7 Networking Firewall Chapter 8 Networking Firewall with Masquerading and Forwarding support

Part IV Software-Related Reference

Chapter 9 Compiler Functionality Chapter 10 Securities Software (Monitoring Tools) Chapter 11 Securities Software (Network Services) Chapter 12 Securities Software (System Integrity) Chapter 13 Securities Software (Management & Limitation) Chapter 14 Server Software (BIND/DNS Network Services) Chapter 15 Server Software (Mail Network Services) Chapter 16 Server Software (Encrypting Network Services) Chapter 17 Server Software (Database Network Services) Chapter 18 Server Software (Proxy Network Services) Chapter 19 Server Software (Web Network Services) Chapter 20 Optional component to install with Apache Chapter 21 Server Software (File Sharing Network Services)

Part VI Backup-Related reference

Chapter 22 Backup and restore procedures

Part VII Appendixes

Appendix A Tweaks, Tips and Administration Tasks Appendix B Obtaining Requests for Comments (RFCs)

Contents
Introduction 8
Audience ................................................................................................................................................. 8 These installation instructions assume.................................................................................................... 8 About products mentioned in this book ................................................................................................... 8 Obtaining the book and example configuration files ................................................................................ 8 A note about the copyright....................................................................................................................... 9 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. 10 GPG Public Key for Gerhard Mourani ................................................................................................... 10

Part I Installation-Related Reference 11 Chapter 1 Introduction to Linux 12

What is Linux?....................................................................................................................................... 13 Some good reasons to use Linux .......................................................................................................... 13 Let's dispel some of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt about Linux......................................................... 13

Chapter 2 Installation of your Linux Server

Linux Installation .............................................................................................................. 16

Know your Hardware! ............................................................................................................................ 16 Creating the Boot Disk and Booting ...................................................................................................... 17 Installation Class and Method (Install Type).......................................................................................... 17 Disk Setup (Disk Druid) ......................................................................................................................... 18 Components to Install (Package Group Selection)................................................................................ 22 Individual Package Selection................................................................................................................. 23

Descriptions of programs packages we must uninstall for securities reasons........................... 24

How to use RPM Commands ................................................................................................................ 28 Starting and stopping daemon services ................................................................................................ 29 Software that must be uninstalled after installation of the Server .......................................................... 29

Descriptions of programs that must be uninstalled after installation of the server..................... 31

Software that must be installed after installation of the Server .............................................................. 32 Installed programs on your Server ........................................................................................................ 35 Put some colors on your terminal .......................................................................................................... 38 Update of the latest software................................................................................................................. 39

Part II Security and optimization-Related Reference 40 Chapter 3 General System Security 41

Linux General Security ................................................................................................ 42

Chapter 4 General System Optimization 69

Linux General Optimization ...................................................................................... 70

Chapter 5 Configuring and Building a secure, optimized Kernels 85

Linux Kernel ....................................................................................................................... 86

Making an emergency boot floppy......................................................................................................... 87 Securing the kernel ............................................................................................................................... 89 Kernel configuration .............................................................................................................................. 91 Installing the new kernel........................................................................................................................ 96 Delete program, file and lines related to modules ................................................................................. 99 Making a new rescue floppy ................................................................................................................ 100 Making a emergency boot floppy disk ................................................................................................. 100 Update your /dev entries ................................................................................................................... 101

Part III Networking-Related Reference

103

Chapter 6 TCP/IP Network Management 104

Linux TCP/IP Network Management................................................................. 105

Install more than one Ethernet Card per Machine ............................................................................... 105 Files related to networking functionality............................................................................................... 106 Configuring TCP/IP Networking manually with the command line....................................................... 109

Chapter 7 Networking Firewall

114

Linux IPCHAINS ............................................................................................................ 115

Build a kernel with IPCHAINS Firewall support ................................................................................... 118 Some explanation of rules used in the firewall script files ................................................................... 118 The firewall scripts files ....................................................................................................................... 120 Configuration of the /etc/rc.d/init.d/firewall script file for the Web Server .......................................... 120 Configuration of the /etc/rc.d/init.d/firewall script file for the Mail Server ........................................... 130

Chapter 8 Networking Firewall with Masquerading and Forwarding support

139

Linux Masquerading and Forwarding ............................................................... 140

Build a kernel with Firewall Masquerading and Forwarding support.................................................... 140 Configuration of the /etc/rc.d/init.d/firewall script file for the Gateway Server.................................... 142 Deny access to some address ............................................................................................................ 155 IPCHAINS Administrative Tools .......................................................................................................... 155

Part IV Software-Related Reference 157 Chapter 9 Compiler Functionality 158

Linux Compiler functionality.................................................................................... 159

The necessary packages..................................................................................................................... 159 Why would we choose to use tarballs? ............................................................................................... 160 Compiling software on your system..................................................................................................... 160 Build and Install software on your system ........................................................................................... 161 Editing files with the vi editor tool ........................................................................................................ 162 Some last comments ........................................................................................................................... 163

Chapter 10 Securities Software (Monitoring Tools)

164

Linux sXid .......................................................................................................................... 165

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 166 sXid Administrative Tools .................................................................................................................... 167

Linux Logcheck .............................................................................................................. 169

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 171

Linux PortSentry ............................................................................................................ 173

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 175 Start up PortSentry.............................................................................................................................. 179

Chapter 11 Securities Software (Network Services)

181

Linux OpenSSH Client/Server............................................................................... 182

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 184 Configure OpenSSH to use TCP-Wrappers inetd super server........................................................... 188 OpenSSH Per-User Configuration....................................................................................................... 189 OpenSSH Users Tools ........................................................................................................................ 190

Linux SSH2 Client/Server ........................................................................................ 193

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 194 Configure sshd2 to use tcp-wrappers inetd super server .................................................................... 199 Ssh2 Per-User Configuration............................................................................................................... 200 SSH2 Users Tools............................................................................................................................... 201

Chapter 12 Securities Software (System Integrity)

203

Linux Tripwire 2.2.1 ..................................................................................................... 204

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 207 Securing Tripwire for Linux.................................................................................................................. 212 Commands .......................................................................................................................................... 213

Linux Tripwire ASR 1.3.1.......................................................................................... 216

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 218 Securing Tripwire ................................................................................................................................ 220 Commands .......................................................................................................................................... 220

Chapter 13 Securities Software (Management & Limitation)

223

Linux GnuPG ................................................................................................................... 224

Commands .......................................................................................................................................... 225

Set Quota on your Linux system ......................................................................... 230

Build a kernel with Quota support........................................................................................................ 230 Modify the /etc/fstab file .................................................................................................................... 230 Creation of the "quota.user" and "quota.group" files............................................................................ 231 Assigning Quota for Users and Groups............................................................................................... 232 Commands .......................................................................................................................................... 234

Chapter 14 Server Software (BIND/DNS Network Services)

236

Linux DNS and BIND Server.................................................................................. 237

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 239 Caching-only name Server .................................................................................................................. 240 Primary master name Server............................................................................................................... 242 Secondary slave name Server ............................................................................................................ 245 Securing ISC BIND/DNS ..................................................................................................................... 247 DNS Administrative Tools.................................................................................................................... 253 DNS Users Tools................................................................................................................................. 254

Chapter 15 Server Software (Mail Network Services) 258

Linux Sendmail Server............................................................................................... 259

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 263 Securing Sendmail .............................................................................................................................. 274 Sendmail Administrative Tools ............................................................................................................ 278 Sendmail Users Tools ......................................................................................................................... 279

Linux IMAP & POP Server ...................................................................................... 281

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 284

Enable IMAP or POP via the tcp-wrappers inetd super server ................................................ 285
Securing IMAP/POP ............................................................................................................................ 285

Chapter 16 Server Software (Encrypting Network Services)

288

Linux OPENSSL Server ............................................................................................ 289

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 293 Commands .......................................................................................................................................... 298 Securing OpenSSL.............................................................................................................................. 301

Linux FreeS/WAN VPN ............................................................................................. 304

Configure RSA private keys secrets.................................................................................................... 313 Requiring network setup for IPSec ...................................................................................................... 318 Testing the installation......................................................................................................................... 321

Chapter 17 Server Software (Database Network Services) 326

Linux OpenLDAP Server .......................................................................................... 327

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 330 Securing OpenLDAP ........................................................................................................................... 333 OpenLDAP Creation and Maintenance Tools...................................................................................... 334 OpenLDAP Users Tools ...................................................................................................................... 336 The Netscape Address Book client for LDAP ...................................................................................... 337

Linux PostgreSQL Database Server ................................................................. 340

Create the database installation from your Postgres superuser account ............................................ 343 Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 344 Commands .......................................................................................................................................... 346

Chapter 18 Server Software (Proxy Network Services)

350

Linux Squid Proxy Server ........................................................................................ 351

Using GNU malloc library to improve cache performance of Squid..................................................... 353 Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 355 Securing Squid .................................................................................................................................... 363 Optimizing Squid ................................................................................................................................. 363 The cachemgr.cgi program utility of Squid .......................................................................................... 364 The Netscape Proxies Configuration for Squid.................................................................................... 366

Chapter 19 Server Software (Web Network Services) 369

Linux MM Shared Memory Library for Apache ....................................... 370 Linux Apache Web Server ....................................................................................... 372
Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 378 PHP4 server-side scripting language .................................................................................................. 385 Perl module Devel::Symdump ............................................................................................................. 387 CGI.pm Perl library.............................................................................................................................. 389 Securing Apache ................................................................................................................................. 390 Running Apache in a chroot jail........................................................................................................... 392 Optimizing Apache .............................................................................................................................. 399

Chapter 20 Optional component to install with Apache

406

Linux Webalizer.............................................................................................................. 407

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 408 Inform Apache about the output directory of Webalizer....................................................................... 410 Running Webalizer manually for the first time ..................................................................................... 410 Running Webalizer automatically with a cron job ................................................................................ 411

Linux FAQ-O-Matic ...................................................................................................... 413

Inform Apache about the location of Faq-O-Matic files........................................................................ 414 Configure your FAQ-O-Matic software ................................................................................................ 415

Linux Webmail IMP ...................................................................................................... 419

Setting up PHPLib which is requires by Horde program of Webmail IMP ........................................... 420 Configure and create Webmail IMP SQL database............................................................................. 421 Configure your php.ini configuration file of PHP4.............................................................................. 423 Configure Apache to recognize Webmail IMP ..................................................................................... 424 Configure Webmail IMP via your web browser.................................................................................... 424

Chapter 21 Server Software (File Sharing Network Services) 427

Linux Samba Server .................................................................................................... 428

Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 431 Create an encrypted Samba password file for your clients ................................................................. 436 Securing Samba.................................................................................................................................. 439 Optimizing Samba ............................................................................................................................... 439 Samba Administrative Tools................................................................................................................ 441 Samba Users Tools............................................................................................................................. 442

Linux FTP Server .......................................................................................................... 444

Setup an FTP user account for each user without shells..................................................................... 446 Setup a chroot user environment ........................................................................................................ 447 Configurations ..................................................................................................................................... 450 Configure ftpd to use tcp-wrappers inetd super server........................................................................ 455 FTP Administrative Tools .................................................................................................................... 455 Securing FTP ...................................................................................................................................... 456

Part V Backup-Related reference

459

Chapter 22 Backup and restore procedures 460

Linux Backup and Restore ...................................................................................... 461

The tar backup program ...................................................................................................................... 461 Making backups with tar...................................................................................................................... 462 Automating tasks of backups made with tar ........................................................................................ 463

Restoring files with tar ......................................................................................................................... 465 The dump backup program ................................................................................................................. 466 Making backups with dump ................................................................................................................. 468 Restoring files with dump .................................................................................................................... 470 Backing up and restoring over the network ......................................................................................... 472

Part VI Appendixes 474 Appendix A Appendix B 475 479

Tweaks, Tips and Administration tasks ........................................................... 476 Obtaining Requests for Comments (RFCs) .................................................. 480

INTRODUCTION

Introduction
When I began writing this book, the first question I asked myself was how to install Linux on a server, and be sure that no one from the outside, or inside, could access it without authorization. Then I wondered if any method similar to the one on windows exists to improve the computers performance. Subsequently, I began a search on the Internet and read several books to get the most information on security and performance for my server. After many years of research and studies I had finally found the answer to my questions. Those answers were found all throughout different documents, books, articles, and Internet sites. I created documentation based on my research that could help me through my daily activities. Through the years, my documentation grew and started to look more like a book and less like simple, scattered notes. I decide to publish it on the Internet so that anyone could take advantage of it. By sharing this information, I felt that I did my part for the community who answered so many of my computing needs with one magical, reliable, strong, powerful, fast and free operating system named Linux. Id received a lot of feedback and comments about my documentation, which helped to improve it over time. Also, Id found that a lot of people wanted to see it published for its contents, to get advantages out of it and see the power of this beautiful Linux system in action. A lot of time and effort went into the making of this book, and to ensure that the results were as accurate as possible. If you find any abnormalities, inconsistent results, errors, omissions or anything else that doesn't look right, please let me know so I that can investigate the problem or correct the error. Suggestions for future versions are also welcome and appreciated.

Audience
This book is intended for a technical audience and system administrators who manage Linux servers, but it also includes material for home users and others. It discusses how to install and setup a Red Hat Linux Server with all the necessary security and optimization for a high performance Linux specific machine. Since we speak of optimization and security configuration, we will use a source distribution (tar.gz) program the most available type for critical server software like Apache, BIND/DNS, Samba, Squid, OpenSSL etc. Source packages give us fast upgrades, security updates when necessary, and a better compilation, customization, and optimization for our specific machines that often we cant have with RPM packages.

These installation instructions assume

You have a CD-ROM drive on your computer and the Official Red Hat Linux CD-ROM. Installations were tested on the Official Red Hat Linux version 6.1 and 6.2. You should understand the hardware system on which the operating system will be installed. After examining the hardware, the rest of this document guides you, step-by-step, though the installation process.

About products mentioned in this book

Many products will be mentioned in this book some commercial, but most are not commercial, cost nothing and can be freely used or distributed. It is also important to say that Im not affiliated with any of them and if I mention a tool, its because it is useful. You will find that a lot of big companies in their daily use, use most of them.

Obtaining the book and example configuration files

INTRODUCTION

Securing and Optimizing Linux: RedHat Edition is now also available to download around the most popular Linux web sites. Free formatted versions of this book can be found on the Internet via the following addresses listed below. From the original web site (Open Network Architecture): http://www.openna.com The Linux Documentation Project homepage: http://www.linuxdoc.org/guides.html O'Reilly Network: http://oreilly.linux.com/pub/d/25 TuneLinux.COM: http://tunelinux.com/bin/page?general/optimization/ Other related web sites may exist without my knowledge. If you host this book (Securing and Optimizing Linux: RedHat Edition) and want to be included in the list of the next release, please send me a message with your intentions. If you receive this as part of a printed distribution or on a CD-ROM, please check out the Linux Documentation home page http://www.linuxdoc.org/ or the original website at http://www.openna.com/ to see if there is a more recent version. This could potentially save you a lot of trouble. If you want to translate this book, please notify me so I can keep track of what languages I have been published in.

The example configuration files in this book are available electronically via http from this URL: http://www.openna.com/books/floppy.tgz In either case, extract the files from the archive by typing:
[root@deep tmp]# tar xzpf floppy.tgz

If you cannot get the examples directly over the Internet, please contact the author at these email addresses: [email protected] [email protected]

A note about the copyright

Its important to note that the copyright of this book has been changed from the Open Content to the Open Publication License. --Copyright 2000 by Gerhard Mourani and OpenDocs, LLC. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, V1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/). Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. Distribution of the work or derivative of the work in any standard (paper) book form for commercial purposes is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder. Please note even if I, Gerhard Mourani have the copyright, I don't control commercial printing of the book. Please contact OpenDocs @ http://www.opendocspublishing.com/ if you have questions concerning such matters. ---

INTRODUCTION

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Michel Mral who has drawn all the beautiful animal drawing in my book, Robert L. Ziegler for allowing me to include his Firewall software and all Linux users around the word for their comments and suggestions.

GPG Public Key for Gerhard Mourani

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Part I Installation-Related Reference

In this Part Introduction to Linux Installation of your Linux Server

Chapter 1 Introduction to Linux

In this Chapter What is Linux? Some good reasons to use Linux Let's dispel some of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt about Linux

Introduction to Linux 0 CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Linux
What is Linux?
Linux is an operating system that was first created at the University of Helsinki in Finland by a young student named Linus Torvalds. At this time the student was working on a UNIX system that was running on an expensive platform. Because of his low budget, and his need to work at home, he decided to create a copy of the UNIX system in order to run it on a less expensive platform, such as an IBM PC. He began his work in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released. The current full-featured version at this time is 2.2.X (released January 25, 1999), and development continues. The Linux operating system is developed under the GNU General Public License (also known as GNU GPL) and its source code is freely available to everyone who downloads it via the Internet. The CD-ROM version of Linux is also available in many stores, and companies that provide it will charge you for the cost of the media and support. Linux may be used for a wide variety of purposes including networking, software development, and as an end-user platform. Linux is often considered an excellent, low-cost alternative to other more expensive operating systems because you can install it on multiple computers without paying more.

Some good reasons to use Linux

There are no royalty or licensing fees for using Linux, and the source code can be modified to fit your needs. The results can be sold for profit, but original authors retain copyright and you must provide the source to your modifications. Because it comes with source code to the kernel, it is quite portable. Linux runs on more CPUs and platforms than any other computer operating system. The recent direction of the software and hardware industry is to push consumers to purchase faster computers with more system memory and hard drive storage. Linux systems are not affected by those industries orientation because of it capacity to run on any kind of computers, even aging x486-based computers with limited amounts of RAM. Linux is a true multi-tasking operating system similar to his brother UNIX. It uses sophisticated, state-of-the-art memory management to control all system processes. That means that if a program crashes you can kill it and continue working with confidence. Another benefit is that Linux is practically immunized against all kinds of viruses that we find in other operating systems. To date we have found only two viruses that were effective on Linux systems.

Let's dispel some of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt about Linux
It's a toy operating system. Fortune 500 companies, governments, and consumers more and more use Linux as a costeffective computing solution. It has been used and is still used by big companies like IBM, Amtrak, NASA, and others. There's no support. Every Linux distribution comes with more than 12,000 pages of documentation. Commercial Linux distributions such as Red Hat Linux, Caldera, SuSE, and OpenLinux offer initial support for 13

Introduction to Linux 0 CHAPTER 1

registered users, and small business and corporate accounts can get 24/7 supports through a number of commercial support companies. As an Open Source operating system, there's no sixmonths to wait for a service release, and the online Linux community fixes many serious bugs within hours.

Chapter 2 Installation of your Linux Server

In this Chapter Know your Hardware! Creating the Boot Disk and Booting Installation Class and Method Disk Setup Components to install Individual Packages Selection How to use RPM Commands Starting and Stopping daemon services Software that must be uninstalled after installation of the server Software that must be installed after installation of the server Installed programs on your server Put some colors on your terminal Update of the latest softwares

Linux Installation 0 CHAPTER 2

Linux Installation
We have prepared this chapter in a manner that follows the original installation of the Red Hat Linux CD-ROM. Each section below refers to, and will guide you through, different screens that will appear during the setup of your system after the insertion of the Red Hat boot diskette in your computer. We promise that it will be interesting to have the machine you want to install Linux on ready and near to you when you follow the steps described below. From time to time Red Hat Linux updates its operating system to a new version and adds, changes or removes some packages as well as changes some locations, content or features of files in its distribution. Recently Red Hat has updated his operating system to version 6.2, which is a minor upgrade of 6.1, so to be as accurate as possible about all information contained in this chapter, well comment upon installation of version 6.1 as well as version 6.2 for people that will upgrade or install to it. Any sections in this chapter that refer to version 6.1 will be for the Red Hat Linux 6.1 (Cartman) distribution, and any section where we talk about version 6.2 will be for the Red Hat Linux 6.2 (Zoot) distribution, respectively. The following conventions will simplify the interpretations of this chapter: The The The icon applies to Red Hat Linux version 6.1 and 6.2 respectively. icon applies to Red Hat Linux version 6.1 only. icon applies to Red Hat Linux version 6.2 only.

We know that many organizations and companies handle different versions of this operating system, and run a number of services on them. Sometimes it may be difficult to upgrade to the latest version since clients use services on the server 24 hours a day. With this simple convention, people that maintain and use version 6.1 of Red Hat Linux will always find exact information related to their needs.

Know your Hardware!

Understanding the hardware of your computer is essential for a successful installation of Red Hat Linux. Therefore, you should take a moment now and familiarize yourself with your computer hardware. Be prepared to answer the following questions:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. How many hard drives do you have? What size is each hard drive (eg, 3.2GB)? If you have more than one hard drive, which is the primary one? What kind of hard drive do you have (eg, IDE, SCSI)? How much RAM do you have (eg, 256MB RAM)? Do you have a SCSI adapter? If so, who made it and what model is it? Do you have a RAID system? If so, who made it and what model is it? What type of mouse do you have (eg, PS/2, Microsoft, Logitech)? How many buttons does your mouse have (2/3)? If you have a serial mouse, what COM port is it connected to (eg, COM1)? What is the make and model of your video card? How much video RAM do you have (eg, 4MB)? What kind of monitor do you have (make and model)? Will you be connected to a network? If so, what will be the following: a. Your IP address? b. Your netmask? c. Your gateway address? d. Your domain name servers IP address? e. Your domain name? f. Your hostname? g. Your types of network(s) card(s) (makes and model)?

Linux Installation 0 CHAPTER 2 h. Your number of card(s) (makes and model)?

Creating the Boot Disk and Booting

The first thing to do is to create an installation diskette also known as a boot disk. If you have purchased the official Red Hat Linux CD-ROM, you will find this floppy disk named Boot Diskette in the Red Hat Linux box and you dont need to create it. From time to time, you may find that the installation will fail with the standard diskette image that comes with the official Red Hat Linux CD-ROM. If this happens, a revised diskette is required in order for the installation to work properly. In these cases, special images are available via the Red Hat Linux Errata web page to solve the problem (http://www.redhat.com/errata). Since this, is a relatively rare occurrence, you will save time if you try to use the standard diskette images first, and then review the Errata only if you experience any problem completing the installation. Step 1 Before you make the boot disk, insert the Official Red Hat Linux CD-ROM Part 1 in your computer that runs the Windows operating system. When the program asks for the filename, enter boot.img for the boot disk. To make the floppies under MS-DOS, you need to use these commands (assuming your CD-ROM is drive D: and contain the Official Red Hat Linux CD-ROM). Open the Command Prompt under Windows: Start | Programs | Command Prompt
C:\> d: D:\> cd \dosutils D:\dosutils> rawrite Enter disk image source file name: ..\images\boot.img Enter target diskette drive: a: Please insert a formatted diskette into drive A: and press --ENTER-- : D:\dosutils>

The rawrite.exe program asks for the filename of the disk image: Enter boot.img and insert a floppy into drive A. It will then ask for a disk to write to: Enter a:, and when complete, label the disk Red Hat boot disk, for example.

Step 2 Since wed start the installation directly off the CD-ROM, boot with the boot disk. Insert the boot diskette you create into the drive A: on the computer where you want to install Linux and reboot the computer. At the boot: prompt, press Enter to continue booting and follow the three simple steps bellow:
Choose your language Choose your keyboard type Select your mouse type

Installation Class and Method (Install Type)

Red Hat Linux 6.1 and 6.2 include four different classes, or type of installation. They are:
GNOME Workstation KDE Workstation Server Custom

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The first three classes (GNOME Workstation, KDE Workstation, and Server) give you the option of simplifying the installation process with a significant loss of configuration flexibility that we dont want to lose. For this reason we highly recommend Custom installation, as this allows you to choose what services are added and how the system is partitioned. The idea is to load the minimum packages, while maintaining maximum efficiency. The less software that resides on the box, the fewer potential security exploits or holes may appear.
Select Custom and click Next

Disk Setup (Disk Druid)

We assume that you are installing your new Linux server to a new hard drive, with no other existing file system or operating system previously installed. A good partition strategy is to create a separate partition for each major file system. This enhances security and prevents accidental denial of service or exploit of SUID programs. Creating multiple partitions offers you the following advantages: Protection against denial of service attack. Protection against SUID programs. Faster booting. Easy backup and upgrade management. Ability for better control of mounted file system. Limit each file systems ability to grow. Warning: If previous file system or operating system exist on the hard drive and computer where you want to install your Linux system, we highly recommend, that you make a backup of your current system before proceeding with the disk partitioning. Step 1 For performance, stability and security reasons you must create something like the following partitions listed below on your computer. We suppose for this partition configuration the fact that you have a SCSI hard drive of 3.2 GB. Of course you will need to adjust partition sizes according to your own needs and disk size. Partitions that must be created on your system:
/boot 5MB All Kernel images are kept here. /usr 512MB Must be large, since all Linux binaries programs are installed here. /home 1146MB Proportional to the number of users you intend to host (i.e. 10MB per users * by the number of users 114 = 1140MB). /chroot 256MB If you want to install programs in chroot jail environment (i.e. DNS). /cache 256MB This is the cache partition of a proxy server (i.e. Squid). /var 256MB Contains files that change when the system run normally (i.e. Log files). <Swap> 128MB Our swap partition. The virtual memory of the Linux operating system. /tmp 256MB Our temporary files partition. / 256MB Our root partition.

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We can make two more special partitions /chroot and /cache, the /chroot partition can be used for DNS server chrooted, Apache server chrooted and other chrooted future programs. The /cache partition can be used for a Squid Proxy server. If you are not intending to install Squid Proxy server you dont need to create the /cache partition. Putting /tmp and /home on separate partitions is pretty much mandatory if users have shell access to the server (protection against SUID programs), splitting these off into separate partitions also prevent users from filling up any critical file system (denial of service attack), putting /var, and /usr on separate partitions is also a very good idea. By isolating the /var partition, you protect your root partition from overfilling (denial of service attack). In our partition configuration well reserve 256 MB of disk space for chrooted programs like Apache, DNS and other software. This is necessary because Apache DocumentRoot files and other binaries, programs related to Apache will be installed in this partition if you decide to run Apache web server in a chrooted jail. Take note that the size of the Apache chrooted directory on the chrooted partition is proportional to the size of your DocumentRoot files. If youre not intending to install and use Apache on your server, you can reduce the size of this partition to something like 10 MB for DNS server that you always need in a chrooted jail environment for security reasons.

Minimum size of partitions For information purposes only, this is the minimum size in megabytes, which a Linux installation must have to function properly. The sizes of partitions listed below are really small. This configuration can fit into a very old hard disk of 512MB in size that you might find in old x486 computers. We show you this partition just to get an idea of the minimum requirements. / /boot /chroot /home /tmp /usr /var 35MB 5MB 10MB 100MB 30MB 232MB 25MB

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Disk Druid Disk Druid Partitions is a program that partitions your hard drive for you. Choose Add to add a new partition, Edit to edit a partition, Delete to delete a partition and Reset to reset the partitions to the original state. When you add a new partition, a new window appears on your screen and gives you parameters to choose. Different parameters are:
Mount Point: for where you want to mount your new partition in the filesystem. Size (Megs): for the size of your new partition in megabytes. Partition Type: Linux native for Linux filesystem and Swap for Linux Swap Partition.

If you have a SCSI disk the device name will be /dev/sda and if you have an IDE disk it will be /dev/hda. If youre looking for high performance and stability, a SCSI disk is highly recommended. Linux refers to disk partitions using a combination of letters and numbers. It uses a naming scheme that is more flexible and conveys more information than the approach used by other operating systems. Here is a summary: First Two Letters The first two letters of the partition name indicate the type of device on which the partition resides. Youll normally see either hd (for IDE disks), or sd (for SCSI disks). The Next Letter This letter indicates which device the partition is on. For example: /dev/hda (the first IDE hard disk) and /dev/hdb (the second IDE disk). Keep this information in mind, it will make things easier to understand when youre setting up the partitions Linux requires. A swap partition Swap partitions are used to support virtual memory. If your computer has 16 MB of RAM or less, you must create a swap partition. Even if you have more memory, a swap partition is still recommended. The minimum size of your swap partition should be equal to your computers RAM or 16 MB (whichever is larger). The largest useable swap partition is roughly 1 GB, (since 2.2 kernel, 1 GB swap file are supported) so making a swap partition larger than that will result in wasted space. Note, however, that you can create and use more than one swap partition (although this is usually only necessary for very large server installations).
NOTE:

Try to put your swap partitions near the beginning of your drive. The beginning of the drive is physically located on the outer portion of the cylinder, so the read/write head can cover much more ground per revolution. Now, as an example: To make the partitions listed below on your system (this is the partition well need for our server installation example); the command will be under Disk Druid:

Add Mount Point: /boot our /boot directory. Size (Megs): 5 Partition Type: Linux Native Ok Add Mount Point: /usr our /usr directory. Size (Megs): 512 Partition Type: Linux Native Ok

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Add Mount Point: /home our /home directory. Size (Megs): 1146 Partition Type: Linux Native Ok Add Mount Point: /chroot our /chroot directory. Size (Megs): 256 Partition Type: Linux Native Ok Add Mount Point: /cache our /cache directory. Size (Megs): 256 Partition Type: Linux Native Ok Add Mount Point: /var our /var directory. Size (Megs): 256 Partition Type: Linux Native Ok Add Mount Point: our /Swap partition (leave the Mount Point Blank). Size (Megs): 128 Partition Type: Linux Swap Ok Add Mount Point: /tmp our /tmp directory. Size (Megs): 256 Partition Type: Linux Native Ok Add Mount Point: / our / directory. Size (Megs): 256 Partition Type: Linux Native Ok

After the partitions of your hard disk have been completed, you must see something like the following information on your screen. Our mount points will look like this: Mount Point /boot /usr /home /chroot /cache /var <Swap> /tmp / Drive sda Device sda1 sda5 sda6 sda7 sda8 sda9 sda10 sda11 sda12 Geom [C/H/S] [3079/64/32] Total (M) 3079M Requested 5M 512M 1146M 256M 256M 256M 128M 256M 256M Free (M) 1M Actual 5M 512M 1146M 256M 256M 256M 128M 256M 256M Used (M) 3078M Type Linux Native Linux Native Linux Native Linux Native Linux Native Linux Native Linux Swap Linux Native Linux Native Used (%) 99%

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NOTE:

We are using a SCSI hard disk because the first two letters of the device are sd.

Now that you are partitioning and choosing the mount point of your directories, select Next to continue. After your partitions are created, the installation program will ask you to choose partitions to format. Choose the partitions you want to initialize, check the (Check for bad blocks during format) box, and press Next. This formats the partitions and makes them active so Linux can use them. On the next screen you will see the LILO Configuration where you have the choice to install LILO boot record on:
Master Boot Record (MBR) Or First Sector of Boot Partition

Usually if Linux is the only OS on your machine you should choose the Master Boot Record (MBR) option. After that, you need to configure your Network and Clock. After you finish configuring the clock, you need to give your system a root password and authentication configuration. For Authentication Configuration dont forget to select:
Enable MD5 passwords Enable Shadow passwords

Enable NIS doesnt need to be selected since we are not configuring NIS services on this server.

Components to Install (Package Group Selection)

After your partitions have been configured and selected for formatting, you are ready to select packages for installation. By default, Linux is a powerful operating system that executes many useful services. However, many of these services are unneeded and pose potential security risks. Ideally, each network service should be on a dedicated, single-purpose host. Many Linux operating systems are configured by default to provide a wider set of services and applications than are required to provide a particular network service, so you may need to configure the server to eliminate unneeded services. Offering only essential services on a particular host can enhance your network security in several ways: Other services cannot be used to attack the host and impair or remove desired network services. Different individuals may administer different services. By isolating services so each host and service has a single administrator you will minimize the possibility of conflicts between administrators. The host can be configured to better suit the requirements of the particular service. Different services might require different hardware and software configurations, which could lead to needless vulnerabilities or service restrictions. By reducing services, the number of logs and log entries is reduced so detecting unexpected behavior becomes easier.

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A proper installation of your Linux server is the first step to a stable, secure system. You first have to choose which system components you want to install. Choose the components, and then you can go through and select or deselect each individual package of each component by selecting (Select individual packages) option on your Red Hat setup screen. Since we are configuring a Linux Server, we dont need to install a graphical interface (XFree86) on our system (a graphical interface on a server means less processes, less CPU availability, less memory, security risks, and so on). Graphical interfaces are usually used on workstations only. Select the following packages for installation:
Networked Workstation Network Management Workstation Utilities

After selecting the components you wish to install, you may select or deselect packages.
NOTE: Select the (Select individual packages) options (very important) before continuing to have the possibility to select and deselect packages.

Individual Package Selection

The installation program presents a list of the package groups available. Select a group to examine. The components listed below must be deselected from the Menu Group for security; optimization and other reasons described below:

Applications/File: Applications/Internet: Applications/Publishing: Applications/System: Documentation: System Environment/Base: System Environment/Daemons: System Environment/Libraries: User Interface/X:

git finger, ftp, fwhois, ncftp, rsh, rsync, talk, telnet ghostscript, ghostscript-fonts, mpage, rhs-printfilters arpwatch, bind-utils, knfsd-clients, procinfo, rdate, rdist, screen, ucdsnmp-utils indexhtml chkfontpath, yp-tools XFree86-xfs, lpr, pidentd, portmap, routed, rusers, rwho, tftp, ucdsnmp, ypbind XFree86-libs, libpng XFree86-75dpi-fonts, urw-fonts

Applications/File: Applications/Internet: Applications/Publishing: Applications/System: Documentation: System Environment/Base: System Environment/Daemons:

System Environment/Libraries:

git finger, ftp, fwhois, ncftp, rsh, rsync, talk, telnet ghostscript, ghostscript-fonts, groff-perl, mpage, pnm2ppa, rhsprintfilters arpwatch, bind-utils, rdate, rdist, screen, ucd-snmp-utils indexhtml chkfontpath, yp-tools XFree86-xfs, finger-server, lpr, nfs-utils, pidentd, portmap, rsh-server, rusers, rusers-server, rwall-server, rwho, talk-server, telnet-server, tftp-server, ucd-snmp, ypbind, ypserv XFree86-libs, libpng

Linux Installation 0 CHAPTER 2 User Interface/X: urw-fonts

Before we explain the description of each program we want to uninstall, someone might ask why I need to uninstall finger, ftp, fwhois and telnet on the server. First of all, we know that those programs by their nature are insecure. Now imagine that a cracker has accessed your new Linux server--he can use finger, ftp, fwhois and telnet programs to query or access other nodes on your network. If those programs are not installed on your Linux server, he will be compelled to use those programs from the outside or try to install program on your server in which case you can trace it with programs like Tripwire. Although the fact that network services like telnet, finger, talk, rsh, rusers, rwall, and tftp are split into client, server packages by Red Hat in version 6.2, its always recommended to uninstall them for top security.

Descriptions of programs packages we must uninstall for securities reasons

Below is the list of programs and a short description of their utilizations. We must uninstall them for better security. For more information and explanation of their capabilities and uses, please see your Red Hat manual or install the package and make an rpm -qi foo command to query and get more description of the program, then uninstall it again. Applications/File: The GIT package provides an extensible file system browser, an ASCII/hexadecimal file viewer, a process viewer/killer and other related utilities and shell scripts. [Unnecessa