Hello fellow Linux users,
I have returned with three more questions:
The computer I intend to connect to the internet as my gateway
between my network and the rest of the world, is a 486-DX4 with 20
MB of RAM, running RH 5.2 upgraded to RH 6.1.
I actually did the upgrade instead of upgrading just the kernel, but I
regret doing so. I had to sit there and uninstall all the extra stuff
that RH insists on installing. From now on, I'm sticking to
Slackware.
After the upgrade, I wanted to make sure I turned off all the extra
services I did not need (named and httpd for example) as I am
running most of them on other machines (mail on one machine,
dns on other two machines, etc).
I also removed all the packages I did not need, like Netscape, X-
Windows and many others (I went through the Red Hat manual and
uninstalled all the RPMs that I did not need after reading their
descriptions just to _make_ sure I did not need them).
The point is, I'm trying to "secure" the box to avoid anyone getting
in by keeping only the essentials and removing all the rest.
I did a ps -aux to see what was running and what needed to shut
down.
After many books, and more turning off, a ps -aux left me now with
this. Before asking this list I went through my Linux book (Linux in
Plain English), which explains every command in detail. However, I
did not find the following:
(# are my comments)
init
[kflushd]
[kupdate]
[kpiod]
[kswapd]
[mdrecoveryd]
# I am guessing this is kernel related stuff.
portmap
# I don't remember where I read this, but it had to do with
# using NIS or something like that.
syslogd -m 0
klogd
# logging programs
atd
crond
# the AT and CRON programs' daemons
inetd
# this is the program that starts stuff like telnet and ftp.
# I went through this file and turned everything off but
# telnet and ftp, unless I decide to turn both of them off
# as well and stick to SSH.
routed -g
# ip forwarding, I'm guessing
# I have this on as I intend, eventually, to run Ipchains.
lpd
# no idea what this is. Printer?
# Whatever it is, can I turn it off?
sendmail: accepting connections on port 25
# Can I turn this off? Or do I need it to run internal mail on
# the machine? I am planning on having an internal mail
# server take care of mail, and then when I am logged on
# to connect to my remote mail server and send the
# queued mail out. I'm told it's possible.
# Reading the Sendmail book, by OReilly, it explains how
# to build a sendmail.cf file which would allow for a mail
# hub, but I suppose I'd still need sendmail on every
# machine.
gpm -t ms
# I'm guessing this is the mouse program.
# Can I turn this off, since I have no mouse?
mingetty tty1
mingetty tty2
mingetty tty3
mingetty tty4
mingetty tty5
mingetty tty6
# virtual consoles
in.telnetd
# no idea, but I am guessing it's the telnet daemon, since I
# telnetted into the gateway from another machine from
# the network -- too lazy to swap monitor.
I'm looking around the internet for some good files that explain how
to properly secure your machine when connected to the internet
(eventually it will be online full time). In the mean time if anyone
has any suggestions or a URL that I could follow, I'd mighty
appreciate.
Second, I'd like all my machines to have one place where they
verify passwords and usernames instead of having to create a user
on every machine. Is this possible?
A friend mentioned that I should use NIS, but from a book I was
reading (Linux Power Tools), it says that NIS is not efficient as
password files are now saved in more than one place and it would
be difficult for NIS to maintain them. Is this true, or are there new
utilities for doing this? Or perhaps I should learn NFS and have
every machine mount the same drives and base it from there? (And
I am guessing here, the gateway should not be part of it to reduce
the number of users on it and dimish the chances of a break-in).
And lastly, logs. Is there a way to have them appear on the screen
as well as saved on the files? This would allow me to keep an eye
on the machine when I am sitting in front of my workstation and to
see if there is any unusal activity.
Thanks again everyone for reading this long boring e-mail and for
your generous support.
leandro
---
Leandro Asnaghi-Nicastro (LA672)
Capital of Nasty Electronic Magazine - ISSN 1482-0471
Editor in Chief - http://www.capnasty.org
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