Customizations I do on a new server

[rgmhtt]

This is things I do in customizing ANY FC server I set up. YMMV wrt AMAHI, and I am still working this out myself...

First su to root and edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and move SSHD from port 22 to my favorite port number. This is NOT needed if you are behind a NAT and never map your port 22 to an outside address (recommended if you want the AMAHI team to get into your server for debug purposes). Also if we had port limiting on SSH via IPTABLES or similar tool this would not be needed.

Now I do like to run privileged commands so next is visudo to edit the sudo control file and at the end add:

userid ALL(=ALL) ALL

(you need to know a little about vi to edit this file).

Next I LOVE to be able to open a terminal window by simply right-clicking on the desktop then selecting terminal;

yum install gconf-editor nautilus-open-terminal
gconf-editor &

You will get an error from gconf-editor. Click OK, and exit from gconf-editor. The next time you login (restart X) you will have the right-click option.

I am one of these dangerous people that WANTS to log in as root. I mean even sudo nautilus does not give you proper permissions to view some system files. So using vi or gedit I open /etc/pam.d/gdm

find the line

auth required pam_succeed_if.so user != root quiet

and replace it with

auth required pam_succeed_if.so

Then logout and login as root.

All these customizations are for those past the 'what is linux' phase in life!

Remember, customizations may void your warranty

[ichat]

sorry to say - but, those who are past the what is linux... probably also will commen on this post,

A: you dont run amahi with gnome enabled...
B: you only run root IF it is REALLY required... but since you dont run gnome its as simple as sudo su
C: sudo nearly never lets you even need to login as root ...

if you do want to run as priv user, run windows (ow wait even windows doesn't let you run as prive anymore since vista and win7 have this new tool that tried to mimic linux ....
i wont be suprised if sudo makes in into windows 8....

[moredruid]

Yup, I like to go root easy as well, and I'm even lazier than rgmhtt...
my sudoers file line is:

userid ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL

However to be safe I usually alias rm to rm -i
sudo is a great way of doing stuff if you only need a little thing modified.
To become the root user I run the following command: sudo su -
the - indicates that bash should load the profile of that user (no username behind the - implies root). Very handy since root usually has a more extensive $PATH variable than an ordinary user.

I run the server headless, and I would love to lose a lot of cruft that is in the fedora install which I really don't need...

I also block root ssh login:
in /etc/ssh/sshd_config I set the value
PermitRootLogin no

Mostly I roll out ssh-keys to my servers (easier that way) and I disable ssh password logins. This is a great feature and very secure.

[lou1z]

maybe there should be another sub-forum for customisations with the forum being strickly modded so that the titles read - security - how to disable ssh logins
- desktop - how to start & stop x

sort of wiki-ish but none the less, sometimes users like to see quick tips via forums.