Lab 10 – Troubleshooting Linux and Apache Systems

Materials Needed:

1) Computer

2) Internet connection

3) Root access to Linux account

Assignment:

· Managing Users and Groups

1. Log onto the Linux computer with your account and find the list of users and groups in /etc/passwd and /etc/group.
2. Note that the passwords are not displayed in passwd. They are stored in /etc/shadow. You need to switch to the root account to view the encrypted passwords in /etc/shadow [This is done by typing su at the command prompt and then entered the administrator password.]
3. What accounts are in the group netsecurity?
4. What groups is your account in?
5. What are the permissions on your userid's /home folder?

· Turning Off Unnecessary Services

1. Log onto the Linux computer with your account
2. find the list of services running by typing ps aux | more
3. find the list of services that you are running by typing ps aux | grep username where username is your username
4. Run netstat -a | more from the command line.
5. (Run netstat -h to find other options for netstat)
6. How would you kill(terminate) a process?
7. Briefly discuss these two ways to determine what services/programs are running in Linux.

· Event Logging

1. Log onto the Linux computer with your account
2. Find out who else is on the computer using who and finger [log file /var/run/utmp]
3. Use last to track who has logged in and out of the system [log file /var/log/wtmp] - When was the system last rebooted?
4. Log in as root and view /var/log/secure to track access and authentication information

· Review the Apache (httpd) log files

1. Switch to the root account
2. View the access_log file in /etc/httpd/logs
3. View the error_log file in /etc/httpd/logs
4. /etc/httpd/conf contains the configuration file httpd.conf for Apache

· Host Hardening, Installation, and Patching

1. Identify the version of linux installed on the computer.
2. Does this computer need "patch updating"? How would you apply the updates?