Hi there ..

I am just new here .. & I need alot of help .. specially from those who got a server running Red hat 7.3 & plesk (as mine) ..

I need step-by-step manual on how to do the following for my server .. really I searched the two forums looking for something to help those who just got started .. Like go there & do that .. & this is good .. & this is bad .. but it was depressing not to find much .. about doing things in Plesk ..


1- Install Kiss My Firewall .. ( I read that one for ensim but I don't know it will apply for Plesk or not )


2. I got php 4.1.2 .. If I update it to the latest will it harm my server .. what & how .. ??


If there are any links that can help me .. start my new life with hosting .. I will appreciate it ..

regards,

you're in luck - i paranoidly log every change i make in my server... I'm assuming that you have a recent rackshack plesk image, like i do...

Edit: KISS My Firewall instructions have been moved into the BioChemDork Plesk Uber-HowTo, available for download here. The reason for this move is so that there is ONE consistant version of instructions for me to keep track of.

Hi .. BioChemDork

Thanks for your help .. I am just waiting for RS to come back again ..

so .. at least let's gather the theoritical part before starting to practice ..

Can you just post for us those who are new with a new plesk on Red hat 7.3 what things we really need to do .. like a checklist & the best way to do it .. ?

- did you upgarde your PHP,MySQL,Apache .. ?
- did you install PHPA .. ?

These are which bothered me lately .. I am just looking for someone who did install them on a plesk to give me his experience ..

Thanks again in advance ..

I upgraded PHP but not mysql or apache (so long as your apache is 1.3.26 or higher).

I didn't install PHPA

PHP is pretty straightforward, just follow the plesk how-to

I'll try to get a formal Plesk How-To up, but it may not happen, because I have finals coming up, and then MCATs (Med School Admissions Test) after that. I will certainly try if I have time though. =)

edit: Instructions removed, and moved into the BioChemDork Plesk Uber-HowTo, available for download here. The reason for this move is so that there is ONE consistant version of instructions for me to keep track of.

What I'm working on:
Install some sort of SPAM control (Most likely SpamAssassin, and Vipul's Razor), as well as some sort of email virus filtering. We're running on qmail, so the standard sendmail instructions need to be modified.

What I still need to do:
1) get urchin working (I'm can get it working, but when I try to make it accessible via SSL, it goes down. Dunno why yet.)
2) upgrade phpMyAdmin for plesk to the newest version
3) get autorpm or up2date working

I did a rough check, and for the image which I got from RackShack around 3/1/03, apache and ssh is up to date. As for the rest, you should probablly do a little research before just installing them. The Plesk RPM package "theoretically" lets you upgrade any package that doesn't have "psa" in the package name, but I'd still research a little first.

Some hints:
-Keep a step by step log of everything you did to your system. just cut and paste the commands into notepad and save it on your computer or something. VERY useful if you screw up - usually you can get things back to the way they were before.

-Have a directory where you work, and try to store the files you used installed/updated the system with. For example, I created /updates in my server where I work when upgrading things, and also created a directory called /updates/installed, where I move the downloaded files (.tar's, .rpm's, etc.) after I've installed em, in case I need them later.

-The Rackshack form, and the Plesk Forum are your friends. Full of helpful people, and lots of tasty knowlege. Just make sure that you read everything carefully, make sure you don't skip steps, and if the procedure is part of a long thread, read the WHOLE thread beforehand! This is because 1) sometimes, people put up an howto, and then a month later, discover that it breaks stuff, and 2) You may run into a problem with your speficic config, and somebody may have already run into it, and found a way around it. Also, use the search function.

99.5% of this knowlege was derived or outright stolen from Rackshack's forum and Plesk's forum. I didn't have time to find out where info was from, so for the most part, just posted my modification log, with some modifications. My apologies to all the helpful people who I failed to attribute this info to. =(

Oh, and if anybody *cough*NightHawk*cough* wants to put up an Plesk 5.0.5 howto for SpamAssassin, php, or phpMyAdmin, it'd be much appreciated. =P

lots of coughing going on here....

sorry..but I have been out...my youngest son has been in the hospital...we are finally back home...so I will see what I can do about getting some "interesting" posts as soon as I get everything else caught up..lol

First of all thanks to everyone in this and all of the other forums for the vast amount of information they provide. The forums and the active user base is probably one of the reasons we choose Rackshack.

Anyway, my problem. I'm a little paranoid, so when I sam BioChemDork's step-by-step I was estactic. I had alreadly locked up the server thinking I could just modify the Ensim instructions.

So I do exactly what BCD says and I get a permission denied. I then think I'm in the incorrect directory so I tried dropping the /etc... then I got a few screens of permission denied plus other stuff. Hmm I thought. Then I realized I wasn't root. Oops (BTW I figured that one out myself) So do the whole process over again and bingo locked up again on starting the firewall.

Any ideas?


Howard J. Brubaker
Wizcom, Ltd

Wizcom,

It sounds like you need to flush your firewall. Here's what fellow RackShacker Steve said on this thread :

cd /etc/rc.d
pico flush

Now copy these lines into this file:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
iptables -P INPUT ACCEPT
iptables -P OUTPUT ACCEPT
iptables -F
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now save and exit pico. Then issue these commands:

chmod 700 flush
sh /etc/rc.d/flush

You have now flushed iptables correctly. You can safely disable KISS My Firewall at any time with this command:

sh /etc/rc.d/flush

I haven't tried it, but I'm 99% sure that the instructions should work for Plesk as well.

Okay, here's the beta version of the HOWTO for email virus checking and realtime blackhole list usage. As always, this is ony certified for Plesk 5.0.5 RPM install on Redhat 7.3. (Too bad the forum won't let me just tack this onto my previous post... it says it's too big.) This isn't formatted, because I expect to get spamassassin working with this. If you want precise, step by step instructions, wait for my uber-HowTo for plesk email - coming... uh... eventually. =P

Edit: Email Virus Filtering and RBL Email Filtering have been moved into the BioChemDork Plesk Uber-HowTo, available for download here. The reason for this move is so that there is ONE consistant version of instructions for me to keep track of.

nice how-to...but one should note...that the fpot licensce you are suggesting people download is not for use on servers....

"The license for F-Prot Linux for Small Business is without charge for personal users, when used on personal workstations"

oh. hmm. that would be a problem. any recommendations for a free antivirus, NightHawk?

anyway, i'l try another antivirus when i have time. right now... homework! =(

I am trying to change my server name .. & after step 1 & 2

1. pico -w /etc/hosts
2. pico -w /etc/sysconfig/network

I rebooted my server ..

then when I tried to run recongig ..

/usr/local/psa/bin/reconfigurator.sh

I got this ..

-------------------
PSA is ready for reconfiguration.
Please note that PSA utilizes your version file to verify
that you are performing a correct software reconfiguration.
Do you really want to proceed? [N] Y

Checking whether this Linux uses shadow passwords... Ok
--------------------

Then it hangs here .. I pressed CTRL+C .. & I got

--------------------
Unable to resolve hostname or establish network access to
local host: plesk.dar-alzain.com. You should fix this problem prior to installing
Plesk Server Administrator. After you are done, run the installation again.
---------------------

I havn't found any good ones...tried a few different ones but couldn't find one that worked the way I wanted them too.

make sure you have a dns record in for plesk.dar-alzain.com pointing to the main server ip#, then try it again.

make sure you have a dns record in for plesk.dar-alzain.com pointing to the main server ip#, then try it again.


how I can do that .. ?

ok..I am guessing you are working on RS dns?

if so..just goto the members area and request the dns record....
you need an A record for plesk.dar-alzain.com (your hostname) to your main ip#. Of course..you will also need the rest of the dns entries for dar-alzain.com ..if you don't have them in already...

BACK ..

I did add plesk.dar-alzain.com to my DNS ..

but still I got the same message ..

I noticed when I run this command
pico -w /etc/hosts

to edit the new name .. I found the IP which is in the left of the name .. is a diffirent IP .. It is not the same as my main IP .. DO I need to change this IP or not ..

yes..you have to configure your /etc/hosts ...and the other files used in setting your hostname to match the correct settings...

If you are not running your own nameservers...it won't matter if you add the dns records to your box or not....

I finally remembered one that seems pretty good:
http://clamav.elektrapro.com

It is working now ..

I changed the IP in both files to match my IP ..
I restart it .. & then reconfig worked fine ..

Thanks .. NightHawk .. Thanks .. BioChemDork

now this what I did .. as a result of your efforts guys ..

1. Change admin and root password
2. Change the servername
3. Installed KISS My Firewall
4. Masked Apache Server info

but I couldn't upgrade Plesk 5.0.4 to 5.0.5

--> I followd all the steps .. but when I check my version after I reboot my server .. I got 5.0.4 .. can some one check the attached text file in which I put what I did . . & to find for me where is the error ..

More .. questions .. "remember I am just learing .. & without asking I will not be able to run " ..

1. I am planning to upgrade my mysql .. I got version 3.23.49-3 ..
will is be a good idea to upgrade to version 4.1 .. or it is not time ..

2. my PHP version is 4.1.2 .. can I upgrade to 4.3.1 without any problem .. ?

3. I need someone who installed PHPA on a plesk to tell us his how he did it .. ?

regards

BCD,

I did this, got

/etc/rc.d/flush: iptables: command not found

my fault?

thanks

Howard J. Brubaker
Wizcom, Ltd

Will the tutorial on installing anti virus and spamassassin above a few posts work for redhat 7.2 and plesk 5.0.5 standard? are the directories all the same?

thanks alot

no , it won't..the paths are not the same....

also, do note the warning I placed after the how-to:



This means that it is not legit for installation on a server, be it personal or biz...the free licensce is only for a personal workstation.

Okay, you need to run:
updatedb
then
locate iptables
stick the full path of iptables that the "locate iptables" command returns into the flush file, in place of the iptables command. It's kinda odd how your iptables isn't in your path... =/ as root, iptables should be in your path, so it should be accessible from anywhere.

not to sound paranoid or anything, but... unless if you changed the location/accessibility of the the iptables command yourself, you might wanna check your system's integrity.

either you are not root (su -) or your PATH variable is set wrong.

BCD,

Thanks for the paranoia mention I haven't done ANYTHING on this server except change the password. I am a little paranoid in that I got all of the tasks to do in order. And this is just #2. Anyway I typed what you said and got:

/usr/share/man/man8/iptables-save.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/iptables.8.gz
/lib/iptables
/lib/iptables/libipt_MASQUERADE.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_DNAT.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_DSCP.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_ECN.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_LOG.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_MARK.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_MIRROR.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_REDIRECT.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_REJECT.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_SAME.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_SNAT.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_TCPMSS.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_TOS.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_TTL.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_ULOG.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_ah.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_esp.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_icmp.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_iplimit.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_limit.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_mac.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_mark.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_multiport.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_owner.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_standard.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_state.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_tcp.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_tcpmss.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_tos.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_ttl.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_udp.so
/lib/iptables/libipt_unclean.so
/sbin/iptables-restore
/sbin/iptables
/sbin/iptables-save

The way you mentioned sounded like there was just one entry. Is this correct?

Howard J. Brubaker
Wizcom, Ltd

are the ones you want....sounds to me like you have one of two things:

1) you are not root (su - )
or
2) your /etc/profile doesn't have /sbin in your PATH.

Thanks for this - unable to test the virus, as my machine refuses to accept the test file - a little loath to disable my own virus checker. Is there any other way? Am going with their commercial version.

A couple of questions/pints....



Added the extra code, and got back an email that said..

----------------------

[...]
<<250 ok 1047853039 qp 28117


It looks like the mail went through. That might not be what you want.

-------------------------

I restarted qmail - so not sure what I did wrong.

Also you state



changeowner is already set to 1.

Cheers.

I am guessing that BioChemDork is not around

Actually, Gentle Giant, I've been studying for finals these last few weeks. Sorry about that.

As to your problem, try these two things:
1) insert -r infront of relays.ordb.org. I forgot to insert the -r, and I'm not quite sure if that affects things. =/ My bad.
2) restart psa


Let me know how it turns out.

Not a problem - I wasn't pushing - just didn't want an excellent post to dissapear

I will try the change & advise.

Thanks.

Good luck with the exams.

I already have an -r in there

restart xinetd
then it is working

use this:

/etc/rc.d/init.d/xinetd restart

Thanks That did the trick.