There are some instances when it is desirable to change the default interval between synchronizations by the Windows Time Service (i.e. NTP). For instance, I recently encountered a computer where the clock would run a few seconds fast each day (it was not a battery problem), for a quick fix, it was easy to simply have the… Continue reading Setting Windows’ Time Service’s Update Frequency
Escalating Consequences with IPTables
I have previously written a bit about using IPTables to limit brute-force attacks. For the past month, that system has been working quite well. The typical attack pattern resembled that in [graph 1, graph2]. A few days ago, however, an attack was implemented which ‘fell under the radar’, so to speak – instead of being… Continue reading Escalating Consequences with IPTables
Upgrading sysklog to rsyslog
As a server setup gets more complex, it is possible that the default syslog (sysklogd) lacks the necessary finely grained filtering that may be desired. Common solutions to this are using syslog-ng or rsyslog. I have opted to go with the latter and found it to, so far, be an excellent replacement. Installing rsyslog Update:… Continue reading Upgrading sysklog to rsyslog
Drupal Oddities
I have recently been trying out a number of content management systems (CMSes) on a server with Apache + FastCGI (PHP) as a backend, and Nginx as a frontend (reverse-proxy). Of these (WordPress, Joomla, MediaWiki, and Drupal) the only one to encounter any difficulties was Drupal (version 7). Installation Issues A number of content management… Continue reading Drupal Oddities
Streaming Media from Cloudfront
As with many AWS products, Cloudfront helps to level the playing field a bit – allowing the individual to have access to the same technologies available to large corporations – of course, that doesn’t always make it cost effective, but it is still pretty cool. The focus of this article is how to leverage the… Continue reading Streaming Media from Cloudfront
Using Telnet with an SMTP Server
Despite having been around for a long time, telnet is an invaluable tool for testing a mail server. It allows one to pinpoint errors in the process – some which are not logged – and to quickly validate that things are working. Moreover, it enables one to get a better understanding of what their mail… Continue reading Using Telnet with an SMTP Server
Merging Videos of the Same Type
While modern computers have greatly advanced in their ability to handle video editing, it remains one of the slowest commonly performed operations. Within the realm of video editing, common tasks include: splitting a video (e.g. into two files to fit onto a disk) merging a video (e.g. combining two videos into a single file) splicing… Continue reading Merging Videos of the Same Type
Using Wireshark to Debug FTPES through vsFTP
Using Wireshark to Debug FTPES through vsFTP While vsFTP is lightweight and has a relatively good track record, the verbosity of its logs is lacking. Without having an error logged, it can be considerably more difficult to find and resolve the problem. This issue is compounded when using an encrypted connection. After recently enabling FTP… Continue reading Using Wireshark to Debug FTPES through vsFTP
Configuring vsFTPd to use TLS
A typical FTP session, will send login information unencrypted. It is a fairly simple matter to configure vsftpd to use SSL/TLS and encrypt connections. You can either create a self-signed certificate for this purpose, or use an existing third-party issued certificate. Generate a self-signed certificate Firstly, we generate the private key (in this case, 2048… Continue reading Configuring vsFTPd to use TLS
Setting up SSL Login on WordPress
I decided that I wanted the login for this site to be over SSL/TLS, instead of unencrypted – at this time, I decided against having the admin area also running under SSL. This article describes how to accomplish the following: Preparation of private key and certificate signing request (CSR) Obtaining a free SSL certificate (from… Continue reading Setting up SSL Login on WordPress
Limiting brute-force attacks with IPTables
Update: a more comprehensive, tiered version of the procedure below is outlined in Escalating Consquences with ipTables. The material below is, however still applicable, and forms the basis for many more advanced implementations. For the past few weeks, I have noticed that the scale of attempted intrusions, on ssh, pop3, and ftp ports has increased… Continue reading Limiting brute-force attacks with IPTables
FileZilla’s Quickconnect List
My preferred FTP client has, for a long time, been FileZilla. To connect to a FTP account, I generally select the account from the Quickconnect menu, as I am sure many others do. However, I find that sometimes on connecting to a new FTP account, I might mistype the information, or (as recently occurred), if… Continue reading FileZilla’s Quickconnect List
Website Optimizations, Part 2
While a significant portion of the content of this site is geared towards optimizations and efficiency, I think that summing up a few of those ideas in a single article can be helpful, and will follow nicely from the previous article on Website Optimizations. The major focus of the last article was content as opposed… Continue reading Website Optimizations, Part 2
Basic Diagnostics for Hibernate and Sleep
(This article is written with particular reference to Windows operating systems, especially Windows 7, although, some points are applicable to other operating systems as well). The current state of a computer is almost entirely dependent on the state of the computer’s RAM. That is to say, that the data stored in memory tells the computer… Continue reading Basic Diagnostics for Hibernate and Sleep