Code, InfoSec and Server Stuff
Views are personal and not my employers.
I recently had an issue where I set up a website for a friend. I invested 6 hours into setting up, the server and backups were automatically deleted after 7 days while I was away from my keyboard because I assumed the account was valid and had credits.
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No matter what server-provider you are using I strongly recommend you have a hot spare ready on a different provider
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Aside
If you have not read my previous posts I have now moved my blog to the awesome UpCloud host (signup using this link to get $25 free UpCloud VM credit). I compared Digital Ocean, Vultr and UpCloud Disk IO here and UpCloud came out on top by a long way (read the blog post here). Here is my blog post on moving from Vultr to UpCloud.
Buy a domain name here
Now on with the post.
Murphy’s Law
I recently had an issue where I set up a website for a friend. I invested 6 hours into setting up..
I setup…
I had tested GTMetrix scores = less than 1 second. Security headers were tested and I was happy with the site.
The server and backups were automatically deleted after 7 days while I was away from my keyboard because I assumed the account was valid and had credits.
Lesson Learned
I have guides on setting up a server on UpCloud, AWS, Vultr, Digital Ocean but setting up can be rather repetitive so how can you prevent resetting up servers?
Why Plan for the Worst
How I will prevent this in future
I hope this guide helps someone.
Please consider using my referral code and get $25 UpCloud VM credit if you need to create a server online.
https://www.upcloud.com/register/?promo=D84793
Ask a question or recommend an article
Revision History
v1.0 Initial Post
This is how I set up a dedicated Debian subdomain (VM), Installed MySQL 14 and connected to it from a WordPress installation on a different VM
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Aside
If you have not read my previous posts I have now moved my blog to the awesome UpCloud host (signup using this link to get $25 free UpCloud VM credit). I compared Digital Ocean, Vultr and UpCloud Disk IO here and UpCloud came out on top by a long way (read the blog post here). Here is my blog post on moving fearby.com from Vultr to UpCloud.
Buy a domain name here
Now on with the post.
Fearby.com
I will be honest, fearby.com is my play server where I can code, learn about InfoSec and share (It’s also my stroke rehab blog).
There is no faster way to learn than actually doing. The problem is my “doing” usually breaks the live site from time to time (sorry).
I really need to set up a testing environment (DEV-TEST-LIVE or GREEN-BLUE) server(s). GREEN-BLUE has advantages as I can always have a hot spare ready. All I need to do is toggle DNS and I can set the GREEN or BLUE server as the live server.
But first I need to separate my database from my current fearby.com server and setup up a new web server. Having a Green and Blue server that uses one database server will help with near real-time production website switches.
Dedicated Database Server
I read the following ( Should MySQL and Web Server share the same server? ) at Percona Database Performance Blog. Having a separate database server should not negatively impact performance (It may even help improve speeds).
Deploy a Debian VM (not Ubuntu)
I decided to set up a Debian server instead of Ubuntu (mostly because of the good focus on stability and focus on security within Debian).
I logged into the UpCloud dashboard on my mobile phone and deployed a Debian server in 5 mins. I will be using my existing how to setup Ubuntu on UpCloud guide (even though this is Debian).
TIP: Sign up to UpCloud using this link to get $25 free UpCloud VM credit.
Deploy a Debian server setup steps:
After 5 mins your server should be deployed.
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After Deploy
Setup DNS
Login to your DNS provider and create DNS records to the new IP’s (IPv4 and IPv6) provided by UpCloud. It took DNS 12 hours to replicate to my in Australia.
Setup a Firewall (at UpCloud)
I would recommend you set up a firewall at UpCloud as soon as possible (don’t forget to add the recommended UpCloud DNS IP’s and any whitelisted IP’s your firewall).
Block everything and only allow
Read my post on setting up a whitelisted IP on an UpCloud VM… as it is a good idea.
UpCloud thankfully has a copy firewall feature that is very handy.
After I set up the firewall I SSH’ed into my server (I use vSSH on OSX buy you could use PUTTY).
I updated the Debian system with the following command
1 | sudo apt update |
Get the MySQL Package
Visit http://repo.mysql.com/ and get the URL of the latest apt-config repo deb file (e.g “mysql-apt-config_0.8.9-1_all.deb”). Make a temp folder.
1 2 | mkdir /temp cd /temp |
Download the MySQL deb Package
1 | wget http://repo.mysql.com/mysql-apt-config_0.8.9-1_all.deb |
Install the package
1 | sudo dpkg -i mysql-apt-config_0.8.9-1_all.deb |
Update the system again
1 | sudo apt update |
Install MySQL on Debian
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 | sudo apt install mysql-server Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following additional packages will be installed: libaio1 libatomic1 libmecab2 mysql-client mysql-common mysql-community-client mysql-community-server psmisc The following NEW packages will be installed: libaio1 libatomic1 libmecab2 mysql-client mysql-common mysql-community-client mysql-community-server mysql-server psmisc 0 upgraded, 9 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded. Need to get 37.1 MB of archives. After this operation, 256 MB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y Get:1 http://repo.mysql.com/apt/debian stretch/mysql-5.7 amd64 mysql-community-client amd64 5.7.22-1debian9 [8886 kB] Get:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian stretch/main amd64 mysql-common all 5.8+1.0.2 [5608 B] Get:3 http://deb.debian.org/debian stretch/main amd64 libaio1 amd64 0.3.110-3 [9412 B] Get:4 http://deb.debian.org/debian stretch/main amd64 libatomic1 amd64 6.3.0-18+deb9u1 [8966 B] Get:5 http://deb.debian.org/debian stretch/main amd64 psmisc amd64 22.21-2.1+b2 [123 kB] Get:6 http://deb.debian.org/debian stretch/main amd64 libmecab2 amd64 0.996-3.1 [256 kB] Get:7 http://repo.mysql.com/apt/debian stretch/mysql-5.7 amd64 mysql-client amd64 5.7.22-1debian9 [12.4 kB] Get:8 http://repo.mysql.com/apt/debian stretch/mysql-5.7 amd64 mysql-community-server amd64 5.7.22-1debian9 [27.8 MB] Get:9 http://repo.mysql.com/apt/debian stretch/mysql-5.7 amd64 mysql-server amd64 5.7.22-1debian9 [12.4 kB] Fetched 37.1 MB in 12s (3023 kB/s) Preconfiguring packages ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-common. (Reading database ... 34750 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack .../0-mysql-common_5.8+1.0.2_all.deb ... Unpacking mysql-common (5.8+1.0.2) ... Selecting previously unselected package libaio1:amd64. Preparing to unpack .../1-libaio1_0.3.110-3_amd64.deb ... Unpacking libaio1:amd64 (0.3.110-3) ... Selecting previously unselected package libatomic1:amd64. Preparing to unpack .../2-libatomic1_6.3.0-18+deb9u1_amd64.deb ... Unpacking libatomic1:amd64 (6.3.0-18+deb9u1) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-community-client. Preparing to unpack .../3-mysql-community-client_5.7.22-1debian9_amd64.deb ... Unpacking mysql-community-client (5.7.22-1debian9) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-client. Preparing to unpack .../4-mysql-client_5.7.22-1debian9_amd64.deb ... Unpacking mysql-client (5.7.22-1debian9) ... Selecting previously unselected package psmisc. Preparing to unpack .../5-psmisc_22.21-2.1+b2_amd64.deb ... Unpacking psmisc (22.21-2.1+b2) ... Selecting previously unselected package libmecab2:amd64. Preparing to unpack .../6-libmecab2_0.996-3.1_amd64.deb ... Unpacking libmecab2:amd64 (0.996-3.1) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-community-server. Preparing to unpack .../7-mysql-community-server_5.7.22-1debian9_amd64.deb ... Unpacking mysql-community-server (5.7.22-1debian9) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-server. Preparing to unpack .../8-mysql-server_5.7.22-1debian9_amd64.deb ... Unpacking mysql-server (5.7.22-1debian9) ... Setting up libatomic1:amd64 (6.3.0-18+deb9u1) ... Setting up psmisc (22.21-2.1+b2) ... Setting up mysql-common (5.8+1.0.2) ... update-alternatives: using /etc/mysql/my.cnf.fallback to provide /etc/mysql/my.cnf (my.cnf) in auto mode Setting up libmecab2:amd64 (0.996-3.1) ... Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.24-11+deb9u3) ... Setting up libaio1:amd64 (0.3.110-3) ... Processing triggers for systemd (232-25+deb9u4) ... Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.6.1-2) ... Setting up mysql-community-client (5.7.22-1debian9) ... Setting up mysql-client (5.7.22-1debian9) ... Setting up mysql-community-server (5.7.22-1debian9) ... update-alternatives: using /etc/mysql/mysql.cnf to provide /etc/mysql/my.cnf (my.cnf) in auto mode Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/mysql.service -> /lib/systemd/system/mysql.service. Setting up mysql-server (5.7.22-1debian9) ... Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.24-11+deb9u3) ... Processing triggers for systemd (232-25+deb9u4) ... |
Secure MySQL
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You can secure the MySQL server deployment (set options as needed)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 | sudo mysql_secure_installation Enter password for user root: ******************************************** VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN can be used to test passwords and improve security. It checks the strength of password and allows the users to set only those passwords which are secure enough. Would you like to setup VALIDATE PASSWORD plugin? Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No: No Using existing password for root. Change the password for root ? ((Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : No ... skipping. By default, a MySQL installation has an anonymous user, allowing anyone to log into MySQL without having to have a user account created for them. This is intended only for testing, and to make the installation go a bit smoother. You should remove them before moving into a production environment. Remove anonymous users? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : Yes Success. Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from 'localhost'. This ensures that someone cannot guess at the root password from the network. Disallow root login remotely? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : No ... skipping. By default, MySQL comes with a database named 'test' that anyone can access. This is also intended only for testing, and should be removed before moving into a production environment. Remove test database and access to it? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : Yes - Dropping test database... Success. - Removing privileges on test database... Success. Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes made so far will take effect immediately. Reload privilege tables now? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : Yes Success. All done! |
Install NGINX
I installed NGINX to allow Adminer MySQL GUI to be used
I ran these commands to install NGINX.
1 2 3 | sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade sudo apt-get install nginx |
I edited my NGINX configuration as required.
I reloaded NGINX
1 2 3 | sudo nginx -t sudo nginx -s reload sudo systemctl restart nginx |
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Install PHP
I followed this guide to install PHP on Debian.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade sudo apt install ca-certificates apt-transport-https wget -q https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - echo "deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ stretch main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/php.list sudo apt update sudo apt install php7.2 sudo apt install php-pear php7.2-curl php7.2-dev php7.2-mbstring php7.2-zip php7.2-mysql php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-common |
Install PHP FPM
1 | apt-get install php7.2-fpm |
Increase Upload Limits
You may need to temporarily increase upload limits in NGINX and PHP before you can restore a WordPress database. My feabry.com blog is about 87MB.
Add “client_max_body_size 100M;” to “/etc/nginx/nginx.conf”
Add the following to “/etc/php/7.2/fpm/php.ini”
Restore a backup of my MySQL database in MySQL
You can now use Adminer to restore your blog to MySQL. Read my post here on Adminer here. I used Adminer to move my WordPress site from CPanel to a self-managed server a year ago.
First login to your source server and export your desired database then login to the target server and import the database.
Firewall Check
Don’t forget to allow your WordPress site’s 2x Public IP’s and 1x Private IP to access port 3306 in your UpCloud Firewall.
How to check open ports on your current server
1 | sudo netstat -plunt |
Set MySQL Permissions
Open MySQL
1 | mysql --host=localhost --user=root --password=*************************************************************************** |
I ran these statements to grant the user logging in on the nominate IP’s access to MySQL.
1 2 3 4 5 | mysql> GRANT ALL ON databasenmae.* TO databaseusername@IPv4Server1PublicAddress IDENTIFIED BY '***********sql*user*password*************'; GRANT ALL ON databasenmae.* TO databaseusername@IPv4Server1PrivateAddress IDENTIFIED BY '***********sql*user*password*************'; GRANT ALL ON databasenmae.* TO databaseusername@IPv4Server2PublicAddress IDENTIFIED BY '***********sql*user*password*************'; GRANT ALL ON databasenmae.* TO databaseusername@IPv4Server1PrivateAddress IDENTIFIED BY '***********sql*user*password*************'; |
Reload permissions in MySQL
1 | FLUSH PRIVILEGES; |
Allow access to the Debian machine from known IP’s
Edit “/etc/host.allow”
Additions (known safe IP’s that need access to this MySQL remotely).
1 2 3 4 5 6 | mysqld : IPv4Server1PublicAddress : allow mysqld : IPv4Server1PrivateAddress : allow mysqld : IPv4Server2PublicAddress : allow mysqld : IPv4Server1PrivateAddress : allow mysqld : ALL : deny |
Tell MySQL to listen on
Edit “/etc/mysql/my.cnf”
Added..
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | [mysqld] user = mysql pid-file = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock port = 3306 basedir = /usr datadir = /var/lib/mysql tmpdir = /tmp language = /usr/share/mysql/English bind-address = DebianServersIntenalIPv4Address |
I guess you could change the port to something random???
Restart MySQL
1 | sudo service mysql restart |
Install a second local firewall on Debian
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Install ufw
1 | sudo apt-get instal ufw |
Do add the IP of your desired server or VPN to access SSH
1 | sudo ufw allow from 123.123.123.123 to any port 22 |
Do add the IP of your desired server or VPN to access WWW
1 | sudo ufw allow from 123.123.123.123 to any port 80 |
Now add the known IP’s (e.g any web servers public (IPv4/IPv6) or Private IP’s) that you wish to grant access to MySQL (e.g the source website that used to have MySQL)
1 | sudo ufw allow from 123.123.123.123 to any port 3306 |
Do add UpCloud DNS Servers to your firewall
1 2 3 4 | sudo ufw allow from 94.237.127.9 to any port 53 sudo ufw allow from 94.237.40.9 to any port 53 sudo ufw allow from 2a04:3544:53::1 to any port 53 sudo ufw allow from 2a04:3540:53::1 to any port 53 |
Add all other rules as needed (if you stuff up and lock your self out you can login to the server with the Console on UpCloud)
Restart the ufw firewall
1 2 | sudo ufw disable sudo ufw enable |
Prevent MySQL starting on the source server
Now we can shut down MySQL on the source server (leave it there just in case).
Edit “/etc/init/mysql.conf”
Comment out the line that contains “start on ” and save the file
and run
1 | sudo systemctl disable mysql |
Reboot
1 | shutdown -r now |
Stop and Disable NGINX on the new DB server
We don’t need NGINX running now the database has been imported with Adminer.
Stop and prevent NGINX from starting up on startup.
1 2 3 | /etc/init.d/nginx stop sudo update-rc.d -f nginx disable sudo systemctl disable nginx |
Check to see if MySQL is Disabled
1 2 3 4 | service mysql status * mysql.service - MySQL Community Server Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/mysql.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: inactive (dead) |
Yep
Test access to the database server in PHP code
Add to dbtest.php
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 | <em>SELECT guid FROM wp_posts</em>()<br /> <ul><?php //External IP (charged after quota hit) //$servername = 'db.yourserver.com'; //Private IP (free) //$servername = '10.x.x.x'; $username = 'username'; $password = '********your*password*********'; $dbname = 'database'; // Create connection $conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname); // Check connection if ($conn->connect_error) { die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error); } $sql = 'SELECT guid FROM wp_posts'; $result = $conn->query($sql); if ($result->num_rows > 0) { // output data of each row while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) { echo $row["guid"] . "<br>"; } } else { echo "0 results"; } $conn->close(); ?></ul> Done |
Check for open ports.
You can install nmap on another server and scan for open ports
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Install nmap
1 | sudo apt-get install nmap |
Scan a server for open ports with nmap
You should see this on a server that has access to see port 3306 (port 3306 should not be visible by non-whitelisted IP’s). Port 3shouldoudl not be seen via everyone.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | sudo nmap -PN db.yourserver.com Starting Nmap 7.40 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2018-07-20 14:15 UTC Nmap scan report for db.yourserver.com (IPv4IP) Host is up (0.0000070s latency). Other addresses for db.yourserver.com (not scanned): IPv6IP Not shown: 997 closed ports PORT STATE SERVICE 3306/tcp open mysql |
You should see something like this on a server that has access to see port 80/443 (a web server)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | sudo nmap -PN yourserver.com Starting Nmap 7.40 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2018-07-20 14:18 UTC Nmap scan report for db.yourserver.com (IPv4IP) Host is up (0.0000070s latency). Other addresses for db.yourserver.com (not scanned): IPv6IP Not shown: 997 closed ports PORT STATE SERVICE 80/tcp open http 443/tcp open https |
I’d recommend you use a service like https://pentest-tools.com/network-vulnerability-scanning/tcp-port-scanner-online-nmap# to check for open ports. https://hackertarget.com/tcp-port-scan/ is a great tool too.
https://www.infobyip.com/tcpportchecker.php is also a free port checker that you can use to verify individual closed ports.
Hardening MySQL and Debian
Read: https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/securing-debian-howto/ap-checklist.en.html
Configuring WordPress use the dedicated Debian VM
On the source server that used to have MySQL edit your wp-config.php file for WordPress.
Remove
1 | define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); |
add (read the update below, I changed the DNS IP to the Private IP to have free traffic)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | //Oriinal localhost //define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); //New external host via DNS (Charged after quota hit) //define('DB_HOST', 'db.fearby.com'); //New external host via Private IP (Free) define('DB_HOST','10.x.x.x'); |
Restart NGINX
1 2 3 | sudo nginx -t sudo nginx -s reload sudo systemctl restart nginx |
Restart PHP-FPM
1 | service php7.2-fpm restart |
Conclusion
Nice, I seem to have shaved off 0.3 seconds in load times (25% improvement)
Update: Using a Private IP or Public IP between WordPress and MySQL servers
After I released this blog post (version 1.0 with no help from UpCloud) UpCloud contacted me and said the following.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | Hello Simon, I notice there's no mention of using the private network IPs. Did you know that we automagically assign you one when you deploy with our templates. The private network works out of the box without additional configuration, you can use that communicate between your own cloud servers and even across datacentres. There's no bandwidth charge when communicating over private network, they do not go through public internet as well. With this, you can easily build high redundant setups. Let me know if you have any other questions. -- Kelvin from UpCloud |
I will have updated my references in this post and replace the public IP address (that is linked to DNS record for db.fearby.com) and instead use the private ip address (e.g 10.x.x.x), your servers private IP address is listed against the public IPv$ and IPv6 address.
I checked that the local ufw firewall did indeed allow the private IP access to MySQL.
1 2 | sudo ufw status numbered |grep 10.x.x.x [27] 3306 ALLOW IN 10.x.x.x |
On my new Debian MySQL server, I edited the file /etc/mysql/my.cnf and changed the IP to the private IP and not the public IP.
Now it looked like
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | [mysqld] user = mysql pid-file = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock port = 3306 basedir = /usr datadir = /var/lib/mysql tmpdir = /tmp language = /usr/share/mysql/English bind-address = 10.x.x.x |
(10.x.x.x my Debian servers private IP)
On my WordPress instance, I edited the file /www-root/wp-config.php
I added the new private host
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | //Oriinal localhost //define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); //New external host via DNS (Charged after quota hit) //define('DB_HOST', 'db.fearby.com'); //New external host via Private IP (Free) define('DB_HOST','10.x.x.x'); |
(10.x.x.x my Debian servers private IP)
Alos on Debian/MySQL ensure you have granted access to the private IP of the WordPress server
Edit /etc/host.allow
Add
1 | mysqld : 10.x.x.x : allow |
Restart MySQL
1 | sudo systemctl restart mysql |
TIP: Enable UpCloud Backups
Do setup automatic backups (and or take manual backups). Backups are an extra charge but are essential IMHO.
Troubleshooting
If you can’t access MySQL log back into MySQL
1 | mysql --host=localhost --user=root --password=*************************************************************************** |
and run
1 | GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO databaseuser@'%' IDENTIFIED BY '***********sql*user*password*************''; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; |
Reboot
Lower Upload Limits
Don’t forget to lower file upload sizes in NGINX and PHP (e.g 2M) now that the database has been restored.
I hope this guide helps someone.
TIP: Sign up to UpCloud using this link to get $25 free UpCloud VM credit.
https://www.upcloud.com/register/?promo=D84793
Ask a question or recommend an article
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Revision History
v1.6 Changed Public IP use to private IP use to ensure we are not charged when the serves sage goes over the quota
v1.5 Fixed 03 type (should have been 0.3)
v1.4 added disable nginx info
v1.3 added https://www.infobyip.com/tcpportchecker.php
v1.1 added https://hackertarget.com/tcp-port-scan/
v1.0 Initial Post
This post will explain why I will never buy a new Apple Laptop until they fix the hardware cooling issues.
This post will explain why I will never buy a new Apple Laptop until they fix the hardware cooling issues.
Background
I used to work in retail selling computers and I would go to great lengths to open a desktop computer chassis and talk someone out of buying a cheaper/slower computer (usually when it had a Cyrix Media GX processor in it). I would do myself out of higher commission and burn time educating customers. I have blogged about what to look for when buying a computer (here).
2012
In 2012 I bought my first Apple Mac computer to write iOS apps (write your first OSX app). I would call myself an Apple fanboy (previously being a PC fanboy for 15 years). I have never rebuilt my OSX system in 6 years buy would rebuild Windows every 6 months. Some Apple things I like.
2017
My Mid 2012 Mac Book Pro i7 processor overheats like crazy. I have blogged about my Mid 2012 MPB overheating issues (read here). I have even gone and installed third party software to control the speeds of my Mac’s fans (read here).
Inside my Mid 2012 Mac Book Pro (heatsink and fans at the top)
Stupidly thin heatsink (IMHO).
Complete heatsink (CPU and GPU plate)
I am certain this Mac Book heatsink is too small for the processor and graphics card.
As I type this my Mac Book Pro is Thermal throttling (slowing down the CPU) while typing a blog post (not gaming).
My only option is to crank up the fans to 100% and overrise Apple silence first mantra.
I am currently sitting here at Winter with my MBP 2012 MBP i7 fans running at 100% to try (try) and prevent thermal throtelling killing my productivity. https://t.co/IM6IlnmjC7
— Simon Fearby (Aussie DevSecOps) (@FearbySoftware) July 18, 2018
Intel Power Gadget showing thermal throttling (CPU dropping t0 almost 1Ghz to drop temps).
Move forward to 2018
Today I learned that Apple is putting an Intel i9 Procesor into a laptop, great? Hold onto your cash, that thing will run very hot and will never operate at its maximum potential.
Reviews are scathing.
I tweeted..
What a joke, why is @Apple putting an Intel i9 into a stupidly thin Mac Book Pro, my i7 can barely keep cool https://t.co/IM6IlnmjC7
— Simon Fearby (Aussie DevSecOps) (@FearbySoftware) July 13, 2018
Apple’s Website: https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/
What a waste of a good processor.
Below you will see the fallout on YouTube from Apple putting an i9 Processor in the latest 15″ Mac Book Pros.
Dave Lee posted “MacBook Pro 15 (2018) – Beware the Core i9”
TechLinked posted “2018 Macbook ALREADY Overheating?”
AppleInsider – 2018 MacBook Pro i9 Thermal Throttling CONFIRMED!
Best of all, Louis Rossmann summed up the Apple situation perfectly.
Update 25th July
Apple is doubling down on the lack of cooling (calling it a “missing digital key”).
I will #BoycottAppleProMachines
That’s all.
Revision History
v1.4 Added update 25th July 2018 Missing Digital Key
v1.3 Gizmodo link
v1.2 Test new db server
v1.1 Added Apple Insider video
v1.0 Initial Post
Here is how I added two subdomains (one pointing to a new UpCloud VM and the other pointing to an NGINX subsite) on Ubuntu 18.04
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If you have not read my previous posts I have now moved my blog to the awesome UpCloud host (signup using this link to get $25 free credit). I compared Digital Ocean, Vultr and UpCloud Disk IO here and UpCloud came out on top by a long way (read the blog post here). Here is my blog post on moving from Vultr to UpCloud.
UpCloud performance is great.
Buy a domain name from Namecheap here.
Goal(s)
Setup 2x subdomains on https://fearby.com
– Sub Domain #1: https://test.fearby.com (pointing to a dedicated UpCloud VM in Singapore for testing).
– Sub Domain #2: https://audit.fearby.com (pointing to a sub-website on the NGINX/VM that runs https://fearby.com )
Let’s set up the first Sub Domain (dedicated VM) and SSL
Backup
Do backup your server first.
VM
I created a second server ($5 month or $0.07c hour 1,024MB Memory, 25GB Disk, 1024 GB Month Data Transfer) at UpCloud. If you don’t already have an account at UpCloud use this link to signup and get $25 free credit ( https://www.upcloud.com/register/?promo=D84793 ). Read my blog post on why UpCloud is awesome and how I moved my domain to UpCloud.
Once I spun up a second server I obtained the IPv4 and IPv6 IP addresses of the new “test” VM from the UpCloud dashboard.
1 2 | IPV4 IP: 94.237.65.54 IPV6 IP: 2a04:3543:1000:2310:24b7:7cff:fe92:468c |
DNS
These DNS records were already in place with my DNS provider (Cloudflare).
1 2 | A fearby.com 209.50.48.88 AAAA fearby.com 2605:7380:1000:1310:24b7:7cff:fe92:0d64 |
I added these DNS records for the subdomains.
I added a new A NAME record for the new shared NGINX subdomain (for https://audit.fearby.com), this subdomain will be a sub-website that is running off the same server as https://fearby.com
1 2 | A audit 209.50.48.88 AAAA audit 2605:7380:1000:1310:24b7:7cff:fe92:0d64 |
I added another set of records for the new dedicated VM subdomain (for https://test.fearby.com)
1 2 | A test 94.237.65.54 AAAA test 2a04:3543:1000:2310:24b7:7cff:fe92:468c |
I waited for DNS to replicate around the globe by watching https://www.whatsmydns.net/
Setup a Firewall
On the new dedicated https://test.fearby.com VM, I installed the ufw firewall.
1 | sudo apt-get install ufw |
I configured the firewall to allow minimum ports (and added whitelisted IP for port 22 and added UpCloud DNS servers). I will lock this down some more later.
TIP: If your ISP does not offer a dedicated IP try a VPN. I use https://cyberghostvpn.com on OSX and Android.
Firewall rules.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | sudo ufw status numbered To Action From -- ------ ---- [ 1] 22 ALLOW IN x.x.x.x [ 2] 80 ALLOW IN Anywhere [ 3] 443 ALLOW IN Anywhere [ 4] 53 ALLOW IN 93.237.127.9 [ 5] 53 ALLOW IN 93.237.40.9 [ 6] 25 DENY IN Anywhere [ 7] 80 (v6) ALLOW IN Anywhere (v6) [ 8] 443 (v6) ALLOW IN Anywhere (v6) [ 9] 53 ALLOW IN 2a04:3540:53::1 [10] 53 ALLOW IN 2a04:3544:53::1 [11] 22 ALLOW IN x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x [12] 25 (v6) DENY IN Anywhere (v6) |
I enabled the firewall.
1 | sudo ufw enable |
Install NGINX (on https://test.fearby.com)
On the new dedicated https://test.fearby.com VM I…
Created a new www root
1 | mkdir /www-root |
Set permissions
1 | sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /www-root |
Installed NGINX
1 2 | sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install nginx |
I created a placeholder webpage
1 | sudo nano /www-root/index.html |
Configured the root value in /etc/nginx/sites-available/default
Created a symbolic link of the nginx config
1 | sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/default /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default |
Lets Encrypt SSL
I have previously setup Lets encrypt on Ubuntu 16.04 but not 18.04. Certbot had info on setting up Lets Encrypt for 14.x 16.x and 17.x but not 18.x
Full credit for the SSL steps goes to @Linuxize ( tips on setting up Lets Encrypt on Ubuntu 18.04 ). Check out https://linuxize.com/
I installed Lets Encrypt certbot
1 2 | sudo apt update sudo apt install certbot |
I created a new Diffie–Hellman key
1 2 | mkdir -p /etc/ssl/certs/ sudo openssl dhparam -out /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem 2048 |
Map requests to http://test.fearby.com/.well-known/acme-challenge to /var/lib/letsencrypt/.well-known ( Read the linuxize post for detailed steps ).
1 2 3 | mkdir -p /var/lib/letsencrypt/.well-known chgrp www-data /var/lib/letsencrypt chmod g+s /var/lib/letsencrypt |
Create a /etc/nginx/snippets/letsencrypt.conf on http://test.fearby.com and enforce the redirect.
1 2 3 4 5 6 | location ^~ /.well-known/acme-challenge/ { allow all; root /var/lib/letsencrypt/; default_type "text/plain"; try_files $uri =404; } |
Create a /etc/nginx/snippets/ssl.conf file on http://test.fearby.com
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | ssl_dhparam /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem; ssl_session_timeout 1d; ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:50m; ssl_session_tickets off; ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2; ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:EDH-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES128-SHA256:AES256-SHA256:AES128-SHA:AES256-SHA:DES-CBC3-SHA:!DSS'; ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on; ssl_stapling on; ssl_stapling_verify on; resolver 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 valid=300s; resolver_timeout 30s; add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=15768000; includeSubdomains; preload"; add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN; add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff; |
Let’s get a certificate
1 | sudo certbot certonly --agree-tos --email your@email.com --webroot -w /var/lib/letsencrypt/ -d test.fearby.com |
Certificates have been created 🙂
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | ls -al /etc/letsencrypt/live/test.fearby.com/ total 12 drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 Jun 26 11:30 . drwx------ 3 user user 4096 Jun 26 11:30 .. -rw-r--r-- 1 user user 543 Jun 26 11:30 README lrwxrwxrwx 1 user user 39 Jun 26 11:30 cert.pem -> ../../archive/test.fearby.com/cert1.pem lrwxrwxrwx 1 user user 40 Jun 26 11:30 chain.pem -> ../../archive/test.fearby.com/chain1.pem lrwxrwxrwx 1 user user 44 Jun 26 11:30 fullchain.pem -> ../../archive/test.fearby.com/fullchain1.pem lrwxrwxrwx 1 user user 42 Jun 26 11:30 privkey.pem -> ../../archive/test.fearby.com/privkey1.pem |
Now lets edit “/etc/nginx/sites-available/default” on https://test.fearby.com VM and add the cert paths.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 | server { listen 80 default_server; listen [::]:80 default_server; listen 443 ssl http2; listen [::]:443 ssl http2; if ($scheme != "https") { return 301 https://$host$request_uri; } ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/test.fearby.com/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/test.fearby.com/privkey.pem; ssl_trusted_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/test.fearby.com/chain.pem; include snippets/ssl.conf; #ssl_stapling on; # Requires nginx >= 1.3.7 # add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubdomains; preload"; add_header X-Frame-Options DENY; add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff; add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"; root /www-root/; include snippets/letsencrypt.conf; index index.html; server_name test.fearby.com; location / { try_files $uri $uri/ =404; } } |
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Reload NGINX
1 | sudo systemctl reload nginx |
or
1 2 3 | sudo nginx -t sudo nginx -s reload sudo systemctl reload nginx |
Now let’s setup the second subdomain (subsite off https://fearby.com) and SSL
VM
I already have NGINX on https://fearby.com set up a second site.
DNS
We have already setup a DNS record for https://audit.fearby.com (above)
Firewall
Already configured at https://fearby.com
SSL
Because I had an existing Comodo certificate on https://fearby.com I am going to repeat the steps above to generate a new certificate but save the NGINX config to /etc/nginx/sites-available/audit.fearby.com (this activates the second site)
TIP: Follow the Linuxize guide here (for creating ssl.conf, letsencrypt.conf etc config files), Do a backup and restore if need be.
I created a new Diffie–Hellman key
1 2 | mkdir -p /etc/ssl/certs/ sudo openssl dhparam -out /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem 2048 |
Let’s get a certificate
1 | sudo certbot certonly --agree-tos --email your@email.com --webroot -w /var/lib/letsencrypt/ -d audit.fearby.com |
Configure NGINX
Map requests to http://audit.fearby.com/.well-known/acme-challenge to /var/lib/letsencrypt/.well-known ( Read the linuxize post for detailed steps ).
1 2 3 | mkdir -p /var/lib/letsencrypt/.well-known chgrp www-data /var/lib/letsencrypt chmod g+s /var/lib/letsencrypt |
I created a new NGINX site ( /etc/nginx/sites-available/audit.fearby.com )
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 | #proxy_cache_path /tmp/nginx-cache keys_zone=one:10m;# server { root /www-audit-root; # Listen Ports listen 80; listen [::]:80; listen 443 ssl http2; listen [::]:443 ssl http2; # Default File index index.html index.php index.htm; # Server Name server_name audit.fearby.com; include snippets/letsencrypt.conf; location / { try_files $uri $uri/ =404; } ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/audit.fearby.com/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/audit.fearby.com/privkey.pem; ssl_trusted_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/audit.fearby.com/chain.pem; ssl_dhparam /etc/ssl/certs/auditdhparam.pem; ssl_session_timeout 1d; #ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:50m; ssl_session_tickets off; ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2; ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA38$ ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on; ssl_stapling on; ssl_stapling_verify on; #resolver 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 valid=300s; #resolver_timeout 30s; add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=15768000; includeSubdomains; preload"; add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN; add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff; if ($scheme != "https") { return 301 https://$host$request_uri; } } |
I created a symbolic link of the config file
1 | sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/audit.fearby.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/audit.fearby.com |
Reload NGINX
1 | sudo systemctl reload nginx |
or
1 2 3 | sudo nginx -t sudo nginx -s reload sudo systemctl reload nginx |
How to test the certificate renewal
1 | sudo certbot renew --dry-run |
Automate the renewal in crontab (every 12 hours)
I set this crontab entry up on https://fearby.com and https://test.fearby.com
1 2 | crontab -e 0 */12 * * * root test -x /usr/bin/certbot -a \! -d /run/systemd/system && perl -e 'sleep int(rand(3600))' && certbot -q renew --renew-hook "systemctl reload nginx" |
Conclusion
Yes, I haVe 2 subdomains (1x dedicated VM and the other is a sub-website off an existing server) with SSL certificates.
Ping Results
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 | ping -c 4 fearby.com PING fearby.com (209.50.48.88): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 209.50.48.88: icmp_seq=0 ttl=44 time=220.000 ms 64 bytes from 209.50.48.88: icmp_seq=1 ttl=44 time=290.602 ms 64 bytes from 209.50.48.88: icmp_seq=2 ttl=44 time=311.938 ms 64 bytes from 209.50.48.88: icmp_seq=3 ttl=44 time=330.841 ms --- fearby.com ping statistics --- 4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0.0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 220.000/288.345/330.841/41.948 ms ping -c 4 test.fearby.com PING test.fearby.com (94.237.65.54): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 94.237.65.54: icmp_seq=0 ttl=44 time=333.590 ms 64 bytes from 94.237.65.54: icmp_seq=1 ttl=44 time=252.433 ms 64 bytes from 94.237.65.54: icmp_seq=2 ttl=44 time=271.153 ms 64 bytes from 94.237.65.54: icmp_seq=3 ttl=44 time=292.685 ms --- test.fearby.com ping statistics --- 4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0.0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 252.433/287.465/333.590/30.200 ms ping -c 4 audit.fearby.com PING audit.fearby.com (209.50.48.88): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 209.50.48.88: icmp_seq=0 ttl=44 time=281.662 ms 64 bytes from 209.50.48.88: icmp_seq=1 ttl=44 time=307.676 ms 64 bytes from 209.50.48.88: icmp_seq=2 ttl=44 time=227.985 ms 64 bytes from 209.50.48.88: icmp_seq=3 ttl=44 time=215.566 ms --- audit.fearby.com ping statistics --- 4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0.0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 215.566/258.222/307.676/37.845 ms |
Webpage Results
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Revision History
v1.0 Initial Post
This is how I upgraded from my standalone 1Password 6.x family licence to a 1Password 7 cloud subscription on OSX. I am not reviewing 1Password here.
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This is NOT a paid endorsement, this is output from my legitimate quest from upgrading an old stand-alone family licence to a cloud subscription. I have been using 1Password for the past 5 years and have recommended it to everyone I know.
Always backup your data before updating (things can go wrong), good luck. At the time of writing 1Password 7 was not out of beta.
Why
I have a number of guides on moving away from CPanel, Setting up VM’s on UpCloud, AWS, Vultr or Digital Ocean and let’s say 1Password has helped me store everything from service invoices, SSH password service passwords etc. I did have a stroke last year (caused by the flu (a cough) and luckily all is OK ) and I now realise that having everything out of my brain and in a secure vault is a good idea (touch wood).
Reasons why I use 1Password – Password Manager.
1Password 7 News
1Password 7 has been hitting my twitter timeline, should I upgrade? Here is the official upgrade guide.
Security Researcher Troy Hunt’s – https://haveibeenpwned.com/ is now a feature in 1Password 7
@1Password just keeps getting better and better. Ping: @troyhunt pic.twitter.com/qTtE6XyoXb
— Grant Harrington (@harringg) May 22, 2018
I wrote a PHP implementation to check a password exposure level with Troy Hunt’s pwned passwords API and know it’s a good idea.
Also, there are loads of great features in 1Password 7.
Anything that can help create secure passwords is a good idea.
86% of Passwords are Terrible (and Other Statistics) https://t.co/pSqbb7IV0g by @troyhunt
— Particular Software (@ParticularSW) May 25, 2018
1Password Twitter Support Shoutout
Before I begin I would like to acknowledge the patient 1Password support team on twitter. They answered well over 20 questions from me and handled my frustrations of there not being a clear standalone family licence, I suspected a plot to force people onto a cloud subscription at first.
In an ideal world upgrading, 1Password should be an easy process (1Password Twitter Support indicated)
Load’s of 1 Password activity on Twitter
Phew! ? 1Password 7 for Mac has generated a lot of excitement! If you have any questions, be sure to check out our forums to see if they’ve been answered. Our team is always here. https://t.co/Xixe8e80yY
— 1Password (@1Password) May 23, 2018
Before I downloaded the latest 1Password 7 I fired heaps of questions at the twitter support. I hope 1Password give them a raise or bonus.
I did spend way too long reading past the negative 1Password support posts on “where is the standalone licence”, “beta discounts are gone”, “why so expensive” and “how can I upgrade from 1password 6 and still use dropbox” etc.
I ended up logging a support ticket (looking for the unicorn beta tester discount/stand-alone licence, I think I was too late to join the beta program).
I backed up my 1Password 6 data
Always take backups of your data before upgrading anything.
I also backed up the 1Password file in Dropbox before upgrading. Simply drag it to your desktop.
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I visited https://1password.com/extlink/signin/ and…
Then I..
I did have a peek at the 1Password SSL certificate strength and other tools and they came up all good (I don’t want to use an insecure service).
You too can test SSL on sites with https://dev.ssllabs.com/ssltest/
The only concern I have is TLS 1.3 is not an option yet. I use it on my blog’s web server (guide here) also a few SSL labs identified weak cyphers are presented as available from the server (Is this an issue)?
I also had a look at Google Chrome’s developer console to see if anything out of the ordinary was popping up? The console appears a little chatty? TLS 1.2 was in force securing the client/server communications so that’s nice.
Now that I am logged into my cloud 1Password (trial) account I can…
Now I can connect my new 1Password cloud account to my local 1Password 6 installation by.
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Now I am prompted to import my local 1Password data into the cloud account from my local 1Password.
When the import completed I was prompted to delete the local vault (I said yes because I backed it up).
Tip: 1Password 6 on my Mac did not appear to delete the Dropbox data so I deleted this manually.
After a few minutes, I noticed Dropbox was still syncing files?
Troubleshooting: I had to set my new cloud vault as the primary vault to save to and not the old vault that was syncing via Dropbox. I also deleted all links to Dropbox on iOS and Android devices.
I did notice that 1Password was 6.8.9 (I thought 1password 7 was the latest?, I did try the update button). I ended up ticking “Include beta builds” and then 1Password 7.0 is a download option (maybe this will change in the next few days)?
I opened 1Password 7 on my local desktop.
I had a quick look around in 1Password 7 for the https://haveibeenpwned.com/ feature. I opened an existing account I added to 1Password. It look’s nice.
Some nice alerts and features I noticed when viewing my data in 1 Password 7.
Aside: I had to opt into beta builds on Windows to get 1Password 7 too.
Summary
When I set out and wanted a stand-alone licence but it appears I would need to pay for a licence on Windows and Mac and portable devices.
I overlooked an earlier DM from 1Password (that provided the purchase links) so I decided to go with a subscription (I think I missed the BETA program too, no reply from the hockey app email when opting into beta on Windows).
Buy standalone licences
From what I could see standalone licences only work via Dropbox (or locally) and not via the 1Password cloud.
However, the subscription does away with the requirement to buy multiple licences (all apps are free once you subscribe). I am not sure when 1Password 8 is coming out so I think it is wiser to go with a yearly subscription (that’s about 10.8c a day in Australian peso’s).
Time to Subscribe
I pulled the trigger and subscribed 🙂
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One nice thing is the trial time is added on to the subscription length so if you have 30 days left in the trial it add’s on to the yearly subscription length (13 months), that’s nice.
Conclusion
Happy = Yes (they are shooting fish in a barrel)
Could have been easier to upgrade from 1 password = Yes
I hope this guide helps someone.
Find out more about 1Password at http://1password.com/
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Revision History
v1.3 Fixed typo in the title/url.
v1.2 Added Links
v1.1 Added Conclusion
v1.0 Initial post
This guide will show you how you can open a Windows 10 Boot Camp Installation on OSX in Parallels (like a VM).
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Installing Parallels on a Mac allows you to install Windows in A VM, this is handy but you may want to install Windows on a Mac drive with Boot camp (guide here) for better performance.
Can you load this VM-less Windows install in OSX rather than reboot it, the answer is YES (with Parallels v13).
Setup your Windows Bootcamps (see my guide here).
Create a new VM image in Parallels (Select Boot Camp)
Click Continue
Confirm the reaction warning.
Name the VM and choose a location
Set desired memory etc.
Choose your desired clipboard and disk access settings.
Done, now Parallels will prepare your VM (Really Boot Camp)
Preparing
Parallel tools will be automatically installed.
Done, you will now be able to load your Apple Bootcamp partition as it is was a VM inside OSX (or boot it)
yes, the VM file is pointing to the Boot Camp partition.
I hope this guide helps someone.
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Revision History
v1.0 Initial post
This is a simple guide that demonstrates how you can log in to a host that offers the CPanel tools to backup all of your website files (and databases). Backing up your website should be done often and especially before you migrate to any another website host. I used to change hosts every few years (they don’t own your site, you do).
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I have a number of guides on moving away from CPanel, setting up VM’s on UpCloud, AWS, Vultr or Digital Ocean along with installing and managing WordPress from the command line copying files to a server via command line editing remote files locally etc but how do you manage a website with CPanel?
You can normal login to CPanel tools on a shared host by loading www.yourdomainnam.com/cpanel (failing that login to your domain hosts web GUI and find your CPanel interface there).
Step 1: Login to your Host
Login to your web host
Step 2: Find your CPanel Interface
Hosts are a bit different but in this case, I just click my domain to find the CPanel link.
I found it, I clicked the CPanel login.
Step 3: CPanel Applications
CPanel does offer good tools to manage your websites like web-based File Manager and Database tool called phpMyAdmin.
Aside: CPanel/Hosts Downsides
The thing I don’t like about hosts that offer CPanel is they usually limit delivery of your website to extract more money. Nothing worse than receiving Resource Limit Is Reached errors.
Also shared hosts usually lag way behind in newer software versions like PHP and MySQL (this is a security concern).
TIP: You can scan your site for vulnerabilities using Qualsys Freescan, Zap or Kali Linux.
Here is a security scan of a shared host (with CPanel) that I was using in 1999. Note the high vulnerabilities and old version of Linux.
Also, a shared host will often overcharge you (e.g $150 a year) for a poorly configured SSL certificate.
This was an SSL cert I paid $150 a year for (evaluated with SSL Labs SSL Test) on a shared host with CPanel.
Aside: Self Managed Upsides
After I moved my domain to a self-managed virtual machine I migrated WordPress, set up a free SSL certificate, sped up my site with a CDN, setup Cloudflare, setup better TLS security etc
When you manage your own server you can install a free SSL certificate in under 1 minute.
Below is my SSL certificate. A strong SSL certificate will increase search engine traffic
Aside: Compare Shared host speed v Self Managed
FYI: https://gtmetrix.com/ is a great site for measuring the speed of a website (shared of self-managed). I found great speed improvements after moving away from a host offering CPanel, tweaking the server and setting up cloudflare. A self-managed server will allow you to tweak anything you want.
GTMetrix results:
I like how self-managed servers allow you to scale the server’s resources yourself, move servers or add storage etc.
Aside: SSL Certificate
If you have an SSL cert you should test it often as vulnerabilities pop up from time to time.
FYI: All sites will soon require an SSL certificate to be sent traffic from search engines (no SSL = lower traffic).
SSL Test my site: https://dev.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=fearby.com&s=104.27.154.69
Now enough with the self-managed serve asides and back to how to backup your website with CPanel tools.
Step 4: Backup your web files in CPanel
Use the File Explorer app in CPanel
Highlight all files that you want to backup (highlight everything but not past backup files).
View the files to compress summary
Click Compress Files(s) and view the backup progress
You can now download the backup zip file in your browser (click the file and click Download).
Download Progress.
Step 5: Backup your database in CPanel
Now we need to backup any MySQL database(s) that may be used by WordPress
Open the phpMyAdmin app in CPanel.
FYI: Alternatively, you can use a free tool called Adminer to backup and restore our database.
Click your WordPress database (on the left). You can identify your current WordPress database by opening the wp-config.php file.
The first step is to perform an online cold backup of the WordPress database.
Now you have an online cold spare that you can use just in case the original database corrupts itself. You can rename the database or configure WordPress to point to this new database if need be.
Now let’s download a copy of the database (Repeat for multiple databases).
You should now have a backup of your website in a zip file and an export of your database in a .sql text file, SQL files can be re-imported to databases later.
TIP: Backup often.
I hope this guide helps someone.
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Revision History
v1.0 Initial post
This guide will show you how to enable the latest Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 protocol with it’s predecessor Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) with NGINX and OpenSSL for better website security on an Ubuntu 16.04 server
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I have a number of guides on moving hasting away form CPanel, Setting up VM’s on AWS, Vultr or Digital Ocean along with installing and managing WordPress from the command line. Making sure your server is up to date and running the latest SSL software is important. I have updated Open SSL before and blogged about this here. Do backup your server before changing settings and if you use Cloudflare (if you don’t do it now) enable Development Mode (and disable caching until changes are made).
For the best performing VM host (UpCloud) read my guide on the awesome UpCloud VM hosts (get $25 free credit by signing up here).
TLS 1.3 is the latest SSL security protocol that can be used between clients and servers to encrypt connections on the web.
TLS 1.3 uptake is only 60% according to https://caniuse.com/#search=TLS%201.3
Read why TLS 1.3 is important and news on TLS 1.3 can be found here: https://www.openssl.org/blog/blog/2018/02/08/tlsv1.3/
The Good and Bad
Done be like this commercial site with very poor security (tested with SSL labs and asafaweb)
Here is what the top 1 million sites do
Here it is!! Alexa Top 1 Million Analysis – February 2018 https://t.co/TjBHNX7zTi
— Scott Helme (@Scott_Helme) February 26, 2018
Installing Open SSL on Ubuntu
Connect to your Ubuntu 16.04 server via SSH (I connected to my Vultr server)
Check what version of OpenSSL you have? My OpenSSL is out of date.
1 2 | # openssl version OpenSSL 1.1.0g 2 Nov 2017 |
Tip: What Ciphers does your Open SSL Support?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | openssl ciphers -s -v ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=ECDSA Enc=AESGCM(256) Mac=AEAD ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=RSA Enc=AESGCM(256) Mac=AEAD DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=DH Au=RSA Enc=AESGCM(256) Mac=AEAD ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=ECDSA Enc=CHACHA20/POLY1305(256) Mac=AEAD ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=RSA Enc=CHACHA20/POLY1305(256) Mac=AEAD DHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305 TLSv1.2 Kx=DH Au=RSA Enc=CHACHA20/POLY1305(256) Mac=AEAD ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=ECDSA Enc=AESGCM(128) Mac=AEAD ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=RSA Enc=AESGCM(128) Mac=AEAD DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=DH Au=RSA Enc=AESGCM(128) Mac=AEAD ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=ECDSA Enc=AES(256) Mac=SHA384 ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=RSA Enc=AES(256) Mac=SHA384 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=DH Au=RSA Enc=AES(256) Mac=SHA256 ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=ECDSA Enc=AES(128) Mac=SHA256 ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=ECDH Au=RSA Enc=AES(128) Mac=SHA256 DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=DH Au=RSA Enc=AES(128) Mac=SHA256 ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA TLSv1 Kx=ECDH Au=ECDSA Enc=AES(256) Mac=SHA1 ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA TLSv1 Kx=ECDH Au=RSA Enc=AES(256) Mac=SHA1 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA SSLv3 Kx=DH Au=RSA Enc=AES(256) Mac=SHA1 ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA TLSv1 Kx=ECDH Au=ECDSA Enc=AES(128) Mac=SHA1 ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA TLSv1 Kx=ECDH Au=RSA Enc=AES(128) Mac=SHA1 DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA SSLv3 Kx=DH Au=RSA Enc=AES(128) Mac=SHA1 AES256-GCM-SHA384 TLSv1.2 Kx=RSA Au=RSA Enc=AESGCM(256) Mac=AEAD AES128-GCM-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=RSA Au=RSA Enc=AESGCM(128) Mac=AEAD AES256-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=RSA Au=RSA Enc=AES(256) Mac=SHA256 AES128-SHA256 TLSv1.2 Kx=RSA Au=RSA Enc=AES(128) Mac=SHA256 AES256-SHA SSLv3 Kx=RSA Au=RSA Enc=AES(256) Mac=SHA1 AES128-SHA SSLv3 Kx=RSA Au=RSA Enc=AES(128) Mac=SHA1 |
Time to update Open SSL
OpenSSL 1.1.1 beta is available and supports TLS 1.3 but it is n BETA form. OpenSSL code is available here.
I did the following to download and build the latest version of OpenSSL.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | mkdir /openssltemp cd /openssltemp sudo git clone git://git.openssl.org/openssl.git cd openssl/ ./config --prefix=/usr/local/ssl --openssldir=/usr/local/ssl -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/ssl/lib make sudo make install |
I tried to check the open SSL version but had an error?
1 2 3 | openssl version openssl: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libssl.so.1.1: version `OPENSSL_1_1_1' not found (required by openssl) openssl: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcrypto.so.1.1: version `OPENSSL_1_1_1' not found (required by openssl) |
A quick GitHub ticket revealed I needed to set a path variable.
1 2 | export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib echo "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/bin/openssl" >> ~/.bashrc |
Open SSL now reports it’s version.
1 2 | openssl version OpenSSL 1.1.1-pre3 (beta) 20 Mar 2018 |
What version NGINX do you have (1.13 supports TLS 1.3) read here
1 2 | # nginx -v nginx version: nginx/1.13.9 |
Backup your NGINX
Do backup your server files and take a snapshot if need be. I am not responsible;e for a broken server,
1 | sudo cp -R /etc/nginx/ /nginx-backup-26thMar-2018 |
Edit NGINX Configuration
Update NGINX configuration: /etc/nginx/sites-available/default
1 2 3 4 | ssl_ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256; ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on; ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3; ssl_ecdh_curve secp384r1; |
tip: Review other NGINX hardening settings here. Also remove TLSv1.0
I tested my NGINX config loaded them and restarted NGINX
1 2 3 | nginx -t nginx -s reload /etc/init.d/nginx restrat |
Check the status of NGINX
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | # /etc/init.d/nginx status [ ok ] Restarting nginx (via systemctl): nginx.service. ● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: active (running) Docs: man:nginx(8) Process: 15154 ExecStop=/sbin/start-stop-daemon --quiet --stop --retry QUIT/5 --pidfile /run/nginx.pid (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Process: 15162 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on; (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Process: 15159 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t -q -g daemon on; master_process on; (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Main PID: 15166 (nginx) Tasks: 4 Memory: 2.3M CPU: 27ms CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service ├─15166 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on; ├─15170 nginx: worker process ├─15171 nginx: cache manager process └─15172 nginx: cache loader process |
If you have configured Cloudflare then log in and enable TLS support.
Enable TLS 1.3 in Chrome by visiting chrome://flags/#tls13-variant This should be automatic in later versions of Chrome and other browsers.
Verify TLS
I used the developer tools in Chrome to confirm the page was verified in TLS 1.3.
Updated to 1.1.1-pre6-dev
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | mkdir /temp cd /temp sudo git clone https://github.com/openssl/openssl.git cd openssl/ ./config --prefix=/usr/local --openssldir=/usr/local -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local make sudo make install openssl OpenSSL> version OpenSSL 1.1.1-pre6-dev xx XXX xxxx OpenSSL> exit |
Don’t forget to test your SSL strength with https://dev.ssllabs.com/ssltest/
I hope this guide helps someone.
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Revision History
v1.3 added bad ssl cert.
v1.2 ssl test v1.1 updated to 1.1.1-pre6-dev
v1.0 Initial post