Help a CentOS guy transition

[ToddAndMargo]

Hi All,

I got my first customer who wants Kubuntu as he is afraid of being hacked on his financial sites with Windows (good reason to fear with the private things he has on his computer too!)

I am really familiar with Cent OS 5.x (Red Hat Enterprise Linux clone). CentOS is great for servers and desktops with a lot of virtual machines, but not so good for people who like a fun desktop (or an up to date one for that matter). I need some help transitioning.

1) seems to me that Kubuntu has got rid of /etc/rc.d and replaced it with /etc. Am I correct?

2) it also seems that /etc/rc.d/init.d has been replaced with /etc/init.d. Am I correct?

3) I am not finding "chkconfig" to set my rcX.d start and stops (kills). How do I set these, other than by manually using the "ln -s" command?

4) can I use iptables the same way?

5) is there a precanned firewall (I can write my own, no problem. Just wondering if I was reinventing the wheel)?

6) since he is on "dial-up" (Oh No!), is there an ISO I can download that has all the latest patches on it?

7) other than Open DNS and Firefox, are there any other security feature to protect him from getting hacked on financial sites?

Many thank,
-T

[GreyGeek]

Re: Help a CentOS guy transition

...

1) seems to me that Kubuntu has got rid of /etc/rc.d and replaced it with /etc. Am I correct?

2) it also seems that /etc/rc.d/init.d has been replaced with /etc/init.d. Am I correct?

1 - yes, 2 - not quite -- See /etc/init.d/README for details

3) I am not finding "chkconfig" to set my rcX.d start and stops (kills). How do I set these, other than by manually using the "ln -s" command?

Kmenu -->Systemsettings -->Advanced --> PolicyKit
and
Kmenu --> Systemsettings -->Advanced --> Service Manager

Also, in the repository is "sysvconfig" and "sysv-rc-conf"

4) can I use iptables the same way?

5) is there a precanned firewall (I can write my own, no problem. Just wondering if I was reinventing the wheel)?

Yes. The GUI to iptables is ufw (Ubuntu FireWall).

6) since he is on "dial-up" (Oh No!), is there an ISO I can download that has all the latest patches on it?

Only if you download the ISO within an hour after it goes Gold!

Installed in the System Tray is a Notifier that calls KPackageKit (the default GUI to APT) and can be set to download patches in the background or with user control. I prefer Synaptic, which is also in the repository, because it gives a history of what you add or remove and the day you did it.

7) other than Open DNS and Firefox, are there any other security feature to protect him from getting hacked on financial sites?

I'd be sure to set FF to clear the cache when it quites, and when he contacts a financial site to do it with a freshly started FF, then close it immediately after doing his business so the cache is cleared. Then there are the usual security add-on, like adblock, noscript, etc...

EDIT:
I forgot,... you can issue "sudo dpkg-reconfigure -a" to go through your system and change most instital values, access to home accounts by others, etc...

[ToddAndMargo]

Re: Help a CentOS guy transition

Thank you! This is going to be a fun project!
-T

[kubicle]

Re: Help a CentOS guy transition

3) I am not finding "chkconfig" to set my rcX.d start and stops (kills). How do I set these, other than by manually using the "ln -s" command?

Also, in the repository is "sysvconfig" and "sysv-rc-conf"

These are probably closer to chkconfig, I use sysv-rc-conf myself. There is also a command to manage daemon start-up links "update-rc.d", but I highly recommend sysv-rc-conf.

5) is there a precanned firewall (I can write my own, no problem. Just wondering if I was reinventing the wheel)?

Yes. The GUI to iptables is ufw (Ubuntu FireWall).

Just a small correction, ufw is a CLI frontend to iptables, the GUI frontend is "gufw" (no qt version yet). The repos have other firewall tools as well.

[marcopl]

Re: Help a CentOS guy transition

for the iptables thing, do consider shorewall....the support is great....

[josefko]

Re: Help a CentOS guy transition

There is another GUI frontend for ip tables - Guarddog, based on qt, easy to manage.