Install rkhunter

Overview

rkhunter (Rootkit Hunter) is a Unix-based tool that scans for rootkits, backdoors and possible local exploits. It does this by comparing SHA-1 hashes of important files with known good ones in online database, searching for default directories (of rootkits), wrong permissions, hidden files, suspicious strings in kernel modules, and special tests for Linux and FreeBSD.

Instructions

1. Log into your Dedicated/VPS Server via SSH.

2. Type the follow commands:

wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/rkhunter/files/rkhunter/1.3.8/rkhunter-1.3.8.tar.gz/download

3. Now unzip the archive:

tar -zxvf rkhunter-1.3.8.tar.gz

4. Then, change directory:

cd rkhunter-1.3.8

5. Run the installer:

./installer.sh

6. You can test the installation by typing this command. Note: If successful, this scan will take about 2 minutes to complete.

/usr/local/bin/rkhunter -c

Optional settings

After this, you may want to create a cron job to run on a daily basis. Use this shell script below:

#!/bin/bash
(/usr/local/bin/rkhunter -c --sk --nocolors --check | mail -s "Daily Rkhunter Scan Report" youremail [at] email [dot] com)

Simply replace the email address with your email. You can then create a cron job in the root tasks in Plesk or via ssh.

If you would like to get only warnings inside your email simply replace

--sk --nocolors --check

--cronjob --report-warnings-only

You can also check for software updates by adding

--update

You may want to run the update on a different cronjob maybe a weekly basis.…

Fixing time drift in the servers (syncing with time servers)

Sometime the clock in the system may shows some drift ( lagging or leading) in time.  We can fix this by adjusting the tick rate in the server.

1. Compare the system time with that of any timeserver. You can use any of  the following command for this.

root@localhost ~> rdate -p rdate.cpanel.net ;date

OR

root@localhost ~> rdate -p rdate.darkorb.net ;date

Here rdate prints the time in remote timeserver( rdate.cpanel.net or rdate.darkorb.net) and date will print the current system time.

2. To synchronize the time with remote server issue the following commands.

root@localhost ~> rdate -s rdate.cpanel.net ;date

OR

root@localhost ~> rdate -s rdate.darkorb.net ;date

3. Now set the hardware clock in the server. Execute the following command for this.

root@localhost ~> hwclock –systohc

4. Now execute the same command (step1) after one or two minutes and see the drift in time. Check whether it increases or decreases.

5. Find the current tick rate using the following command. By default this will be 10000. You can interpret this as  10000 ticks causes one second in the server.

root@localhost ~> tickadj
tick = 10000

6. If the the time drift increases positively you need to reduce the tick rate. You can adjust the tick rate using the following command.

root@localhost ~> tickadj 9995
tick = 9995

7. Continue the above steps until the issue resolved.

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Aliter

To fix the time drift issue, you can put a cronjob to sync the time with the time server.

Add the following entry in cronjob ( type crontab -e to edit cron jobs)

*/5 * * * * rdate -s rdate.cpanel.net;/sbin/hwclock -w >/dev/null 2>&1

OR

*/5 * * * * rdate -s rdate rdate.darkorb.net;/sbin/hwclock -w >/dev/null 2>&1…

May Special Offer!

May Special Offer!

For the month of May we are offering a recurring 25% off ALL our Hosting Services. This special offer applies to all hosting services including our Shared Web Hosting, Semi-Dedicated Hosting, and also our Reseller Hosting Solutions. Use the coupon code “May25” to receive your discount during the order process.

This 25% discount applies for the life of the account.

Coupon Code: May25
Expires: May 31, 2011…

Hosting Services in Europe Now Available

We are pleased to announce that we have now expanded our services to Europe. In hope to accommodate those over seas we felt it was time that we broaden our service rage to other countries. Our shared hosting and reseller hosting plans can now be ordered in the United States or The Netherlands.

We did a great amount of research to find the most suitable location and datacenter/network. After much consideration we choose one of the top providers in Europe, LeaseWeb. LeaseWeb has a large network that spans across 6 state of the art datacenters and provides a top tier network. Their datacenter in the Netherlands, EvoSwitch, is considered on the top datacenters in Europe and one of the most energy saving (green) datacenters in the world.

Our expansion to The Netherlands is the first step in future expansion we have planned in the near future. United Kingdom, Asia, and Australia are all locations we are considering for later down the road.…

DNS Cluster Systems Now In Place

We are happy to announce that as of tonight we have put our DNS Clustering systems in place. Now I am sure you are asking yourself, what does this mean. In short all servers will all use the same nameservers now. This will enable us to move accounts between servers with 0 downtime and no effort done on your part. Another added benefit of this new cluster is the different geographic locations each nameserver. This allows us to physically separate your nameservers so that in the event of, for instance, a power outage, you still have DNS functionality. This way, visitors can reach websites on your server more quickly after the web server comes back online.

This system has already been put in place and will not negatively effect those on the ns1.megpanel.com and ns2.megpanel.com servers. Those customers on the ns3.megpanel.com and ns4.megpanel.com nameservers will need to update their nameservers to ns1.megpanel.com and ns2.megpanel.com at your earliest convenience. The ns3 and ns4 will stay active until all clients have update to the ns1 and ns2. Once those have been updated we will be taking those namservers offline for now. In the future we might be adding more dns clusters that will utilize the ns3 and ns4 in addition to ns1 and ns2, but that is yet to be seen and no date is set for that addition.

The new location of the dns servers are as follows:

ns1.megpanel.com – Seattle, Washington
ns2.megpanel.com – Washington DC

These locations above will spread the times out over the country to speed up dns load times. These locations do not effect the location of your account. All accounts are still on the same server and in the same Softlayer Dallas location.

If there are any questions about these changes please contact our support department.…