Blog for Sysadmins

Free Backup Tools   Cobian Backup Cobian Backup is a small and simple utility to backup files and directories: www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/  SyncBack Whether you're a beginner or advanced user, at home or work, SyncBackSE ensures your most valuable asset, data, remains protected: http://www.2brightsparks.com/  VersionBackup VersionBackup is easy-to-use backup software that allows you to maintain multiple versions of a backup set on your PC: www.sb-aw.de  TreeComp TreeComp is an interactive utility to keep 2 directory trees and the files within the directories in sync: http://lploeger.home.xs4all.nl/TreeComp3.htm Free Network Tools   WireSHARK WireSHARK's powerful features make it the tool of choice for free network troubleshooting, Protocol development, and education worldwide: www.wireshark.org PRTG PRTG Traffic Grapher is easy to use free Windows software for monitoring and classifying bandwidth usage: www.paessle

Password Recovery on the Cisco ASA 55xx Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/664795  How to perform a password "reset" on your Cisco ASA security appliance. The more commonly used term for this procedure is "password recovery" which is left over from the days when you could actually view passwords in configuration files in plain text. Today, such passwords are encrypted and not actually recoverable. Instead, you will gain access to the appliance via the console port and reset the password(s) to known values. This procedure requires physical access to the device. You will power-cycle your appliance by unplugging it at the power strip and plugging it back in. You will then interrupt the boot process and change the configuration register value to prevent the appliance from reading its stored configuration at boot. Since the device ignores its saved configuration on boot, you are able to access its configuration modes without passwords. Once you're

How to Block Root Password-Guessing Attacks on a Linux Server The benefit of performing the preceding steps is that it is nearly impossible for an attacker to log on to your server as root by guessing the password.  In order for the attacker to masquerade as root, she or he would have to have your private key and know the pass phrase associated with it. Using Cryptographic Keys for SSH Root Login Take one look at /var/log/secure on an Internet-connected server and you'll immediately understand the need for securing your root account.  The bad guys are constantly attempting root and other usernames to attempt to login to your server using SSH or some other protocol.  If you use a simple password, it's only a matter of time before your server is compromised by a password-guessing attack. Best practice is to disallow SSH logins by root, thus eliminating a big part of the risk.  The problem is that doing so also eliminates a lot of convenience for sys a

Create NAT Rule ·           Click  Configuration  (top) ·           Click  Firewall  (bottom-left) ·           Click  NAT Rules  (middle-left) ·           Select  Add->Static NAT Rule ·           Original ·           Interface:  inside ·           Source:  192.168.0.99 ·           Translated ·           Interface:  Outside ·           Select  Use Interface IP Address ·           Port Address Translation (PAT) ·           Check  Enable Port Address Translation (PAT) ·           Protocol:  TCP ·           Original Port:  3389 ·           Translated Port:  3389 ·           Click OK Create Access Rule ·           Click  Access Rules ·           Select  Add->Add Access Rule ·           Interface:  outside ·           Action:  Permit ·           Source:  any ·           Destination:  111.111.111.111    <- the address of your WAN interface (WAN/Outside) ·           Service:  tcp/3389 ·           Enable Logging:  unchecked (your Ch

Cisco ASA 55XX with Dual ISP Redundancy This article will cover setting up redundant ISPs for outbound connectivity on an ASA 5510 (although the same should work on the 5520s and up as well).  It’s important to note that this covers   outbound   connectivity only.  The ASA does not have built in functionality to NAT multiple public IPs to a single internal IP – for that you’d need a router (how-to article soon!).  For an ASA to provide inbound redundancy to your servers you’d need to utilize two separate IPs for each server – one to be NAT’d to each public IP block. The information you’ll need to complete this task: ·           Primary ISP Subnet / Gateway ·           Secondary ISP Subnet / Gateway ·           A Public host to ping (i.e. 4.2.2.1) The Public host to ping is a device (read: cluster of devices) that we will use to check if our primary ISP is up or down.  For that reason, I advise against using an IP of a single server.  I usually go with one of the well