LinuxCBT Deb7x Edition

Course Objective

Features Discussion and Various Installations
- Enumerate relevant features
- Discuss platform support
- Installation preparation
- Obtain relevant ISO image
- Prepare VMWare environment to support Debian
- Install and evaluate
- Update network configuration
- Prepare environment for rapid implementation
- Clone instance and modify accordingly
- Evaluate cloned resource as needed
- Prepare Debian for Xen VM installation
- Provision resources for Xen
- Install on Xen as HVM and evaluate

Basic Debian GNU/Linux Skills
Explore usage of the following useful commands
- ls, pwd, cd, cp, mv, rm, mkdir, rmdir, whoami, tty
- cat, file, chmod, chown, history
- STDIN, STDOUT, STDERR, UNIX Pipes, Redirection, Command Chaining
- ps, df, free, top, kill
- less & more, head & tail, find
- stat, which, w, who
- dig (Domain Information Groper) - used to query DNS servers
- Tar and compression utilities with tar|gzip|bzip2
- Use checksum programs to confirm content integrity
- Explain UNIX/Linux file security & permissions
- Symlinks | Hard Links | Soft Links | Special Bits

Storage Management
- Explore disk topology with FDISK
- Provision EXT4 File Systems as needed
- Provision additional Storage partitions using Parted
- Provision additional Swap storage
- Use MKSWAP & SWAPON to enable additional Swap storage
- Update File System Table (FSTAB) to reflect system changes
- Explore Logical Volume Management (LVM) Configuration
- Create volume sets using: Logical Volume Management (LVM)

Package Management
- Explain classes of Debian GNU/Linux Packages
- Identify Debian GNU/Linux Package Management Tools
- Inventory currently installed DEB packages
- Identify key Advanced Package Tool (APT) configuration files
- Search for Debian GNU/Linux packages using Advanced Package Tool (APT)
- Install/Update/Remove software using APT
- Configure APT to query multiple sources for packages
- Peruse package repository using 'dpkg'
- Configure APT to install packages from varying versions of Debian GNU/Linux
- Use Aptitude to manage Debian GNU/Linux packages
- Discuss various package management options
- Explore package management repositories
- Use DPKG to install a .deb package
- Install packages using 'apt-get'
- Manage packages using 'aptitude'

System Control
- Peruse key directories used by Kernel
- Discuss hierarchy as applied to functioning system
- Identify supported settings
- Influence settings real time and evaluate
- Committ settings for persistence
- Confirm persistence of directives
- Discuss various possible system tweaks

Screen TTYs | PTYs
- Discuss TTY | PTY limitations
- Identify opportunites to benefit from Screen
- Identify configuration environment
- Invoke and use screen natively
- Confirm persistence of TTYs | PTYs across sessions
- Share Screen sessions
- Confirm overall efficacy of Screen

Explore the CRON scheduling daemon & configuration
- Identify key Cron configuration scopes (Global & User)
- Explain Crontab file format and applicable options
- Define global cron jobs
- Define custom cron jobs user-wide
- Evaluate results of cron jobs

Core Network Services
- System Logging via RSyslog and Logrotate
– Discuss Syslog Facilities | Levels
– Explore default configuration
– Receive Syslog data via network
– Mirror Syslog log as needed
– Trap Infrastructure device logs and evaluate
– Explore log rotation and customization via Logrotate
– Discuss key log rotation use cases
– Configure Logrotate to rotate sample log files
– Evaluate results
- Common Network Utilities
– PING
– TELNET
– NETSTAT
– ARP
– TRACEPATH
– DIG

- Interface Configuration
– Explore network configuration tree
– Alter settings and evaluate
– Provision aliased interfaces as needed
– Confirm communications via various interfaces
– Committ configuration for persistence
– Provision interface configuration on various nodes
– Evaluate accordingly

- RSYNC Transmissions
– Discuss features and benefits
– Generate and move data between nodes as needed
– Confirm results
– Explore various rsync options
– Synchronize content as needed
– Evaluate rsync applicability

- Network Time Protocol Configuration
– Discuss applicability
– Install and explore default configuration
– Re-configure environment to suit internal requirements
– Confirm ntp strata assignments
– Ensure time synchronization across nodes

- Very Secure File Transfer Protocol Daemon (VSFTPD)
– Explain features and applicability
– Peruse default configuration
– Test anonymous FTP connectivity
– Secure configuration per general requirements
– Use various FTP clients to communicate with VSFTPD
– Enable local user access
– Jail users to $HOME - added security
– Evaluate results

- BIND Domain Name Server - DNS Implementation
– Implement BIND 9x
– Configure BIND as a caching-only DNS server
– Test caching-only name resolution from various nodes
– Configure primary DNS services
– Replicate primary content to secondary DNS node
– Confirm replication information
– Disable primary and evaluate secondary behaviour
– Vary TTLs of records and evaluate responsiveness
– Configure reverse DNS zone - IPv4
– Provision forward and reverse IPv6 records
– Confirm IPv[4|6] record resolution

- Windows Integration via Samba
– Explore default Samba footprint
– Use Samba clients to ascertain NETBIOS (SMB|CIFS) information
– Install Samba Server
– Configure User-level security and evaluate access
– Provision bridge user and test access
– Rationalize ineffectiveness of User-level security
– Contrast User | ADS security levels
– Install ADS support via Winbind and Kerberos
– Install Samba SWAT for streamlined web-based administration
– Connect Samba node to Active Directory Services (ADS)
– Confirm enumeration of ADS resources
– Test connectivity via: NETBIOS and SSH
– Evaluate results

- Apache HTTPD - Web Services
– Implement Apache Web Server
– Explore configuration hierarchy
– Discuss key directives
– Peruse Apache logging templates and defaults
– Vary logged information as needed
– Provision IP-Based Virtual Hosts (VHosts)
– Confirm distinct IP-Based connectivity to various sites
– Contrast IP-Based sites with default sites
– Conserve IP resources with Name-Based VHosts
– Contrast various VHost types
– Secure communications with Apache SSL | TLS
– Test connectivity to various SSL|TLS-enabled sites

- MySQL Installation | Administration
– Install MySQL Relational Database Management System
– Explore default client | server environment
– Use Terminal Monitor Client to ascertain DBMS details
– Secure DBMS - Remove superfluous accounts
– Create simple MySQL database with 'mysql' and 'ssh'
– Install PHPMyAdmin for web-based management of MySQL
– Use PHPMyAdmin to ascertain DBMS details
– Test connectivity as various users
– Explore PHPMyAdmin's interface
– Evaluate accordingly

- PHP Intro | CLI Script
– Explore default implementation
– Ensure proper PHP stack is installed
– Expose useful debug variables - Apache | PHP
– Write simple data copy CLI script - normalize file delimiters
– Evaluate results

- Postfix MTA
– Install Postfix MTA
– Introduction to Postfix Message Transfer Agent (MTA)
– Use Mutt to demonstrate outbound mail handling using Postfix
– Explore Postfix Configuration

- Post Office Protocol Version 3 (POP3)
– Explain POP3 concepts and applications
– Implement POP3 daemon
– Test basic $SHELL-based connectivity
– Use Mutt to send SMTP-based messages to POP3 account
– Configure MUA to interact with POP3 server
– Contrast clear-text and encrypted communications

- Internet Messaging Access Protocol (IMAP)
– Contrast IMAP with POP3
– Install IMAP server
– Fetch mail from IMAP server and evaluate
– Confirm secure communications
- Web-based Mail Implementation using Squirrel-mail
– Describe required squirrel mail components for web-mail integration
– Install squirrel mail on Debian GNU/Linux system
– Configure Apache virtual directory for squirrel mail integration
– Configure Apache Virtual Host for squirrel mail integration
– Configure BIND DNS services for squirrel mail integration
– Explore squirrel mail's web-based interface

- Improve Security Posture
– Update and Upgrade install Packages
– Identify changes across Nodes
– Secure content with GNU Privacy Guard (GPG)
– Explore benefits of various Secure Shell clients
– Peruse Secure Shell Server security
– Disable superfluous services
– Explore and tighten System Policy
– Login Definitions
– Evaluate Results

- NMap Security Scanner
– Obtain, compile and install current version of NMAP
– Identify commonly used NMAP options/switches/parameters
– Perform default TCP SYN-based ethical scans of local and remote resources
– Explain typical TCP handshake protocol while using NMAP
– Perform default TCP Connect-based ethical scans of local and remote resources
– Peform local ethical scans
– Identifiy key NMAP configuration files
– Use NMAP to perform operating system fingerprinting and versioning
– Peform subnet-wide ethical scans

- TCPDump Introduction | Usage
– Identify key tools
– Use TCPDump to capture traffic
– Apply Berkeley Packet Filters accordingly
– Capture and analyze traffic with Wireshark
– Evaluate Results

- IPTABLES (Netfilter Linux Kernel-based Firewall)
– Discuss features and benefits
– Explore IPTABLES default chains/filters and policies
– Filter traffic as desired
– Log filtered traffic and evaluate
– Filter traffic based on Layer-4 TCP/UDP (Source/Destination Ports) information
– Summarize rules with filtered groups of interesting traffic
– Restrict access to various daemons (SSH/FTP/HTTP/etc.)
– Test connectivity locally and remotely
– Ensure rules persistence across restarts

- Secure Key Services
– Identify remaining services
– Generate SSL | TLS Usage Keys
– Configure FTP Server with SSL | TLS
– Test secure communications with LFTP and FileZilla
– MySQL with Secure Shell Security
– MySQL with SSL | TLS Security
– Evaluate Results

- Snort® NIDS Introduciton | Usage
– Discuss features and benefits
– Explore online sources
– Install Snort Network Intrusion Detection System Packages
– Use Snort to intercept interesting traffic as Sniffer
– Log for archival purposes
– Apply BPFs as needed
– Parse captured traffic with common tools
– Explore NIDS configuration mode
– Evaluate results