Setting Up BackupPC on Ubuntu

I recently started to do regular backups of all my systems using BackupPC. It uses the rsync protocol to limit the amount of data transferred during backups. Once the initial backup is done, future backups only need to copy incremental changes. This requires far less resources than other software I have used

This article covers setting up the server on Ubuntu and configuring backups for Ubuntu and OpenWRT. A future article will cover backing up Windows systems using an rsyncd daemon process. Continue reading “Setting Up BackupPC on Ubuntu”

Email Logins for Dovecot and Exim

While I was cleaning up my Ubuntu Email server configuration, I consolidated my login security.  My SMTP server is Exim and my IMAP server is Dovecot.  Mail User Agents (MUAs) use authentication over TLS encrypted connections to access IMAP and SMTP.   Both programs had their own password configuration.

Exim includes Dovecot in its supported authentication mechanisms.  This enables one authentication mechanism to be used for both SMTP and IMAP (or POP3).   This post also includes configuration details for forced authentication over the Submission port. Continue reading “Email Logins for Dovecot and Exim”

Implementing IPv6 Part 2

We are quickly running out of IPv4 addresses. Are you ready for World IPv6 Day on June 8th, 2011? I have prepared my configuration on OpenWRT and Ubuntu. This includes configuring DNS using bind, email using Exim, and a Squid web proxy.

Having verified that I could establish IPv6 connectivity, I chose to improve my connectivity. This started with getting a tunnel from Hurricane Electric and updating my configuration. I then updated my bind server and Exim mail server support IPv6 addresses. This posting updates and continues from my post on Implementing IPv6 6to4 on OpenWRT.   Review it for information on creating a tunnel and running radvd on OpenWRT. Continue reading “Implementing IPv6 Part 2”

Blocking Spam with Exim

Recent reports indicate that spam is increasing again.  I have been using Exim to filter spam for several years.  Some recent tuning I have done have decreased the percent of spam which reaches my spam filters.   This article provides a discussion of the techniques used, and provides implementation examples.   Spambots tend to be simple programs which don’t handle slow servers very well.   Using a greylist is effective method of blocking them as they usually don’t retry.   My latest changes use delays to cause many spambots to abandon their attempt.  Greylisting is used only for poorly configured servers that make it to the Recipient command.

Continue reading “Blocking Spam with Exim”

Email Policy

SysteMajik.com actively discourages Spam and email sent from incorrectly configured servers. Legitimate email from correctly configured servers should have little problem being delivered. We believe we are relatively complaint with  RFC 2505 – Anti-Spam Recommendations for SMTP MTAs and other RFCs mentioned at the end of this document.

This article covers our  policy implementation for incoming and outgoing email.  These policies apply to all email destined to or originating from systemajik.com,  toucantango.com, and other domains for which we may handle email. Continue reading “Email Policy”

Transparent Squid Proxy

Over the holidays, I had a user experience and attempted browser hijacking.  It appeared to have bypassed my squid proxy.   My updated configuration now sends all web access via squid.  The old firewall rules, that allowed direct access to the Internet, have been replaced with a transparent Squid proxy.  This runs on my existing Squid Proxy using another port. Continue reading “Transparent Squid Proxy”

Implementing IPv6 6to4 on OpenWRT

As the IPv4 addresses begins to run out I finally invested the time to investigate and implement IPV6. As my ISP has not yet announced availability of IPV6 addresses I chose to implement a 6to4 tunnel. This is simple to implement, and currently well supported. My external firewall is an ASUS wireless router running OpenWRT.  As I have a static IP address, my implementation is simpler than is required by a dynamic address.  Support for dynamic IPv4 addresses is not covered here, but this configuration should work as long as your address does not change.

I initially created a 6to4 implementation without a firewall.  Then to secure my systems I implemented a firewall using Shorewall6-lite.  Until I figured out how to configure the 6tunnel script, I used the command line to bring up the network.  This documentation uses of the 6tunnel script instead of the manual commands.  My configuration does not yet include any IPsec functionality. Continue reading “Implementing IPv6 6to4 on OpenWRT”

Manual networking for KVM

I found the networking configured by libvirt (KVM) did not allow me to firewall the network as I desired.  I use Shorewall for firewalling, and DNSMasq for internal DNS and DHCP.  After a little experimentation, I found that I could configure Ubuntu to create the network.  This allows me to get a reliable firewall configuration with a virtual DMZ.

The virtual hosts are assigned to a bridge, and only have connectivity to other networks as defined in the Shorewall configuration.  A single DNSMasq server provides DSN an DHCP services for all virtual servers, as well as the network the server is connected to.  The network and firewall configuration remains consistent even as servers are cycled up and down.  An additional bridge was created to support virtual servers in the DMZ zone.

This page has been updated in 2019 to reflect changes in the tools.

Continue reading “Manual networking for KVM”

Remote Desktops with VNC and RDP

I find it useful to have a remote desktop to my Ubuntu systems.   On secure connections I have been using VNC via xinetd.  Connections with xrdp where possible, but it wasn’t launching the desktop for the connection.  For secure terminal connections, I stick with with ssh.  All these connection have a login at the start of the connection. This is how I do it. Continue reading “Remote Desktops with VNC and RDP”

Implementing DKIM with Exim

This article was updated in February 2014 to reflect changes policy and reporting options. The earlier ADSP (Author Domain Signing Practices) information has been removed.

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) provides a method to confirm the origin of an e-mail. DKIM also provides some protection against tampering. Unlike SPF, this validation applies to the contents of the message when it is signed. Like SPF, the information required for validation is added to DNS. Continue reading “Implementing DKIM with Exim”