Major-ish Problems. Help!

[Ardoss]

The first thing I did upon installing Linux was to read all the information about securing my box. I got firewalls and all the rest of it, but one thing I just CAN'T do is find the inetd.conf file.

Nearly all the tutorials mention this, telling me that it's in /etc. But when I look in there, no inetd.conf. I know it's not hidden because I've tried ls -la, but still no show.

For referrence, I'm using Linux-Mandrake 8.0.

Any help with this would be MUCHO appreciaterd.

I also have one other problem, when I boot Mandrake graphically, it loads all the services with little green ticks next to them, telling me that everythings ok, but there are three which ALWAYS get little red crosses (all three mentioning something wrong with Line Four of ReferLog -- something to do with httpd. It scrolls past way too fast to read for me).

So, I ran LinuxConf to try figure out what they were, and when I exited I was presented with the following screen:

SERVICE USBD IS NOT RUNNING
Executing /etc/rc5.d/S02USB start
SERVICE HTTPD IS NOT RUNNING
Executing /etc/rc5.d/S89HTTPD start
SERVICE INND IS NOT RUNNING
Executing /etc/rc5.d/S98INND start
SERVICE PORTSENTRY IS NOT RUNNING
Executing /etc/rc5.d/S98PORTSENTRYstart

The last one REALLY freaked me out, so I decided to let it "Do it", assuming it would fix it.

And lo and behold, it did SOMETHING.

But.. it gave me an error message, saying that the httpd command is taking longer than expected, and to abort or skip it.

I chose skip, and thought it would just be that error that needed correcting next time I loaded LinuxConf.

But, all four reappeared.

I have experienced no OBVIOUS problems because of this, but the PortSentry one sounds quite bad.

Any help with either of the two problems would be HUGELY appreciated . Basically, I'm on the point of attempting to reinstall Linux (and with two seriously scratched CD's, this isn't looking a hot option)

Cheers,
Ardoss.

[ 24 July 2001: Message edited by: Ardoss ]

[demetrius]

Mandrake 7.2 and up use xinetd rather than inetd which is why you dont see a config file for inetd. If you aren't going to be running any services that would be conrolled by xinetd, like telnet, ftp, finger, etc. (there's a ton of stuff that can be run from xinetd/inetd) you are better served just shutting it off rather than editing the config files for xinetd.
As for the errors you're getting on boot it sounds like services that need to be configured, but aren't tring to start up. If you aren't planning on running an Apache web server you can and should turn off httpd. If you aren't using any USB devices you can turn off USB and as far as innd .. I'm not sure what that is, but I do know you dont need it and can safely shut it off as well.
All these services can be shut off using LinuxConf or, my preference for controlling what starts on boot up, by running ntsysv in a console as su/root.
Hope that helps! :D

[demetrius]

Also, Portsentry needs to be configured before it can be run. You can do this by editing the portsentry.conf file in /etc. It is well commented so its fairly self explanatory. There is really only one or two changes that need to be made to get it configured properly.
Though if you set up a good secure firewall you may not even want to run Portsentry.

[Ardoss]

Thanks for your help Demitrius! But I have two questions that are quite dumb ;).

How would I tell if I'm running USB Devices? (I think I am, such as a camera and scanner, but these I don't really want to run in Linux anyhoo)

How would I switch off Apache server? I know it's a submenu in "Networking", but there doesn't seem to be an "off" option. LOL.

Cheers again!
Ardoss.

[Ardoss]

Oh, and with Portsentry... the two middle lines are not commented, so it looks set up ... I didn't change ANYTHING. So perhaps thats still broken. :(

Cheers.
Ardoss.

[demetrius]

Were you prompted during install about devices connected to your USB ports? I use a USB mouse which was detected and configured during installation of Mandrake 7.2, but dont use anything else that connects through USB. If you have a ps2 mouse and keyboard and dont want to use your camera and scanner in Linux then you can probably turn USB off.
To turn off httpd I reccomend using ntsysv. You should see httpd listed among the other services you can stop/start. Most of them can and should be turned off.

[Ardoss]

I'm sorry about this, but that leads to another incey problem. :(

I do have a PS2 mouse (Microsoft Intellimouse), but during installation, I wasn't sure which tty port it was on, so I just selected Generic. Thus my mouse has a non-working rollball.

Would I still be able to turn off USB? I'm sorry about continuing to hassle you, I'm a complete newbie. :(

Cheers
Ardoss

[demetrius]

For Portsentry you probably need to uncomment your choice of KILL_ROUTE options. These are usually all commented out on installation. Only one should be uncommented. When I run Portsentry I usually use this one:
KILL_ROUTE="/sbin/route add -host $TARGET$ reject"

[Ardoss]

Sorry, but where can I find ntsysv? This must sound really dumb and lame with all these questions. Sorry.

Ardoss.

[Ardoss]

I got Portsentry configured.

Thanks a LOT on that front. :)

Only thing now I think is USB/HTTPD. Your help has been great. :)

Ardoss

[demetrius]

In your XF86Config-4 file what protocol is listed for your Mouse? I dont think ps2 mouse uses a tty ... that would be for a serial port mouse.
Ntsysv is a console progam and must be run by root (or su). Just open a terminal and type ntsysv and hit ENTER and it should start up in side the terminal. You navigate with the arrow keys select/unselect with the spacebar and then when you're done hit tab and it will allow you to choose OK or cancel which you select with the spacebar.

[Ardoss]

Yay! Thanks for the HTTPD!

I've looked for the XF86-4 file... can't seem to locate it..

I truly am hopeless, huh? ;)

Ardoss.

[EyesWideOpen]

It's in /etc/X11.

[demetrius]

Gotta learn somewhere right? ;)

XF86Config should be in /etc/X11/ ... if you are using XF86 4.x.x you'll want to look at the XF86Config-4 file. If you're using XF86 3.x.x you'll want to look at the XF86Config file.
If you're unsure what version of X you're running type X -version in a console.

[Ardoss]

Cheers EWO.

It does not mention USB, so I will turn it off. If you don't hear from me ... I screwed something up.

Oh, when I exit LinuxConf ... it still shows PortSentry as not configured. :(

Ardoss

[EyesWideOpen]

Originally posted by demetrius:
If you're unsure what version of X you're running type X -version in a console.

That's good to know. I've always used xdpyinfo (which is overkill if you just want to know the version). Thanks. ;)

[Ardoss]

Great, USBD is turned off.

Only PortSentry and INND. :)

Your help is geratly appreciated Demetrius and EWO. :)

ARdoss

[demetrius]

I'd actually recommend turning off the Portsentry daemon and start it up as part of rc.local myself. Just open /etc/rc.d/rc.local and at the bottom of the file add:

# Portsentry
portsentry -atcp
portsentry -audp

then either restart S99local or reboot.

[ 24 July 2001: Message edited by: demetrius ]

[Ardoss]

Cheers Demetrius!! People like you MAKE the Linux community. :)

And I would reboot, was it not for the fact I'm in the middle of a lengthy download. I'll do it ASAP. Cheers again, and I'm sure sooner or later someone will know what INND is.

Thanks!
Ardoss.
PS: This thread got over 17 posts in half an hour or so. LOL.

[demetrius]

Glad I could be of service :D

[demetrius]

BTW according to its man pages innd is the InterNetNews daemon, which handles all incoming NNTP feeds. Which I believe means it is a newsgroup server.

[Ardoss]

Would it be safe to shut it down then, or should I try fix the problems?

As for PortSentry, I rebooted and it's still screwed when I exit LinuxConf. :(

Ardoss.
[PS:] I barely ever use newsgroups, but it would be nice to still have the option too. But it isn't really a hassle.

[ 24 July 2001: Message edited by: Ardoss ]

[demetrius]

You can turn off innd and still surf newsgroups. Innd is to run a newsgroup server, not browse newsgroups on other servers as a client. For that you can use a program like Pan, or the Mozilla or Netscape Mail client.
As for portsentry ... I dont use LinuxConf, so I'm not sure what to tell you.
Do you boot to CLI or GUI? It sounds like Portsentry is setup to run as its own daemon which would mean that it has its own startup script that would be run from your default run level's directory in /etc/rc.d/ ... if you boot to CLI it is rc3.d and if you boot to GUI it is rc5.d. The shortcuts in these directories control what services start on boot. Services with an S in their name are started and services with a K are not. These are actually just shortcuts to scripts found in /etc/rc.d/init.d ... but thats not imporant.
If you run portsentry from rc.local you can change the S##portsentry to K##portsentry and you shouldn't get that error anymore. To make sure portsentry is running type ps aux at a terminal and you should see it listed as a running process.

[Ardoss]

I boot straight into GUI.

As for the last bit... I don't really understand what you said? Could you clarify it a bit?

Thanks! :)

Ardoss.

[Ardoss]

Meep!

NTSYSV doesn't work anymore. I wonder what happened... :(

Ardoss.

[Ardoss]

LOL. My bad. I wasn't logged in as root/su!

:D :D :D

[demetrius]

Well, ntsysv has to be run as root/su it wont work as a normal user. Also it is case sensitive ... wont work unless its typed in all lowercase letters.
Actually if portsentry is listed in ntsysv you may as well turn it off there. What i was saying about the runlevel directories is just another way to disable startup services.
The services that start on boot with your configuration (i.e. booting to GUI) are located in /etc/rc.d/rc5.d. Take a look and you'll see all the same services you see listed when you run ntsysv or any other frontend for configuring starup services. The one with an S are started the ones with a K are not. You should see, for example innd listed as K##innd, whereas it previously would have been listed as S##innd.