Password Aging under Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Password aging is another technique used by system administrators to defend against bad passwords within an organization. Password aging means that after a specified period (usually 90 days), the user is prompted to create a new password. The theory behind this is that if a user is forced to change his password periodically, a cracked password is only useful to an intruder for a limited amount of time. The downside to password aging, however, is that users are more likely to write their passwords down.
There are two primary programs used to specify password aging under Red Hat Enterprise Linux: the chage command or the graphical User Manager (system-config-users) application. The -M option of the chage command specifies the maximum number of days the password is valid. For example, to set a user’s password to expire in 90 days, use the following command:
In the above command, replace with the name of the user. To disable password expiration, it is traditional to use a value of 99999 after the -M option (this equates to a little over 273 years). You can also use the chage command in interactive mode to modify multiple password aging and account details. Use the following command to enter interactive mode:
The following is a sample interactive session using this command:
[root@buddy ~]# chage buddy
Tags: Aging, Enterprise, Hat, linux, password, Red
Turning the VPS-Optimized Mode on
If you deploy Parallels Plesk Panel into VPSes other than Virtuozzo-based (Parallels Virtuozzo Containers or OpenVZ containers), consider switching the Panel to a special mode of operation - optimized for virtual environments. The mode switches off modules that are not critical for hosting services. This makes the Panel use less memory than other control panels available on the market, which ensures better utilization of hardware resources and increased density of virtual environments per server.
* During the installation, the Panel requires more RAM than it utilizes in the VPS-optimized mode.
* Since Parallels Premium Antivirus and Spamassassin are memory-consuming applications, it is not recommended to install them if you require a high VPS density.
* It is not possible to turn the VPS-optimized mode on if Customer and Business Manager is installed.
Important: The VPS-optimized mode can be turned on only before the Panel initialization (aka initial configuration).
To turn the VPS-optimized mode on, run the following command:
/usr/local/psa/bin/vps_optimized –turn-on
Tags: mode, ptimized, Turning, VPS
Using the Plesk Service Control Utility
In addition to the service management facilities provided within control panel, there is the Service Control utility available from the system taskbar. It allows managing the following services:
* Plesk Control Panel - the control panel’s web server engine,
* Plesk Management Service - handles control panel settings, security and statistics,
* Plesk Miscellaneous Service - handles IP assignment, time management, Plesk utilities and user accounts,
* Plesk Scheduler - task scheduling and management,
* Plesk List Connector - mail service,
* Plesk Mail Transfer Agent - mail service,
* Plesk POP Service - mail service,
* Plesk Postoffice Connector - mail service,
* Plesk SMTP Connector - mail service,
* Plesk SQL Server - MySQL database that stores all Plesk objects,
* Stunnel - enables SSL support for mail server,
* Plesk Name Server - DNS service,
* Plesk Java Servlet Container - enables support for Java applets.
Tags: Control, plesk, service, utility
Managing Shared SSL
SSL stands for “Secure Socket Layer” and you can use this feature to protect all data exchanged between your Web site and the client. Shared SSL is a means of secure Web server access without requiring users to purchase a digital key.
In this case, only one domain should have real SSL sertificate. We will call it Master SSL Domain. Other domains, which are set up to use Shared SSL will use its resources.
To choose the Master SSL Domain from the list of domains which have SSL support enabled, go to the Server > Shared SSL page. In order to do this, set the Enable shared SSL checkbox and choose, which domain you want to be the Master SSL Domain.
Tags: Managing, Shared, ssl
Backing Up Using Acronis True Image
Acronis True Image Enterprise Server allows you to create the exact server disk image for complete server backup.
The server disk backup file includes all the server disk data including system, programs, databases, and the like.
Plesk has integration with Acronis True Image. You can set up either one-time or recurring backup of server’s hard drives via Plesk control panel interface. Presently, restoring of backup data is possible only via separate Acronis True Image utilities.
Tags: Acronis, Backing, Image, True
