ServerBuddies Support Blog

Password Protecting GRUB Using Boot Loader Passwords

GRUB can be configured by adding a password directive to its configuration file. To do this, first decide on a password, then open a shell prompt, log in as root, and type:

When prompted, type the GRUB password and press Enter. This returns an MD5 hash of the password.

Next, edit the GRUB configuration file /boot/grub/grub.conf. Open the file and below the timeout line in the main section of the document, add the following line:

Replace with the value returned by /sbin/grub-md5-crypt

The next time the system boots, the GRUB menu does not allow access to the editor or com-mand interface without first pressing p followed by the GRUB password.

prevent an attacker from booting into a non-secure operat-ing system in a dual-boot environment. For this, a different part of the /boot/grub/grub.conf file must be edited.

Look for the title line of the non-secure operating system and add a line that says lock directly beneath it.

For a DOS system, the stanza should begin similar to the following:

To create a different password for a particular kernel or operating system, add a lock line to the stanza, followed by a password line.

Each stanza protected with a unique password should begin with lines similar to the following example:

How can I make a Webmin user always use the same password as their shell login?

This can be done by following these steps :

In the Perl Modules module of Webmin.

install Authen::PAM from CPAN.

In the PAM Authentication module, add a new PAM service called webmin that uses Unix authentication.

In the Webmin Users module, click on the user that you want to symchronize with Unix and set his Password option to Unix Authentication.

If PAM is not used on your operating system, the first two steps can be skipped.

Webmin will instead read the /etc/passwd or /etc/shadow file directly to authenticate users who are using the Unix Authentication password mode.

Plesk login page shows “Unable to connect to database : saved admin password is incorrect”

When try to login to Plesk admin panel the following error is displayed.

Reason:

The main reason for the issue is the PSA database user password and the Plesk admin password mismatch.

Solution:

Step 1 : Confirm the Plesk admin password. You can get the current Plesk password with command below.

Step 2 : Edit the MySQL configuration file(my.ini - %plesk_dir%\mysql\data\).

[C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\mysql\data\]

Add the skip_grant_tables=1 parameter and restart the Plesk SQL Server service.

Note : Add to the [PleskSQLServer] section, NOT to [Client] section.

Step 3 : Reset the password

Type the below command to get into the MySQL prompt,

Now from the MySQL prompt, type

where ‘current_password’ is the current Plesk password.

Step 4 : Revert the changes

Remove the parameter ’skip_grant_tables=1′ from the MySQL configuration file and restart service Plesk SQL Server.

You should get the plesk admin page.