Fail2ban is a complementary tool to your firewall. It works by scanning log files and bans IPs which present suspicious activity such as failed logins. It is compatible with many UNIX-like systems and is a security tool to have in your arsenal. It can filter not only ssh logins, but other services too, for example […]
How to install Fail2ban on FreeBSD
How to set time and date in FreeBSD
In a FreeBSD system one may need to adjust date and time, specially if one has opened a VPS instance in some hosting provider. The system already provides a list of time zones. Just look around in the /usr/share/zoneinfo folder and subfolders to find the one that fits your needs. Just remember this will have […]
How to test pfSense on VirtualBox running on FreeBSD
There are other guides on how to do this on Windows, Mac, but not on FreeBSD, so here goes a how to pfSense on Virtualbox running on FreeBSD. Before going to it, let’s address the first question, which is what is pfSense. pfSense is a FreeBSD based distribution made for networking purposes. The company behind […]
How to load and unload kernel modules in Linux
Kernel modules permit enabling hardware features on a given system. For example, if we need to read from a particular filesystem from a hard drive, we need to load a particular kernel module. Or use a specific network card, a sound card or sound device, a video display, etc. This is mostly done automatically in […]
How to secure FreeBSD (server minimal edition)
This is a very simple and easy to follow guide on securely administer your FreeBSD server. That said I am not a security expert although I’ve gained some knowledge as time goes by. Not pretending to be the definitive guide this article is an introduction on how to secure FreeBSD in which I will tackle […]
Who am I?
My name is Albert Valbuena. I am a retired ski instructor and after a period of five years in the international department of a logistics company I recently moved in to the IT industry. It hasn’t been overnight and it is still work in progress. A few years ago I started a website called www.skireviewer.com. […]
How to install sudo in FreeBSD
Sudo is a very useful application. It allows a regular user to perform tasks only reserved to the root account. There is lots of documentation about sudo and there is even a book about it called “Sudo Mastery”. If you need to investigate deep on this, buy it. Why do you need this? Well… Everyone […]
How to upgrade MariaDB on FreeBSD
As we all know a best practice recommendation that has been made forever, and forever many are just skipping, is running up to date software and it is one of the core fundamentals of IT. If you happen to use MariaDB on FreeBSD, the official guide on their website may not be that all helpful […]
How to install Docker on Ubuntu 18.04
Operating System level virtualization is hitting hard now, as much as VM’s did just a few years ago. Docker is the popular framework for this matter, the new kid on the block so to speak. This is the hot spot now and if anyone wants to appear knowledgeable about system administration knowing this technology is […]
How to securely install WordPress on FreeBSD
If you have already read my guide on how to install WordPress on FreeBSD you will have been a bit disappointed since at the end there is a deceptive paragraph that reads as follows: Now be aware you will set a user name and password for your wordpress install. They will be sent in plain […]