Basic CentOS Setup Before Building A Working Server

5/14/2015
BasicCentOSSetupBeforeBuildingAWorkingServer
STEAL DEALS:
$13/YEAR 128MB XEN PV VP...
$9.87/YEAR 1GB RAM SSD V...
HOW TO
$25/YEAR 1GB RAM DDOS-PR...
$25/YEAR 2.5GB RAM VPS @...
TOPICS :
NEWS
ABOUT
SITEMAP
WRITE FOR US
RECOMMENDED
VPS
Complete list of best
VPS hosting
providers.
BASIC CENTOS SETUP

BEFORE BUILDING A
WORKING SERVER
Searchthesite
Sawiyati | March 18th, 2013 | How To | 72 Comments
GreenHosting
GetSecure&PowerfulDedicatedServersonlyfor130$permonth.
Clickhere.
ads by BSA
All essential things you have to do in the first time to build a

web server on CentOS 6. You may simply straight forward to
install Apache, Nginx, Lighthttpd, or any web server you want but it
is strongly recommended to firstly follow some basic and common
http://www.servermom.org/basiccentossetupbeforebuildingaworkingserver/414/
1/25
5/14/2015
practices of initial server setup. This is aimed to tweak and apply

some basic security protection on your server and make it real
HOW TO ADD
NEW WEBSITE
ON VESTA CP
private. For instance, to change default root login, change default

SSH port and so on.
84 Comments
Following all steps in this initial CentOS server setup is not a must
but strongly recommended. However the decision is up to you. I
BASIC CENTOS
SETUP BEFORE
BUILDING A
WORKING
assumed you have either VPS or Dedicated server already so you

can follow this guide.
In this example, I use a VPS with 512Mb of RAM running CentOS
6.3 x32 located in Amsterdam hosted by DigitalOcean.
Step 1 Login to your remote server via SSH connection. You can
use either use Terminal (Mac / Linux) or Putty in Windows. You
should login as root. Read my previous articles:
Where To Download Putty and How To Use It
Top most used Unix commands to SSH to a Linux server
During your first login, Putty (or Terminal) will ask you to cache
servers host key in the registry and remember servers ras2 key
SERVER
72 Comments
HOW TO ADD
NEW SITE
INTO YOUR
APACHE-BASED
CENTOS SERVER
71 Comments
HOW TO BUILD
OPENVPN
SERVER ON
CENTOS 6.X
60 Comments
fingerprint. Dont panic and simply hit Yes.
HOW TO
INSTALL
VESTACP ON
CENTOS 6.5
VPS
54 Comments
Step 2 Change default password for root. Sometimes a VPS or

2/25
5/14/2015
server is created using random password generated by the

providers management software. It is good practice to change it to
something easier to remember by you but hard to crack or guess
by others. Use this command syntax:
1
passwd
Youll then be asked to enter your new password twice.
Make sure you use strong words and numbers combination but
also make sure you can easily remember it.
Step 3 Create new user. This new user will be used for you to
login to your server in the next time because you have to also
disable root login (Ill tell you in the next steps) because root is
really a standard username hackers can easily guess. Its just like
admin or administrator in Windows. Use command below to
create new username:
1
/usr/sbin/addusernewuser
*change newuser above with your own new username. In this

example I use my name sawiyati.
Then issue this command to setup password for that user:
1
passwdnewuser
Upon hitting Enter on your keyboard your server will ask you to
type the password for that user.
3/25
5/14/2015
Step 4 Setup root privileges to that user so once you logged in

to your server using that new user you will still be able to perform
any root only tasks. To do that simply issue this command:
1
/usr/sbin/visudo
then look for the line / section called:

1
2
#Userprivilegespecification
rootALL=(ALL)ALL
or in different CentOS release it may also like this:

1
2
##Allowroottorunanycommandsanywhere
rootALL=(ALL)ALL
Then add this line right after the root line:
## Allow root to run any commands anywhere

root
ALL=(ALL)
ALL
newuser ALL=(ALL)
ALL
it should look like this:
How to edit? If you dont have Nano editor installed yet, simply hit
a (without quotes). Once done adding new line, simply hit Esc key
to exit editing mode. Now press Shift key + ZZ to save and exit vi
editor.
Step 5 Change SSH default port and disable root login. This is
what I mean in step 3 above. In this case youll need to edit
4/25
5/14/2015
sshd_config file which is the main configuration file of SSH service

in your server. You can either use vi or Nano to edit it. In this
example I use Nano editor:
1
nano/etc/ssh/sshd_config
Then fine following lines:

1
#port22
Remove the # symbol and change the 22 (it is default port) to to

any number between 1025 and 65536, For example is port 22000.
Example:
1
port22000
Next, also find:

1
#PermitRootLoginyes
Remove the # symbol and change yes to no
PermitRootLogin no
So it will look like this:
Next, find this line as well:

1
#UseDNSyes
Remove the # symbol and change yes to no

5/25
5/14/2015
UseDNS no
It may look like this:
Dont close Nano editor just yet, now proceed to the next step:
Step 6 Allow new user to login via SSH to your server. Simply
add this line in the very bottom of that file:
1
AllowUsersnewuser
Of course you have to replace newuser with your own username

created in the step 3 above. Example:
Once done, hit Control+O to save then Control+X to exit Nano

editor.
Step 7 Reload SSH service. To make sure the new configuration
is used by the service, simply reload SSH by using this command:
1
/etc/init.d/sshdreload
It should return with the OK message.

Step 8 Give it a try! I assumed currently you are still logging in as
root. Dont close that SSH session yet before you test it and make
sure all the settings you defined in SSH config file really works.
Now launch another Terminal window or launch another Putty
6/25
5/14/2015
instance then login using new SSH port, new username, and of
course new password.
After the changes, youll see your new username instead of root:
Enjoy..
SHARE THIS:
Facebook
32
Twitter
Google
Reddit
RELATED POSTS
HOW TO ADD NEW
CONNECTING YOUR
WEBSITE ON
SERVER WITH YOUR
KLOXO-MR CP
DOMAIN USING
9 Comments | Oct 3, 2014
FREE DNS MANAGER

15 Comments | Mar 29, 2013
ZPANELX CP V10.1.1
IS NOW AVAILABLE!
31 Comments |
Mar 4, 2014
BASIC SECURITY
SETUP FOR CENTOS
WEB PANEL
15 Comments | Jan 7, 2015
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sawiyati
Hi! I'm Sawiyati, a mom with passion
about blogging, programming and
everything techy. Having no offline job,
so I decided to start blogging while
learning what I love for. You can find me at Google+ here.
7/25
5/14/2015
72 COMMENTS
saeed
Reply
June 21, 2013
hi/
Really helpful
Thanks
Tendai Afrika
March 13, 2015
Reply
Thanks be blessed,,,,,,i am a newbie in Centos,

thanks for the well detailed tutorial
Siddeswara
July 3, 2013
Reply
A very well detailed tutorial. Thank you. I am trying out my

hands on linux for the first time and your tutorial was both
very well illustrated and helpful.
Sawiyati
July 6, 2013
Reply
Glad to know it is helpful
Neville Scollop
July 13, 2013
Reply
it seems that the most basic thing is missing; how to actually

install the OS itself, that I cannot find?? I am interested in
learning how to install a centos LAMP from the netinstall to
run headless.
A tutorial on that would be great! I love the other stuff that you
have in your blog. it is the most comprehensive and well
written, easy to understand blog I have ever come across. A lot
of sites assume the user already knows the commands to edit
8/25
5/14/2015
and save configs, you dont make that assumption and I love it
for that!
Sawiyati
July 16, 2013
Reply
Hi Neville, usually, most VPS providers are already

installed the OS of your choice during setup. So it is
ready-to-use. Well, some providers also provide
their users with VPS control panel where users can
re-install OS from there
Ali Douglah
May 20, 2014
Reply
hello in the begining id like to thank you

for your efforts making such beautiful
tutorial, can you please explain how do
we install the os because some of the
viewers are setting there own home web
servers at home for personal websites
and dont know how to install it or set and
config there ip addresses
thx alot
abu
July 20, 2013
Reply
very nice, i have learn something new today

bookmarked
Cyrus
August 2, 2013
Reply
Thanks for your Tut madame. but i have problems

Why I get error after doing this, when I open putty and access
my server to the new port I configured.
9/25
5/14/2015
Network Error: Connection timed out.,,
Daniel
August 16, 2013
Reply
Thanks for this great and clear tutorial for a VPS beginner like
me!
Nathan
September 1, 2013
Reply
This is a great tutorial, thank-you heaps.
Virtual
October 2, 2013
Reply
You forgot to mention that they need to allow the new ssh port
through iptables.
Sawiyati
October 5, 2013
Reply
thanks
Jim
October 26, 2014
Reply
Yes, it worked great AFTER setting up iptables!

These are really great tutorials. I wish you had
social media links so I could share them easier.
Foro Ovnis
October 11, 2013
Reply
Great tutorial. You should also add how to forward the new
SSH port in iptables though, many people might get locked out
if they forget not to close their active section or if their
10/25
5/14/2015
computer crashes while theyre working on it. Thanks!
alex
Reply
November 10, 2013
Very understandable , i am just a begginer user of vps and I

could do it thanks a lot.
Sawiyati
November 12, 2013
Reply
Glad you liked it
lpdourado
November 19, 2013
Reply
Hi!
I follow the tutorial, but when I try to test the configuration
openning another SSH connection, shows me a error message:
Network error: Connection timed out.
On Putty, I put the IP address of the CentOS server with 22000
port.
I already close the first SSH connection where I was logged
with root, thinking thats was the problem.
If you can help me with this.
Thanks.
Cory
November 28, 2013
Reply
Open your ports in iptables. See my original

comment.
eugene
March 10, 2014
Reply
11/25
5/14/2015
Yes, but if you closed the default root ssh

connection, you cant run commands
anymore. What have I done!? Please help
me.
Sawiyati
March 11, 2014

Reply
You should follow all procedure

correctly. Also do not close
current ssh session while trying to
establish new ssh session to test
new username
RimaS
Reply
November 20, 2013
About itables its true, dont forget! Anyway, I am confused. If

you disable root account and use just other one with su
priveleges to connect withh ssl, you leave the port open. If you
close ssh port as root, you cant enable ssh with su or I am not
right?
Sawiyati
November 28, 2013
Reply
Just use another port. If it is closed then open that

port first while you can leaving default port (22)
open or closed thats up to you
but you better
close any unnecessary ports. Anyway, this is just a

very basic security setup to avoid kiddies
bruteforcing your server, not total protection but at
least slow em down. For advanced protection then
youll need advanced security setup.
12/25
5/14/2015
Cory
Reply
November 21, 2013
I was getting connection time outs until I manually opened the

port in iptables using the following command:
iptablesIINPUTptcpdportYOURPORT
NUMBERjACCEPT
Hope this helps someone.
Cory
November 21, 2013
Reply
Theres two dashes before dport. Correction:
iptablesIINPUTptcpdport
YOURPORTNUMBERjACCEPT
anonimo
October 17, 2014 Reply
this should be added to the very end of

the tutorial in red big capital letters, so
people who are learning understand
better the all configuration process,
regards and thanks.
Hilman
January 5, 2014
Reply
Sweet. Thanks dude!
13/25
5/14/2015
Leoui
Reply
February 11, 2014
Makasi banyak Tante.. Thats really helps..
Leoui
February 11, 2014
Reply
btw, i got this error note, Tan..

mkdir: cannot create directory `/var/www': Permission denied
Sawiyati
February 12, 2014
Reply
you should login as root or user with root privilege
eugene
March 10, 2014
Reply
I cant $ su from the newly created user.

I fixed the issue with $ chmod 4755 /bin/su , is this ok
security wise ?
RImas
March 11, 2014
Reply
It is very bad mate.
wisse
April 4, 2014
Reply
Thank you for the tutorial,

Logging in from ssh works good with the new user, theres only
one problem i have right now: as soon as i try to acces the
14/25
5/14/2015
/usr/sbin/visudo along with some other folders with root acces

i cannot acces it. When trying to acces the file i get this error:
visudo /etc/sudoers permission denied
I followed every step in your tutorial and i cannot figure out
why it does not work . Does anyone have this same problem or
does anyone know a good solution?
Thanks,
Wisse
Fernando Aguilar
April 7, 2014
Reply
Thanks for this guide.

It has been very helpful to me and I learned something very
important today.
Hendra
April 16, 2014
Reply
Great tutorial. this is my first time install Linux and all working
excellent.
btw what is the difference between using UseDNS yes and
UseDNS no
in /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Melsi
May 16, 2014
Reply
Luckily I followed the advice not to close the current

connection until testing is ok. Changing the port takes more
steps than editing the sshd_config, so one should be very
carefull with this in order not to lock him self out of the
system.
15/25
5/14/2015
predrag
Reply
June 1, 2014
I just fckdup my new entos install with this guide As a new

user I cant install nothing not a sudoer not a sh!t. How am I
going to reverse these changes since I screw up denying root
to ssh????
predrag
June 1, 2014
Reply
ok, got it! ssh as new user and when in just type su
- and then roots pass and youre in, destroy the
damn thing whatever two stupid posts from me
but it will help some newbie like me :/
arline's mom
June 10, 2014
Reply
thanks for the tutorial. I was greatly helped. I am also looking

for the same tutorial for debian OS. hopefully I also find it
here.
eljefe
June 12, 2014
Reply
I followed the directions on a server I setup on a digital

hosting website. After creating the user, and after altering the
necessary files, when I try to log-in via ssh with the new user, I
get a connection refused message.
What did I do wrong? I just edited iptables and included port
22 and 22000, but still the connection is refused. I made sure
ssh and iptables both reloaded, and were running, and still no
connection allowed.
(Fortunately, Im still connection via root.)
16/25
5/14/2015
What am I doing wrong?
Sawiyati
June 12, 2014
Reply
make sure you edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and add to

allow the new user (step 6)
Hrishi
June 29, 2014
Reply
Thanks a ton! Im very new to setting up my own server and

this is really useful information
Hrishi
June 29, 2014
Reply
Just one quick question. It seems I can login with the new user
perfectly fine but the new user does not seem to have root
privileges. I tried adding a new user from this new user login
and for certain things it kept saying you do not have enough
priviledges. How do I enable root login again?
Sawiyati
June 30, 2014
Reply
you can always add sudo in every command you

want. Or, you can simply type su to switch login
as root user.
Bryan
July 22, 2014
Reply
Thank you so much, I get it done easily..
Bob
July 29, 2014
Reply
17/25
5/14/2015
Thanks for all the time you have put into your work here.. As a
total newbie using your tutorials I am setting up my vps with
nginx and wordpress. Has been smooth and Im learning so
much along the way Again thanks
donjon
August 8, 2014
Reply
mbaknya indonesia ya? lg bingung nih setup vps unmanaged

saya
Sam.P
August 12, 2014
Reply
Same problem than a lot of us Dont have root privileges on

my user account, but it tells I have root privileges when doing
sudo -l.
if someone can help
Ken
September 3, 2014
Reply
Tks for the nice tutorial.

I have one questions. when I upload the files by SFTP, it always
says : Permission denied
Please help.
Tks
Brain_Out
September 6, 2014
Reply
THANKS for this!!!

Really Helpfull
Hank
September 19, 2014
Reply
18/25
5/14/2015
Excellent tutorials! Unfortunately,I set up my Digital Ocean VPS

without changing my ssh port. I also installed fail2ban.
Everything works.
When I now change the port number in the sshd config file
and in Putty to a non-standard port, I can no longer connect
with Putty.
I suspect I must do something with iptables and fail 2 ban as
well to make this work.
Could you suggest how I could make this change?
Hanif
September 26, 2014
Reply
Hi, i follow exactly you basic centos setup, i even check a new
user to make sure i can logon to it, but when i want to proceed
to install httpd, it said i dont have root permission. I already
disable root logon therefore i could not login using root
anymore, i cant even edit sshd_config to reenable root login.
Appreciate your help.
maxime
September 26, 2014
Reply
Truc sudo yum install httpd or su root yum install

httpd.it Williams as si you for the root password
and let you install httpd.
Hope this helps
Sawiyati
September 26, 2014
Reply
there are two options:

First, you can switch from current user to root by
typing su hit Enter then type password for root.
Another option is to use sudo prefix in each / every
command that needs root privilege (eg: sudo yum
install httpd). I hope that helps.

19/25
5/14/2015
maxime
September 26, 2014
Reply
Damn autocorrection on french mobile.please remove

previous comment
Vladan
October 19, 2014
Reply
Why you didnt mentioned that we need to change ports in

iptables!!! Now i cant access to my vps!
javier
October 20, 2014
Reply
Thanks!
I follow your steps, but i got a big problem!
Now when i want login in putty, appear this:
Putty Fatal Error
Network Error: Connection refused
How can i resolve? Please help me!
Sawiyati
October 23, 2014
Reply
That most likely because Putty uses different port

as what you defined on your vps
Anirudh Kanabar
November 12, 2014
Reply
I followed this tutorial. You forgot to mention about the

iptables. So now I exited it without adding it to the iptables. I
only have the ipaddress and password of the server. There is
no online control panel for it.
Now I cant login to it via PuTTy. Could someone help me?
20/25
5/14/2015
harikrishna
November 21, 2014
Reply
i have one doubt.cent os install normal home pc .its possible

or not.please tell me
Kamal S. Prasad
January 17, 2015
Reply
In CENTOS 7, the command to reload SSH service is:

service sshd restart
at least, it is on the VPS, I was using.
Kamal S. Prasad
January 24, 2015
Reply
Hi,
I noticed I didnt have to open the new ports via iptables and
was still able to connect. Why is that?
Kamal
David
February 16, 2015
Reply
Some vendors leave higher ports than 1024 open

by default, you can know more about your open
ports using netstat -an
Jonathan
February 2, 2015
Reply
Hello, im newbie in Linux, and im stuck at Step 1: Login to

your remote server via SSH connection.
I dont have a remote server, i want to set the server on my pc,
so what should i do?
21/25
5/14/2015
Sawiyati
February 3, 2015
Reply
you can skip that step if you just want to do this on

local pc
eric
March 5, 2015
Reply
I did everything except keeping the ssh port unchanged, but

putty shows Connection refused error. I now cant login. Any
help?
Philip
March 17, 2015
Reply
Hi,
i cant run the command:
iptables -l INPUT -m state -state NEW -m tcp -p tcp -dport
22000 -j ACCEPT
i get the error:
[root@h2191522 ~]# iptables -l INPUT -m state -state NEW -m
tcp -p tcp dport 22000 -j ACCEPT
iptables v1.4.7: option `-l requires an argument
kaushal
March 24, 2015
Reply
Ive tried to replicate exactly the same steps on a fresh CENTOS

VPS server and the connection via the new user fails every time
I tried to login from my Mac terminal. After some debugging, I
found this is happening due to change of default port to
22000. Besides the steps mentioned above, is there anything
else I need to do to make sure my connections recognise port
22000? When I revert the post to 22, I can login with my new
22/25
5/14/2015
username and password. Unfortunately not when I change the

port form 22 to 22000.
Alex
March 27, 2015
Reply
It would be best to use certificate instead of obfuscating

access. Just enable login only by certificate and you are set
Caesar Louis
April 3, 2015
Reply
when Im trying to ssh client, its always asking for root

password. can you help me to solve this?
me2
April 27, 2015
Reply
Hi Sawiyati,
I have setup my server and able to view my site on my unit.
But, if I try to access the website thru internet, I cannot access
it though.
Thank You.
Alibaba
May 13, 2015
Reply
For some reason I cant install the nano

Reconfigure the baseurl/etc. for the repository, to point to a
working upstream.
ADD A COMMENT
23/25
5/14/2015
Your email address will not be published. Required fields

are marked *
Name:*
Email Address:*
Website:
Comment:*
ADD COMMENT
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
REVIEW
10 LOW END
5+ FREE SELF-
15+ LOW END
USEFUL FREE
RECOMMENDED
LIST OF FREE
24/25
5/14/2015
NAT IPV4 VPS
HOSTED SERVER
CLOUD SERVER
UPTIME
PROVIDERS
MONITORING
PROVIDERS
MONITORING
PROVIDERS FOR
SERVICES FOR
POINTING
YOUR SERVER
DOMAIN TO
TOOLS
VPS #3: CRISSIC
DNS HOSTING
YOUR VPS
COPYRIGHT 2015 SERVERMOM.

CONTACT US
PARTNER US
PRIVACY POLICY
DISCLAIMER
25/25

Basic CentOS Setup Before Building A Working Server

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Basic CentOS Setup Before Building A Working Server

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

5/14/2015

$13/YEAR 128MB XEN PV VP...

$9.87/YEAR 1GB RAM SSD V...

$25/YEAR 1GB RAM DDOS-PR...

$25/YEAR 2.5GB RAM VPS @...

BASIC CENTOS SETUP

Sawiyati | March 18th, 2013 | How To | 72 Comments

All essential things you have to do in the first time to build a

practices of initial server setup. This is aimed to tweak and apply

private. For instance, to change default root login, change default

assumed you have either VPS or Dedicated server already so you

fingerprint. Dont panic and simply hit Yes.

Step 2 Change default password for root. Sometimes a VPS or

server is created using random password generated by the

Youll then be asked to enter your new password twice.

*change newuser above with your own new username. In this

Step 4 Setup root privileges to that user so once you logged in

then look for the line / section called:

or in different CentOS release it may also like this:

Then add this line right after the root line:

## Allow root to run any commands anywhere

sshd_config file which is the main configuration file of SSH service

Then fine following lines:

Remove the # symbol and change the 22 (it is default port) to to

Next, also find:

Remove the # symbol and change yes to no

Next, find this line as well:

Remove the # symbol and change yes to no

Of course you have to replace newuser with your own username

Once done, hit Control+O to save then Control+X to exit Nano

It should return with the OK message.

SERVER WITH YOUR

9 Comments | Oct 3, 2014

FREE DNS MANAGER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

June 21, 2013

March 13, 2015

Thanks be blessed,,,,,,i am a newbie in Centos,

A very well detailed tutorial. Thank you. I am trying out my

Glad to know it is helpful

July 13, 2013

it seems that the most basic thing is missing; how to actually

July 16, 2013

Hi Neville, usually, most VPS providers are already

May 20, 2014

hello in the begining id like to thank you

July 20, 2013

very nice, i have learn something new today

Thanks for your Tut madame. but i have problems

Network Error: Connection timed out.,,

August 16, 2013

This is a great tutorial, thank-you heaps.

October 26, 2014

Yes, it worked great AFTER setting up iptables!

October 11, 2013

computer crashes while theyre working on it. Thanks!

November 10, 2013

Very understandable , i am just a begginer user of vps and I

November 12, 2013

Glad you liked it

November 19, 2013

November 28, 2013

Open your ports in iptables. See my original