Basic cloud server security

This article provides a script to make web servers more secure. Run the
following script for cloud servers running the Ubuntu operating system to
provide more security than the
default configuration. While this script helps protect your server, it can't
prevent an attack. Ensure that you are writing secure application code.

Note: To run the following script, log in as root using a key pair.
Otherwise, you might be locked out of your virtual machine (VM). For information
on how to generate public and private key pairs, see
Manage SSH Keypairs for cloud servers with-python-novaclient.

{{< highlight sh >}}
/support/how-to/cloud-servers/basic-cloud-server-security/secure.sh
{{< /highlight >}}
{{}}
{% include cloud-servers/basic-cloud-server-security/secure.sh %}
{{}}

Script activities

The script performs the following activities:

1. Disables root ssh access.

2. Sets up a new user with the same authorized key used for the root login (it assumes this is setup).

3. Installs a package to help prevent brute force login attempts.

4. Enables automatic updates.

5. Blocks all ports except for HTTP, HTTPS and SSH.

Troubleshooting

If SSH, sudo, or iptables are configured incorrectly, you might be locked out
of your system. If this occurs, log in to the Rackspace Cloud Control Panel and
use the Web Console or Rescue Mode to repair the configurations.