Andrew DeFilippis | Andrew DeFilippis

by
Andrew DeFilippis,
on January 6, 2011 -
Daily Blah
|
1 comment

An Update on my Studies at Clover Park Technical College

I am about 3 months away from receiving my Associates Degree. I am in the last quarter of the Computer Networking and Information Systems Security Degree at Clover Park Technical College.

This program has been a blast, made better by my friends and the instructors. Kelly Hollowell, Donald Souza, Ray Robinson, and Jody Randall have given me a great education. Going into the program, I was fairly advanced in my knowledge of computers, but what I didn’t know is how much of a noob I really was. I have gained knowledge in operating systems such as Debian Linux, RedHat Linux, Windows Server 2003, and 2008. The instructors have enabled me to start a career in the Information Technology sector, through opportunities in class, and the internship with Cris-Jon Lindsay on campus.

I am extremely grateful for the education I have received through the Computer Networking and Information Systems Security Degree program, and internship, at Clover Park Technical College.

by
Andrew DeFilippis,
on November 22, 2010 -
Technology
|
No comments

Jasager (Fonera) Router – Changing the Wireless MAC Address and More

1. Reboot your router (disconnect and reconnect power)
2. Connect an ethernet cable from your computer to the Fonera
3. Open a Secure Shell into your router (ssh 192.168.1.1 “The IP of the Fonera”)
4. Make sure you can ping out to the internet from your Fonera router (ping google.com)

Useful Tools on the Jasager (Fonera) Router:

root@Jasager:~# cd /tmp

#This is htop, an advanced version of top
root@Jasager:/tmp# wget http://ipkg.k1k2.de/packages/htop_0.6.5-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# ipkg install htop_0.6.5-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# rm *.ipk

#This is nano, an easy to use text editor
root@Jasager:/tmp# wget http://ipkg.k1k2.de/packages/nano_2.0.6-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# ipkg install nano_2.0.6-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# rm *.ipk

#This is openntpd, an ntp client for the Fonera router (current date and time)
root@Jasager:/tmp# wget http://ipkg.k1k2.de/packages/openntpd_3.9p1-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# ipkg install openntpd_3.9p1-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# rm *.ipk

After installing openntpd, you need to configure it to contact the servers closest to you.
I am located in the United States, so I used the servers from us.pool.ntp.org.

NTP server reference – http://www.pool.ntp.org/en/
root@Jasager:/tmp# cd /etc
root@Jasager:/etc# cat > ntpd.conf << “EOF”
server 0.us.pool.ntp.org
server 1.us.pool.ntp.org
server 2.us.pool.ntp.org
server 3.us.pool.ntp.org
EOF

1. Open up the webif management page (http://192.168.1.1/index.html or http://192.168.1.1/webif.html)
2. Click on the “System” tab
3. Select the timezone that you are in
4. Click “Save Changes” in the bottom right corner
5. Click “Apply Changes” in the bottom right corner
At the moment, I do not recommend installing openntpd because it seems to continually spawn a new set of processes every 5 minutes or so, eventually slowing down the router. I am currently looking for a solution.

Changing the MAC addresses:

First we are going to install “macchanger” to our Jasager (Fonera) router.

root@Jasager:/etc# cd /tmp

#This is macchanger, a tool that will allow you to easily change your MAC addresses
root@Jasager:/tmp# wget http://ipkg.k1k2.de/packages/macchanger_1.5.0-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# ipkg install macchanger_1.5.0-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# rm *.ipk

After installing macchanger, we need to modify the file network located at /etc/init.d/network
If you installed nano, run nano network otherwise run vi network

root@Jasager:/tmp# cd /etc/init.d
root@Jasager:/etc/init.d# cp network network.bak #Make a backup of the original file
root@Jasager:/etc/init.d# chmod 444 network.bak #Make the backup file read-only

You will need to insert two lines into the file to change the MAC address
Replace “00:11:22:33:44:55″ with a MAC of your choice (make sure they are the SAME)

root@Jasager:/etc/init.d# nano network

#!/bin/sh /etc/rc.common
# Copyright (C) 2006 OpenWrt.org

START=40
STOP=40

boot() {
setup_switch() { return 0; }

include/lib/network
setup_switch
[ -s /etc/config/wireless ] || /
/sbin/wifi detect > /etc/config/wireless
macchanger ath0 -m 00:11:22:33:44:55
macchanger wifi0 -m 00:11:22:33:44:55
/sbin/wifi up
}

1. Save the file, overwriting the existing file named “network” and reboot the router.
2. When the router is finished booting up, run ifconfig to confirm that ath0 and wifi0 contain the MAC address you specified.
3. Run a wireless network scanner to confirm that the router is broadcasting the new MAC address (airmon-ng and airodump-ng)

I didn’t attempt it, but you could possibly use

(ifconfig ath0 hw ether 00:11:22:33:44:55) and

(ifconfig wifi0 hw ether 00:11:22:33:44:55)

instead of

(macchanger ath0 -m 00:11:22:33:44:55) and

(macchanger wifi0 -m 00:11:22:33:44:55)

by
Andrew DeFilippis,
on April 18, 2010 -
Technology
|
No comments

XenServer: Protecting Ubuntu with Untangle

This is a tutorial on how to install and protect Ubuntu with Untangle, while both run as virtual machines within XenServer. This setup allows you to protect one virtual machine with a second virtual machine on the same physical system. The biggest advantages to this setup include a lower cost of energy, lower cost of hardware and smaller physical footprint.

The image below shows Ubuntu and Untangle being displayed using the XenCenter Management Console. Untangle is blocking Ubuntu from accessing Facebook.

Click on the image to enarge it.

What you will need:

XenServer-5.5.0-Update2-install-cd.iso (Here)
XenServer-5.5.0-Update2-linux-cd.iso (Here)
XenServer-5.5.0-Update2-XenCenter.msi (Here)
ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso (Here)
untangle_720_amd64.iso (Here)
Two CD-RW discs or 4 CD-R discs
One dedicated server
One workstation computer

Instructions:

Burn the XenServer Install CD ISO to one of your CD’s and burn the XenServer Linux CD ISO to one of the other CD’s.
Install XenCenter onto your Windows workstation. (Linux users can use OpenXenCenter).
Insert the XenServer CD into your server and boot to the disc drive.
Follow the prompts to install and configure your server, including setting a static IP address.
When asked to do so, insert the Linux Guest Support CD into the server’s disc drive and continue with the install.
After the install is finished, boot to the hard drive where you installed XenServer.
Connect to your XenServer using XenCenter on your workstation. Enter the static IP address you set and the root password you created during the configuration of your server.
Check the box next to your server in the activation window. Click on Activate, enter the information into the browser activation form and submit it.
After registering, you will receive an email that includes the license key as an attachment. Save the license file to your hard drive.
In XenCenter, go to Server > Install License Key, navigate to the folder where license.xslic is located and click Open.
Create a single virtual internal network. (Click on your server, Network tab > Add Network > Internal Network)
Create one virtual machine for Untangle, giving it the physical external network and virtual internal network. (VM > New | Template “Other Install Media” | Name “Untangle” | Location “Physical DVD Drive” | CPU & Memory “Initial Memory 1024MB” | Virtual Disks “Add” > 70GB | Virtual Interfaces “External Physical & Internal Virtual”)
Create one virtual machine for Ubuntu, giving it ONLY the virtual internal network. (VM > New | Template “Other Install Media” | Name “Ubuntu” | Location “Physical DVD Drive” | CPU & Memory “Initial Memory 2048MB” | Virtual Disks “Add” > 100GB | Virtual Interfaces “Internal Virtual”)
Erase the first CD-RW, or burn Ubuntu to one of the empty CD-R discs.
Erase the second CD-RW, or burn Untangle to one of the empty CD-R discs.
Insert the Ubuntu CD into the server’s disc drive, start the Ubuntu VM and run the install using the Normal Mode.
Insert the Untangle CD into the server’s disc drive, start the Untangle VM and run the install using the Expert Mode. (During the install you can only use the keyboard. After it finishes, the mouse is usable.)

After installing, Ubuntu will load to its desktop and Untangle to its initial startup screen. Finish the Untangle setup and close the browser window. You should now see the options menu at the bottom of the screen. We are going to need to use the terminal to change the screen resolution.

Fixing the screen resolution:

In Untangle, open the terminal and enter the root password you created during the install. Enter the following into the terminal:

cd /etc/X11
cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.bak
editor xorg.conf

Enter or change what is shown below:

Section “Monitor”
Identifier “Configured Monitor”
HorizSync 40.00 – 150.00
VertRefresh 60.0
VendorName “Generic”
ModelName “Generic”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Default Screen”
Device “Configured Video Device”
Monitor “Configured Monitor”
SubSection “Display”
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

In Ubuntu, open the terminal and enter the root password you created during the install. Enter the following into the terminal:

sudo passwd root
sudo X -configure
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak
cd /
sudo gedit xorg.conf.new

Edit the monitor section to be:

Section “Monitor”
Identifier “Monitor0″
HorizSync 40.00 – 150.00
VertRefresh 60.0
VendorName “Generic”
ModelName “Generic”
EndSection

Click on: File > Save As > Folder (/etc/X11) | xorg.conf

Log off and sign in

The resolution should now be 1152×864 in Ubuntu and 1024×768 in Untangle.

You have accomplished:

Installing the bare metal hypervisor XenServer onto a dedicated server.
Configuring two virtual machines to communicate over a virtual network connection.
Modifying xorg.conf to be able to use a larger resolution.
Protecting one operating system, with a second operating system.