nixCraft Linux Sys Admin Blog

Linux: Install Django Open Source Framework

Posted: 09 Jun 2008 07:57 PM CDT

Django is a high-level Python Web framework (open source framework) that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. Django is awesome programming framework. Red hat magazine has published excellent tutorial:

In today's world, web development is all about turnaround. Businesses want to maximize production outcome while minimizing development and production time. Small, lean development teams are increasingly becoming the normal large development departments. Enter Django: a popular Python web framework that invokes the RWAD (rapid web application development) and DRY (don't repeat yourself) principles with clean, pragmatic design.

This article is not about teaching you how to program in Python, nor how to use the Django framework. It's about showing how to promote your Django applications onto an existing Apache or Lighttpd environment.

=> Installing/Configuring/Caching Django on your Linux server

Yet Another Reason to Have Offsite Data Backup

Posted: 09 Jun 2008 07:42 PM CDT

A new variant of Gpcode virus is out and targeting all Windows systems. It is a dangerous file-encryptor. It encrypts a whole variety of user files, targeting files with extensions such as DOC, TXT, PDF, XLS, JPG, PNG, CPP, H etc using rsa encryption. Once file encrypted it displayed following message on screen demanding ransom:

Your files are encrypted with RSA-1024 algorithm.
To recovery your files you need to buy our decryptor.
To buy decrypting tool contact us at: ********@yahoo.com

RSA-1024 algorithm / encryption is pretty strong and any attempt to break it will result in nothing. According to this blog posting it will take 5 million modern computers to crack a key:

Along with antivirus companies around the world, we're faced with the task of cracking the RSA 1024-bit key. This is a huge cryptographic challenge. We estimate it would take around 15 million modern computers, running for about a year, to crack such a key.

This also makes hard drive data recovery difficult. Your best choice against such attack is backup data regularly and move to offsite. Now virus writer using rsa security to black mail you. Any OS (Windows is big target for this kind of attacks) can be open to such attack and only backups can protect you.

Debian Linux Kernel v2.6.18 Local / Remote Packages Fix Overflow Conditions Bug

Posted: 09 Jun 2008 10:33 AM CDT

There are new two vulnerabilities have been discovered in the Debian Linux kernel that may lead to a denial of service or arbitrary code execution. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems:
=> Package : linux-2.6
=> Vulnerability : heap overflow
=> Problem type : local/remote
=> Debian-specific: no
=> CVE Id(s) : CVE-2008-1673 CVE-2008-2358

How do I fix this problem

Type the following command to update the internal database and to install corrected packages:
# apt-get update # apt-get upgrade # reboot

Linux Change The I/O Scheduler For A Hard Disk

Posted: 09 Jun 2008 12:13 PM CDT

Q. How do I change the I/O scheduler for a particular hard disk without rebooting my Linux server system? A. CFQ [cfq] (Completely Fair Queuing) is an I/O scheduler for the Linux kernel and default under many Linux distributions. Noop scheduler (noop) is the simplest I/O scheduler for the Linux kernel based upon FIFO queue concept. Anticipatory [...]

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