Essential Tools for Managing Debian Based Linux

Essential Tools for Managing Debian Based Linux (debian-ubuntu-mint etc etc)

A quick post, here are some tools i use that make me sleep easier at night for managing my Debian based Linux systems that have a interface exposed to the public Internet.

1) Denyhosts -- sudo apt-get install denyhosts -- great python script that blocks users who have failed to login with the correct username or password via ssh by putting their IP address in /etc/deny.hosts -- Also emails you with all the relevant information. (http://denyhosts.sourceforge.net/)

2) apticron -- sudo apt-get install apticron -- Great script that checks for software updates and mails you when updates are available to install (http://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=apticron)

3) etckeeper -- sudo apt-get install etckeeper -- uses a version control system like GIT / Bazaar to provide automatic revisions of the files in /etc. If you make an error when installing or changing a config, backout is much easier with etckeeper (http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/etckeeper/)

4) Tiger -- sudo apt-get install tiger -- runs scheduled security checks on your system and warns you via email of any potential issues. (http://www.nongnu.org/tiger/)

These tools make remote admin a lot safer and you can attend to your system when notified that you NEED to attend to it, rather than checking manually yourself