Out of the box, security with Docker (and Docker Swarm) over the network is bad. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Out of the box when you have no containers started, it’s fine. But after you start a container, and if you publish a port, they are exposed to the outside world by default. And it’s not easy to fix. You need to create a custom Docker firewall with iptables.
There’s not a lot wrong with Ubuntu 20.04. So it’s pretty easy to fix the one thing that’s missing! Hint: Install the Cinnamon Desktop.
Ansible is a great tool to automate all the things. Another task it can help to automate is user management. This guide will be talking specifically about user management on Linux servers like Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, or Ubuntu. Ansible can handle this task!
SSH keys are convenient and more secure than using a password to authenticate. If you created your SSH key a while ago, it’s probably time to generate new RSA 4096 and Ed25519 keys. SSH keys like DSA and RSA 1024 are very old and now insecure. You should even upgrade ssh keys that are RSA 2048.
This is a guide to getting started with Ansible. By the end of this guide, you will be up and running with Ansible.
Included is an Ansible role that will create a user which is used by Ansible to connect to your remote servers. Let’s go! After installing Ansible, you will need to setup Ansible by following these steps.
Using a VPN can help to protect your privacy. You can use a VPN to appear like you are in another country to reach a website that was previously blocked, to stop your ISP from restricting you to certain websites, and when travelling to protect your data while using insecure WiFi. There’s another: ad blocking.
Keeping your software updated is important. You get the newest features, and more importantly, you also get the latest security fixes. This Ansible role can automate the updates to your Ubuntu, CentOS, and Redhat servers with the latest packages, reboot if needed and wait for the server to start up.
