Luke Reynolds

Configuring SSH login without password between two systems

SSH login without password

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If you ever get tired of typing in your SSH password, we’ve got good news. It’s possible to configure public key authentication on Linux systems, which allows you to connect to a server through SSH, without using a password.

The best part is, using key authentication is actually more secure than typing in a password each time. This is in addition to being far more convenient. It also allows you to automate certain tasks, such as rsync scripts or other Bash scripts that utilize SSH, SCP, etc.

The process for setting up key authentication involves generating RSA keys on one system, then copying the key to a remote host. This works on any Linux distribution and is a short and easy process. Follow along with the instructions below as we take you through the step by step guide to configure passwordless SSH on Linux.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • Generate RSA keys and transfer to remote system
  • How to login with SSH without a password

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How to mount partition with ntfs file system and read write access

How to mount partition with ntfs file system and read write access

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NTFS stands for New Technology File System and is developed by Microsoft for use on their Windows operating systems. NTFS is not normally used on Linux systems, but has been the default file system on Windows for many years. Linux users are probably used to seeing drives with the ext4 file system, which is ordinarily the default and certainly the most widespread in the Linux realm.

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Vim Tutorial

VIM tutorial for beginners

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The Vim editor (and its predecessor, vi) is a command line editor for Linux systems. It has a long standing reputation as being the most powerful text editor on Linux. After mastering it, many users will even claim that it is far speedier and more convenient to use than a typical GUI editor packed with lots of features in its menus.

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How to configure, mount, and access encrypted partition on Linux

How to encrypt partition in Linux

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One of the best ways to protect your files on a Linux system is to enable hard disk encryption. It’s possible to encrypt an entire hard drive or partition, which will keep every file that resides there safe. Without the correct decryption key, prying eyes will only be able to see cryptic gibberish when they try to read your files.

In this guide, we’ll go over the step by step instructions of using LUKS to encrypt a Linux partition. Regardless of what Linux distro you’re running, these steps should work the same. Follow along with us below to get partition encryption configured on your own system.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to install cryptsetup on major Linux distros
  • How to create an encrypted partition
  • How to mount or unmount encrypted partition
  • How to setup disk encryption during Linux install
How to configure, mount, and access encrypted partition on Linux

How to configure, mount, and access encrypted partition on Linux

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Creating an SSH tunnel through port forwarding on Linux

Enable SSH port forwarding on Linux

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Most Linux users are familiar with the SSH protocol as it allows remote management of any Linux system. It’s also commonly used for SFTP to download or upload files. SSH is known as a very secure protocol because it encrypts traffic end to end. But the encrypted tunnels it creates are actually quite versatile and can be used for more than just remote server management or file transfer.

SSH port forwarding can be used to encrypt the traffic between two systems for pretty much any protocol. This is accomplished by creating a secure tunnel and then routing another protocol’s traffic through that tunnel. By principle, it works very similarly to a VPN.

In this guide, we’ll go over the step by step instructions to show you how to use SSH port forwarding to create a secure tunnel for some other application. As an example, we’ll create port forwarding for the telnet protocol, which is usually avoided because of how it transfers data in clear text. This will secure the protocol and make it safe to use.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to use SSH port forwarding
  • How to create a persistent SSH tunnel

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Using aria2 to download a file on Linux

aria2 – all in one command line download tool

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aria2 is a command line tool for Linux systems that can download files using a variety of protocols, including HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, SFTP, BitTorrent and Metalink. It’s diverse download capabilities make it an all-in-one tool for downloading files on Linux.

Most users know about downloading files from the command line by using wget or curl. aria2 has a few advantages over both tools, because it has increased potential for greater download speed by downloading from more than one source in the single session. aria2 can also pause and resume downloads.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to install aria2 on major Linux distros, then give you some command line examples so you see how to download various file types with the program. By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to use aria2 to download files through various protocols, and pause or resume downloads.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to install aria2 on major Linux distros
  • aria2 command line usage examples
  • How to download a file from multiple mirrors
  • How to pause or resume downloads in aria2

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Using mdadm to create a software RAID 1 array on Linux

Linux Software Raid 1 Setup

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RAID 1 is a hard disk configuration where the contents from one hard disk are mirrored onto another. This provides the user with some redundancy in case a disk fails. On your Linux system, the two hard drives are represented as a single file system. But in the background, making changes to your files is actually writing the changes to two disks at the same time. You can also add more than two disks to the configuration, as long as you keep the number even. Otherwise, something like RAID 5 will be more suitable.

There are many ways to configure a RAID setup. One of the easiest and most accessible ways is through the mdadm software package, which can be installed and used on any major Linux distribution. This is easier than some other RAID setups, since it doesn’t require any special hardware (like a RAID controller) and isn’t that hard to configure.

In this guide, we’ll go through the step by step instructions to install and setup mdadm on Linux, and create a RAID 1 configuration for two hard disks. Our example scenario will consist of two empty hard disks that are each 10 GB in size. This is in addition to our main hard disk, which is just used for the operating system.

WARNING
Strictly speaking, RAID 1 is not a proper backup solution. It does provide some protection from disk failure, but what if you accidentally delete a file or a virus corrupts multiple files? Those undesirable changes are instantly written to both disks. RAID 1 provides high availability, but you shouldn’t use it as your only backup solution.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to install mdadm on major Linux distros
  • How to partition hard disks for RAID setup
  • How to create a new RAID device in mdadm and mount it
  • How to keep the RAID array mount persistent
Using mdadm to create a software RAID 1 array on Linux

Using mdadm to create a software RAID 1 array on Linux

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Installing Concrete5 CMS on Fedora Linux

Installation of Concrete5 CMS on Fedora Linux

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Concrete5 is a CMS (content management system) which allows users to edit any page via editing toolbar and change its content or design without reading complicated manuals or navigating a complex administration back-end.

In this article, we’ll go over the step by step to install Concrete5 CMS on Fedora Linux. This will include setting up Apache as an HTTP server, various PHP modules, and MariaDB to host the database.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to install prerequisite packages for Concrete5 CMS
  • How to setup a MariaDB database and user for Concrete5
  • How to install and configure Concrete5 CMS

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Recover – Reset Forgotten Linux Root Password

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The root account, sometimes called super user, is the admin account on a Linux system, and is essential for performing all kinds of administrative tasks. You’ll need access to it in order to install or remove packages, manage other user accounts, and a lot more things. Anytime you access the root account, either through the su or sudo commands, you’ll be prompted for the root password.

If you have forgotten the password to your system’s root account, you don’t necessarily have to go back to square one and reinstall the whole operating system. It’s possible to recover and reset the root password, even without the old password. In this guide, we’ll take you through the step by step instructions of recovering a forgotten root password on Linux. This will work regardless of the Linux distribution you’re running, as long as its using the GRUB bootloader. Other bootloaders will have similar instructions.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to reset a forgotten root password on Linux

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