[Conan]

I. Don't use the root account! Create a new sudoer account

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(Make sure you install sudo from your package manager if it's not installed)

1. Create the account. Enter all the details that is prompted.

Code: (Select All)

useradd <username>

2. Add the user to the sudoer group

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echo '<username> ALL=(ALL) ALL' >> /etc/sudoers

3. Disable root login!

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echo 'PermitRootLogin no' >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config

4. Restart sshd

Code: (Select All)

systemctl restart sshd

II. Use SSH Keys!

Linux/Mac client

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1. Generate the key.
If prompted for the path, just press enter.
As for the password, it's your choice to use it or not. (Though it's recommended to use a password for the key file)

Code: (Select All)

ssh-keygen -t rsa

2. Copy over the public key to your server

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ssh-copy-id <username>@<host>

You can now connect to the server using ssh keys.

Windows

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In Progress...

III. Disable password authentication!

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1. Just run this command to disable

Code: (Select All)

echo 'PasswordAuthentication no' >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config

2. Restart sshd

Code: (Select All)

systemctl restart sshd

IV. Install fail2ban
CentOS

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1. Install

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yum install epel-release #Needed repo
yum install fail2ban

2. Run and enable run at startup

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systemctl enable fail2ban
systemctl start fail2ban

Debian

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Code: (Select All)

apt-get install fail2ban

2. Run and enable run at startup

Code: (Select All)

systemctl enable fail2ban
systemctl start fail2ban