Unneeded Services
 

I have always read that one of the best ways to secure a system is to turn off all unneeded services. The problem is whenever I run "ps ax" I get a pretty long list of services.

With Windows, I know what to turn off and what to leave on. The problem is I am not sure yet what is essential in Linux and I don't want to leave my machine vulnerable. What are some things to look for? If I posted my list of services on here, could some one review it for me to see if I have anything running that I can turn off either for security or for performance enhancement?

Thanks

RP

hi there

post them i will try ti help u out
also post us what ur sytem is used for and what kind of network do u have and what else do u do on ur network??

regards

SuSE 9.1 - just wanting to run a workstation system - no servers. It is running VMware Workstation also.

PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
1 ? S 0:05 init [5]
2 ? SN 0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
3 ? S< 0:00 [events/0]
4 ? S< 0:00 [kacpid]
5 ? S< 0:00 [kblockd/0]
6 ? S< 0:00 [khelper]
7 ? S 0:00 [pdflush]
8 ? S 0:00 [pdflush]
10 ? S< 0:00 [aio/0]
9 ? S 0:00 [kswapd0]
168 ? S 0:00 [kseriod]
447 ? S< 0:00 [reiserfs/0]
875 ? S< 0:00 [kcopyd]
1958 ? S 0:00 [khubd]
2209 ? Ss 0:00 /sbin/dhcpcd -H -D -N -t 999999 -h linux eth0
2328 ? Ss 0:00 /sbin/syslogd -a /var/lib/ntp/dev/log
2334 ? Ss 0:00 /sbin/klogd -c 1 -2
2405 ? Ss 0:00 /sbin/portmap
2406 ? Ss 0:00 /sbin/resmgrd
2462 ? S 0:00 /usr/bin/vmnet-bridge -d /var/run/vmnet-bridge-0.pid
2478 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/vmnet-natd -d /var/run/vmnet-natd-8.pid -m /
3025 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd -o PidFile=/var/run/sshd.init.pid
3190 ? S 0:00 [hwscand]
3272 ? S 0:00 [khpsbpkt]
3515 ? S 0:00 [knodemgrd_0]
3538 ? S 0:00 [knodemgrd_1]
3759 ? S 0:00 /usr/sbin/powersaved -d -e /etc/powersave.conf -a res
4167 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd
4390 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/lib/postfix/master
4404 ? S 0:00 pickup -l -t fifo -u
4405 ? S 0:00 qmgr -l -t fifo -u
4826 ? S 0:00 /usr/bin/vmnet-netifup -d /var/run/vmnet-netifup-vmne
4841 ? S 0:00 /usr/bin/vmnet-netifup -d /var/run/vmnet-netifup-vmne
4994 ? S 0:00 [usb-storage]
4995 ? S 0:00 [scsi_eh_0]
5099 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/cron
5365 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/vmnet-dhcpd -cf /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcpd/dhc
5367 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/vmnet-dhcpd -cf /etc/vmware/vmnet1/dhcpd/dhc
5475 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/nscd
5481 ? S 0:00 [usb-storage]
5482 ? S 0:00 [scsi_eh_1]
5852 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/vmware-nmbd -D -l /dev/null -s /etc/vmware/v
5941 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/vmware-smbd -D -l /dev/null -s /etc/vmware/v
6141 ? Ss 0:00 /opt/kde3/bin/kdm
6192 ? SL 1:28 /usr/X11R6/bin/X -nolisten tcp -br vt7 -auth /var/lib
6194 ? S 0:00 -:0
6212 tty1 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty --noclear tty1
6213 tty2 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty2
6214 tty3 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty3
6215 tty4 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty4
6216 tty5 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty5
6217 tty6 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty6
6387 ? S 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/X11R6/bin/kde
6483 ? Ss 0:00 kdeinit: Running...
6486 ? S 0:00 kdeinit: dcopserver --nosid
6488 ? S 0:00 kdeinit: klauncher
6517 ? S 0:00 kdeinit: kded
6526 ? S 0:01 /opt/kde3/bin/artsd -F 10 -S 4096 -s 5 -m artsmessage
6528 ? S 0:00 kdeinit: knotify
6529 ? S 0:00 kwrapper ksmserver
6531 ? S 0:00 kdeinit: ksmserver
6532 ? S 0:03 kdeinit: kwin -session 117f00000200010951271500000014
6535 ? S 0:00 kdeinit: khotkeys
6537 ? S 0:01 kdeinit: kdesktop
6539 ? S 0:03 kdeinit: kicker
6543 ? S 0:08 kdeinit: klipper
6545 ? S 0:00 kamix
6548 ? S 0:00 kpowersave
6550 ? S 0:00 susewatcher -caption SuSE Watcher -icon kinternet.png
6552 ? S 0:01 suseplugger -caption SUSE Hardware Tool -icon hi22-ac
6567 ? S 0:00 kdeinit: kio_uiserver
6577 ? S 0:02 gaim --session 117f000002000109514375200000063140033
6580 ? S 0:00 /opt/gnome/lib/evolution/1.4/evolution-alarm-notify -
6585 ? S 0:00 /opt/gnome/lib/GConf/2/gconfd-2 14
6587 ? S 0:03 kdeinit: konqueror --preload
6589 ? Ss 0:00 /opt/gnome/lib/bonobo/bonobo-activation-server --ac-a
6591 ? S 0:00 /opt/gnome/lib/evolution/1.4/evolution-wombat --oaf-a
6623 ? S 0:04 evolution-1.4
7186 ? S 0:00 kdeinit: kio_file file /tmp/ksocket-robpom/klauncherx
9558 ? S 0:00 kdeinit: konsole
9560 pts/1 Ss 0:00 /bin/bash
9569 ? S 0:00 /bin/sh /home/robpom/Firefox/firefox
9581 ? S 0:00 /bin/sh /home/robpom/Firefox/run-mozilla.sh /home/rob
9586 ? S 0:03 /home/robpom/Firefox/firefox-bin

Thanks

RP

hi there


u have very less servioe running ,this is a list of processes,this is normal when u are running kde
also from these u can shut down dhcp , ssh(if u do not use them)

i am not able to find more useless services

regards

If you want to see what IP ports/services are running you should to a "netstat -an |grep LISTEN |grep -v LISTENING"

This will show you open ports. If you print the output here I can help you shut down services.