great uptime on my Slackware server - THANK YOU ALL!

Lysander666 · 07-22-2019, 11:15 AM

Has anyone got a verifiably longer uptime on Slackware than OP?

And here's an interesting [opinion] article on why one shouldn't reboot Unix servers [pending kernel security risks].

montagdude · 07-22-2019, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lysander666

Has anyone got a verifiably longer uptime on Slackware than OP?

And here's an interesting [opinion] article on why one shouldn't reboot Unix servers [pending kernel security risks].

Seems to be only recommending against rebooting as a troubleshooting step. He doesn't say one shouldn't reboot Unix servers.

Quote:

Yes, as I said, you need to reboot if there's a security risk in the kernel. Otherwise, there's no real reason to reboot a Unix box.

orbea · 07-22-2019, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Yes, as I said, you need to reboot if there's a security risk in the kernel. Otherwise, there's no real reason to reboot a Unix box.

Its also useful to reboot with glibc or udev updates to make sure that the new binaries are being used. Restarting udev as the rc script warns often is problematic...

hitest · 07-22-2019, 11:51 AM

I suggest that you upgrade the server to a newer version of Slackware.

ehartman · 07-22-2019, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitest

That means that the 3.2x kernel will not receive patches for known or new security vulnerabilities. Not a good situation for a server.

BTW: the same goes for Slackware 14.1 and its 3.10 kernel, that kernel has been EOL for almost 2 years too. But again, apart from packages like that (there are more EOL ones in both 14.0 and 14.1), 14.1 is still regularly updated by Pat.

upnort · 07-22-2019, 03:06 PM

Barx, take a bow! Plenty of people here raining on your parade, but in another post you indicate you understand the security issues and the server is on a private LAN. Hats off to you and Slackware!

P.S. Would be interesting if you posted how you configured the port knocking.

ChuangTzu · 07-22-2019, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barx

I'm aware of what implies to keep using an old (unpatched) kernel, but after the first year of uptime the willing to beat the record won on the patches, so I moved security on the network perimeter. And I'm aware that this isn't an optimal solution.

The server is used internal on my network only for PHP develop and as file server; the SSH port is mapped on a non standard port, and ports opens on firewall only after a port knock; the server is not faced on the internet without successful knocking

The server runs Slackware 14.0 (the one available in January 2014), and was never rebooted (assembled, installed, booted first time, never rebooted)

Outstanding, as long as the outer wall is strong and up to date then its fine having weaker paper walls on the inside. Japanese did that for centuries with their homes.

rkelsen · 07-22-2019, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barx

I'm proud to share this uptime achieved on the Slackware that I'm using in my office.

Well done man!

What services does it run?

I'm going to set up some Slackware VMs in my small office today. One will be a Samba server for fileshares and the other one will be setup to keep a redundant copy of my data via rsync & cron.

You gotta love this stuff!

hitest · 07-22-2019, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChuangTzu

Outstanding, as long as the outer wall is strong and up to date then its fine having weaker paper walls on the inside.

I agree. If the firewall solution is bullet proof then all is well. However, if a bad guy does penetrate the firewall he'll be looking for a vulnerable system to own. That's my reason for suggesting a server upgrade. Just my 2 cents worth.
Congratulations on the killer uptime!

Barx · 07-23-2019, 10:26 AM

The server runs few services: apache w/ PHP, mysql, samba, ssh. It's used primarily for PHP develop, and as little file server to store what's related to develop

Anyway, now that I reached this milestone I'll keep the server running as is until it dies, 'jailed' in my LAN .. for the next server I'll change strategy.

Do anyone knows how to certify uptime? I posted a screenshot, that can be easily modified ... but I don't know if there's a way to certify the real uptime, and google doesn't help. If someone wants, I'm ready to do what's needed to proof my uptime

Ps. some other people have done really better than me :-) , though the article doesn't say nothing about reboots/uptime ..

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/0..._that_readers/

Lysander666 · 07-23-2019, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barx

If someone wants, I'm ready to do what's needed to proof my uptime

Take a photograph, like Axatax did.

Notice that he took it at an angle, harder to fake it that way. I know it's not very exciting, but it's probably the best way.

hitest · 07-23-2019, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barx

Anyway, now that I reached this milestone I'll keep the server running as is until it dies, 'jailed' in my LAN .. for the next server I'll change strategy.

Very cool server. Sorry about raining on your parade; I'm a bit too anal about security(I was a dick). We have several power outages per year; so long uptimes are impossible, even with my UPS.

Added later: I'm looking to upgrade one of my UPS units as we occasionally have long outages.

Richard Cranium · 07-23-2019, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barx

The server runs few services: apache w/ PHP, mysql, samba, ssh. It's used primarily for PHP develop, and as little file server to store what's related to develop

Anyway, now that I reached this milestone I'll keep the server running as is until it dies, 'jailed' in my LAN .. for the next server I'll change strategy.

Do anyone knows how to certify uptime? I posted a screenshot, that can be easily modified ... but I don't know if there's a way to certify the real uptime, and google doesn't help. If someone wants, I'm ready to do what's needed to proof my uptime

Ps. some other people have done really better than me :-) , though the article doesn't say nothing about reboots/uptime ..

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/0..._that_readers/

There's no need to keep it running. Just set up hibernation, hibernate your system, and then put in into a closet. Some time in the future, you can restart the system, which will believe that it has been running continuously the entire time and report uptime accordingly.