Introduction to NcFTP

Introduction to NcFTP

The NcFTP package contains a powerful and flexible interface to the Internet standard File Transfer Protocol. It is intended to replace or supplement the stock ftp program.
This package is known to build and work properly using an LFS-7.10 platform.

Package Information

• Download (FTP): ftp://ftp.ncftp.com/ncftp/ncftp-3.2.5-src.tar.bz2
  
• Download MD5 sum: b05c7a6d5269c04891f02f43d4312b30
  
• Download size: 452 KB
  
• Estimated disk space required: 6.4 MB
  
• Estimated build time: 0.2 SBU
  

User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/ncftp

Installation of NcFTP

There are two ways to build NcFTP. The first (and optimal) way builds most of the functionality as a shared library and then builds and installs the program linked against this library. The second method simply links all of the functionality into the binary statically. This doesn't make the dynamic library available for linking by other applications. You need to choose which method best suits you. Note that the second method does not create an entirely statically linked binary; only the libncftp parts are statically linked in, in this case. Be aware that building and using the shared library is covered by the Clarified Artistic License; however, developing applications that utilize the shared library is subject to a different license.
To install NcFTP using the first (and optimal) method, run the following commands:

./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc &&
make -C libncftp shared &&
make

This package does not come with a test suite.
Now, as the root user:

make -C libncftp soinstall &&
make install

To install NcFTP using the second method (with the libncftp functionality linked in statically) run the following commands:

./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc &&
make

This package does not come with a test suite.
Now, as the root user:

make install

Command Explanations

make -C ... && make -C ...: These commands make and install the dynamic library libncftp which is then used to link against when compiling the main program.

Configuring NcFTP

Config Files

/etc/ncftp.* and ~/.ncftp/*; especially /etc/ncftp.prefs_v3 and ~/.ncftp/prefs_v3

Configuration Information

Most NcFTP configuration is done while in the program, and the configuration files are dealt with automatically. One exception to this is ~/.ncftp/prefs_v3. There are various options to alter in there, including:

yes-i-know-about-NcFTPd=yes

This disables the splash screen advertising the NcFTPd server.
There are other options in the prefs_v3 file. Most of these are self-explanatory. Global defaults can be set in /etc/ncftp.prefs_v3.

Contents

Installed Programs: ncftp, ncftpbatch, ncftpbookmarks, ncftpget, ncftpls, ncftpput, and ncftpspooler

Installed Library: libncftp.so

Installed Directories: None

Short Descriptions

ncftp	is a browser program for File Transfer Protocol.
ncftpbatch	is an individual batch FTP job processor.
ncftpbookmarks	is the NcFTP Bookmark Editor (NCurses-based).
ncftpget	is an internet file transfer program for scripts used to retrieve files.
ncftpls	is an internet file transfer program for scripts used to list files.
ncftpput	is an internet file transfer program for scripts used to transfer files.
ncftpspooler	is a global batch FTP job processor daemon.

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How To Migrate Iptables Firewall Rules to a New Server

Introduction

When migrating from one server to another, it is often desirable to migrate the iptables firewall rules as part of the process. This tutorial will show you how to easily copy your active iptables rule set from one server to another.

Prerequisites

This tutorial requires two servers. We will refer to the source server, which has the existing iptables rules, as Server A. The destination server, where the rules will be migrated to, will be referred to as Server B.
You will also need to have superuser, or sudo, access to both servers.

View Existing Iptables Rules

Before migrating your iptables rules, let's see what they are set to. You can do that with this command on Server A:

sudo iptables -S

Example output:
-P INPUT ACCEPT
-P FORWARD ACCEPT
-P OUTPUT ACCEPT
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 15.15.15.51/32 -j DROP

The example rules above will be used to demonstrate the firewall migration process.

Export Iptables Rules

The iptables-save command writes the current iptables rules to stdout (standard out). This gives us an easy way to export the firewall rules to file, by redirecting stdout to a file.
On the Server A, the one with the iptables rules that you want to migrate, use the iptables-save to export the current rules to a file named "iptables-export" like this:

cd ~

sudo iptables-save > iptables-export

This will create the iptables-export file, in your home directory. This file can be used on a different server to load the firewall rules into iptables.

View File Contents (Optional)

Let's take a quick look at the file's contents. We'll use the cat command to print it out to the terminal:

cat iptables-export

iptables-export contents:
# Generated by iptables-save v1.4.21 on Tue Sep  1 17:32:29 2015
*filter
:INPUT ACCEPT [135:10578]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [8364:1557108]
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 15.15.15.51/32 -j DROP
COMMIT
# Completed on Tue Sep  1 17:32:29 2015

As you can see, the file contains the configuration of the active iptables rules. Now we're ready to copy this file to our destination server, Server B.

Copy Exported Rules to Destination Server

We need to copy the rules file to our destination server, Server B. The easiest way to do this is to use scp or to copy and paste the file contents to a new file on Server B. We will demonstrate how to use scp to copy the file over the network to the /tmp directory.
On Server A, run this scp command. Be sure to substitute the highlighted parts with your server's login and IP address:

scp iptables-export user@server_b_ip_address:/tmp

After providing proper authentication, the file will be copied to the /tmp directory on Server B. Note that the contents of /tmp are deleted upon a reboot—feel free to place it somewhere else if you want to preserve it.

Import Iptables Rules

With the exported rules on the destination server, you can load them into iptables. However, depending on your situation, you may want update the rules in the file with new IP addresses and ranges, and perhaps update interface names. If you want to change the rules before loading them, be sure to edit the /tmp/iptables-export file now.
Once you are ready to load the rules from the iptables-export file into iptables, let's use the iptables-restore command to do so.
On Server B, the destination server, run this command to load the firewall rules:

sudo iptables-restore < /tmp/iptables-export

This will load the rules into iptables. You can verify this with the sudo iptables -S command.

Save Rules

Iptables rules are ephemeral, so special care must be taken for them to persist after a reboot—it is likely that you will want to perform this step on Server B. We will show you how to save the rules on both Ubuntu and CentOS.

Ubuntu

On Ubuntu, the easiest way to save iptables rules, so they will survive a reboot, is to use the iptables-persistent package. Install it with apt-get like this:

sudo apt-get install iptables-persistent

During the installation, you will asked if you want to save your current firewall rules. Response yes, if you want to save the current rule set.
If you update your firewall rules in the future, and want to save the changes, run this command:

sudo invoke-rc.d iptables-persistent save

CentOS 6 and Older

On CentOS 6 and older—CentOS 7 uses FirewallD by default—you can use the iptables init script to save your iptables rules:

sudo service iptables save

This will save your current iptables rules to the /etc/sysconfig/iptables file, which gets loaded by iptables upon boot.

Conclusion

Congratulations! Your firewall rules have been migrated from your original server to your new one.

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How To Setup: Install Elastix v2.3.0 from USB on computer with no CD ROM

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[HOW TO] Fix Incorrect time in FreePBX

It’s important to keep the correct time in FreePBX, especially if your system has time conditions enabled. If you notice your server has the incorrect time, the first place you will want to check is the FreePBX web interface under Admin -> System Admin -> Time Zone:

Make sure to click Submit after making any changes.
If you’re still seeing the incorrect time on your system, you will need to make sure that the NTP service is running. NTP, or Network Time Protocol, occasionally syncs your PBX with the correct time.
To make sure the NTP service is running, you will need to login via SSH as the root user, using a tool such as PuTTY (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html). The root password was sent in the Account Information Email when you first signed up for FreePBX Hosting.
Once you’re logged into your PBX, you can check that NTP is running using this command:
service ntpd status
To restart NTP, run this command:
service ntpd restart
To ensure NTP is running after a server reboot, run this command:
chkconfig ntpd on
To see which servers your PBX is syncing time with, run this command:
ntpq -p

If you have any questions or need help checking the NTP service on your FreePBX server, feel free to open a support ticket or send an email to support@freepbxhosting.com. Our support engineers will need your root password in order to assist

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Elastix 4 installation on CentOS 7 VPS

Elastix is an unified communications server software that brings together IP PBX, email, IM, faxing and collaboration functionality. It has a Web interface and includes capabilities such as a call center software with predictive dialing.

The Elastix functionality is based on open source projects including Asterisk, FreePBX, HylaFAX, Openfire and Postfix. Those packages offer the PBX, fax, instant messaging and email functions, respectively.

Elastix is free software, released under the GNU General Public License.

The tutorial was prepared with our "CentOS 7" template and is meant to work on our self-managed virtual private servers.

0. Preliminary requirements:
"CentOS 7 64-bit" template installed on server.

1. Downloading install scripts:
wget -O Elastix4onCentos7vz.tar.gz --no-check-certificate https://github.com/thpryrchn/Elastix4onCentos7vz/tarball/master

tar zxvf Elastix4onCentos7vz.tar.gz --strip-components=1

2. Installation process
The first script you have to launch is:

./elastix-install-p1.sh

After installation process you have to reboot your server. Now you can launch the second installation script:

./elastix-install-p2.sh

In this step you will be asked to setup MySQL password and your Elastic admin user password. And after this setup you have to reboot your server once again.

And that's it. Now you can login to your Elastic web interface with password you have entered and manage your Elastix instance:

http://yourhostname

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