Using schroot instead of LXC containers

So, I have been using LXC to host my server services for a period of time, with a view to keeping things portable should I need to change provider. It’s very good in that it’s integrated into the Linux kernel and in Ubuntu at least it’s not too difficult to setup, however there are a …

Iptables-apply or how to avoid unnecessary site visits when changing firewall configuration

Today’s post is definitely of the short and sweet variety. I happened across the file list for iptables the other day and noticed a binary I had not come across before “iptables-apply”. Iptables-apply is a script that applies firewall rules and then waits a configurable amount of time, for user input, to confirm the changes …

Remove residual config files in Ubuntu – A one liner

I have spent literally hours over the last year or two searching for an elegant way to remove configuration files left over from package installs, in a command line environment, with Ubuntu. Googling would provide a frustrating list of solutions that would either involve installing extra packages, using a complicated command line, or script, solutions …

The importance of a minimal firewall.

I have long been an avid user of the well known interface to iptables – Shorewall. Of late though I have suspected it is slowing my network down. I once decided to see what actual iptables rules it was creating and ran “iptables -L”. There was a lot of output and I wasn’t sure was …