Optimized configuration for Ubuntu server with EasyEngine

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Server Stack

• Ubuntu 16.04/18.04 LTS
• Nginx 1.15.x / 1.14.x
• PHP-FPM 7/7.1/7.2
• MariaDB 10.3
• REDIS 4.0
• Memcached
• Fail2ban
• Netdata
• UFW

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Configuration files with comments and informations available by following the link source

Initial configuration

System update and packages cleanup

apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && apt-get autoremove --purge -y && apt-get clean

Install useful packages

sudo apt-get install haveged curl git unzip zip fail2ban htop nload nmon ntp gnupg gnupg2 wget pigz tree ccze  -y

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/VirtuBox/ubuntu-nginx-web-server.git $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server

Tweak Kernel & Increase open files limits

source sysctl.conf - limits.conf source

cp $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/sysctl.d/60-ubuntu-nginx-web-server.conf /etc/sysctl.d/60-ubuntu-nginx-web-server.conf
sysctl -e -p /etc/sysctl.d/60-ubuntu-nginx-web-server.conf
cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/security/limits.conf /etc/security/limits.conf

disable transparent hugepage for redis

echo never > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled

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EasyEngine Setup

Install MariaDB 10.3

Instructions available in VirtuBox Knowledgebase

bash <(wget -qO - https://downloads.mariadb.com/MariaDB/mariadb_repo_setup) --mariadb-server-version=10.3 --skip-maxscale -y
sudo apt update && sudo apt install mariadb-server -y

MySQL Tuning

You can download my example of my.cnf, optimized for VPS with 4GB RAM. my.cnf source

cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/mysql/my.cnf /etc/mysql/my.cnf

It include modification of innodb_log_file_size variable, so you need to use the following commands to apply the new configuration :

sudo service mysql stop

sudo mv /var/lib/mysql/ib_logfile0 /var/lib/mysql/ib_logfile0.bak
sudo mv /var/lib/mysql/ib_logfile1 /var/lib/mysql/ib_logfile1.bak

sudo service mysql start

Increase MariaDB open files limits

cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/systemd/system/mariadb.service.d/limits.conf /etc/systemd/system/mariadb.service.d/limits.conf

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart mariadb

Install EasyEngine

# noninteractive install - you can replace $USER with your username & root@$HOSTNAME by your email
sudo bash -c 'echo -e "[user]\n\tname = $USER\n\temail = root@$HOSTNAME" > $HOME/.gitconfig'

wget -qO ee rt.cx/ee && bash ee

enable ee bash_completion

source /etc/bash_completion.d/ee_auto.rc

Install Nginx, php5.6, php7.0, postfix, redis and configure EE backend

ee stack install
ee stack install --php7 --redis --admin --phpredisadmin

Set your email instead of root@localhost

echo 'root: my.email@address.com' >> /etc/aliases
newaliases

Install Composer - Fix phpmyadmin install issue

cd ~/ ||exit
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
mv composer.phar /usr/bin/composer

chown www-data:www-data /var/www
sudo -u www-data -H composer update -d /var/www/22222/htdocs/db/pma/

Allow shell for www-data for SFTP usage

usermod -s /bin/bash www-data

PHP 7.1 & 7.2 Setup

Install php7.1-fpm

# php7.1-fpm
apt update && apt install php7.1-fpm php7.1-cli php7.1-zip php7.1-opcache php7.1-mysql php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-mbstring php7.1-json php7.1-intl \
php7.1-gd php7.1-curl php7.1-bz2 php7.1-xml php7.1-tidy php7.1-soap php7.1-bcmath -y php7.1-xsl

# copy php-fpm pools & php.ini configuration
cp -rf $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/php/7.1/fpm/* /etc/php/7.1/fpm/
service php7.1-fpm restart

git -C /etc/php/ add /etc/php/ && git -C /etc/php/ commit -m "add php7.1 configuration"

Install php7.2-fpm

# php7.2-fpm
apt update && apt install php7.2-fpm php7.2-xml php7.2-bz2 php7.2-zip php7.2-mysql php7.2-intl php7.2-gd php7.2-curl php7.2-soap php7.2-mbstring php7.2-bcmath -y

# copy php-fpm pools & php.ini configuration
cp -rf $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/php/7.2/fpm/* /etc/php/7.2/fpm/
service php7.2-fpm restart

git -C /etc/php/ add /etc/php/ && git -C /etc/php/ commit -m "add php7.2 configuration"

NGINX Configuration

Additional Nginx configuration (/etc/nginx/conf.d)

• New upstreams (php7.1, php7.2, netdata) : upstream.conf
• webp image mapping : webp.conf
• new fastcgi_cache_bypass mapping for wordpress : map-wp-fastcgi-cache.conf
• stub_status configuration on 127.0.0.1:80 : stub_status.conf
• restore visitor real IP under cloudflare : cloudflare.conf
• mitigate WordPress DoS attack

# copy all common nginx configurations
cp -rf $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/nginx/conf.d/* /etc/nginx/conf.d/

# commit change with git
git -C /etc/nginx/ add /etc/nginx/ && git -C /etc/nginx/ commit -m "update conf.d configurations"

EE common configuration

cp -rf $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/nginx/common/* /etc/nginx/common/

# commit change with git
git -C /etc/nginx/ add /etc/nginx/ && git -C /etc/nginx/ commit -m "update common configurations"

Compile last Nginx mainline release with nginx-ee script

bash <(wget-qO - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/VirtuBox/nginx-ee/master/nginx-build.sh)

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Custom configurations

clean php-fpm php.ini configuration

# PHP 7.0
cp -rf $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/php/7.0/* /etc/php/7.0/
service php7.0-fpm restart

git -C /etc/php/ add /etc/php/ && git -C /etc/php/ commit -m "add php7.2 configuration"

Nginx optimized configurations

# TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3 only
cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/nginx/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

# TLS intermediate - TLS v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 v1.3
cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/nginx/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx-intermediate.conf

# TLSv1.2 only
cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/nginx/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx-tlsv12.conf

# commit change with git
git -C /etc/nginx/ add /etc/nginx/ && git -C /etc/nginx/ commit -m "update nginx.conf configurations"

Nginx configuration for netdata

# add nginx reverse-proxy for netdata on https://yourserver.hostname:22222/netdata/
cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/nginx/sites-available/22222 /etc/nginx/sites-available/22222

# commit change with git
git -C /etc/nginx/ add /etc/nginx/ && git -C /etc/nginx/ commit -m "update 22222 configuration"

Increase Nginx open files limits

sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d
cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d/limits.conf /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d/limits.conf

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

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Security

Harden SSH Security

WARNING : SSH Configuration with root login allowed with ed25519 & ECDSA SSH keys only source

cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config

UFW

Instructions available in VirtuBox Knowledgebase

# enable ufw log - allow outgoing - deny incoming
ufw logging low
ufw default allow outgoing
ufw default deny incoming

# allow incoming traffic on SSH port
CURRENT_SSH_PORT=$(grep "Port" /etc/ssh/sshd_config | awk -F " " '{print $2}')
ufw allow $CURRENT_SSH_PORT

# DNS - HTTP/S - FTP - NTP - RSYNC - DHCP - SNMP - Librenms - Netdata - EE Backend
ufw allow 53
ufw allow http
ufw allow https
ufw allow 21
ufw allow 123
ufw allow 161
ufw allow 68
ufw allow 546
ufw allow 873
ufw allow 6556
ufw allow 19999
ufw allow 22222


# enable UFW
ufw enable

Custom jails for fail2ban

• wordpress bruteforce
• ssh
• recidive (after 3 bans)
• backend http auth
• nginx bad bots

cp -rf $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/fail2ban/filter.d/* /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/
cp -rf $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/fail2ban/jail.d/* /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/

fail2ban-client reload

Secure Memcached server

echo '-U 0' >> /etc/memcached.conf
sudo systemctl restart memcached

If you do not use memcached, you can safely stop and disable it :

sudo systemctl stop memcached
sudo systemctl disable memcached.service

Optional

ee-acme-sh

Github repository - Script to setup letsencrypt certificates using acme.sh on EasyEngine servers

• subdomain support
• ivp6 support
• wildcards certificates support

wget-qO install-ee-acme.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/VirtuBox/ee-acme-sh/master/install.sh
chmod +x install-ee-acme.sh
./install-ee-acme.sh

# enable acme.sh & ee-acme-sh
source .bashrc

netdata

Github repository

bash <(curl -Ss https://my-netdata.io/kickstart.sh) all

# save 40-60% of netdata memory
echo 1 >/sys/kernel/mm/ksm/run
echo 1000 >/sys/kernel/mm/ksm/sleep_millisecs

# disable email notifications
sudo sed -i 's/SEND_EMAIL="YES"/SEND_EMAIL="NO"/' /usr/lib/netdata/conf.d/health_alarm_notify.conf
service netdata restart

cht.sh (cheat)

Github repository

curl https://cht.sh/:cht.sh > /usr/bin/cht.sh
chmod +x /usr/bin/cht.sh


echo "alias cheat='cht.sh'" >> $HOME/.bashrc
source $HOME/.bashrc

usage : cheat <command>

root@vps:~ cheat cat
# cat

# Print and concatenate files.

# Print the contents of a file to the standard output:
  cat file

# Concatenate several files into the target file:
  cat file1 file2 > target_file

# Append several files into the target file:
  cat file1 file2 >> target_file

# Number all output lines:
  cat -n file

nanorc - Improved Nano Syntax Highlighting Files

Github repository

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/scopatz/nanorc/master/install.sh -O- | sh

Add WP-CLI & bash-completion for user www-data

# download wp-cli bash_completion
cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/etc/bash_completion.d/wp-completion.bash https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/wp-cli/master/utils/wp-completion.bash

# change /var/www owner
chown www-data:www-data /var/www

# download .profile & .bashrc for www-data
cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/var/www/.profile /var/www/.profile
cp -f $HOME/ubuntu-nginx-web-server/var/www/.bashrc /var/www/.bashrc

# set owner
chown www-data:www-data /var/www/.profile
chown www-data:www-data /var/www/.bashrc

Custom Nginx error pages

Github Repository

Installation

# clone the github repository
sudo -u www-data -H git clone https://github.com/alexphelps/server-error-pages.git /var/www/error

Then include this configuration in your nginx vhost by adding the following line

include common/error_pages.conf;

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