Cleaning up your box

navilon · #1 22nd November 2004, 08:29 PM

I know this is a very generic question, but lets say i have a linux machine set up to do a certian task (ex: web server). And now i want to get rid of all of the other unessarry running processes and software packages. What is the best way to go about doing this?

jayemef · #2 22nd November 2004, 10:40 PM

One place to start is shutting off unnecessary services. Open a terminal and enter

Code:

system-config-services

Shut off any services you don't use. This will speed up your server, should increase uptime as your boot-up will be faster, and will also help secure the machine, as less vulnerabilities will be running in the background.

Jman · #3 22nd November 2004, 10:43 PM

Run System Settings > Add/Remove Applications (if you have X) and start uninstalling. Then replace the 5 in the line

Code:

id:5:initdefault:

in /etc/inittab with a 3. Then disable any leftover unneeded services if necessary.

Code:

/sbin/chkconfig --list | less

will list services.

Code:

/sbin/chkconfig service off

turns that service off.

If you were reinstalling it may be a good idea to do a custom install, select only what you want (httpd) and let the dependencies work out the rest. Then you only get what you need.