Sysadmin, Windows Server, IIS, security, website & WordPress, MySQL, optimization
Here are the Top 51 Most Visited Posts on Sysadmins of the North. It is a dynamic, ever changing list. This list of high rated and interesting posts is compiled using Jetpack’s statistics and a nifty shortcode function by WebDevStudios.com. Have a look at them, you might have missed an interesting one!
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How to flush Postfix’ mail queue from the command line? Easy, use the Postfix postsuper command as explained in this post. The postsuper command controls different types of queues in the Postfix mail system, like the deferred or hold queue. This post shows you some Postfix queue operations to maintain your mail servers.
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Compressed SQL Server backups can be verified in PowerShell using a handy PowerShell function. This comes in handy when you need to verify if existing SQL Server backups are compressed.
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A short post for my colleagues at the customer support and anyone else wondering the same: how to turn off the FTP over TLS default in FileZilla?
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Group Policy Central writes about how to disable SMB1 using Group Policy Administrative Templates. This makes it easier for you to disable SMB1 to prevent WannaCry throughout your entire Active Directory domain(s). Here’s how…
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The WordPress XML-RPC API has been under attack for many years now. Back in August 2014, WordPress released version 3.9.2, fixing a possible denial of service issue in PHP’s XML processing. There are brute-force amplification attacks, reported by Sucuri, and so on. So, how do you protect WordPress from xmlrpc.php attacks, but still being able to use (some of) its functionality like Jetpack? This post gives you some insight.
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Sometimes you find your WSUS server keeps crashing over and over again. WSUS is unavailable and/or the WSUS management console hangs. When you start to investigate as to why Windows Server Update Services crashes, you’ll notice the following error message being logged in the HTTPErr log files:
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Recently the WordPress Jetpack email sharing service is often abused by spammers. They use the Send to Email Address for sending spam. All these kind of “Tell a Friend” scripts are abused a lot. Here is how to disable email Services service.
A quicky: if you need to merge multiple text files into one new file in Windows, you can use the copy command in cmd.exe, and here is how:
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Windows Server security: When you have just installed your new Windows Server, with or without IIS as web server, it is important to take a few extra security measurements. Securing your (web) server is important to keep hackers out and your data safe. Here are some steps you can take to secure and harden your Windows Server (IIS) web or file server.
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The WannaCry/WanaCrypt0r worm exploits a vulnerability in Windows Server Message Block (SMB) version 1 (SMBv1), and it spreads like wildfire. It is urged to disable SMBv1 in your Windows variant (Windows 10, 8.1, Server 2016, 2012 R2), and here is how if you haven’t done so yet.
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Ideal for Windows Server Core or Nano: Detect the ethernet network speed using PowerShell or WMI is ideal for Windows Server Core or Nano. If you ever need to lookup the speed of your ethernet network card in Windows on the command-line, use one of the following WMIC commands on your PowerShell prompt:
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Microsoft Security Advisory 4021279: Microsoft is releasing this security advisory to provide information about vulnerabilities in public .NET Core and ASP.NET Core. This advisory also provides guidance on what developers can do to update their applications correctly.
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This post explains how to restrict automatic NS resource record registration in Windows Server DNS using Dnscmd. This prevents Windows Server DNS to automatically create NS records for zones that it hosts on the server.
Andrew Douma, a vendor-neutral consultant, writes in Penetration Testers’ Guide to Windows 10 Privacy & Security:
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Check the md5 checksum of WordPress Core files against WordPress’ checksums API, using this standalone PHP file. I chose to use a standalone PHP script to check the md5sum of WordPress Core files against the API so you’re not dependent on a possibly hacked WordPress installation. This kind of guarantees the result can be trusted, as opposed to using a WordPress plugin. I think this is a better integrity check of WordPress Core files.