1. Install epel and remi repositories:

# wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
# wget http://rpms.famillecollet.com/enterprise/remi-release-6.rpm
# sudo rpm -Uvh remi-release-6*.rpm epel-release-6*.rpm

2. Enable remi repository:
In the [remi] section of the file, set the “enabled” option to 1.

# sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/remi.repo

3. Upgrade PHP with this command:

# yum install php

Installation of Other modules and extensions for php 5.4.x

# yum search imagick
# yum install php-pecl-imagick.x86_64

# yum search soap
# yum install php-soap.x86_64

# yum search git
# yum install git.x86_64

# yum search nodejs
# yum install nodejs.x86_64

# yum search python
# yum install python.x86_64

# reboot

# /etc/init.d/httpd restart

# yum search denyhosts
# yum install denyhosts

For more details regarding denyhosts read this post

Installation of ionCube for PHP 5.4 (optional)

1. Download ionCube: For x32:

# wget http://downloads2.ioncube.com/loader_downloads/ioncube_loaders_lin_x86.zip

For x64:

# wget http://downloads2.ioncube.com/loader_downloads/ioncube_loaders_lin_x86-64.zip

2. Unzip file.
3. Copy ioncube_loader_lin_5.4.so to PHP extensions folder:

# sudo cp ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_5.4.so /usr/lib/php/modules/

4. Set SELinux attributes:

# sudo chcon -u system_u -t textrel_shlib_t /usr/lib/php/modules/ioncube_loader_lin_5.4.so

5. Switch on ionCube in PHP config:

# echo "zend_extension=/usr/lib/php/modules/ioncube_loader_lin_5.4.so" >> /etc/php.d/zend_extensions_psa.ini

6. Check functioning of ionCube:

# php -r 'phpinfo();' | grep -i ioncube

You can also test ionCube Loader by using the helper PHP script “loader-wizard.php” that’s included in the ionCube Loader archive.

DenyHosts is a log-based intrusion prevention security tool for SSH servers written in Python. It prevents brute-force attacks on SSH servers by monitoring invalid login attempts in the authentication log and blocking the originating IP addresses. Upon discovering a repeated attack host, the /etc/hosts.deny file is updated to prevent future break-in attempts from that host.

Add the EPEL repository if it is not already installed.

# wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
# sudo rpm -Uvh epel-release-6*.rpm

and then simply install denyhosts from EPEL repository by using following command.

# yum install denyhosts

Before starting DenyHosts, configure a white list of IPs which DenyHosts should never block.
DenyHosts uses TCP Wrappers. edit /etc/hosts.allow and add IPs or entire subnets

sshd: 123.234.246.566
sshd: 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0

Start DenyHosts

# service denyhosts start

Configure the OS to start DenyHosts at every boot

# chkconfig denyhosts on

IPs to white list should be added to /etc/hosts.allow.
IPs that DenyHosts blocks will be added to /etc/hosts.deny.
DenyHosts logs everything that it does to /var/log/denyhosts.
The DenyHosts configuration file is /etc/denyhosts.conf.
DenyHosts watches /var/log/secure for SSH login attempts.
Host IP can be added or removed from /etc/hosts.deny to block or unblock access.
Go through the DenyHosts configuration file (/etc/denyhosts.conf) and configure it to your liking. do not forget to restart DenyHosts after changes in this file.

# service denyhosts restart

fstab

The fstab (/etc/fstab) (or file systems table) file is a system configuration file commonly found on Unix systems. It is part of the util-linux package. The fstab file typically lists all available disks and disk partitions, and indicates how they are to be initialized or otherwise integrated into the overall system’s file system. fstab is still used for basic system configuration, notably of a system’s main hard drive and startup file system, but for other uses has been superseded in recent years by automatic mounting.

The fstab file is most commonly used by the mount command, which reads the fstab file to determine which options should be used when mounting the specified device. It is the duty of the system administrator to properly create and maintain this file.

The file has other names on some versions of Unix; for instance, it is /etc/vfstab on Solaris. Continue reading →