INLS 183
Distributed systems & analysis
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Introduction

For my second INLS 183 project, I chose to install the OpenSSL security update to my group's Linux box. This project satisfies the security related software install.
Narrative

To install OpenSSL on my group's box I first read up a bit about Open SSL on a couple websites to familiarize myself with exactly what i was installing. All I knew for sure in the beginning of this project was that it was recommended to install this upgrade to fix a security breach.

After reading up, I checked to see if OpenSSL was already installed, and version 0.9.6b-18 was. A search for 'openssl' produced lots of results. My second search, which specified 0.9.6g, located the files in the /usr/bin/openssl-0.9.6g folder. I actually found the 0.9.6g.tar file in the /usr/bin directory, but decided i would ftp the file down to the group computer anyway.

I ftp'd to http://www.openssl.org and gained access to the directories as an anonymous user. I had some trouble finding the openssl files once I got in though, as I did not know exactly where to look. I eventually found the relevant folder and noticed that there was a newer version available, albeit a beta. I attempted to get '0.9.7-beta3.tar.gz' but at this point discovered that I did not have permissions to download it to the /usr/bin directory.

To get around this, I logged on as root, reconnected via ftp, and returned to the appropriate directory and downloaded the beta openssl package. At this point I also root-created a new directory named '0.9.7-beta' and moved the zipped file into it.
I then exited from root and tried to unzip the file. I again ran into permission issues when trying to unzip the file, but I got around this by sudo'ing and unzipping the beta package.

Now that I had everything downloaded an unzipped, i tried to configure for Linux -elf, but was denied because of permissions. (AGH!) I logged back on as root, and re-attempted to configure the software, this time with success. After configuring, I ran the 'make' and 'make install' files and everything seemed to go fine.

Because I had just altered a main system file and replaced it with a beta, i was a little concerned about it working correctly. i rebooted my group's Linux box (no one else was on) and everything seemed to start back up fine. i checked my apache server and i could see my page on the Web, and all the previously running processes seemed to reappear when I used the 'ps -ef' command.

At this point, I considered the project a success, and shut down my terminal.
Instructions for use

The OpenSSL works in the system background, so there is no need to ever touch it. (Right?)
Functionality

After installing the new software, I rebooted the computer to make sure everything was still running smoothly. The system rebooted fine and all the installed servers started back up without issue.
Files and Baubles screen shots, script files, extras

The project script file
Link to red.ils.unc.edu:8081


   


  If you have any questions or issues, you can contact me at MCarroll at email.unc.edu.