Problems with linux and VirtualBox

I am trying to run linux mint V.4.0 light, and after the installation is complete, and I refire up the VirtualBox all i get is the usual splash screen saying select boot device, then a black background and white cursor icon, and nothing else, I cannot interect with it or type or do anything on it in anyway,

Anyone got any ideas as to why this is? I thought VirtualBox was supposed to support linux.

OK I found out it was the disk, its shot, I got rid. And now im looking to use linux as a server, can anyone point me in the right direction? I have tried google but they seem to use commands and directorys that dont exist

First, grab some harddrive space you have left and form a new partition. Insert Debian net-inst cd. Reformat as ext3 and install Debian.

Select "server" from a drop-down menu you will be presented with during install, and aptitude will grab all the stuff you need. Don't forget to lock down everything, set up permissions correctly, make sure "su" is disabled and configure a proper working firewall.

Oh, before you do this, read up on Linux if you're a first time user. Or better yet, get a spare PC/Hard disk you can screw around with.

If something goes wrong, don't say I didn't warn you. You can come back here though, and ask some questions.

I am going to have to download debian, I dont have a disk of it

EDIT: son of a, 7 hours to download, if anyone knows a Karoo manager let me know so i can shoot him

http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/

Only took me about 3 ;). As spy said debians good server distro but good & easy usually == very shitty and unsecure out of the box, so as he said read up on it with specific emphasis on configuring it for maximum security.

thats still three hours, for the net install

My internet connection SUCKS

Ok had a problem with the full install, for some reason virtual box wont read the ISO, and the burned disk, just says it doesnt exist

EDIT: got it again, diffrent kernels for diffrent cpu's, trying to find one compatable with mine

Orillian wrote: Ok had a problem with the full install, for some reason virtual box wont read the ISO, and the burned disk, just says it doesnt exist

EDIT: got it again, diffrent kernels for diffrent cpu's, trying to find one compatable with mine

Wait what? Your making it sound more difficult than it is. Perhaps the download was corrupted. Re Download it(prefferably on a faster internet connection than previously said) and burn it to a DVD disc. Put it in the drive and install….(well partion blah blah, but u get the point). Incomplete ISO may also be reason Virtualbox doesn't work, again, just redownload and checksum.

I dont think i am

Direct quote:This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU but only i1586 was detected, please use an appropriate kernel

Orillian wrote: I dont think i am

Direct quote:This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU but only i1586 was detected, please use an appropriate kernel http://www.debian.org/CD/torrent-cd/ <–use torrent. Perhaps im misunderstanding something so are you trying to install 64bit on 32bit system? Make sure you download the i386 version. Again, maybe im misunderstanding something as ive only installed debian like once before..and your doing it from the internet install not direct download etc. Try just directly downloading it from HTTP/FTP or in torrent as i liked above.

Yeah i have found a correct version, and its installing, when will i get the select server option? im up to downloading and installing parts of the software during the install and nothing yet

Got it, and its going to take ages to install, im doing this tomorrow

Well, if I remember correctly, the Debian net-inst will ask you what sets of packages you want at the end of the install. It's been a few months since I ran the installer though.

If it doesn't prompt you with any choices for packages, I recommend reading some tutorials on how to set up PHP, MySQL and Apache for Debian-based/linux systems.

You're always welcome to ask questions here.

Since this is a server you are setting up, here are a few items you can in particular focus on fixing. This is not a complete list but can help many major security issues(better to be safe than sorry).

1. Make sure /tmp is mounted with noexec and nosuid if you already installed you can loopback mount it like so: first run all of the following(google the commands you don't know and learn what they do)-

cd /dev
dd if=/dev/zero of=tmpmnt bs=1024 count=100000
mke2fs /dev/tmpmnt
cd /
cp -R /tmp /tmp_backup
mount -o loop,noexec,nosuid,rw /dev/tmpmnt /tmp
chmod 0777 /tmp
cp -R /tmp_backup/* /tmp/
rm -rf /tmp_backup

Then add the following to fstab(at the bottom) using vi or whatever editor you choose-

/dev/tmpmnt             /tmp                    ext2    loop,noexec,nosuid,rw  0 0

2. symlink /var/tmp to /tmp to do this you would run:

rm -fR /var/tmp
ln -s /tmp /var/tmp

3. Make sure you add local_infile = 0 to your my.conf file then restart mysql.

4. Add several functions such as exec, popen, and apache_child_terminate to prevent people from executing malicious function from a vulnerable script.

5. Change the default SSH port by editing sshd_config change "#port 22" to "port XXXXX" then restart SSH with "service sshd restart"

6. Ensure SSHv1 is disabled.

7. Compile PHP with the suhosin patch.

8. Set up SSH to use only a public key and not over the net passwords.

9. GOOGLE!

10. GOOGLE AGAIN!

Good luck!

Well its a local virtual server, so I am going to hack it then secure it that way, its experience for some work I am applying for, so I need some server/network security experience, so for now i will leave it unsecured and then secure it as i go along, secureing what i exploit

But seriously thanks for all the help guys, If i have any further questions I will let you guys know

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose? I mean, if your doing it to learn, no problem, as far as putting things into effect that you already know… but that leaves all the gaps in your knowledge unpatched, which may fly on your system, but not the person you'll be applying for's..

true, but combined with a team of 4 other people, it wont do much harm,

Hey do people recommend just command line or graphics too?

Nothing bloaty (no KDE or Gnome). You can just kill the WM if you don't need it.

OK you are going to have to clarify some of these terms for me, I know what KDE and GNOME are, but what is WM?

WM stands for Window Manager

Yeah, like (Awesome,PekWM,Metacity(the gnome default), etc.). I wouldn't use a full DE(Desktop Environment(includes window manager and panels etc) aside from maybe a *box DE like fluxbox,openbox etc which are all light weight but very easy to figure out and easy to work with. And if you ever wanna kill it, as spy said you can. If your just using it to test out you don't need hella performance out of it(The primary reason servers don't use GUI(Graphical User Interface)), but getting terminal prompt experience will be a plus for sure.

yeah thanks, listen can someone PM me about doing anything, all the tutorials and stuff just does not make sense to me

Orillian wrote: yeah thanks, listen can someone PM me about doing anything, all the tutorials and stuff just does not make sense to me

Be more specific. Doing "anything" is a bit too… broad.

Ok, I am trying to start apache, I know its installed, and i am fairly sure it works, but i type

apache2 start and all i get is a bunch of command extras, nothing says aything about starting it

Oh and i need to change the IP, as currently its default and Nmap refuses to scan it

I have managed to change the IP and fix the command so that it now works, but i get another problem,

i get an error saying bad user name then some kind of variable name, and i dont know what i can do to fix it

Post the exact error message you get. And what your doing that causes that error.

I am running the following command as root:

apache2 -k start

and the error i get is:

bad user name ${APACHE_RUN_USER}

if i try to run it as normal user, it refuses to acknowledge that apache even exists

The same exists in both GUI command line and command line command line

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 -k start

Might I suggest however, you configure apache.conf so that you don't have to start it from /etc/init.d/.

Btw, a google search of EXACTLY what you posted gives you the answer, please do some research before asking us for help.

Ok. I now have fixed it, I now have apache and an ftp installed on it, just one last problem, I can only access it locally, I cannot get the local network to talk to the virtual box network, can anyone advice me?

basically, i have a loop back adapter installed on the local machine, and i dont know what i have installed on the virtual

check your firewall and make sure its not blocking anything like can you ping the vm?

no, I can ping my physical machine from the virtual, but not the other way around

may i ask if you are using vmware or virtual box or something else and make sure the connection is bridged that may or may not cause a problem and if all else fails reset everything to default on the vm or reinstall the vm completely you may have missed something that messed it up the first time around

i am running both VM ware and virtual box, i have the same version of debian installed on both, I think its something to do with the loopback