SWAP Configuration in Linux

Features:
  1. Generates additional virtual memory
  2. Temporary fix for RAM-Shortage. Permanent fix is to add more RAM.
  3. Requires no system downtime.
  4. Works with dedicated partitions.
  5. Works with existing file systems.
  6. Works accross disks, consequently improving performance.

Tasks:
  1. Define swap partition and provision
    a. 'fdisk /dev/sdb'
      ( Define a new partition and change the partition to 82 i.e., Linux swap )
    b. 'mkswap /dev/sdb2' ( The newly created partition )
    Note: If necessary reboot the system after using fdisk or parted.
    c. Add a new entry in /etc/fstab for the new swap file.
    d. 'swapon -s' displays all current swap devices.
    e. 'swapon -a' turns all the listed swap devices.
    f. 'swapon -v /dev/sdb3' Verbosely turns on the swap device.
    g. 'swapoff /dev/sdb3' disables the swap device.

  2. Define swap storage on existing file system.
    a. 'dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile1G bs=1024 count=1048576' (1024x1024=1048576) Creates 1G file That we can overlay a swap file system on of size : 1G
    b. 'mkswap /swapfile1G'
    c. 'swapon -v /swapfile1G'
    d. Add an entry in the /etc/fstab for permanent mounting
    e. 'swapon -a'

Access Control Lists in Linux

ACL (Access Control Lists) :
----------------------------

ACL is a utility for managing advanced level permissions on a file or dir
It has two modes
 1. To display the permissions of a file or directory ---> getfacl
 2. To set the permissions of a file or directory ---> setfacl
In this mode we have two other modes
a. Set or modify permissions ---> (Option -m)
b. Remove permissions ---> (Option -x)

Task 1 : At first we need to enable ACL on the partition which we need to configure.
We want to enable ACL for "/" filesystem
Step 1 :
# vi /etc/fstab
Find the entry for the "/" filesystem and add ",acl" after defaults as like below.
Before : UUID=9dbab158-e9c1-401e-b819-9a26cb5bc82a /                       ext4    defaults        1 1
After  : UUID=9dbab158-e9c1-401e-b819-9a26cb5bc82a /                       ext4    defaults,acl        1 1
Save and quit the file.

Step 2 :
Remount the filesystem for the changes to be effected
# mount -o remount,rw /

Now we have done with enabling ACL on "/" filesystem.

Task 2 : Modify or remove perms on Files or directories
Ensure to have 2 users (Ex. arjun, omkar)
Created a directory under "/" filesystem (ex. kits)
Login with omkar and create a text file and provide full permissions.
Login with arjun and create a directory and provide full permissions.

Requirements :
1. Arjun should not be able to access the file created by omkar.
  a. Know the ACL perms for the file created by omkar
# getfacl acltest.txt
  b. Now set the permissions on the file to restrict access to arjun
   # setfacl -m u:arjun:--- acltest.txt
  c. Recheck the permissions again
   # getfacl acltest.txt

2. Omkar should not be able to access the dir created by arjun.
  a. Know the ACL perms for the dir created by arjun
# getfacl acltestdir
  b. Now set the permissions on the dir to restrict access to omkar
   # setfacl -m u:omkar:--- acltestdir
  c. Recheck the permissions again
   # getfacl acltestdir

3. Create a group and add arjun, omkar to that group. Provide full permissions for everyone(User, Group, Others). This group should only able to access the file (provide perms through ACL)
   a. Create group "aclgroup" and add arjun, omkar to it
# groupadd aclgroup
# usermod -G aclgroup arjun
# usermod -G aclgroup omkar
b. Provide full permissions for everyone(User, Group, Others)
# chmod 666 acltest.txt
c. Provide permissions for the group to have read and write perms on it.
# getfacl acltest.txt
# setfacl -m g:aclgroup:rw- acltest.txt
Remove the ACL perms set earlier for user arjun
# setfacl -x u:arjun acltest.txt
d. Restrict access for others.
# getfacl acltest.txt
# setfacl -m o:--- acltest.txt
Create a new user (ex. nivas) and try to access the file with user nivas

4. Add nivas to aclgroup and restrict access for him.
a. Add nivas to aclgroup
# usermod -G aclgroup nivas
b. Try to access the file as nivas and ensure that he is able to access
c. Restrict access for nivas
# getfacl acltest.txt
# setfacl -m u:nivas:--- acltest.txt