Setting up a CentOS 6 server: Services Hardening

This is a follow on post from my guide to installing CentOS 6.2 (or you can read my updated 6.3 version). You can see my other posts such as auditing your software installs, hardening your accounts, network hardening and clearing out orphaned packages.

This guide outlines how to cut down on unnecessary services so that you have a lean and mean machine.

1. List all the services running on your machine with the following command:
   

   chkconfig --list | grep :on

    
2.  Go through the list and select packages to disable or remove. For instance:
   

   chkconfig mdmonitor off
   chkconfig smartd off
   chkconfig messagebus off
   chkconfig haldaemon off
   chkconfig cups off
   chkconfig atd off
   chkconfig kdump off

3. If you do not know what a service is or does, just run:
   

   rpm -qf /etc/init.d/<service_name>

   
   Then run:
   

   rpm -qi <rpm>

References

• Red Hat Linux 5 Hardening Tips - National Security Agency
• Guide to the secure configuration of Red Hat Linux 5 - National Security Agency
• CentOS wiki on hardening the OS
• This guide from sysadminwiki