Hardening Linux

First, create a new Debian based VM (Debian or Ubuntu).

next, run this command to run the script that will harden the server: wget -q https://sot.li/hardensh -O init-linux-harden.sh && bash ./init-linux-harden.sh -d -q -hide

Run the tail command to get the username, password, passphrase, and key pair for the new user to login as. Add the key to your ~/.ssh folder and delete the line in your ~/.ssh/known_hosts file that contains the ip address to the VM. Next you'll want to run:

ssh-agent

copy paste the top two lines it emits then:

ssh-add ${path_to_key}

Enter the passphrase for the key.

Finally, set an alias in your .bashrc file for the ssh command to invoke the ssh login, since this can be a pain to type out. And you're done: a fully secured VM in a few minutes that is ready to serve traffic.