configure a SOCKS proxy server

Inspired by my wife's difficulty connecting to the internet due to new security policies at her organization, I decided to try a proxy to allow her to use Windows Live Messenger.


The Linux SOCKS proxy server implementation these days is made under the name DANTE

• edit the config file (/etc/socks/sockd.conf). 
• It is in this file logging is enabled via the syslog mechanism and internal and external addresses are bound. Whereas the internal bindings include a port specification, the external one does not.
   
• The comments are well formed I'd also spend a little time looking them over.
  
  The details:
  

  logoutput: syslog
  
  internal: eth1 port = 1080
  internal: 127.0.0.1 port = 1080
  
  external: 1.2.3.4
  # or
  external: eth0

  To achieve full access (no username/password).
  

  method: username none
  
  # Not using authentication, so unnecessary
  #user.privileged: proxy
  
  user.notprivileged: nobody

  The access controls for sockd daemon are last. They are checked against in the order they appear in the configuration file. Notice, don't open your proxy server to the wild world - you've been warned.The first three directives control which IP ranges that have accesss to the server.
  
  - The from: is were the details of the IPs are added. In my cause it is the IP space the clients live in.
  - The to: option is one of the IPs the proxy server is bound to that the given IP range can speak to. It is set to the addresses Dante/sockd is listening on.
  The last of the three drops any requests that don't match either of the first two directives.
  
  
  

  client pass {
  from:  192.168.0.0/16 port 1-65535 to: 0.0.0.0/0
  }
  
  client pass {
  from:  127.0.0.0/8 port 1-65535 to: 0.0.0.0/0
  }
  
  client block {
  from:  0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
  log: connect error
  }

  The next four configuration points control who 'routing'.
  - Requests from anywhere to the loopback addresses are dropped.
  - From the loopback addresses and 192.168.0.0/16 are allowed to communicated over tcp or udp protocols.
  - Finally, drop everything else. 
  
  

  block {
  from:  0.0.0.0/0 to: 127.0.0.0/8
  log: connect error
  }
  
  pass {
  from:  192.168.0.0/16 to: 0.0.0.0/0
  protocol: tcp udp
  }
  
  pass {
  from:  127.0.0.0/8 to: 0.0.0.0/0
  protocol: tcp udp
  }
  
  block {
  from:  0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
  log: connect error
  }

• Start Dante/sockd.
  

  sockd -V 
  sockd -d

Restore Panels In Ubuntu Back To Their Default Settings

Messed up your panels in Gnome?

Maybe your new to Ubuntu and accidentally deleted items or the panel itself and now you can't figure out how to get it back.

Sure, you can add a new panel and rebuild it by adding the items back on the panel.
Instead of going through the trouble, there is an easy fix that will restore your panels back to their default settings quickly.

Open up a Terminal window, by clicking on Applications \ Accessories \ Terminal. Or, if you deleted the top panel and cannot access the menus, just press ALT+F2 and in the run dialog box, type gnome-terminal then click on Run.

You can also browse for applications, such as Terminal from the Run window, by clicking on the arrow icon next to 'Show list of known applications" and browse for Terminal.

Once the Terminal window opens, enter the following command at the prompt:

gconftool-2 – -shutdown

(Note: There should be no spaces between the two dashes before shutdown.)

gconftool – -recursive-unset /apps/panel

(Remember: There should be no spaces between the two dashes before shutdown.)

Then enter the next command:

rm -rf ~/.gconf/apps/panel

And enter one more command:

pkill gnome-panel

Both top and bottom panels will appear (if missing) with their default settings. Now you can customize them to your preference and get on with using Ubuntu.

Firefox Cpu Cycles

1. Type about:config in the address bar and press Enter to get the Firefox expert configuration page.

2. Type browser.cache.disk.capacity in the Filter text box.

3. Modify the value to 16384

4. Restart Firefox

try it
it works fro me inf Firefox 3.5.7

Firefox essencial tips

1. To quickly find any word in a web page type /word it will highlight the word and press Ctrl+G to “Find Again” that word again

2. If you wish to remove an item from your Address Bar Drop down menu,Highlight it without clicking and use Shift+Delete.

3. Clear your Download history to make the download manager more
responsive : Tools | Options | Privacy

4. Type about:cache?device=disk in your address bar to view/save items
that you have in your firefox disk cache

5. Type about:cache?device=memory in your address bar to view/save items
that you have in your Firefox memory cache

6. Drag any link to the Download Manager Window to add & download the link.

7. If you accidentally delete a bookmark and want to recover it,
open the “Bookmarks Manager”
and use Ctrl+Z,
or Edit | Undo.

8. Double Clicking empty space on the Tab Bar will open a ‘New Tab’

9. Holding down the Ctrl key when you right click
to “View Image” or “View Background Image” will open the image in a NewTab or New Window.

10. A bookmarks Folder’s position can also be Dragged & Dropped but you must hold down the SHIFT key while Dragging.

11. To prevent a website from replacing/changing your righ tclick context menu
go to Tools > Options > Web Features then click the “advanced tab” and de-select “remove or replace context menus”.

12. You can work offline in Firefox just go to File > Work Offline.
This means that you can browse your previously visited pages even when you’re offline this is a really cool feature but not many people who use it.

13. You can bookmark the current page by dragging the icon from the location bar to your Bookmarks folder.
You can also drag it to the desktop to make an icon for that page.

14. To stop animated gifs from moving, press the ESC key.

that all i got
ENjoy Browsing ...

Linux Command

Privileges

sudo command - run command as root
sudo su - open a root shell
sudo su user - open a shell as user
sudo -k - forget sudo passwords
gksudo command - visual sudo dialog (GNOME)
kdesudo command - visual sudo dialog (KDE)
sudo visudo - edit /etc/sudoers
gksudo nautilus - root file manager (GNOME)
kdesudo konqueror - root file manager (KDE)
passwd - change your password


Display

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart - restart X (GNOME)
sudo /etc/init.d/kdm restart - restart X (KDE)
(file) /etc/X11/xorg.conf - display configuration
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg - reset X configuration
Ctrl+Alt+Bksp - restart X display if frozen
Ctrl+Alt+FN - switch to tty N
Ctrl+Alt+F7 - switch back to X display

This command will usually tell you the vendor and model of your graphic card
list
lspci
lspci -v
lspci -v | less

System Services

start service - start job service (Upstart)
stop service - stop job service (Upstart)
status service - check if service is running (Upstart)
/etc/init.d/service start - start service (SysV)
/etc/init.d/service stop - stop service (SysV)
/etc/init.d/service status - check service (SysV)
/etc/init.d/service restart - restart service (SysV)
runlevel - get current runlevel


Package Management

apt-get update - refresh available updates
apt-get upgrade - upgrade all packages
apt-get dist-upgrade - upgrade Ubuntu version
apt-get install pkg - install pkg
apt-get remove pkg - uninstall pkg
apt-get autoremove - remove obsolete packages
apt-get -f install - try to fix broken packages
dpkg –configure -a - try to fix broken packages
dpkg -i pkg.deb - install file pkg.deb
(file) /etc/apt/sources.list - APT repository list


Network

ifconfig - show network information
iwconfig - show wireless information
sudo iwlist scan - scan for wireless networks
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart - reset network
(file) /etc/network/interfaces - manual configuration
ifup interface - bring interface online
ifdown interface - disable interface


Special Packages

ubuntu-desktop - standard Ubuntu environment
kubuntu-desktop - KDE desktop
xubuntu-desktop - XFCE desktop
ubuntu-minimal - core Ubuntu utilities
ubuntu-standard - standard Ubuntu utilities
ubuntu-restricted-extras - non-free, but useful
kubuntu-restricted-extras - KDE of the above
xubuntu-restricted-extras - XFCE of the above
build-essential - packages used to compile programs
linux-image-generic - latest generic kernel image
linux-headers-generic - latest build headers


Firewall

ufw enable - turn on the firewall
ufw disable - turn off the firewall
ufw default allow - allow all connections by default
ufw default deny - drop all connections by default
ufw status - current status and rules
ufw allow port - allow traffic on port
ufw deny port - block port
ufw deny from ip - block ip adress


Application Names

nautilus - file manager (GNOME)
dolphin - file manager (KDE)
konqueror - web browser/filemanager (KDE)
kate - text editor (KDE)
gedit - text editor (GNOME)


System

Recovery - Type the phrase “REISUB” while
holding down Alt and SysRq (PrintScrn) with
about 1 second between each letter. Your system
will reboot.
lsb_release -a - get Ubuntu version
uname -r - get kernel version
uname -a - get all kernel information

Moving around in the file system

pwd "Print working directory" - show what dir you're in.
ls -List the contents of a dir.
ls -l -List the contents of a dir and show additional info of the files.
ls -a -List all files, including hidden files.
cd -Change directory.
cd .. -Go to the parent directory.


Manipulating files and directories

cp -Copy a file.
cp -i -Copy a file and ask before overwriting.
cp -r -Copy a directory with its contents.
mv -Move or rename a file.
mv -i -Move or rename a file and ask before overwriting.
rm -Remove a file.
rm -r -Remove a directory with its contents.
rm -i -Ask before removing a file. Good to use with the -r option.
mkdir -Make a directory.
rmdir -Remove an empty directory.


zipping/taring

tar -cvzf mytar.tar.gz sourcefilesordir - creates a new tar file, verbose options on, runs it through gnuzip,f is the filename
tar -xvf mytar.tar.gz destination - extracts a tar file (this example is compressed with gzip), verbosely, f is the filename
gzip fileordir - compresses a file with gzip.
gunzip file.gz - decompresses a file with gzip.
NB gzip only compresses files, it doesn’t collect them into a single file like a tarball does.


More Commands

Arrow Up: scrolls and edits the command history, press enter to activate.
Shift+pgup: scrolls terminal output up
Shift+pgdown: scrolls terminal output down
CTRL-ALT+DEL reboots the system
Shutdown -h now turns the system off
CTRL C kills the current process
CTRL S Stops the tranfer to the terminal
CTRL Q Resumes the transfer to the terminal
CTRL Z Puts the current process in the background.


hostname - Shows the host name of the system you are on
whoami Displays your login name
date - Displays what your machine thinks the date is
who - Shows who is logged into the machine
rwho-a -Shows all users logged into the server network
finger Shows info on chosen user
last - Show the last users logged into the machine
uptime - Shows the systems uptime
PS - Shows the current user processes
PS -A - Shows all process on the system
uname -A -Displays all info on your host.
free -Shows the free memory in KB
df -h -Shows the disk space details
cat/proc/cpuinfo -Shows the CPU information
cat/proc/filesystems -Shows the file system information in use
cat/etc/printcap -Shows if any printers are hooked up
lsmod -Shows the kernel modules loaded


Malicious Commands
You Should (NOT USE) unless you know what you're doing.

This commands will erase your hard drive:
sudo mkfs (This will format your hard drive)
sudo mkfs.ext3 (This will format your hard drive)
sudo mkfs.bfs (This will format your hard drive)
sudo mkfs.cramfs (This will format your hard drive)
sudo mkfs.ext2 (This will format your hard drive)
sudo mkfs.minix (This will format your hard drive)
sudo mkfs.msdos (This will format your hard drive)
sudo mkfs.reiserfs (This will format your hard drive)
sudo mkfs.vfat (This will format your hard drive)

This commands can damage your operating system.

sudo rm -rf / (This will delete all your files on your system)
sudo rm -rf * (This will delete all the files in the current folder)
rm -rf * or rm -rf *.* (This will delete all the files in the current folder)
rm -rf ~/ & (This will destroy your home directory)

If you cannot add contacts on my msn....

Delete your Contacts cache folder
If your contact list is empty or incomplete after you upgrade to Windows Live Messenger, the cached contact list may not have updated correctly. Before you can delete your Contacts cache folder, make sure you can view your complete folder list in Windows Explorer.
View your complete folder list
On the taskbar, right-click Start, and then select Explore.
Click on Tools, and then select Folder Options.
In the Folder Options window, click the View tab.
In the Advanced Settings list, select Show hidden files and folders, make sure Hide extensions for known file types is not selected, and then click OK.
In the Windows Explorer window, click View, select Explorer Bar, and then verify that Folders is checked.

Delete your Contacts cache folder
After changing your Windows Explorer settings:
On the taskbar, right-click Start, and then select Explore.
In the folder list on the left-hand pane, navigate to the folder C:\Documents and Settings\Your Windows logon name\Contacts\Your Messenger email address.
Delete all of the files within the folder Your Messenger email address.
In the folder list on the left-hand pane, navigate to the folder C:\Documents and Settings\Your Windows logon name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\Your Messenger email address.
In the Your Messenger email address folder, delete the real and shadow folders.
Close Windows Explorer and try to sign in to Messenger again

How to Check Your Anti-Virus Software Working Properly Or Not.

#1

This article is best in checking out whether your antivirus software is running at its best or not. It was not known to many that how to check the antivirus software they are using is working properly or not. Please read the article for the details.

Click Start --> Open Notepad -->

Copy the code exactly in the notepad :

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

Now Save it with the name fakevirus.exe in any of your folder/drives.

if this file got deleted immediately...then it means that your antivirus is working properly and updated !!

If this doesnt happens and you see the saved file in that folder do right click the file and select scan with your installed antivirus and if the scan shows the file then it means your antivirus is working properly but not updated with a new version, as best antivirus softwares detect any virus (at the same second when you save the same in your system)without your effort of going to specified folder and scanning the folder.

If it doesnt shows any kind of threats then you need to change your antivirus software immediately with some good one with the new version.