Is it safe to use RHEL server on a desktop or laptop?
Hi, I would like to know if it is safe to use RHEL server edition, on a desktop, or laptop? Do I need to disable any services for security reasons? Thanks!
Responses
Guru
9715 points
Hi ! :)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is one of the most secure and stable operating systems that exist in the market since quite a long time ... it doesn't matter if you use the RHEL edition with a GUI or without, so it is safe to use it on a desktop or on a laptop and you don't have to disable any services for security reasons, especially when the system is used for private purposes. To further reduce security risks this may be different for businesses running the system and depends on the general security strategy decisions of each company. :)
Regards,
Christian
Guru
10133 points
Hi G D,
You can use Red Hat Enterprise LInux Server on any system safely, a workstation, laptop, a virtual system on your home computer such as within VirtualBox (virtualization software). If you are a developer and not using Rhel Server within what is fair use for development purposes, Red Hat actually gives away RHEL Server (not workstation, not desktop) and if you need a graphical environment (like RHEL workstation), Now for Development purposed (because Red Hat only gives away Server edition, not RHEL workstation) In this specific case, for a workstation-like-experience, Red Hat recommends installing RHEL Server with a GUI (graphical user interface). Again, the free version is strictly for developers and they have you commit to an agreement that you will use it within the scope of development (see developers.redhat.com).
Now what Christian said, Red Hat is certainly one of the more secure operating systems out of the box. If you're using it for home use and just learning and experimenting, you may not need to do much in terms of security mitigations. If however, your goal is to implement Red Hat in a business environment, there are security concerns you really ought to resolve, and when I say "security concerns" here, that would apply to ANY operating system, not just Red Hat. A company or organization ought to have an idea of what should be allowed for an exception. There are various security posture guidelines publicly available, and this is one example at this Red Hat Disucssion
Here's some instructions at developers.redhat.com to load RHEL server with a GUI to operate like a workstation.
Wish you well G.D.
-RJ
Guru
9715 points
You're welcome,
"Block or dropped" ? Not sure what you mean, the system comes with default settings that already provide sufficient safety. Normally there is no need to adjust settings in the firewall. Make sure that you use strong passwords and use and install software only from trusted repositories. There is not much difference compared to other systems here. :)
Regards,
Christian
Guru
10133 points
G.D.
There are options for firewall rules, and with the advent of rhel7, it has gone to "firewalld".
The option to "drop" may be useful in some occasions, yet there are times where you might want to be "nice" and allow the entity sending you something to recognize that you bocked, and not dropped them. The scenarios I'm describing are specific and each has it's use for specific scenarios.
Here's a few web links on this http://www.firewalld.org/documentation/zone/options.html and https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/security_guide/sec-configuring_firewalld and also see this Red Hat discussion at https://access.redhat.com/discussions/3142601
Configuring firewall rules is of course a rather complex task. Some things are easier than others, and can be configured with some ease, like opening up a service, or a port. However, the deeper you dive, the more research you'll need for specific scenarios that may be unique to any given server.
Wish you wll,
-RJ
Guru
10133 points
G.D. besides the configurations that would be sensible for Red Hat Linux, there are the settings on your wireless router. One example, is a very secure password, and keep the updates current on your wireless router. Make sure your wireless router does not still retain it's original default administrative password, as those are published publicly.
Lastly, There's a severe issue against WPA2 as I type this (it's been around for years, but only now public), so go to google news and search for "wifi krack" and note the major news agencies that report this issue. Sadly, Microsoft seems to be the only operating system that's patched it, and Apple, and Linux distributions mostly have not offered a patch for this.
Sadly, all of WiFi WPA2 is compromised, yet Microsoft is the only vendor to date that's offered a patch.
ADDED/EDITED:
Here's some additional steps on securing a home network https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/tips/ST15-002
Here's yet another link on securing a home network (a video starts, be ready for the volume) https://www.pcworld.com/article/3093362/how-to-secure-your-router-and-home-network.html
Looks like RedHat had the fix out already on 17 October:
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2017-13077
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2017-13082
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2017-13088
Debian also has already patched it.
I believe that any Linux distribution that has published a wpa_supplicant patch since mid-October has already fixed it.
You can just install the RHEL Workstation which seems to be about the same but is licensed as a "workstation".
# cat /etc/redhat-release
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation release 7.4 (Maipo)
However as a workstation you may want some other dekstop other than the big fat GNOME thing. Anything would be better. A lean and simple desktop like LXDE would be nice but I have no idea how to install that.
Red Hat
Guru
7257 points
Workstation and Server are based mostly around the same binaries, just the package selection in the product channels is slightly different. Workstation has some things Server doesn't have and vice versa.
The MATE desktop is in EPEL, it installs easily with yum groupinstall mate-desktop, this is what I use.
The XFCE desktop is also in EPEL, it has a group so should be available with yum groupinstall xfce though I've never tried it I expect it works nicely.
LXDE is not actively maintained as far as I know, the development effort has moved to LXQt, which is a merge of LXDE and Razor-Qt projects. There are LXQt packages in EPEL. The main EL7 packager supplies an install command here on StackOverflow.
Well thank you for the pointer to lxde! For the past few days all I could think was that Red Hat had done a neat job of getting my money and in return I get a great operating system with a real dog for a desktop. GNOME is horrific. Classic GNOME was okay but recent GNOME is a horror show to be avoided. So bad in fact that even trivial things like an basic xterm is a mess in some way or another. Which is to say there is NO right hand border on the xterm. At all. There is no way visually to know where the right hand border is on the X-window that contains the xterm. No really .. I have a picture I can post. see https://i.imgur.com/958XPVd.png
Yes .. I want a black background and yes I want a simple xterm with green forground and a black background and yes there should be a small 1 or 2 pixel border ... but GNOME somehow messes that up. So away I go to LXDE and hope it works.
Follow up : XFCE works ! yea verily I say unto you that I have been freed from the evils of GNOME :-)
Red Hat
Guru
7257 points
Sorry for the super-late reply.
I intentionally run 1-pixel window borders with no title bar. I also turn scroll bars off. I hate all that cruft taking up screen realestate.
You can resize windows with Alt+rightclick and drag, that has been in X for a very long time. If you drag on a corner or a size, you resize the corner or just that edge.
Your terminal probably has some keyboard shortcuts for scrolling up and down. It also likely has an option to enable the scroll bar. You can also use tmux as a multiplexer, where you can easily scroll up and down with keyboard shortcuts.
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